Miller gets another chance to land in Hall

Marvin Miller sat at a table in a Manhattan delicatessen, enjoying a beer and some tongue.

“Hey Miller!” an acquaintance yelled as he walked down a cramped aisle. “You in the Hall of Fame yet?”

Not yet. But maybe come today.

The Hall of Fame’s latest revamped Veterans Committee announces its vote today, and Miller is among 10 on the executives/pioneers ballot. When all Hall of Famers were on the committee, he fell 10 votes shy in February. But with the format change that makes a majority of the panel people with management ties, it’s hard to tell how he will fare.

Putting the former players union executive director in the Hall would be baseball’s equivalent of Romanov descendants erecting a statue of Lenin in the living room. But he understands why the Hall wants executives to consider former officials, even though he calls the format “not quite kosher.”

“What makes sense for that makes no sense at all when you talk about me, because they’re not my peers, it’s as simple as that,” the 90-year-old said. “But I understand the dilemma. What’s the solution? They’re going to appoint a committee just for me? That’s ridiculous. While I think it’s an eminently unfair and unbalanced playing field, I understand it. It makes a certain amount of sense.”

When the man called by some the players’ Moses was hired as executive director of their union in 1966, the average salary was $19,000. But he overturned the reserve clause in 1975 and changed all team sports.

When he retired at the end of 1982, the average salary was $241,000. Now it’s pushing $3 million.

•Second baseman Kaz Matsui finalized a $16.5 million, three-year contract with the Houston Astros.

Miscellany

Coach Knight OK

Texas Tech coach Bob Knight is feeling better, a day after leaving a game at halftime because he was feeling ill with flu-like symptoms, his son Pat Knight said.

Bob Knight isn’t expected to miss any practices or games.

Knight left at halftime of the Red Raiders’ 70-66 loss to Centenary on Saturday in Bossier City, La.

•James Blake defeated Dmitry Tursunov 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 and the United States wrapped up its Davis Cup victory 4-1 over Russia at Portland. Igor Andreev gave the Russians their only win in the final by defeating Bob Bryan 6-3, 7-6 (4) earlier in the day, after the U.S. had already clinched the title for the first time in 12 years.

•Daniel Albrecht of Switzerland won a World Cup giant slalom at Beaver Creek, Colo., for his second victory in four days.

•There is a good chance overall World Cup champion Aksel Lund Svindal will be sidelined for the season because of a serious crash during downhill training earlier this week at Beaver Creek, Colo.

•Martina Schild of Switzerland won the opening women’s super-G of the World Cup season at Lake Louise, Alberta. American Lindsey Vonn – formerly Kildow – crashed during the race, but skied down on her own.

•Japanese men’s figure skater Daisuke Takahashi won the NHK Trophy to close out the Grand Prix series at Sendai, Japan.

•Russia qualified for the Beijing Olympics at the expense of the United States with a five-set victory at the men’s volleyball World Cup at Tokyo.