Major League Baseball lost one of the most important people in the history of the game today (11/27/2012). Marvin Miller, a name many of today's baseball fans have never heard, died at the age of 95. So who was he and why was he so important to the game?
Marvin Miller was a union man and economist. Prior to his baseball time, he was working in a machinst union, and then moved on to the United Auto Workers (UAW). He then got his big break in things, moving up to the United Steelworkers union where he became lead negotiator. Miller apparently had a taste for baseball, and wanted to see what he could do in that field.
In the 1960s, baseball was still not a very level playing field for the players as far as contracts went. The reserve clause was still in full usage, and the players were more or less bound to their teams. Players had attempted to unionize to protect themselves from owners' greedy tactics several times. The players even tried to up their own pay or force owners hands by leaving MLB to play in other leagues such as the Federal League and the Mexican League. All of these attempts to increase pay and gain more rights failed and each time the owners were able to put the players right back in line.
In 1953, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) was created. There was little or no activity within the MLBPA from 1953-1965. In 1966, Marvin Miller began hanging around the Dodgers' spring training facility. Spring training holdouts were common practice, but were usually ended without incident under threat by owner of crushing the holdout players' career in some way. This year, however, the holdouts would be different.
The Dodgers won the 1965 World Series behind the phenomenal pitching of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax. They had both had spectacular 1965 campaigns and expected to be paid for their efforts. Their demand was simple: They would share a $1 million contract split between them over three years. This would pay each pitcher $167,000 a season. Willie Mays was the current highest player in the league at $125,000 a season. At the time of this request, most players were not given multi-year contracts due to the power of the reserve clause. They eventually signed individual contracts for less than they had demanded ($125,000 and $110,000) and rejoined the Dodgers before the end of Spring Training.
While their holdout failed to garner them their requested salaries, it did make a major impact on baseball. It showed everyone that baseball was more profitable than people had known. The Dodgers were THE club of the National League, probably even more popular overall than the Yankees at the time, or at least tied in popularity nationwide. The fact that two Dodgers players had heldout for almost all of spring training and at least partially forced the hand of famous Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, was a big deal for players all over the league. The MLBPA would hire Marvin Miller that same year to head their union.
MLBPA was virtually working from scratch on player rights in 1966. Over the next several years, MLBPA, led by Miller, would go on to win major victories over the owners with the first collective bargaining agreement. These victories came in such areas as higher minimum salary ($6,000 to $10,000), and arbitration. Prior to the CBA, all contract disputes between players and owners went to the commissioner, who had been selected by the owners and was likely to side with the owners in most matters. Arbitration sent disputes to an unbiased third party, which gave the players more leverage in discussion of terms.
Arbitration didn't come easily. It was the direct result of MLB's first ever player strike in 1972. This strike also resulted in $500,000 more in pension fund payments. While the players were on strike for 13 days, there were 86 total games missed by all clubs. However, different teams missed different amounts of games. The owners refused to make up the games, because they refused to pay the players for games they missed while striking. This uneven scheduling for each team actually had a major impact on the results that season, most notably allowing the Tigers to win the AL East by 1/2 game. This was because the Tigers played 153 games while the Red Sox, who finished second, only played 152 games.
Let's back up for a moment. We can't discuss Miller's contribution to the evolution of modern baseball without mentioning the Curt Flood case. Most baseball fans know a little about this case, where Curt Flood was traded to the Phillies but refused the trade. He had decided that if he wasn't wanted by the Cardinals, and didn't want to play for the Phillies, that he should be allowed free agency. He was denied this by the commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Miller and the MLBPA backed Curt Flood in a lawsuit against MLB which went all the way to the Supreme Court. The court ruled 5-3 in favor of MLB, and cited precedent from the 1922 case Federal Baseball Team v. National League. In 1970, while Flood sat the season out, MLBPA and the Owners agreed to a 10/5 rule. This rule, known as the Curt Flood Rule, allowed for players with 10 years of MLB experience and 5 years with their current team to have trade veto power.
In 1974, Catfish Hunter of the A's had a major contract dispute. Hunter's contract for 1974 called for him to be paid $100,000. $50,000 was to be paid to Hunter, and $50,000 to an insurance annuity in payments. If you don't know what an annuity is, think a basic 401(k). It was money that would be invested and grown for Hunter to use after he retired. A's owner Charles Finley had failed to make a payment and Hunter was alerted to the fact. His case was sent to an arbitor, and the arbitor ruled that this violated Hunter's contract and also made the contract null and voided. Hunter became a free agent. He signed with the Yankees.
This was a huge step in the rights of players. Hunter's dispute was put to arbitration thanks to the backing of the MLBPA and Miller. Hunter's contract with the Yankees upon free agency was much higher than the usual contracts paid by teams. The terms were $3.5 million for 5 years. Many players were finally opened up to the realizations of what true free agency meant for them. The last hurdle in the way of the players and their futures in free agency was the age old reserve clause.
In that same year, 1974, Miller became instrumental in the dismantling of the clause all together. He took particular liking to the idea of some good players playing without signing a new contract deal. Miller was able to convince Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally to play the season without signing a new contract. The players both filed a grievance arbitration at the end of the season. The owners stated that their contracts had been perpetually renewed, and that they had not had to physically sign a new contract in order to have been awarded one by the club. The arbitor, Peter Seitz, ruled in both cases that the players had fulfilled their contractual obligations, that players could not be held forever by teams without their consent, and declared them both to be free to negotiate with any and all teams. MLB filed an appeal which at each step, including the 8th circuit court, was found to have been decided accurately by the arbitor. In 1976, MLB agreed to allow players with six years of MLB experience to become free agents.
Miller agreed to this six-year rule, because he did not want to flood the market with free agents. This would saturate demand and cause players on the market to be devalued. Fewer players meant higher demand and higher salaries. It didn't take a genius to figure that out, but thankfully the MLBPA had an economic genius at the helm anyway just for safe measure. In 1981, he led the MLBPA through one last strike before he would retire.
The 1981 Players Strike occurred in response to owners whining that they needed some kind of protection for players they lost to free agency. The strike lasted over 50 days and cost millions of dollars in lost revenue and player salaries. The result of the strike was that the owners were given a pool of players who were not on the team's protected list to choose from as compensation for each player they lost to free agency. This also resulted in a "reupping" of the six year free agency rule. While it was not really a win for the players, the owners didn't get what they wanted out of it either. Play resumed in August and resulted in a crazy season which had a first half and a second half with wacky rules on the post season.
Miller left the MLBPA after 1982. During his tenure, average player salaries went from $19,000 to $241,000. MLBPA under Miller lead to free agency, collective bargaining, arbitration and other rights for the "workers" of MLB, the players. He was really the main, instrumental factor in MLB coming out of the dark ages.
In 2003 and 2007 he was on the ballot to be elected to the Hall Of Fame, but neither time was he selected. He has still not been elected to the Hall Of Fame, and that is an absolute travesty. We can debate over which players did enough or did not do enough to be included in the top 1% of players to ever play the game; but with Miller there is no debate. What he did for the players and the game transformed it into the game we know today.
Marvin Miller should have been in the Hall Of Fame on his first ballot, and if it weren't for the makeup of the voters, he may have been. At any rate, I would say that if we were to make a list of the Top 10 most important people in baseball history (players, owners, executives, league officials, umpires, player reps, etc), Marvin Miller's name would solidly land in bold letters on that list. Rest in peace, and thank you for all that you contributed to a greater amelioration of the game.
Marvin Miller should have been in the Hall Of Fame on his first ballot, and if it weren't for the makeup of the voters, he may have been. At any rate, I would say that if we were to make a list of the Top 10 most important people in baseball history (players, owners, executives, league officials, umpires, player reps, etc), Marvin Miller's name would solidly land in bold letters on that list. Rest in peace, and thank you for all that you contributed to a greater amelioration of the game.
