
According to a report on ESPN.com, Donald Fehr will step down today as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players' Association, a post that he has held since 1985. (He was acting director of the MLBPA from 1983-1985.) Fehr has been a central figure in the labor relations strife and, more recently, cooperation between the players and team owners.
He spearheaded the players' successful challenge of collusion against free agents by MLB owners in the 1980s, and was the man in charge of the union during the players' strike that led to the cancellation of the World Series in 1994. More recently, he oversaw Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations that resulted in the first-ever CBAs without a stoppage in play (either a lockout by the owners or a player strike) in both 2002 and again following the 2006 season.