Like him or not, Marvin Miller changed all professional sports by negotiating the first collective bargaining agreement in 1968 with MLB. All professional athletes owe him a big debt of gratitude. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8682184/marvin-miller-mlbpa-first-leader-dies-95 Marvin Miller dies at 95 NEW YORK -- Marvin Miller, the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, has died, his daughter says. He was 95. Miller died at his home in Manhattan at 5:30 a.m. ET, said his daughter, Susan Miller. He had been diagnosed with liver cancer in August. Under Miller's leadership from 1966-1982, the MLBPA achieved the right to free agency -- a victory that greatly affected baseball and all pro sports going forward. In 1968, Miller negotiated the first collective bargaining agreement in professional sports, one that increased the sport's minimum salary from $6,000 to $10,000. Among the other concessions Miller won from the owners was salary arbitration, which also resulted in better salaries for the players. He also is credited with improving players' benefits and working conditions. Despite his contributions to the sport of baseball, Miller is not in the Hall of Fame, a fact that many consider to be an injustice.
