Quote:
Originally Posted by George
Marvin Miller in the Hall of Fame? Give me a break. If you like paying $7.00 for a hot dog, $10.00 for a beer, $35.00 to park your car and $100.00 (or more) for a seat, say "Thank You" to Marvin Miller. Giving Marvin Miller a plaque in the Hall of Fame would be like erecting a statue of John Wilkes Booth next to the Lincoln Memorial.
When I was a kid, before Marvin Miller came along, baseball was truly the national pastime. You could identify a team by the great players who started with the team, and stayed with that team until their careers were over. The Dodgers had PeeWee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Duke Snider and Carl Furillo. The Yankees had Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford. The Cardinals had Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst and Bob Gibson. The Red Sox had Ted Williams. The Phillies had Robin Roberts. Even the lowly Pirates had Ralph Kiner. Then we got Marvin Miller and free agency. Branch Rickey, where have you gone?
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Name a single person who has had a bigger impact on baseball over the past sixty years than he has. You can't. Because there isn't anyone. Also your analogy with Booth and Lincoln is absurd. Booth killed Lincoln. Miller did not kill baseball. It is thriving today moreso than ever in it's history. So much wealth and tangential jobs, not just players and their salaries but jobs throughout the baseball world, have been created due to his efforts. You may not like the changes he brought to the sport you love, which is understandable. But it is undeniable that the sport would not be where it is today without the work that he did.
And the fact that Bowie Kuhn is in the Hall and not Miller is deliciously ridiculous.
Tom C