A look at how Major League Baseball salaries have grown more than 20,000% the last 50 years

In 1966, when Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale held out from spring training rather than accept what they considered an unfair contract offer from the Dodgers, the minimum salary for a major league baseball player was $6,000.

On March 5, 1966 — with Koufax and Drysdale in the second week of their holdout — Marvin Miller became executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn. In 1968, Miller led the union in negotiating the sport’s first collective bargaining agreement.

The minimum salary immediately was raised to $10,000. After the 1975 season, the players won the right to free agency. A look at how the minimum salary and average salary has risen over the years:

Year - Minimum salary; Average salary

1967 - $6,000; $19,000

1970 - $12,000; $29,303

1975 - $16,000; $44,676

1980 - $30,000; $143,756

1985 - $60,000; $371,157

1990 - $100,000; $597,537

1995 - $109,000; $1,110,766

2000 - $200,000; $1,895,630

2005 - $316,000; $2,476,589

2010 - $400,000; $3,014,572

2015 - $507,500; $3,952,252

***These numbers are not adjusted for inflation.

Source: Major League Baseball Players Assn.