MLB’s creator of free agency, Marvin Miller, has long been overlooked by voters, but on Sunday night the Modern Era Committee made a decision that should’ve been made decades ago.
His election may be against his wishes, not to mention decades too late, but the selection of Marvin Miller into baseball’s Hall of Fame comes at an appropriate time.
As we launch into MLB’s annual Winter Meetings — which officially started on Sunday — and as players such as Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon potentially receive contracts in the hundred-millions, what better time to fully appreciate what Miller did for the sport, as well as for the players that have taken the field ever since his time as the Executive Director of MLB’s Player Association — a stint that ran from 1966-1982.
Miller revolutionized the player’s union by creating MLB’s free agency which included raising the average salary from $19,000 to over $240,000 during his remarkable tenure (the average MLB salary is now over $4 million).
Through five work stoppages, Miller consistently won battles on the player’s behalf, including his frequent outwitting of Commissioner Bowie Kuhn — who was inducted into baseball’s HoF way back in 2008. Miller’s victories over Kuhn, as well as numerous team owners during his career, gave him his fair share of opponents, which is vividly illustrated by the inexcusable tardiness of his election.
During Miller’s snubbing over the years, and while he was still alive (he died 2012), he understandably developed a strong feeling of resentment, so much so that the former MLBPA leader vowed to never acknowledge his potential election and even requested that his surviving family do the same, which according to The Athletic‘s Jayson Stark, Miller’s daughter has already reached out to the Hall’s chair, Jane Forbes Clark, and confirmed that her late father “did not want this.”
Of course, Miller’s wishes to remain left out of the Hall of Fame makes for a rather precarious debate. Did the voters ultimately do the right thing?
Yes, they did, and let me tell you why…