SubscribeMarvin Miller finally getting some of the recognition he deserves
It’s not the Hall of Fame, but according to former NY Times baseball writer Murray Chass, it’s even more exclusive:
On April 24 Miller will be the recipient of an honor that exceeds anything the Hall could ever have done for him. Miller, who turned 95 years old Saturday, has had as great an impact on Major League Baseball as anyone and more than all but a handful, if that, but Hall of Fame committees have refused in a series of votes to acknowledge his overwhelming and unchallenged contribution to baseball.
This actually is a double honor. Miller, who wasn’t even a lawyer but an economist, is pictured on a baseball-type trading card that is part of a series of cards celebrating justices of the United States Supreme Court. In this newest rendition in the “Supreme Court Sluggers” series, he is paired with former Justice Arthur Goldberg, who was Curt Flood’s lawyer in Flood’s failed effort to rid baseball of the reserve clause.
Even more impressive, a portrait of Miller, from which the card is adapted, will join the collection of portraits of Supreme Court justices that populate the halls of the court building on First Street across the street from the U.S. Capitol building and next door to the Library of Congress.
Miller will be the only non-justice who will be so honored. The recognition only shows how foolish and small-minded Hall of Fame officials and voters have been in shunning Miller for membership.
Speaking about MLBPA leaders, Baseball Nation posted this profile of Michael Weiner, the organization’s current director.
Nice honor, but he deserves the Hall, and I’d still put that ahead of this.
Agree that he should be in the Hall. Perhaps he’s being “punished” for opening the door to such astronomical salaries and free the players.
That seems to be the prevalent opinion, Ron. I’m not the biggest fan of free agency because I think it tends to destroy competitive balance, but it was probably inevitable and as one of it’s pioneers you can’t deny the impact he’s had on shaping today’s game in scope and popularity.
How did Bowie Kuhn get in the Hall of Fame before Marvin Miller?
Mind-boggling, ain’t it?