MLBPA leader to give lecture

Today, IU welcomes back one of the most despised yet relied-upon figures in all of sports: IU's very own Donald Fehr. \nFehr is the executive director and general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association, otherwise known as the players' union. Fehr, who graduated from IU in 1970 with a degree in political science, returns to Bloomington to discuss "Current Issues in Sports" during a lecture in the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union. The lecture will begin at 3 p.m. with a reception to follow at 4 p.m. at the Union's University Club.\nFehr serves as the players' chief negotiator in collective bargaining with the Major League owners, and currently, the MLBPA represents about 1,200 players. Fehr received notoriety and harsh criticism for leading the players in the 1994 "salary cap" strike that lasted eight months and resulted in the first cancellation of a World Series since 1904.\nAs the leader of one of the strongest unions in the nation, Fehr has fended off several attempts by the owners to halt the escalating salaries players earn and has recently taken flack for the union's stance on steroid testing. While many baseball fans and sports writers see Fehr as an obstruction to returning the game to its pristine state, the players themselves continue to thrive as Fehr, as any union head, puts his players' interests first.\nThe furor over the steroid controversy escalated to the point where Fehr was summoned by Congress to answer questions regarding the league's legitimacy concerns. \nFehr joined the MLBPA as general counsel in 1977 and was promoted to executive director in 1985. \nIn the mid-1970s, Fehr assisted the MLBPA's defense of players who challenged the legality of baseball's claim to the right to endlessly renew a player's contract, essentially binding that player to one team until the club decided they no longer wished to retain the player. \nAn independent arbitrator granted the players the right to "free agency" in 1975, putting an end to the perpetual renewal right clubs had used for more than a century.\nThe lecture is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences as well as the Varsity Club.