Executive Council Gets Baseball Rolling : Meeting Could Lead to Election of Vincent as Commissioner Today

The election of Fay Vincent as baseball’s eighth commissioner could come as early as today when the 26 owners, meeting with their respective leagues, are expected to consider a recommendation adopted by the executive council Tuesday.

The 10-member council, baseball’s ruling body when the post of commissioner is vacant, did not reveal its recommendation. In a statement read by American League president Bobby Brown, the council said that in deference to the rights of all the owners, most of whom will not arrive until today, the council will not disclose its decision until the full ownership can hear it.

However, a club owner and council member who declined to be identified said:

“Most of the things that you have written will happen are probably going to happen.”

That means the election of Vincent, deputy commissioner under the late Bart Giamatti and appointed acting commissioner by the executive council Sept. 2, the day after Giamatti, his close friend, died.

The only question seems to be: How long a term will Vincent be recommended for and ultimately elected to:

--The three years of an interim or commissioner pro tem?

--The 4 1/2 years remaining on his predecessor’s term?

--The full five years of a newly elected commissioner?

On any basis, Vincent’s selection requires three-fourths approval in each league.

The vote was originally scheduled for Thursday’s joint ownership meeting, but a commissioner’s office spokesman said Tuesday there it probably will be conducted during today’s league meetings, an attempt, perhaps, to give Vincent full authority over the joint meeting.

Vincent, 51, presided over the start of Tuesday’s executive council meeting, excused himself when the recommendation on his status was discussed, then returned to supervise a business agenda, he said, that he and Giamatti had put together.

The fact that an acting commissioner was allowed to supervise executive council business seemed a measure of Vincent’s solid status. Asked if he could reveal what transpired in the business phase of the meeting, Vincent provided a hint as to his future when he said:

“I would expect there will be a time we can talk about it, but not yet.”

The executive council is composed of league presidents Brown and Bill White, and four owners from each league: Peter O’Malley of the Dodgers; Bill Giles of the Philadelphia Phillies, John McMullen of the Houston Astros, Doug Danforth of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jim Campbell of the Detroit Tigers, Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox, Haywood Sullivan of the Boston Red Sox and George Argyros of the Seattle Mariners.

Argyros will yield his council seat today, providing the American League approves his recent sale of the Mariners, as expected.

Milwaukee Brewer owner Bud Selig, who headed the search committee that recommended the election of Giamatti and predecessor Peter Ueberroth, also sat in on Tuesday’s council meeting, but there does not seem to be that same search mandate coming from the owners. Nor are there any other known candidates at this time.

Said the Phillies’ Giles, alluding to the collective bargaining negotiations that are scheduled to begin this winter: “I think it would be bad timing to begin a search now. I can’t see going into labor negotiations with uncertainty as to who the commissioner is or his term of office.”

As a close friend and confidant of Giamatti, Vincent represents continuity in that office. He had complete knowledge of what Giamatti did and handled much of the negotiating that led to the settlement in the Pete Rose gambling case. Supporters of Vincent also point to his varied background as a lawyer and top executive with Columbia Pictures and Coca-Cola.