Ten minutes before a Miami Beach press conference, called last week to announce the new commissioner of baseball, one reporter asked an official if the name that was leaked earlier was indeed the choice of the team owners. "Yes," the reporters were told, "it is Bowie Kuhn, but please, gentlemen, act surprised." They did—but it was no act. Sportscaster Red Barber's reaction was typical: "Who? I never heard of the man."
After two months of dickering and dallying, the owners of the 24 major league teams were in agreement on only one point when they met in Miami Beach: the...
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