Bowie Kuhn Biography

Bowie Kent Kuhn, born October 28, 1926, served as the fifth commissioner of Major League Baseball from February 4, 1969, to September 30, 1984. He held the role of legal counsel for Major League Baseball owners for nearly two decades before assuming the commissioner position. Kuhn received recognition as The Sporting News Sportsman of the Year in 1983 and was later enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. After completing the V-12 Navy College Training Program, he attended Franklin and Marshall College before enrolling at Princeton University in 1945. He earned his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1950, where he served on the editorial board of the law review. During Hank Aaron's pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record in 1974, Kuhn became involved in a minor controversy, and he was notably absent from the game where Aaron surpassed the mark. His absence from the game was attributed to a previously scheduled speaking engagement with the Wahoo Club, a Cleveland Indians booster group.