Time - Man of the Year/Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso/moy/092192/09219922.000

Text File | 1993-04-08 | 2KB | 38 lines

                                                                                THE WEEK  

SOCIETY, Page 20

A League of Their Own


Baseball's bosses are back in charge after Fay Vincent resigns


    Like a batter who glares steadily at the umpire after being
called out on strikes, baseball commissioner Fay Vincent waited
four days before submitting his resignation last week. The
owners of major league teams had earlier "requested" that he
leave. Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig took on Vincent's
duties. His executive council will select a new commissioner and
devise a plan for bargaining with the players' union this winter
-- a strategy that could lead to a 1993 spring-training lockout.

    Vincent, who shepherded the sport in a troubled year of
spiraling salaries and shrinking attendance, thought himself
uniquely able to determine "the best interests of baseball" --
which meant using his bully pulpit to intimidate players, ignore
the owners and realign teams against their wishes. He confused
himself with his job. So last week did his media apologists.
"The commissionership is dead," intoned the New York Times,
which had not said similar last rites over the U.S. presidency
when Nixon resigned.

    Before becoming commissioner, Vincent worked as a movie
executive. Selig used to be a car salesman. Somewhere between
the fantasy of the first job and the reality of the second --
between a field of dreams and a parking lot full of lemons --
lies the future of baseball. It will take more than a coup to
keep America's pastime from doddering past its time.