KV on Metro Focus

Watch Manhattan's Knickerbocker Village still suffers post Sandy on PBS. See more from MetroFocus.

From November, 14, 2012

Who's Almost Who In Knickerbocker Village History: Marvin Miller

Miller died recently. Truly a great man, even if he rooted for the Dodgers and not the Yankees. At the beginning of WW2 his dad was working on Division Street near Chatham Square. He probably knew Bruce and Nancy Bueller's grandfather, Ruben who had a store at number 5 Division

Marvin Julian Miller was born in the Bronx on April 14, 1917, and grew up in Flatbush rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His father, Alexander, was a salesman for a clothing company on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, and as a youngster Marvin walked a picket line in a union organizing drive. His mother, Gertrude Wald Miller, who taught elementary school, was a member of the New York City teachers union.

from the john sterling blog 10 things school children should know about the late Marvin Miller 1. In 1966, when he formed the MLB Players' union, the average salary was a stinking $19,000. 2. Over the last 20 years, he was consistently screwed out of being elected to the Hall of Fame by rigged committees of bitter owners and toadie sportswriters. 3. Joe Morgan once said, of Miller's exclusion from the Hall: "They should vote him in and then apologize for making him wait." 4. Before taking over the Players Union, he worked with the Machinists, the UAW and the Steelworkers. 5. In his first bargaining agreement in 1968, he increased the MLB minimum salary from a pitiful $6,000 to $10,000. 6. That was the first minimum salary increase in two decades. 7. He seized on the fact that Charlie Finley had welched on Catfish Hunter's contract, freeing him to sign with the Yankees. 8. He recognized that too many free agents at once would drive down the value of players; thus, he set up a system where only a few would hit free agency each year. 9. At the end, Miller grew fed up with the votes for Cooperstown. He said, "At the age of 91, I can do without farce." 10. He led his union through three strikes and two lockouts. The final record: 5-0.