Interview with Bowie Kent Kuhn, May 12, 1977

Interview Summary

This is an interview with Bowie Kuhn, who was baseball commissioner from 1969 to 1984. In this interview, he talks about his relationship with former commissioner Happy Chandler. He contrasts the role of the baseball commissioner's office in 1977 and during the Chandler era in regards to team owners, the authority of the commissioner's office, the players' union, and radio and television contracts, also describing changes in baseball's structure at the major and minor league levels. He discusses the commissioner's role in the Professional Baseball Agreement between owners and players, the adversarial relationship between the commissioner's office and the team owners, and the future of baseball expansion. This recording also includes several segments from various baseball games.

Interview Keyword

Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Baseball Commissioner Baseball

Interview LC Subject

Baseball--United States Chandler, Happy, 1898-1991 Kuhn, Bowie, 1926-2007 Kuhn, Bowie, 1926-2007--Interviews

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.