‘Hardball,’ Fay Vincent Says of Leaked Papers : Baseball: Commissioner tells disappointment at release of transcript, points blame at Steinbrenner’s camp.

Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent, clearly irritated that a transcript of his hearing with George Steinbrenner was made public, strongly implied that Steinbrenner’s camp provided the leak. Vincent termed the maneuver “a hardball tactic.”

“I’m disappointed,” Vincent said, when reached at his Cape Cod, Mass., vacation home. “It’s unfortunate. It was not intended to be made public. I’m sorry that it was done.

“I will say that it was not done by anyone in my office or anyone under my control. We have kept confidential for four months all material in this matter. There have been no leaks of any of my material.

“First copies of everything went to Mr. Steinbrenner and his people. Now it gets into the press. Draw your own conclusions.”

Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Steinbrenner, said the Yankees owner had no comment. The commissioner’s office, meanwhile, made the entire transcript available to the media Wednesday night.

When Vincent was asked if he was 100% certain that the leak did not emanate from anyone in his camp, the commissioner said, “Yes, I am certain.”

Then, when Vincent was asked if he planned to speak to Steinbrenner about the matter, he responded, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

Vincent, however, said the leak of the transcript, much of which was printed in Wednesday’s later editions of The National, would not affect his decision on whether Steinbrenner acted against the best interests of baseball in his dealings with Howard Spira and Dave Winfield.

“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “There is nothing I can do. I will announce a decision as soon as I arrive at one. I’m working on it.”

Vincent is in the midst of a 10-day retreat to his Massachusetts vacation home. He intended to take advantage of the serenity of the setting to review the reams of information before him--the transcript alone is 372 pages--to confer with Deputy Commissioner Steve Greenberg, former Judge Harold Tyler and John Dowd, the Washington lawyer who submitted a report of the Steinbrenner investigation, and to deliberate on a final decision. That decision could be announced as soon as Monday, when Vincent is scheduled to return to his New York office.

But the leaking of the transcript clearly caused Vincent to be irritated, at least. That was evident in an edge to his voice. When he was asked about his personal dismay, Vincent replied, “I’m a realist. To use a baseball phrase, this is hardball. This is a hardball tactic. I can’t say I’m surprised.