The word was reasonable, and it was applied to Michael Weiner, over and over, long before he became the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

“It was almost ridiculous,” said Jim Duquette, a former general manager for the Mets and the Baltimore Orioles. “You’d be negotiating contracts with agents, or just talking shop, and you’d always hear it: ‘The most reasonable guy in the union, the guy with the best rationale, is Michael Weiner.’ Then they’d go on to explain how he thought about something, and you’d think, ‘Wow — this guy really gets it.’ ”

Weiner died on Thursday at his home in New Jersey, at age 51, after a 15-month fight with brain cancer. In January, at the baseball writers’ dinner in New York, Weiner received an award for his courage, an honor he shared with Duquette, who had donated a kidney to his daughter. Weiner, who has three daughters, acknowledged young Lindsey Duquette in his speech and deflected attention from himself.

“I kind of scratch my head — it’s much easier for me to do these days — at the attention paid to how I’m trying to fight my illness,” said Weiner, who had lost most of his hair by then. “All I’ve tried to do is live my life the way I’ve always lived it. All I’ve tried to do is to do my job as I’ve always tried to do it. The only thing that’s been different is the off-the-charts support I’ve received from so many people in the baseball community.”