Something to consider when commenting on the dirty, dirty cheaters on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot: steroids were not invented in an evil lab underneath Oakland Coliseum in 1988 by Dr. Jose Canseco. They did not solely cheapen a record book that was pristine until the home run race of 1998. In…
Bowie Kuhn Essentials Born: Year: 1926 in Takoma Park, MD USADied: 3 15 2007 in Jacksonville, FL USAHall of Fame: Inducted as a Pioneer/Executive in 2008 by VeteransFull Name: Bowie Kent Kuhn Baseball is the only game you can watch on the radio. Join the community today and listen to hundreds of…
Dick Williams, who managed in Boston, Oakland, California, Montreal, San Diego, and Seattle, is elected into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Along with Bill McKechnie, another Hall of Famer, the fiery skipper is the only other manager to appear in the World Series with three different teams (1967 Red Sox, 1972-73 A’s, and 1984 Padres).
On March 3, 1984, Peter Ueberroth is elected commissioner of baseball, succeeding Bowie Kuhn starting on October 1, 1984. Ueberroth, the president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, will become the game’s sixth commissioner. Ueberroth will serve a five-year term before giving way to A. Bartlett Giamatti. Peter Ueberroth will receive compensation of $450,000,…
1983 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends convicted Kansas City Royals Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, and Jerry Martin, and Dodgers pitcher Steve Howe for one season without pay for their use of illegal drugs. The suspensions will be shortened by an arbitrator and lifted on May 15th. Former Royal Vida Blue, who was released during the season and is currently out of a job, is also suspended.
1983 – One day after taking a job as director of sports promotions for the Claridge Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Mickey Mantle is ordered to sever his ties with Major League Baseball by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Mantle joins fellow Hall of Famer Willie Mays as players banned from baseball by Kuhn for involvement with legalized gambling.
The National League owners block the re-election of Bowie Kuhn, thus ending his fourteen-year reign as baseball’s boss. Next year, the commissioner’s supporters will make a failed last-ditch effort to retain him, but he will be allowed to stay in his position to the end of the 1984 regular season, before being replaced by Peter Ueberroth.
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends Ferguson Jenkins as a result of the drug arrest last month. The suspension will last only two weeks before an independent arbiter surprisingly reinstates the Cubs right-hander.
The Mets are fined by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn as the result of disparaging remarks made against the Yankees by Jerry Della Femina, the president of the team’s advertising agency. The high-powered ad man, who is being paid $400,000 to develop a campaign to bolster the sagging attendance at Shea Stadium, made sarcastic comments about cross-town rival players Reggie Jackson and Bucky Dent, and was quoted to say their Bronx ballpark was in an unsafe neighborhood.
1980 – Hank Aaron refuses an award from Commissioner Bowie Kuhn honoring him for hitting his 715th home run. Aaron charges that baseball’s treatment of retired black ballplayers falls far short of what is needed.