Miller was head on the MLBPA in 1966 and got their first Collective Bargaining Agreement in 1968, followed by salary arbitration in 1970.

For Betty White for the Hall of Fame? Or is there?

Flood just wasn’t a good enough player. I’d put him in a Labor History Hall of Fame though.

Curt Flood doesn’t have the numbers.

I would probably have to agree that both Flood and Miller deserve to be in the Hall because of how they changed the game. Question: is there something in the Hall giving honor to what they did?

the only criteria should be is on the field play.

..along with this OT post, has me thinking about how well Little might have portrayed Curt Flood in any movie written to tell the story of baseball free agency. Both Flood and the sheriff were, after all, black men ready to sacrifice everything to promote schemes designed to make others rich and powerful. In fact, if you’re familiar with the movie, you may be able to spot some other interesting parallels between the 1870’s frontier town in "Blazing Saddles", and the landscape of traditional Major League Baseball in 1970, as well as the many similarities shared by the principal characters in both scenarios.

Mel Brooks, for example, would have been perfect as Steinbrenner. He would only have needed to reprise his "Saddles" role as the corrupt Governor ("Work, work, work…") LePetomane to achieve a spot-on portrayal of George. Meanwhile, the incomparable Harvey Korman could easily have handled the lead as Marvin Miller. True, his over-the-top performance as ruthless lawyer and land speculator Hedley ("That’s Hed-ley") Lamarr in "Saddles" would have required a little more restraint and sensitivity, but the similarities between Marvin and Hedley went beyond mere mustaches, and would have been more than enough to ease Korman into the role.

Like the uncomprehending residents of the little town in "Saddles" about to be swindled out of their land, baseball fans in 1970 had grown accustomed to an environment that generally served them well, as they enjoyed the way the game was played prior to its transformation by Miller, his "union," the networks, and the player agents who followed in their path. At one time, most everyone involved – owners, players and fans – understood the restraint necessary to sustain baseball as a public trust that held an almost unique legal status as a secular religion. Like high clergy, most franchise owners knew they had to observe limits, respect their patrons, and generally avoid the temptation to exploit and capitalize every aspect of the game.

But just like the handful of greedy politicians in "Saddles," baseball always had a few owners (e.g., Walter O’Malley and The Boss) looking for the Main Chance, which only worked to the advantage of a major player and budding revolutionary like Miller, whose values and ethics were forged in the cauldron of contract negotiations representing steelworkers. To him, baseball’s extralegal traditions were sentimental claptrap to be ignored. There were great fortunes and reputations to be made, the public interest and the nature of the game itself be damned. In his 45 years in the public eye, I can’t recall a single instance where Miller showed humor on any subject, or respect and generosity to those fans and adversaries who opposed any of the changes he wrought.

Now, in his 90’s, he seeks absolute vindication from the baseball establishment and the general public that pays him tribute every time they send a check to the cable company. Long ago, he managed to conflate his struggle for wealth and power with the civil rights movement, and it could not have been a coincidence that he selected a black man like Curt Flood to spearhead the cause of free agency. At first, both press and public didn’t buy this ludicrous disguise for Miller’s moneygrab, but with the advent of countless sports media outlets that need to hype the modern game, Marvin has become a secular saint – a regular Jackie Robinson – while Curt Flood is now an established martyr.

Each, along with Steinbrenner, likely has a spot reserved in the Hall, and I’m not opposed, even to Miller’s selection, with this proviso: Right under Miller’s name and title, his plaque should read "Godfather of Pitch-Count Baseball," with a quote from a well-known Sinatra song at the bottom that reads: "Some people get their kicks just steppin’ on a dream."

Changed the face of the game, but not exactly sure that is was a good thing.
Jackie Robinson changed the game for the better.

Because I read the original article and found it interesting, but the back and forth here was even more interesting. I didn’t have a strong opinion about this before, but I now think that there should be a special category in the hall for people who changed the game forever. And yes, Steinbrenner should be in there and Flood, and Marvin Miller. Because, like any good business, there is the manufacturing of the widgets, and there is the political intrigue behind the scenes.