12. As Posnanski wrote:
“Nobody in the last 50 years virtually no rights for 100
has had a bigger impact than years and, within 10 years,
Miller, who as baseball’s establish a system under
labor leader helped organize which players could receive
the players, eliminate the fair market value.’”
reserve clause, create free
agency and, in the words of
longtime labor lawyer Steve
Fehr, ‘lead a group that had
13. And there’s more...
“Years ago the announcer farm system and signed
Red Barber said that Miller Robinson), you would have
-- along with Babe Ruth and baseball’s Mount Rushmore.
Jackie Robinson -- was one It's a great image. Leaving
of the three most important Miller out of the Baseball
figures in baseball history. Hall of Fame is like leaving
James says that if you add Lincoln out of the
baseball executive Branch Presidents Hall of Fame.”
Rickey (who invented the
15. As executive director
of the Major League
Baseball Players
Association, Miller
negotiated the first
collective bargaining
agreement in the
history of professional
sports (1968).
16. Miller supported the
case of Curt Flood,
who sued Major
League Baseball for
free agent status.
Flood lost his suit
but set the stage for
future victories.
17. Miller established
arbitration as a vehicle
for players to argue
for higher salaries. By
1973, average salaries
reached $36,500,
twice as high as
salaries when Miller
took the job in 1966.
18. In 1974, Jim “Catfish”
Hunter, one the game’s
premier pitchers, earned
$100,000. When A’s
owner Charlie Finley failed
to meet the terms of
Hunter’s contract, Miller
brought Hunter to
arbitration and won his
free agency. Hunter
signed with the Yankees—
for $3.75 million!
19. Miller’s real coup came a year
later. The reserve clause
allowed owners to enforce a
contract for an additional
year even if a player did not
sign a new contract. Owners
assumed they could repeat
the process year after year
after year. Miller convinced
two players to play out a year
without signing a new
contract... and then he sued
for free agency.
20. Andy Messersmith was
one of those players.
He won his case,
gained free agency,
and signed a three-
year $1 million deal
with the Atlanta
Braves. The reserve
clause was finally
dead!
21. Since 1976,
salaries in
professional
sports have
skyrocketed.
Athletes have
many people to
thank.
