Why Marvin Miller Should be in the Hall of Fame

Another week, another Cooperstown debate to be had. It’s a good thing that Guns and Roses is on the jukebox and the beer is still cold, because the ‘Table has to get this one settled.

The comments we made regarding Bowie Kuhn being kicked out of the Hall of Fame got us talking about another executive that isn’t receiving his fair shake. Marvin Miller led the MLB Player’s Association (MLBPA) for 16 years. He ushered in a new era of leadership and changed the dynamic of labor relations in baseball.

Yet, Miller can’t get a sniff of the Hall of Fame. He’s been denied three times under three different formats of voting. Recently, he went so far as to write a letter asking not to be considered anymore, even upon his death. These are strong words coming from a man who was a force before Donald Fehr was out of high school.

Why should Miller be in the Hall of Fame? He was a successful union leader and negotiator before baseball, working with the United Auto Workers, the United Steelworkers, and the Machinist Union. However, he made his mark in the game of baseball.

Miller’s work with baseball began in 1966, before the dawning of free agency. Players were largely treated like indentured servants, tied to the team that drafted them. They had no recourse to change teams unless they were traded and couldn’t really even negotiate their own salaries. Management dictated these to them.

His list of accomplishments from this point on is as legendary it can get for an executive outside of a team’s front office. In 1968, he negotiated baseball’s first collective bargaining agreement. During that, he increased the minimum salary by almost 70 percent, to $10,000 annually. This was the first increase in nearly two decades.

In 1970, Miller successfully negotiated for arbitration and immediately put it to use in the case of Gaylord Perry. Perry was due an annuity payment from the A’s. It was not paid, so Miller took the case to an arbiter, who found for Perry and declared him free to negotiate with any team. He did just that, landing a 5-year, $3.5 million contract with the Yankees. It planted the seed in the mind of all players when it came to the type of money that could be available in an open market.

Baseball bound players to their team for a full year beyond the end-date of a contract. Players routinely signed deals during that year, thus perpetuating the cycle. Miller was able to convince two players (Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally) to wait that year out. The two did just that, and argued that they were now free to sign with another team. An arbiter agreed, and baseball’s “reserve clause” was effectively eliminated and free agency was ushered in.

Miller even understood economics enough to know he had to limit the supply of free agent in order to create demand. In 1976, he put into place the six-year rule for free agency, which is still in effect today. During his tenure, the average salary went from $19,000 to $241,000.

Miller’s impact on the game has been widely felt. Without his foresight and leadership, players today wouldn’t have anywhere close to the benefits they currently have. Even if some were in existence, the process would be far less mature and granted only when required. It is impossible to understate his impact on labor law as a whole, and even more difficult to comprehend in baseball.

The Veteran’s Committee, the only place executives, managers, and umpires are chosen, denied him entrance to the Hall of Fame in 2003 and 2007. Miller came close, receiving 63 percent of the required 75 percent in 2007. The committee was largely former players.

That, however, has now changed. In 2008, a 12-man committee was put in to place. Ten of the members of this committee never played. Most are current or former team executives; the same executives that Miller spent most of his tenure defeating in every negotiating point. He received just three of the necessary nine votes.

We all may rail against the manner in which the player’s union currently operates. However, there is not one person who would want to feel bound to their current job and unable to leave to get a better position, more money, or better quality of life. Marvin Miller was the impetus for this change in baseball.

He deserves to be honored for the work that he did with a plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame.