Out of Commission

Bowie Kuhn, the man who got to kick both George Steinbrenner and Ted Turner out of baseball, has died of complications from pneumonia at the age of 80. Hank Aaron immediately announced he would not attend the memorial service. In 15 years as commissioner of major league baseball, Kuhn managed to avoid making any friends among players, overseeing 5 work stoppages even as the average major league salary went from $19,000 in 1969 to $330,ooo in 1984. He also had it in for the game’s greats, barring Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle from the game for working at casinos while skipping the game in which Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record because he had to be in Cleveland. No one has ever had to be in Cleveland. He had his battles with owners as well. In addition to his problems with Steinbrenner and Turner, Charles Finley dubbed him the village idiot after Kuhn voided the sales of star players Joe Rudi, Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers while Ray Kroc got fined for tampering, and en masse major league owners kept him out of the negotiations to end the 51-day work stoppage in the middle of the 1981 season. He didn’t do much for fans either, as it was his bright idea to schedule the first night baseball game in 1971, starting a tradition that keeps most casual fans from seeing the ends of Series games.

Kuhn also pissed off Tom by dying two years after he had de-listed him, costing him the solo hit.