December 16, 2002
An Inconvenient Man
Back in 1992, then simply Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selign engineered the ouster of Fay Vincent, a man who has since become known as Major League Baseball's last commissioner. Later, Selig would ascend to the position himself, supported by a bloc of owners whose water he was willing to carry.
It's a decision Vincent seems determined to make Selig regret for the rest of his life. And Vincent, due to the circumstances surrounding his ouster, is in a unique position to do just that. Which is exactly why he's able to place a piece on the Op Ed page of the New York Times that's sure to make Selig choke over this morning's breakfeast.
It doesn't help that Vincent is able to crystalize the loyal opposition's position on Pete Rose's potential reinstatement to Major League Baseball in just a few paragraphs:
The Rose case is not about what is best or fair for Peter Edward Rose. The vital issue is what is best for baseball. The commissioner must act in the best interests of the game. Gambling on baseball by baseball personnel undermines the sport. The deterrent, the risk of lifetime banishment, works. Everyone in baseball knows with certainty that betting on a game in which you have an interest will lead to a lifetime ban. To dilute that deeply felt fear the present commissioner must conclude that all previous commissioners were wrong. After all, none of us was willing to reinstate Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Mr. Rose can be very likable. I remember when he came into our first meeting to discuss the gambling allegations. He arrived in a shiny green suit, and he charmed us. The public loved his headfirst game and, if the polls can be believed, overwhelmingly support his reinstatement bid today. They believe, as Mr. Rose has argued, that he has suffered enough and that he deserves another chance. Another chance to do what? To earn the seven-figure salaries managers receive today?
I'm sure in his heart of hearts, Selig thinks he's doing the right thing when it comes to Rose. Just don't look for baseball's loyal opposition to give him a free pass to allow him to do it.
POSTSCRIPT: Interesting column from the Chicago Sun-Times' Ron Rapoport on an unexpected obstacle to Rose's election to the Baseball Hall of Fame:
The news that baseball may make room for Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame after all is certainly a fascinating reversal of field, but here's a little wrinkle worth considering: Time's a wasting.
"The thing people haven't picked up on,'' Jack O'Connell, the secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, told me last week, "is that Pete only has three more years on the ballot. His first year of eligibility was 1992, and you only get 15 years. If he isn't voted in soon, do we change the rules? Do we turn him over to the Veterans Committee? I'm not sure.''
It's already too late for Rose to be elected this year--ballots arrived in the mail last week--and the New York Times has quoted a baseball official saying that if Rose is taken off the ineligible list he would have to serve a year's probation, which could keep him from being voted in next year, too. That means Rose wouldn't be eligible for induction until the summer of 2005, one year before his tenure on the ballot expires.
There's more. Be sure to read it all.
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07:10 AM