European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday september 2, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 19baseball Vincent Strong throughout a Long year by Ronald Blum a from Giamatti a death to the Bay area earthquake Rose and Steinbrenner investigations Fay Vincent has guided the game through what has been called a the toughest first year any commissioner Ever new York apr Friday sept. 1, 1989. The Start of a Long Lazy labor Day weekend. Fay Vincent was sitting on the sundeck of his Cape cod summer Home when the phone rang about 3 . Bobby Brown the american league president was on the line with word that Bart Giamatti was stricken with a heart attack. Within an hour Vincent would learn a by radio a that his Friend and Boss the baseball commissioner was dead. A year later it seems the sorrow and turmoil of that hot summer Day have come to characterize Vincent a first year in office As Giamatti a successor. And while his life As a behind the scenes Deputy commissioner ended abruptly his link to Giamatti lingers. Indeed the phrase a Bart and in still finds a Way of fitting into his conversations. A a year since Bart died a Vincent said sitting in his office earlier this week. A it does no to seem possible. A i lost him and i lost the fellow who was president of Columbia at the same time Dick Gallop. I lost two Guys that i was closer to than virtually anyone. Those were two big blows a Vincent said earlier this week. A Bart and i Hung out on All different Levels. And baseball was just one of the he paused. A you know i miss him a Vincent said last september that he was a willing to stick it out and perform because he knew Giamatti a Agenda. He was willing in effect to play Harry Truman to Giamatti a Franklin Roosevelt. Just eight Days before Giamatti a death the two had finished the Messy business of Banning Pete Rose for gambling. That Over they looked Forward to the Pennant races and world series. But on sept. 2, Vincent was made acting commissioner on sept. 13 the Job was his for 4 /2 More years. And on oct. 17, the world series became the earthquake series and Fay Vincent was front and Center at candlestick Park. A i think to some extent there was a problem of establishing ones own Persona and becoming recognized to be the commissioner a Vincent said in his soft spoken measured Way. A in one sense the Accident of the earthquake which happened very quickly after i became commissioner probably helped that in the sense it was a situation where i had to do something very visible and very important. A we got through it and i think in the process i became better known As the commissioner As opposed to Bart a Deputy. It was hard because in a Way we had done everything together. I think it was hard not to say a Bart and i a a Bart and in All the time when in fact Bart was the earthquake was Only the first test of Vincent a resolve and stamina. Next came a lockout that delayed Spring training and the Start of the season and the George Steinbrenner investigation. Even the rain delays at the All Star game and Hall of Fame ceremonies somehow came to be associated with Vincent a presence. He has conducted news conferences by candelabra earthquake in a new York hotel at 1 15 . Lockout in the lobby of a Manhattan office building Steinbrenner As bewildered tourists looked on. A is the last year Normal that a the question in be always wondered a he said. A that May be the Normal Pace he has no doubt whatsoever that Giamatti would Nave made the same decisions he has in the past 12 months. A there would have been some differences maybe in style a Vincent said. A certainly the major issues that we dealt with during the year he would have agreed with yet he said he never asked himself a what would Bart do a a a it a not productive because i done to know that that would help me make a decision. I tend to think that Bart and i fundamentally agreed on the principles what a important. We had the example of the Rose Case where we worked through that so closely. I know the areas where we might have disagreed a Little bit during the Rose proceedings. That was a Tough example m a difficult time and As a result i think Bart and i a a a on the one hand we came together and on the other hand we saw the differences in our of it is he Wasny to a lawyer and i was and therefore for me it was much easier to encounter litigation. Bart was like most human beings much More confused if you will by the whole Rose litigation and the layering. I think had Bart been alive during the Steinbrenner mess he would have found that difficult because it was so lawyerly. Whereas for me its somewhat Ftp a easier because his background was in business and Law Giamatti was a Renaissance scholar at Yale. Before Giamatti Vincent ran Columbia pictures industries and was an executive with coca cola co. He moves just As comfortably among movie stars As he does among baseball stars. A Candy Bergen made a great statement. I was with her one time at a friends House. I said to her a does it bother you that you Are so visible and people come up and ask you for autographs a and she said something in be never forgotten. She said a look Fay All my life in be tried to be a successful actress. I got to the Point where i was successful and Well known. How can i complain about people coming up to me when that a what i set out to do become visible and become a celebrity once you achieve your objective done to sit there and complain about she was very like Giamatti Vincent has a reverence for baseball that comes from being a lifelong fan. Giamatti did no to hide his passion for the red sox nor does Vincent conceal his Devotion to the Yankees. The 52-year-old commissioner has managed to visit every Ballpark this season schmoozing with his subjects during batting practice criss crossing the Field in his Fay Mobile. The Little Golf cart helps ease the pain of standing the result of arthritis and a spinal injury from his College Days. He relies on a Cane to support his 6-foot-3, 240-Pound Frame. A i was advised by people in baseball to go to Ball games to be a commissioner who was on the Field and knew the players and cared about the game within the lines. And i think i did that. I think the players know me the owners know me the people at the Field know me the groundskeeper know me. In a there. And i think they know that this administration cares a lot about the game of baseball As opposed to the business of baseball. A i guess what i really Learned is How important baseball is to people in this country How much they care about it. I travel around and people come Over to me and Tell me How important it is that i do this Job properly and How supportive they Are and How much they care about the game How often they come and what distances they travel. There a a Devotion to baseball that is just he said his Job has been easier since Steve Greenberg became Deputy commissioner this Winter a sort of Vincent a Vincent. Greenberg is a former agent and the son of Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg. A i must say when Steve came i really did no to know whether we would capture the same sort of remarkable relationship that Bart and i had but we have i think a Vincent said. A if anything he a a better Deputy than i was. Its been wonderfully successful from where i Vincent naturally attaches a special significance to the earthquake series saying the worst brought out the Best. After 11 Days the series resumed with a special ceremony before game 4. Red Cross workers and other volunteers threw out the ceremonial first pitch and the crowd at candlestick followed with an a Cap Pella version of a san there weren to Many dry eyes in the House. A the whole pregame period was very special. I think it will be very hard to find a moment that is As emotionally powerful As that one a he said. So How does he think he a done a if i do give myself a Grade ill do it privately a he said. A i done to think its Good to get into others Arentt nearly so shy. A a he a kept this ship on its proper course through some very very difficult times a said Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig who As chairman of the player relations committee has worked More closely with Vincent than any other owner. A no commissioner had a More difficult first year a he said. A that the game is still on its proper course and still transcends everything is a tribute to a at great sacrifice to himself because he has difficulty getting around he sat the Ballpark a said new York mets owner Fred Wilpon who flew to Hyannis mass., in his private plane and took Vincent to Martha a Vineyard the night of Giamatti a death. A the recognizes he a got to be a shirtsleeves commissioner. Talking to the people on the Field meeting the Middle management of baseball teams. He a experiencing it not receiving it. That a a sign of his dedication. That san Don Fehr head of the players association says a no one has made any pretence that he would have gotten the Job in the Ordinary course of events. I think that a year ago people would have viewed him As the Guy who stepped in when Giamatti died. People have that View if Vincent acknowledges anything its that he has come to be associated with trouble a the kind wrought by nature and Man. A they were teasing me this morning a he said dusting ashes off his shirt from his first Cigar of the Day. A they had a gnat infestation in Toronto last night and somebody said a How could that happen when you weren to there a i had nothing to do with the gnats in Toronto. In a
