Fay Vincent is my baseball commissioner. I do not want to fire him.
A lot of the guys who pay his salary want to fire Vincent. They think because they pay him, he should be their commissioner, just as they think baseball is their game. Baseball is my game; it is their business.
They are the ones who should pay Vincent because they are the ones with the money, except they think they can fire anyone they pay.
I understand why they think that. They are used to firing people when they are unhappy-managers, general managers, ball girls. It is what they do best. Owners have to own.
That is why they need a commissioner, my commissioner, the one who looks out for the best interests of baseball, my game. They need somebody they cannot fire.
Oh, they say, but what if he does not do what we want?
And I say that should be the first line of his job description.
The chief credential of Fay Vincent to become commissioner of baseball in the first place was that he was a pallbearer. Vincent was handy when his good friend A. Bartlett Giamatti died. The owners, swiftly and unanimously, offered him Giamatti`s job.
The haste of the owners (two weeks) was not as remarkable as their complete agreement on Vincent. Baseball owners calculate only their own selfish interests, and few of them would have known Vincent from Helmut Kohl. What they thought they were getting, I am not sure. Maybe another Giamatti, a man whose own qualifications seemed to stop at a blubbering eloquence about baseball. Poets are harmless and show well at parties.
Vincent gave few clues except to promise that his agenda would be Giamatti`s agenda.
Marge Schott of Cincinnati, I recall, explained her support that Vincent was ”for the integrity of baseball and all of that.” They weren`t ready for all of that.
They are surprised Vincent turned out to be my commissioner and not just theirs.
They are so disappointed they hired another commissioner, Richard Ravitch, put him in charge of their cynically named Players Relations Committee and paid him more money than my commissioner. They do not want my commissioner messing with Mr. Ravitch.
Mr. Ravitch`s job is to break the player`s union, to get rid of arbitration, even if it means closing down baseball, my game and their business. This probably will happen next spring. My commissioner cannot think that ruining baseball is in the best interest of baseball.
My commissioner can read a map. He knows east from west. This makes him overqualified for the job. This encourages the Cubs to find their own commissioner, a local judge. This is not in the best interests of baseball, my game, their business.
Baseball`s charm is disappearing. I want my commissioner to look at the designated hitter, interleague play, more day baseball, no more artificial turf, no more domes, quicker games, shorter seasons. This is what my commissioner should be doing. Instead, he is watching his back.
Players have their own commissioner, Donald Fehr. He is the sworn enemy of Mr. Ravitch, the owner`s commissioner. Animosity is not in the best interests of baseball.
My commissioner disciplines owners and players alike, kicks George Steinbrenner out of baseball, refuses to give seven-time drug loser Steve Howe another chance. This doesn`t make friends with either owners or players. That is why he is my commissioner.
My commissioner is baseball`s best chance.
