Donald Fehr, director of the Major League Players Association since 1983, announced his resignation Monday and will be replaced by general counsel Michael Weiner.
Fehr will step down no later than March 31, 2010, giving nine month' notice.
"We hate to see Don go," said veteran agent Larry Reynolds, "but without question Michael Weiner will be an exceptional leader, and he has demonstrated those qualities through the years.
"He's smart. Courteous. And has a high level of integrity."
Weiner, who has worked for the players association since 1988, may have been the most powerful man in baseball that basked in relative anonymity.
"I've never had to use an alias on the road," Weiner once told USA TODAY. "I've never been stopped by a fan. No one knows me. I love it."
That figures to change overnight.
Fehr succeeded Marvin Miller as the MLBPA's head, and continued Miller's tradition of hard-line negotiating on behalf of the players.
That occasionally led to standoffs with baseball's owners, as the game was halted during Fehr?s reign by a two-day strike in 1985, a brief lockout in 1990 and a protracted work stoppage that began in August 1994 — resulting in commissioner Bud Selig canceling the World Series — and did not cease until April 1995.
Fehr and the union avoided a work stoppage in 2002, agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement with owners just hours before a strike date set by the players. Those negotiations were most notable for the fact that the union for the first time agreed to testing for performance-enhancing drugs.
What was supposed to anonymous survey testing in 2003 grew more controversial in recent months, when the positive results of superstars Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez became available to the news media.
In recent years, Fehr and Selig became targets for members of Congress and the news media for their inability to quell the use of steroids in baseball. Fehr was called upon to testify before Congress on multiple occasions the past four years.
Weiner, who has long been the likely heir apparent to Fehr, is the only attorney ever hired by the Major League Players Association without the least bit of experience. Fehr hired Weiner on the recommendation of Larry Fleisher, director of the NBA players association.
"Larry called me up and said, "You got to hire this kid,'" Fehr told USA TODAY two years ago.. " "He just graduated from Harvard Law. He's brilliant.'"
Fehr: "Sorry, Larry, I don't hire anyone without experience."
Fleischer: "I don't care. Hire him."
Says Fehr: 'Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky. I don't know anyone who has ever worked with him, for him, or with whom he's worked in the industry, that doesn't have the highest regard possible for him."
Weiner said he always knew he wanted to become a labor lawyer, and had a job offer in labor and employment, but he wanted to be in sports. Baseball was his passion.
"I've always been a fan of the game," Weiner said in his interview two years ago with USA TODAY. "I was a Yankee fan. I follow the game closely and still view myself as a fan.
"You know, when I first started working there, people said, "You won't be a baseball fan anymore. You know too much what's going on.'
"It's been the opposite. Knowing the players like I do enhances my enjoyment of the game."
USA Today
Fehr will step down no later than March 31, 2010, giving nine month' notice.
"We hate to see Don go," said veteran agent Larry Reynolds, "but without question Michael Weiner will be an exceptional leader, and he has demonstrated those qualities through the years.
"He's smart. Courteous. And has a high level of integrity."
Weiner, who has worked for the players association since 1988, may have been the most powerful man in baseball that basked in relative anonymity.
"I've never had to use an alias on the road," Weiner once told USA TODAY. "I've never been stopped by a fan. No one knows me. I love it."
That figures to change overnight.
Fehr succeeded Marvin Miller as the MLBPA's head, and continued Miller's tradition of hard-line negotiating on behalf of the players.
That occasionally led to standoffs with baseball's owners, as the game was halted during Fehr?s reign by a two-day strike in 1985, a brief lockout in 1990 and a protracted work stoppage that began in August 1994 — resulting in commissioner Bud Selig canceling the World Series — and did not cease until April 1995.
Fehr and the union avoided a work stoppage in 2002, agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement with owners just hours before a strike date set by the players. Those negotiations were most notable for the fact that the union for the first time agreed to testing for performance-enhancing drugs.
What was supposed to anonymous survey testing in 2003 grew more controversial in recent months, when the positive results of superstars Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez became available to the news media.
In recent years, Fehr and Selig became targets for members of Congress and the news media for their inability to quell the use of steroids in baseball. Fehr was called upon to testify before Congress on multiple occasions the past four years.
Weiner, who has long been the likely heir apparent to Fehr, is the only attorney ever hired by the Major League Players Association without the least bit of experience. Fehr hired Weiner on the recommendation of Larry Fleisher, director of the NBA players association.
"Larry called me up and said, "You got to hire this kid,'" Fehr told USA TODAY two years ago.. " "He just graduated from Harvard Law. He's brilliant.'"
Fehr: "Sorry, Larry, I don't hire anyone without experience."
Fleischer: "I don't care. Hire him."
Says Fehr: 'Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky. I don't know anyone who has ever worked with him, for him, or with whom he's worked in the industry, that doesn't have the highest regard possible for him."
Weiner said he always knew he wanted to become a labor lawyer, and had a job offer in labor and employment, but he wanted to be in sports. Baseball was his passion.
"I've always been a fan of the game," Weiner said in his interview two years ago with USA TODAY. "I was a Yankee fan. I follow the game closely and still view myself as a fan.
"You know, when I first started working there, people said, "You won't be a baseball fan anymore. You know too much what's going on.'
"It's been the opposite. Knowing the players like I do enhances my enjoyment of the game."
USA Today
