Marvin Milkes (August 10, 1923 – January 31, 1982) was an American front office executive in three professional sports: Major League Baseball, soccer, and hockey.
Although he drafted many veterans from the 1968 expansion pool, Milkes also chose younger players who would go on to long and successful Major League careers—including Lou Piniella, Mike Marshall and Marty Pattin.
Bouton wrote on August 26, 1969, after Milkes had traded him to the Houston Astros: "As soon as a general manager says ['Now I want to be honest with you'], check your wallet.
"[3] Unfortunately for Milkes, the Pilots' tenure in Seattle would be the shortest of any franchise in modern MLB history and Ball Four would be the team's lasting legacy.
The team was outdrafted by its expansion twin, the Kansas City Royals, and finished last in the American League West Division, winning only 64 games and drawing only 678,000 fans.
Dewey Soriano, the man who had won the franchise, couldn't pay the expansion fee and had to get help from former Cleveland Indians owner William R. Daley, who got almost half the stock in return.
This group, headed by Bud Selig, wanted to bring baseball back to a city still smarting over the 1965 move of the Braves to Atlanta.
With this in mind, Federal Bankruptcy Referee Sidney C. Volinn declared the Pilots bankrupt on March 31—seven days before Opening Day—clearing the way for them to move to Milwaukee.
With the move being approved on such short notice, Selig and his syndicate were compelled to retain Milkes and the new manager he had just hired, Dave Bristol.