Nobody changed Baeball for the players more than Marvin Miller. The slayer of the reserve clause and first chief of the players' union deserves a plaque in Cooperstown.
Marvin Miller will tell you that he is just a labor lawyer. History will tell you that he changed baseball forever. Both are true.
Miller was in fact a very successsful labor lawyer (for the UAW) when he was hired on to be the Executive Director for the nascent Major League Baseball Players Association. Through his efforts, and his very wise guidance, Miller was able to transform the MLBPA from a relatively ineffective group of ballplayers to the most powerful union in the history of sports, and perhaps even in the history of American Business.
When Miller was hired in 1966, the average salary for a Major League player was $20,000 a year. But when Miller (with the help of Curt Flood, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally) was finally able to break the reserve clause that chained players to their teams, free agency began and as a result, salaries soon blossomed. By the time Miller left office in 1982, the average salary was almost $240,000. The union and the free agency system that he helped create has pushed the average player salary to over $3 million a season. Of course, it's sick. It's why me and you pay $150 bucks for a ticket that cost $15 in 1987. It's why Yankee fans have to pay a pretty sizeable chunk of change to watch a team they used to see for free on WPIX not too long ago.
But it certainly impacted the players and the game. For better and for worse.
For his roles in breaking the reserve clause, creating the free agency system, building and stregthening the players union, and being at least partially responsible for the huge power shift between players and management that occurred in the 1970s, he deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame.
