I'm a big believer in labor unions ... to a point. The most effective labor unions in the country now are those representing some of the wealthiest people in the country - sports unions. It could be reasonably argued that sports figures would not be wealthy without the unions, true, but I also find it hard to believe that Alex Rodriguez would now be struggling to put food on the table without them. He might still be with the Rangers, but he'd be comfortable.
The blame does not lie entirely with the players unions, especially in baseball. It is hardly the players' fault that they had such far superior management and legal representation compared with the owners that they made hardly a single concession. Perhaps the one guy responsible for the power of the union - and therefore for free agency and huge salaries - is Marvin Miller, former chief of the players union.
Fay Vincent interviewed him as part of a collection of oral baseball histories he is compiling for the Hall of Fame.
(P.S.: The Giants beat the Dodgers.)
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