When Bowie Kuhn became baseball commissioner in 1969, attendance at games was declining, labor disputes were flaring, and many teams were suffering from poor management and marketing. Fifteen years later, when Kuhn retired, the sport was flourishing. Kuhn had overseen tumultuous changes issuing from a challenge to the reserve clause, the 1981 strike, escalated salaries, free agency, and his controversial rulings on matters ranging from gambling to broadcasting.   In Hardball Kuhn reveals how the decisions were made and forthrightly challenges his detractors. The commissioner offers many colorful anecdotes and strong opinions about baseball's greatest legends from Jackie Robinson to Howard Cosell.