Ueberroth Says He Will Not Return for a Second Term

Saying that he decided six months ago that the baseball commissioner should remain on the job for only one term, Peter Ueberroth announced Tuesday that he would not be a candidate for reelection when his five-year contract expires Dec. 31, 1989.

Ueberroth said that he would remain through a transition period to assist in the selection of a new commissioner and the 1990 negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement and television contract, as well as assisting in the forming of expansion plans. He predicted that expansion would become a reality in the early 1990s.

Ueberroth announced his decision at a press conference in New York. Later, speaking by phone from his Manhattan office, he said he would recommend to the owners that future commissioners be restricted to one term.

“If you do it effectively, you should not be beholden to any group--owners, umpires, anyone,” Ueberroth said.

In other words, Ueberroth was asked, an effective commissioner is likely to have bruised some feelings during his term.

“Yes, I think I’m in first place in that league, but so be it,” he said.

Not long ago, Ueberroth said of his possible reelection that he didn’t think he could receive the required support of a majority of the 26 owners. He reiterated Tuesday that he didn’t want to endure a popularity contest but said that he now knows he was wrong about his previous evaluation.

Ueberroth said that Carl Pohlad of the Minnesota Twins and Charles Bronfman of the Montreal Expos, obviously representing “well over a majority” of the owners, came to him during an owners’ meeting in San Francisco last week and asked him to accept a second term.

“I was pleased and surprised,” Ueberroth said. “I was intrigued because I really love the game, but there are too many considerations for me to change my mind and accept a second term.”

Pohlad said Tuesday that he had the unanimous support of the owners in asking Ueberroth to accept a second term. He said he was devastated by Ueberroth’s decision and would still attempt to talk him out of it.

Ueberroth, however, said his decision was firm and that aside from his conviction that a commissioner should serve only one term, he wanted to spend more time with his family. He said he has been longing to return to the West Coast and is convinced that he will leave “the institution of baseball” in good shape. “There’s the element of not being needed as much as when I first came in,” he said.

At that time, on Oct. 1, 1984, Ueberroth said that 21 of the 26 teams were losing money. Now, he said, 22 broke even or made money last year.

“The owners should be able to consider the future--expansion, what they want to do about TV--from a much stronger foundation,” he said. “Money shouldn’t be the problem that it once was. The clubs are now receiving income from a variety of sources. I have to feel good about the progress we’ve made in just about all areas.”

Bud Selig, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, and Fred Wilpon, co-owner of the New York Mets, have been selected to assist in the hiring of a new commissioner and to work out the details of the transition period. Bart Giamatti and Bobby Brown, the National and American League presidents, respectively, are expected to receive consideration.

Ueberroth said that he made his announcement at this time because baseball’s bylaws require a statement of the commissioner’s intentions 18 months before his term expires and because he did not want the game “to suffer from the situation in which I found it.”

His reference was to the three extensions that his predecessor, Bowie Kuhn, remained through while the owners fought over his fate and looked for a successor.

“I want a smooth transition,” Ueberroth said. “I want my successor to be able to live with the plans and agreements for the 1990s.”

Ueberroth, who headed the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Summer Games, insisted that he had no specific plans. He said he has passed up political opportunities and did not foresee a political career.

“I’m a little too brash, a little too blunt (for politics),” he said. “I seem to be able to run things well, and I’ll probably look for something I can run.”