Center Field Shot 

History has not been kind to the fourth commissioner of Major League Baseball, retired Air Force general William D. Eckert.  It wasn’t just that he had no background in baseball; “Spike” Eckert was “obscure even within the Pentagon.”  Amazed at his appointment, one writer quipped: “Good God!  They’ve named the unknown soldier.”  A sampling of newspaper headlines captures the press’ shock at his selection from among 150 suggested candidates: “Eckert Surprise Commissioner Choice” (Chicago Daily Defender), “Baseball Takes Flier---Hires General” (Los Angeles Times),  “Out of the Blue” (New York Times).  Having decided to pass on baseball for the 1966 season, an admittedly sour ABC official ridiculed Eckert’s weak preparation for the post: “baseball goes off and hires this Neanderthal, who wouldn’t know Madison Avenue from Madison, Wisconsin.”  While the NFL was headed by the prototype of the television age sports commissioner, Pete Rozelle, MLB had picked a neophyte and an inarticulate one at that. A review of his short reign featured the following common complaint:

Eckert was disastrous as baseball’s leading spokesman, delivering speeches in a mumbling monotone.  Speech coaches advised him to use notecards instead of wading through text, and soon he was famous for shuffling the cards out of order and delivering spectacularly disjointed talks.

         Perhaps the owners only wanted a figurehead that could be easily controlled, but at a time when baseball was losing popularity, Eckert, labeled the “great stone face” during his Air Force days, was an unfortunate choice for the public face of the sport.  Appointed for a seven-year term on November 17, 1965, he would last only three.  Although his accomplishments as commissioner were as minimal as his time in office, on his watch, the first comprehensive national television contract commenced.  With it, “the grand old game” entered the modern television age.