Bye Bye Bowie

While I was growing up, Bowie Kuhn was the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. For most of that time, I highly admired the man, especially when he vetoed the Oakland A's firesale of three of its stars to the Yankees and Red Sox, because it was "not in the best interests of baseball." However, during my early adulthood onset of cynicism, I shared the critics' distaste for Bowie when he seemingly disappeared from the scene during the early '80s player strike.

For me, a more laughable moment in the Bowie culture was his reaction to Jim Bouton's bestseller Ball Four, wherein Bowie insisted that the incident where inebriated major league ballplayers kissed each other "didn't happen." Ah, the omnipresent, omniscient Bowie.

Nonetheless, Bowie was there. With the exception of the aforesaid baseball strike, he was always there for baseball and for this fan. Love him or not love him, Bowie will be missed.