Marvin Miller has passed

[CySeymour]

Per Jeff Passan on Twitter:

@JeffPassan
Marvin Miller, one of the most influential people in baseball history and the architect of the players' union, died this morning. He was 95.

[RedFanAlways1966]

RIP, Mr. Miller. As is the case with a lot of these things... it was a great idea at the get-go, then somewhere/somehow things seemed to go a bit awry. And that is my perspective. But compared to other unions... it does not seem that bad. At least everyone still makes money!

[cumberlandreds]

Marvin Miller is the best friend the players will ever have. The players need to build a shrine for him and each make a yearly pilgramage to that shrine in order to give thanks.

[Redsfaithful]

Unreal that he's not in the Hall of Fame, but when you stack the deck with management I guess it's not surprising.

[redsmetz]

First, here's a piece from Bob Nightengale about Miller and his place in baseball history.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...olumn/1730045/

Before finding that article, I though of three incidents that moved baseball forward in its treatment of its greatest asset, the players themselves.

The first was Curt Flood refusing his trade to the Phillies and suing baseball over his rights. He lost the case, but pointed things in the right direction. Of course, his career was curtailed by that action. This St. Louis article touches on that episode:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...olumn/1730045/

Forbes has a more extensive piece outlining what made Miller's approach so important and touches on the other two events that changed baseball; Jim "Catfish" Hunter being declared a free agent after Charlie Findlay breached his contract and when Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally were free agents when arbitrators determined that owners could not renew contracts in perpetuity as they had done for nearly 100 years, thus ending the Reserve Clause. Those of us old enough to remember will recall the brief period of an "option year" after which a player would become a free agent.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2...ness-industry/

In my opinion, many of the problems faced with escalating salaries was due to ownership being so resistant to accepting free agency, looking for ways they believed would blunt its effects (such as salary arbitration) that, in fact, caused them to soar.

You've probably seen in these articles the mention by Red Barber that Miller was one of three people who changed baseball; Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Miller.

[Kc61]

Haven't read the articles yet, but I think it's too limiting to say Miller changed baseball.

I think he changed all professional sports.

Much of what he did probably would have happened anyway. Eventually. But he was the catalyst for a strong union in professional sports. While baseball may remain the strongest, his influence has affected the other sports as well.

[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by Kc61

Haven't read the articles yet, but I think it's too limiting to say Miller changed baseball.

I think he changed all professional sports.

Much of what he did probably would have happened anyway. Eventually. But he was the catalyst for a strong union in professional sports. While baseball may remain the strongest, his influence has affected the other sports as well.

Actually every article I've read has made that very point.

[Kc61]

Miller wrote a book called A Whole Different Ballgame. Read it many years ago, but it made a lasting impression.

[gilpdawg]

I know he's an insufferable blowhard most of the time, but Olbermann's piece on Miller on his MLB blog is fantastic.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by gilpdawg

I know he's an insufferable blowhard most of the time, but Olbermann's piece on Miller on his MLB blog is fantastic.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk HD

Here's the link: http://keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/20...in-miller-rip/

You're right, it's a good piece (our disagreement viz Olbermann otherwise notwithstanding).

[gilpdawg]

Originally Posted by redsmetz

Here's the link: http://keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/20...in-miller-rip/

You're right, it's a good piece (our disagreement viz Olbermann otherwise notwithstanding).

At the risk of this going into bad territory, I like Olbermann's work, but his smarmy attitude with the way he presents it rubs me wrong.

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[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by gilpdawg

At the risk of this going into bad territory, I like Olbermann's work, but his smarmy attitude with the way he presents it rubs me wrong.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Ah, I would agree with that at times. (now back to our regularly scheduled thread...)

[RedsBaron]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

Unreal that he's not in the Hall of Fame, but when you stack the deck with management I guess it's not surprising.

Yes, but Bowie Kuhn is in the Hall of Fame.

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by RedsBaron

Yes, but Bowie Kuhn is in the Hall of Fame.

Just think, Selig is a shoe in as well.