He Should Be In the Hall

 Today we lost one of the most influential men in the history of professional sports.  Marvin Miller, the longtime head of the MLBPA, passed away at the age of 95.  Miller’s impact on baseball, and professional sports as a whole, is immeasurable.  He’s one of the the most important figures in the game’s history.  And that’s why the fact that he still isn’t in the Baseball Hall of Fame, despite the fact he lived until he was 95, is a complete travesty.

When Marvin Miller was hired to be the head of Major League Baseball’s player’s union in 1966, the owners held all the cards.  The minimum salary was $6,000, and players were bound to their teams under the antiquated “reserve clause.”  Players had to take second jobs in the offseason to make ends meet.  The player’s union was a “union” in name alone.  It had no power whatsoever.  That all changed under Marvin Miller.  It’s because of him that professional athletes are multimillionaires today.  Because of him, the owners got richer, too.

He famously challenged the reserve clause, taking the Curt Flood case all the way to the Supreme Court.  Flood lost, but, a few years later, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally didn’t.  Free agency had arrived.  Suddenly, the players had a say in where they would play and for how long.  The owners thought it would “kill” the sport.  They were wrong.  Free agency made the game so much better.  And as we all know, it’s impossible to envison the modern-day game without free agency.

Major League Baseball also became the first professional sport to have a collective bargaining agreement in 1968, permanently giving the players a voice in the way the game was run.  It’s also because of him that the system of salary arbitration came into place, and when he retired in 1982, the minimum salary had risen more than 400 percent to $33,500.  In 2012, the minimum salary was $480,000.

Of course, “strike” took on a very different meaning under Marvin Miller, as well.  Major League Baseball had its first work stoppage when the players walked off the job for two weeks in 1972.  There was another walkout during Spring Training in 1976, then the infamous seven-week midseason strike that resulted in the 1981 season being divided into two halves.  All of that was nothing, though, compared to the 1994-95 strike under Miller’s successor Donald Fehr (the same man currently embroiled in the NHL’s latest lockout) that wiped out the World Series.  But it should also be noted that baseball is going on 20 consecutive years of labor peace since.

The game is bigger and better now than ever before.  The average salary is more than $3 million.  MLB’s revenue was more than $7.5 billion this year.  Attendance continues to go up.  And let’s not forget the new eight-year $7 billion TV deal with FOX, TBS and ESPN that’ll give each team more than $25 million a season.  None of this immense growth would’ve been possible without Marvin Miller.

As fans, we owe a tremendous debt of thanks to Marvin Miller.  Because of him, the game we love was forever changed for the better.  Pioneer.  Visionary.  One-of-a-kind.  Legend.  Choose whatever term you like.  They all apply.  Marvin Miller forever changed baseball, and the game would be nowhere near as prosperous as it is today if not for his influence.  It could even be said that Marvin Miller is perhaps the third-most important figure in the history of Major League Baseball, ranking only behind Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson.

Because of everything he did on behalf of the players, there was tremendous resentment towards Marvin Miller among the owners.  Unfortunately, that’s probably why he still hasn’t taken his rightful place in the Hall of Fame.  Which is a shame.  Marvin Miller shaped baseball history more than any of the executives who do have plaques in Cooperstown.  Above all else, the Hall of Fame is a museum.  Its purpose is to celebrate the game’s history.  And Marvin Miller’s place in baseball history is undeniable.  If there isn’t a place for him in the Hall of Fame, why does the Hall of Fame even exist at all?

Marvin Miller came up one vote short of election in 2010.  He’s eligible again next December.  Hopefully, in December 2013, we’ll finally see this wrong made right and Miller will take his rightful place in Cooperstown.  Unfortunately, he won’t be able to make what likely would’ve been a memorable induction speech.  I guess one of the thousands of players Miller helped over the years will have to make that speech for him.  And perhaps that would be the most fitting tribute of all.