On February 4, 1969, 42-year-old Bowie Kuhn is named commissioner, succeeding Spike Eckert. Kuhn receives a one-year contract paying him $100,000. Major league owners turned to Kuhn after failing to agree on either of two other candidates, Mike Burke of the New York Yankees and Charles Feeney of the San Francisco Giants. The early favorite,…
On December 6, 1968, Commissioner William “Spike” Eckert, sometimes referred to as the ‘Unknown Solider’, resigns under pressure from the major league owners. National League attorney Bowie Kuhn is appointed commissioner on an interim basis. Eckert, the former U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, who served as the game’s fourth commissioner from 1965-68.
By a unanimous vote of the owners, retired Air Force Lieutenant General William Eckert becomes the fourth Commissioner of Major League Baseball, succeeding the retiring Ford Frick, who served 14 years in the position. The game’s unfamiliar new leader, who hasn’t attended a game in a decade, will quickly be dubbed in the press as “the Unknown Soldier.”
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