The man that changed baseball completely passes away. R.I.P. Marvin Miller

[salsadancer7]

Good read.

(CNN) -- Marvin Miller died Tuesday at the age of 95. And here's why you should know his name: Miller transformed the game of baseball even though he never put on a uniform.

This slight union lawyer was considered the enemy of owners, and yet he might have done more than anyone else to bring free market competition to the national pastime and make it a modern big business.

He was lionized and vilified and is sadly still denied entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Baseball combines sports and statistics, so consider these numbers when assessing the career of Marvin Miller. When the Brooklyn-born mustachioed man was named executive director of the Major League Baseball Player's Association in 1966, the average player's salary was just $7,000 a year. Many professional players had to work a second job just to provide for their families. In 1984, when Miller left the position, the average players' salary was $329,000. Today it is $3.4 million.

The reason is free agency. And that was the innovation that Miller brought to the game, against the bitter opposition of team owners.

Bizarre as it might sound today, 40 years ago baseball was exempt from antitrust legislation. One of the impacts was that players could be contractually obligated to work for one team in perpetuity through what was called the reserve clause. They were effectively denied the ability to test their value in the open market, something Miller saw as akin to slavery.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/opinion/avlon-marvin-miller/index.html?hpt=us_c2

 

[Ramy]

R.I.P. Marvin

 

[whitewolf8214]

R.I.P

 

[stmcld]

I always have had mixed felling about Marvin Miller. On one hand, I think working and fighting to get rid of the reserve clause and allowing free agency was a good thing. On the other hand, I think his willingness to fight MLB on the drug issue in the 70's and 80's was one of the reasons baseball players felt they could get away with PED's. Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Probably because of the influence he had on the game.

 

[SamCdbs]

Putting Miller in the HOF is like putting Oswald and Sirhan-Sirhan in the Kennedy hall-of-fame. If you want to have a discussion of who has the most impact on the subject, then he certainly had an impact.

100% negative.

 

[salsadancer7]

Putting Miller in the HOF is like putting Oswald and Sirhan-Sirhan in the Kennedy hall-of-fame. If you want to have a discussion of who has the most impact on the subject, then he certainly had an impact.

100% negative.

Really?! Comparing a murder to Marvin Miller..?!

I wonder...nahhh...nevermind, it would be too political.

Rey....time to shut it down before it gets back.

 

[Rey]

closed at OP's request