Fay's move shot down in 'best interest of baseball'
COATESVILLE -- Just who does Fay Vincent think he is, anyway?
Perhaps baseball's most dictatorial commissioner since Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Vincent certainly has been making enough decisions in the "best interest of baseball" lately.
Week two of those decisions met a brick wall Thursday with a federal judge's decision on his realignment of the National League and the Steinbrenner thing, and it's about time someone put a stop to King Fay.
A federal judge ruled Vincent overstepped his bounds by overruling the Cubs' veto of realignment.
Vincent used Article VII, which gives the commissioner the right to resolve disputes between clubs that had no other means of resolution, to justify his decision but the National League constitution provides a resolution to the situation.
The National League constitution clearly states that all teams involved in a switch between divisions must approve of the realignment.
The Cubs did not approve.
Vincent claimed his decision was made in the "best interest of baseball", but a simple look at the numbers shows how much his decision would have hurt the Cubs, and ultimately, Chicago.
Beyond Cub claims of the disruption of classic rivalries that will "inconvenience" the fan -- an issue which can be considered fairly trivial -- there is a large amount of revenue at stake for the Tribune Co., which owns the Cubs.
Later starting times on the west coast, where the Cubs would play a majority of their schedule if realignment went through, would decrease the amount of advertising money that WGN, the Tribune Co.'s superstation, could bring in.
That might seem to be th wrong reason to keep things they way they are, but let's face it, if the Tribune Co. can't make enough money to keep the Cubs, they'll sell. Any buyer will see keeping the team in Chicago is a financial time-bomb and move it.
And that is what will "inconvenience" fans the most, as well as the city of Chicago, which gains millions of dollars of revenue each year from tourists who come to see the Cubs and old Wrigley Field.
Three cheers to U.S. District Judge Suzanne B. Conlon, who ruled that the commissioner's powers were not unlimited, and may have saved National League baseball in Chicago.
Vincent was "disappointed" with the decision.
Poor baby!
At one time baseball's biggest crybaby was the immortal Jose Canseco, but since Jose stopped scoring -- both on the field and off -- someone else has taken over the title.
I guess it was just bad timing that George Steinbrenner was reinstated the same week the court decision came down on realignment.
Not that I'm a fan of George, but there's no evidence to keep him suspended anymore. A case was dropped and a lifetime ban was lifted for lack of evidence.
Now, maybe Fay in his infinite wisdom will grant Pete Rose the reinstatement he so richly deserves. There was never any evidence of his betting on baseball, either...
... And if he does -- of course, Pete must apply for reinstatement first -- maybe he'll remember Shoeless Joe, too.
A .300-plus batting average in the World Series tells of his involvement with the gamblers in 1919.
After all, Denny "Drugmeister" McLean was never banned, and he served a long prison sentence. There was proof of that.
And George himself never served a lifetime ban for his illegal campaign contributions to President Nixon in the 1970s.
But "Fay the Great" has a reputation to uphold. And the Cubs might still be the next victim of baseball's reigning monarch.
Let's hope Vincent runs out of time before the major leagues do.
Chris Six's column appears weekly in The Daily Record.
COATESVILLE -- Just who does Fay Vincent think he is, anyway?
Perhaps baseball's most dictatorial commissioner since Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Vincent certainly has been making enough decisions in the "best interest of baseball" lately.
Week two of those decisions met a brick wall Thursday with a federal judge's decision on his realignment of the National League and the Steinbrenner thing, and it's about time someone put a stop to King Fay.
A federal judge ruled Vincent overstepped his bounds by overruling the Cubs' veto of realignment.
Vincent used Article VII, which gives the commissioner the right to resolve disputes between clubs that had no other means of resolution, to justify his decision but the National League constitution provides a resolution to the situation.
The National League constitution clearly states that all teams involved in a switch between divisions must approve of the realignment.
The Cubs did not approve.
Vincent claimed his decision was made in the "best interest of baseball", but a simple look at the numbers shows how much his decision would have hurt the Cubs, and ultimately, Chicago.
Beyond Cub claims of the disruption of classic rivalries that will "inconvenience" the fan -- an issue which can be considered fairly trivial -- there is a large amount of revenue at stake for the Tribune Co., which owns the Cubs.
Later starting times on the west coast, where the Cubs would play a majority of their schedule if realignment went through, would decrease the amount of advertising money that WGN, the Tribune Co.'s superstation, could bring in.
That might seem to be th wrong reason to keep things they way they are, but let's face it, if the Tribune Co. can't make enough money to keep the Cubs, they'll sell. Any buyer will see keeping the team in Chicago is a financial time-bomb and move it.
And that is what will "inconvenience" fans the most, as well as the city of Chicago, which gains millions of dollars of revenue each year from tourists who come to see the Cubs and old Wrigley Field.
Three cheers to U.S. District Judge Suzanne B. Conlon, who ruled that the commissioner's powers were not unlimited, and may have saved National League baseball in Chicago.
Vincent was "disappointed" with the decision.
Poor baby!
At one time baseball's biggest crybaby was the immortal Jose Canseco, but since Jose stopped scoring -- both on the field and off -- someone else has taken over the title.
I guess it was just bad timing that George Steinbrenner was reinstated the same week the court decision came down on realignment.
Not that I'm a fan of George, but there's no evidence to keep him suspended anymore. A case was dropped and a lifetime ban was lifted for lack of evidence.
Now, maybe Fay in his infinite wisdom will grant Pete Rose the reinstatement he so richly deserves. There was never any evidence of his betting on baseball, either...
... And if he does -- of course, Pete must apply for reinstatement first -- maybe he'll remember Shoeless Joe, too.
A .300-plus batting average in the World Series tells of his involvement with the gamblers in 1919.
After all, Denny "Drugmeister" McLean was never banned, and he served a long prison sentence. There was proof of that.
And George himself never served a lifetime ban for his illegal campaign contributions to President Nixon in the 1970s.
But "Fay the Great" has a reputation to uphold. And the Cubs might still be the next victim of baseball's reigning monarch.
Let's hope Vincent runs out of time before the major leagues do.
Chris Six's column appears weekly in The Daily Record.