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Marvin Miller, Baseball Revolutionary
Marvin Miller changed major league baseball and the business of sports. Drawing on research and interviews with Miller and others, Marvin Miller, Baseball Revolutionary offers the first biography covering the pivotal labor leader's entire life and career. Baseball historian Robert F. Burk follows the formative encounters with Depression-era hard times, racial and religious bigotry, and bare-knuckle Washington and labor politics that prepared Miller for his biggest professional challenge--running the moribund Major League Baseball Players Association.Educating and uniting the players as a workforce, Miller embarked on a long campaign to win the concessions that defined his decent workplace conditions, a pension system, outside mediation of player grievances and salary disputes, a system of profit sharing, and the long-sought dismantling of the reserve clause that opened the door to free agency. Through it all, allies and adversaries alike praised Miller's hardnosed attitude, work ethic, and honesty.
Comprehensive and illuminating, Marvin Miller, Baseball Revolutionary tells the inside story of a time of change in sports and labor relations, and of the contentious process that gave athletes in baseball and across the sporting world a powerful voice in their own games.
Comprehensive and illuminating, Marvin Miller, Baseball Revolutionary tells the inside story of a time of change in sports and labor relations, and of the contentious process that gave athletes in baseball and across the sporting world a powerful voice in their own games.
- GenresBaseball
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 20, 2015
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51 people want to read
About the author
Robert Fredrick Burk
6 booksRobert F. Burk is an emeritus professor of history at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 5, 2021
Briefly: Miller in toto
Marvin Miller, Baseball Revolutionary is written to be the all-encompassing chronicle of Marvin Miller’s life. As such, the first 100 pages are a slog; while it’s fascinating to learn about Miller’s pre-MLBPA chief life and the twists and turns that serendipitously granted him the opportunity to be union chief, digging in on the inside politics of steel unions isn’t really what anyone reading this book is interested in.
While things open up after that, it remains a slow read. As a focused biography of Miller, the book presents an authoritative history but occasionally focuses too much on capturing the blow-by-blow of labor negotiations at the expense of taking an expansive view of the history being made. Some of Miller’s monumental moves, reinvention of baseball, and lasting impact are buried in the minutiae of horse-trading. The book presents a worm’s eye view of Miller’s life—valuable for that historical record, but sometimes dry as a result.
Marvin Miller, Baseball Revolutionary is written to be the all-encompassing chronicle of Marvin Miller’s life. As such, the first 100 pages are a slog; while it’s fascinating to learn about Miller’s pre-MLBPA chief life and the twists and turns that serendipitously granted him the opportunity to be union chief, digging in on the inside politics of steel unions isn’t really what anyone reading this book is interested in.
While things open up after that, it remains a slow read. As a focused biography of Miller, the book presents an authoritative history but occasionally focuses too much on capturing the blow-by-blow of labor negotiations at the expense of taking an expansive view of the history being made. Some of Miller’s monumental moves, reinvention of baseball, and lasting impact are buried in the minutiae of horse-trading. The book presents a worm’s eye view of Miller’s life—valuable for that historical record, but sometimes dry as a result.
January 6, 2018
For the baseball lover and person who is interested in the history of the game, a book about Marvin Miller is a must. His impact cannot be understated. This book is well-written and researched. It is a dry academic read, but a good grounding in how the baseball union came to be.
July 15, 2015
At one point in Robert F. Burk's book on Marvin Miller, there's a comment from Red Barber about how the three most important people in the development of baseball have been Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Miller.
That's a rather high bar to pass, but Burk makes a rather good case for it in his biography, "Marvin Miller - Baseball Revolutionary."
Miller led the first professional sports union to have any clout. That may sound impossible in a day when owners and players are essentially partners in the operation, but that's a tribute to just how far the relationship has come. What's more, both sides have gained, and Miller was the catalyst.
If there's a theme here, it's that Miller was the right man at the right place at the right time. Oddly, though, this was hardly always the case for him.
After graduating from college, Miller fell into a variety of jobs that saw him bounce along the East Coast for several years. World War II played a role in that, although he didn't see military duty because of a shoulder issue. Eventually Miller landed with the Steelworkers Union in 1950, and moved up the executive ladder.
This section of the new book contains some information and insight into Miller that's not too common. Miller himself was told to downplay it in his own autobiography, with the publisher no doubt thinking that most people buying such a book wanted to read about the baseball years. Burk goes into Miller's family background at length, and covers Miller's personal political views - which were quite left of center. When you consider the times of the late 1940s and early 1950s, it wasn't exactly a career boost to be outspoken about such stances.
Miller spent more than 15 years with United Steelworkers. It's difficult to turn labor negotiations in that industry into riveting (sorry) material, and it's a little tough to get through this without some familiarity with the subject. Still, it's interesting to read what happened to the business in that era. Very short version - America was the king of steel after World War II, because the rest of the world's plants were in ruins. But as production in Europe and Japan started to ramp up, American business shrank - and conflicts grew on how best to handle that ever-changing situation.
By 1966, Miller was ready for a new challenge, and he found one when he was named the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. It was a group that had virtually no rights in the workplace, starting with the freedom to choose an employer. As the book details, Miller slowly built up support within the union and took on management on a variety of issues. He was helped by the fact that he was good at this, and those on the other side were simply awful at it. Baseball owners were outflanked at virtually every opportunity during Miller's time on the job.
Along the way, owners predicted doom after every step, and they were proven spectacularly wrong. Arbitration arrived, the reserve clause died, free agency became a reality, and revenues, salaries and franchise values spiraled upward. Burk gives most of the credit to Miller for this, which matches what most sports historians say.
After Miller stepped down from a formal role with the MLBPA in 1982, he remained in the picture in one way or another. Miller did do some advising of the association at times for the next few years, formally and informally. After that, he was always willing to give his views on a labor situation to anyone who called. You could count on him to be consistent, a fact that led him to being an outsider when the steroid problem reared its head in the late 1990s and the 2000s. In fact, Burk unleashes some rare criticism of Miller in the book, pointing out that baseball had to do something about PEDs in order to maintain good will with its fan base. Miller died in 2012 at the age of 95, equal parts confident, articulate and defiant until the end.
Burk had several long interviews with Miller for the book, and he also did a few other interviews as well as mined print sources for information. There aren't too many fresh quotes from outsiders here that may have added some perspective, but this still is a substantial biography.
Books on the business side of sport can be a tough sell for many. They only want to know about what happens between the lines. Still, off-field developments in baseball over the half-century are interesting in their own light, and have influenced the game greatly. Those wishing a course in how we got to where we are now will find "Marvin Miller - Baseball Revolutionary" quite helpful in that sense.
That's a rather high bar to pass, but Burk makes a rather good case for it in his biography, "Marvin Miller - Baseball Revolutionary."
Miller led the first professional sports union to have any clout. That may sound impossible in a day when owners and players are essentially partners in the operation, but that's a tribute to just how far the relationship has come. What's more, both sides have gained, and Miller was the catalyst.
If there's a theme here, it's that Miller was the right man at the right place at the right time. Oddly, though, this was hardly always the case for him.
After graduating from college, Miller fell into a variety of jobs that saw him bounce along the East Coast for several years. World War II played a role in that, although he didn't see military duty because of a shoulder issue. Eventually Miller landed with the Steelworkers Union in 1950, and moved up the executive ladder.
This section of the new book contains some information and insight into Miller that's not too common. Miller himself was told to downplay it in his own autobiography, with the publisher no doubt thinking that most people buying such a book wanted to read about the baseball years. Burk goes into Miller's family background at length, and covers Miller's personal political views - which were quite left of center. When you consider the times of the late 1940s and early 1950s, it wasn't exactly a career boost to be outspoken about such stances.
Miller spent more than 15 years with United Steelworkers. It's difficult to turn labor negotiations in that industry into riveting (sorry) material, and it's a little tough to get through this without some familiarity with the subject. Still, it's interesting to read what happened to the business in that era. Very short version - America was the king of steel after World War II, because the rest of the world's plants were in ruins. But as production in Europe and Japan started to ramp up, American business shrank - and conflicts grew on how best to handle that ever-changing situation.
By 1966, Miller was ready for a new challenge, and he found one when he was named the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. It was a group that had virtually no rights in the workplace, starting with the freedom to choose an employer. As the book details, Miller slowly built up support within the union and took on management on a variety of issues. He was helped by the fact that he was good at this, and those on the other side were simply awful at it. Baseball owners were outflanked at virtually every opportunity during Miller's time on the job.
Along the way, owners predicted doom after every step, and they were proven spectacularly wrong. Arbitration arrived, the reserve clause died, free agency became a reality, and revenues, salaries and franchise values spiraled upward. Burk gives most of the credit to Miller for this, which matches what most sports historians say.
After Miller stepped down from a formal role with the MLBPA in 1982, he remained in the picture in one way or another. Miller did do some advising of the association at times for the next few years, formally and informally. After that, he was always willing to give his views on a labor situation to anyone who called. You could count on him to be consistent, a fact that led him to being an outsider when the steroid problem reared its head in the late 1990s and the 2000s. In fact, Burk unleashes some rare criticism of Miller in the book, pointing out that baseball had to do something about PEDs in order to maintain good will with its fan base. Miller died in 2012 at the age of 95, equal parts confident, articulate and defiant until the end.
Burk had several long interviews with Miller for the book, and he also did a few other interviews as well as mined print sources for information. There aren't too many fresh quotes from outsiders here that may have added some perspective, but this still is a substantial biography.
Books on the business side of sport can be a tough sell for many. They only want to know about what happens between the lines. Still, off-field developments in baseball over the half-century are interesting in their own light, and have influenced the game greatly. Those wishing a course in how we got to where we are now will find "Marvin Miller - Baseball Revolutionary" quite helpful in that sense.
January 12, 2019
The author takes you through Marvin Miller’s life and while doing so you not only get a look at the history of baseball, but also of our country. From the time he goes to work for the government right before the beginning of WWII, to the end of the war. He takes you through the history of unions and how politicians would use the scare tactics of communism saying that if you belonged to a union you were against American. Not realizing that pay and conditions had gotten worse after the war and that your employer could fire you for any reason. Working for the steel union first gave him an inside look into how a union should be run right. And it was until the sixty’s when one of their president’s passed away and in fighting began to change the union. By 1966 looking for change he was asked by a group of ball players if he would come and take charge of their union. Growing up loving baseball and looking for a new challenge he accepted. Mainly what the first players were upset about was that the owners were going to reduce their payment to the players insurance and retirement fund. In place and in charge of the players union was someone the owners put in place. By 1966 the players wanted to be represented by someone they wanted. The author takes you this time when the owners would threaten the players when the vote came to take place and by the time Marvin Miller was voted in some of the player reps were traded or out of baseball. By 1968 he negotiated their first contract and raised which raised minimum salary from 6,000 to 10,000. In 1970 arbitration was added to the contract. There was the Flood fight in court about free agency. In 1972 the strike was because the owners did not want to increase player pension funds. Then in 1974 when Charley Finley failed to make a $50,000 payment into an insurance annuity that was called for in Catfish Hunter’s contract MLBPA went to arbitration, and the arbitrator ruled he could be a free agent. Also in 1974 Andy Messerschmidt and Dave McNally had their contracts automatically renewed by their teams, the MLBPLA supported them by challenging the reserve clause which teams had been use to bind players to one team. In December of 1975 an arbitrator ruled in favor of the players and free agency was born. Then the author takes you through the rest of his time there to his retirement. Also his win against the owners over collusion and other cases against the owners. What I really thought was interesting was how he was able to renegotiate endorsement deals first with coke a cola and with Topps baseball cards for player likeness. The baseball cards with Topps turned out to be huge, for they were really paying nothing for the players photos who were ordered by the owners to show up for picture day. Overall this is a very good book and though I remembered certain things happening this gives you the behind the scenes look. I still cannot believe though that he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, which I think is totally wrong, but that is for another day. A very good book. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
March 4, 2015
Much more complete and thoughtful than Miller's autobiography. Much material on his pre-baseball days and his commitment to labor issues and the left. Good at getting behind the calm, logical front Miller presented to the world.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews