Trash, Thy Name is the Hall of Fame
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by Dan Lewis
Today, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the veteran's committee voting for baseball executives. In is former commissioner Bowie Kuhn and one other. Sickeningly, Marvin Miller -- arguably the most important executive for his twenty years as head of the MLBPA -- fell way short of the ballot, with 25% of the vote.
Miller's resume is impressive:
- Negotiated the first MLBPA collective bargaining agreement
- Ushered in the era of third-party arbitration; before Miller's victory here, the Commissioner was the arbiter
- The brain behind both the Catfish Hunter arbitration (1974, turning Hunter into a free agent) and the Andy Messersmith/Dave McNally grievance, ushering in the modern free agency landscape (1975)
- Lead the union in three strikes and two lockouts
Miller drastically changed the business and economic landscape and deserves to be in the Hall. Per the Hall's press release, the panel that voted on Miller et al is:
- Hall of Famers Monte Irvin and Harmon Killebrew; former executives Bobby Brown (American League) and John Harrington (Red Sox); current executives Jerry Bell (Twins), Bill DeWitt (Cardinals), Bill Giles (Phillies), David Glass (Royals) and Andy MacPhail (Orioles); and veteran media members Paul Hagen (Philadelphia Daily News), Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) and Hal McCoy (Dayton Daily News).
I have an email out to Hagen, asking if he cares to share how he voted, but, we'll see. I hope he voted "yea".
