Happy Birthday, Marvin Miller!

Marvin at Spring Training in the 60’s.

Pioneering sports labour figure Marvin Miller celebrates his 91st birthday today. Miller, more than anyone else, is the man who mad the world recognize that professional sports is a business, that the athletes themselves are the attraction, and that they should be compensated accordingly. He was drector of the Major League Baseball Player’s Association when the famed Messersmith/McNally case gained for professional baseball players the same rights as the rest of us – to work for whomever we choose.

However, if you read my post about Marvin’s elegibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame last June, you already knew that.  You also knew that Miller’s tenacity in fighting the baseball establishment has made him a personal hero of mine. You might know, too, that while Miller’s autobiography, a Whole Different Ball Game is an excellent read, John Helyar’s Lords of The Realm is better.

This Never Would’ve Happened if Bowie Kuhn Were Alive!

Marvin at Spring Training in the 60’s.

Marvin Miller, one of my personal heroes, has asked to have his name removed from consideration for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Miller, the former chief exceutive for the Major League Baseball Player’s Association, is arguably the most important figure in baseball history. He gained for professional atheletes in North America the same rights as any other citizen – the right to choose where and for whom he worked. Until Miller’s breaking of the reserve clause in 1975, a player was bound to the club who signed him until they had no further use for him, and allowed him to be traded, bought and sold irrespective of his wishes.

Once it was determined that players would be eligible to be “free agents”, signing with whichever club gave them the best deal (either in money, or quality of life, or potential to win championships), yes, players’ salaries did skyrocket, but they had been essentially flat from the end of World War II until the 1970’s. Ultimately, clubs’ profits increased, because big salaries were big news, and fans wanted to see what a million-dollar ballplayer looked like. It also gave the clubs a perfect excuse to raise ticket prices, demand more money from broadcasters, and sell more (and more expensive) merchandise. Everybody made out like bandits. During Miller’s time in office (1966-1982), player’s average salaries increased from $19,000.00 to $241,000.00 per year. To compare, just in the period between the last two labour agreements between Major League Baseball and the Player’s Association (1995 & 2003), gross revenues had doubled, from 1.9 to 3.9 billion per year.

Back to Marvin – now 91, he has been eligible for consideration for the hall, as a non-player, since he turned 65. He has been considered by the Veteran’s Committee twice in this decade (2003 & 2007), but has fallen short of the 75% of votes necessary for induction. After last year, the Committee was reduced to 12 members, of whom ten were non-players, which of course means they sat across the bargaining table from Miller, and got their asses kicked time and time again. xically, I’m writing to thank you and your associates for your part in nominating me for Hall of F

I’m gonna keep an eye on this one. I’m sure it’s not the end of the story, yet. The title of this post, BTW, is one of Marvin’s favourite maxims, said (by others) of his arch-nemesis, the Commissioner of Baseball, who was usually noticably absent when the chips were down.

The REAL first sign of spring…

Yes, the first real sign of spring happens today – pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. It’s a good thing!! Another couple of weeks and we’ll be able to hear the dulcet tones of Jerry Howarth calling games in the warm Florida sun. Hoo boy!!