Baseball Hall of Fame assures players union founder Marvin Miller will never be forgotten

SAN DIEGO — The honor came too late for Marvin Miller to hear the magical words, but Sunday night thousands of alumni and 750 active Major League Baseball players were celebrating news that Miller finally has taken his rightful place in baseball history.

Miller, who founded the Major League Baseball Players Association and revolutionized the game of baseball, finally was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with catcher Ted Simmons.

Miller didn’t invent baseball. He didn’t play the game. He didn’t manage or coach. He was never the commissioner or even a team executive.

But perhaps no one is more responsible for turning the game of baseball into an $11 billion industry, making players, and yes, owners, richer than their wildest dreams.

“Players are pleased that Marvin will now take his rightful and long overdue place in the Hall of Fame,’’ executive director Tony Clark said, “in recognition of the monumental and positive impact he had on our game and industry.’’

Miller, who was snubbed seven times on the Hall of Fame veterans’ committee ballot, requested years before his death in 2012 that the Hall of Fame committee to no longer consider him.

The Hall of Fame kept ignoring his request, and kept placing him on the modern-committee ballot every three years, finally elected the man who was one of the most instrumental figures in the game’s history.

It’s unknown how the Miller family will react to the news, or whether they’ll attend the induction ceremony on July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y. They were adamant in 2013 that they no longer wanted their late father on the ballot, with son Peter Miller emphasizing the family’s position to Hall of Fame baseball writer Murray Chass in 2013 before the sixth time he was bypassed.

“No one in our family will attend or speak at any HOF ceremony regardless of the outcome of the HOF vote,’’ Peter Miller told Chass in an e-mail. “It’s important for union members and the media to understand why, so that the story does not get misrepresented as ‘sour grapes,’ personal pique, or anything of the sort.

“My father felt that the essence of the honor, if any, was in celebrating the MLBPA’s accomplishments in changing Baseball from a management-dominated industry to one characterized by an equal labor-management relationship, a change resulting in a vastly more competitive game, fan interest, and increased wealth for all, including the owners of baseball clubs.

“These changes were brought about by the concerted action of union members, the baseball players themselves. Although he enjoyed the recognition, my father did what he did not for fame and glory, but for justice and for equitable labor-management relations. To treat that as something incidental, as of lesser value than personal fame, is really to dishonor him and the players.

“My father’s wishes, stated in writing, and reaffirmed to me in person many times, and for the last time within weeks of his death, were that he did not want to be on the HOF ballot.’’

Hopefully, there will be a change of heart by the Miller family. They need to be in Cooperstown to celebrate their father’s greatness and his rightful place in history.

They can condemn the Hall of Fame and attack everyone ever involved in the process that it took far too long for his election. They can belittle the owners, denigrate the executives and scorn the players.

They can say how it’s a disgrace that their father was elected only after his death, perhaps the way Pete Rose will be elected one day, but it would be an honor to see them represent their father, reminding everyone that his leadership and clout turned the game into one the richest and most powerful sports industries in the world.

Miller empowered players to free agency and salary arbitration, the ability to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts, and led the union through five work stoppages. The players are now earning an average salary of $4.36 million, with four players signing contracts worth at least $300 million.

In turn, virtually all 30 franchises today have become billion-dollar corporations.

Mark it down, Dec. 8, 2019: This day that will forever be remembered in baseball history.

It took far too long, but all that matters now is that Miller will be enshrined with all of the other baseball immortals, and generations of fans will celebrate his legacy every time they step into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Baseball Hall of Fame will ensure that he will never be forgotten.

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