Former Commissioner Kuhn dies

03/15/2007 5:25 PM ET

Former Commissioner Kuhn dies
Presided during early free agency, game's economic upheaval

By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com

Bowie Kuhn, the Major League Baseball Commissioner who presided over the dawn of free agency and the end of the reserve system, died Thursday. He was 80.

Kuhn died at St. Luke's Hospital following a short illness, his spokesman, Bob Wirz said.

Kuhn's tenure, from 1969-84, was the most tumultuous economically in Major League history. His name will be forever linked with Marvin Miller, the first full-time executive director of the MLB Players Association, which came to prominence during the 1970s.

Kuhn, at 44 years old, was the youngest man ever to be elected Commissioner.

During his years in office, Kuhn fought against overturning the reserve clause in the basic player contract, which was used by owners to bind players to their respective teams. Curt Flood took MLB to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the legality of that clause, and although he lost the case, the high court put baseball on notice that the practice was a restraint of trade.
But by 1977, an arbiter had ruled in favor of the union and abolished the reserve clause, ushering in the era of free agency. The average salary nearly tripled -- from $51,501 in 1976 to $143,756 in 1980. This past year, it was a record $2.8 million.

"My wife, Sue, and I are terribly saddened by the passing of Bowie Kuhn," current Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "He was a close friend, a respected leader, and an impressive figure in all ways. He led our game through a great deal of change and controversy. Yet, Bowie laid the groundwork for the success we enjoy today. He brought us expansion, night World Series games, and greater national television exposure."

Kuhn battled with owners and players alike, suspending Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner for his illegal contributions to President Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign and swatting irascible A's owner Charlie Finley by negating the 1976 multi-million-dollar sales of players Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to Boston and Vida Blue to the Yankees, citing the Commissioner's power to rule "in the best interest of baseball."

Under his watch, the owners and the union battled incessantly. A work stoppage came as part of every collective bargaining season, culminating in the 1981 strike that took a 50-day, 171-game chunk out of the regular season and split it into halves.

He also barred Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays from employment in baseball for their associations with an Atlantic City, N.J., casino.

Ultimately, the support for Kuhn eroded after the 1981 strike as the owners kept losing ground to the players. In 1982, a group of owners organized a movement to push Kuhn out of baseball. The end came a year later when they refused to extend his contract, opting instead to hire Peter Ueberroth, who had just concluded a successful tour as head of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Committee.

He has since been succeeded by Bart Giamatti, who passed away in office in 1989; Fay Vincent; and Selig. Selig, 71, took over as the interim Commissioner in Sept. 1992, and has been in the job ever since.

"All of baseball mourns [Kuhn] and I have asked all clubs to observe a moment of silence and fly their flags at half mast in his honor," Selig said. "My condolences and sympathies go out to Luisa, to their children and to their legion of friends and admirers."

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.