Steinbrenner’s Son Faces Hurdles to Job : Baseball: He must survive a series of votes to succeed his father. As few as four AL owners could join to block the appointment.

The path George Steinbrenner hopes to clear for his son to succeed him as general partner of the New York Yankees is not all that smooth.

Hank Steinbrenner, 33, is his father’s choice to assume the role that must be filled by Aug. 20, in accordance with Commissioner Fay Vincent’s ruling Monday that forces the senior Steinbrenner to relinquish control of the franchise as the penalty for paying $40,000 to a known gambler, Howard Spira.

Vincent has agreed to approve the appointment of Hank Steinbrenner, but there are other hurdles Hank must overcome.

The appointment must first be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Yankees’ limited partners. Upon their approval, the matter would be brought to the major league ownership committee, an eight-member panel to which George Steinbrenner had belonged. After a committee review, the 25 other major league clubs would vote on the appointment.

The requirements for passage are different in each league: In the National League, only a majority of votes (at least seven of the 12 clubs) is needed; in the American League, three-quarters (at least 10 of the 13 clubs other than the Yankees) must approve. As few as four nay votes in the American League would block the appointment.

“People rush to conclusions, but it’s not a foregone conclusion that Hank Steinbrenner will pass muster with the owners,” one baseball official said. “The ordinary course is a stiff process. This is not an automatic process.”

Questions concerning Hank’s qualifications for the job surely will arise. He worked for the Yankees on something of an intern basis in 1986. Since then, he has been the manager of the Kinsman Stud Farm, a 750-acre thoroughbred-breeding facility owned by his father. Hank lives on the Ocala, Fla., property with his wife, Joanie, and their daughter, Jaqueline. He would have to establish residence in New York City, which would be as simple as retaining a suite at a hotel. His father has done that the last few years at the Park Regency in Manhattan while maintaining the base of operations in Tampa, Fla.

With the Yankees, Hank sat in on meetings and worked closely with Woody Woodward, the general manager at the time, and special adviser Clyde King but had no official say in the organization. Among Hank’s contributions, his father said, was the idea to name Willie Randolph and Ron Guidry co-captains.

There was no word on when the limited partners would meet to discuss Hank’s nomination.

Said one limited partner, “We want to hear what Hank has to say and what he intends to do with the team. It’s not going to be a rubber-stamp deal.”

Perhaps not, but George Steinbrenner may hold too many cards. He has 55% interest, and his wife, Joan, is believed to have 5%. That would leave a need of only 7%--as little as two or three votes from the remaining 17 partners--for approval.

The ownership committee is chaired by Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox. Other members are the St. Louis Cardinals’ Fred Kuhlmann, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Bud Selig, the Chicago Cubs’ Charles Brumbach, the Houston Astros’ John McMullen, the Oakland Athletics’ Walter Haas and the Dodgers’ Peter O’Malley.

“The committee will take an objective look,” one member said. “In the last few situations, the committee worked hard to determine if the transfer of control was acceptable.”

It is the final vote of the clubs that will determine Hank Steinbrenner’s fate.

Philadelphia Phillies owner Bill Giles said he intends to keep an open mind.

“Lack of baseball experience won’t work against him,” Giles said. “The key thing is who are the people they will be bringing in, the general manager, that sort of thing. I don’t think we should decide for other owners who should be brought in as general manager. What we try to find out about a new owner is, ‘Does he have the common sense to hire the right people?’ Who could advise us are those familiar with the situation and with the candidate.”

Among those familiar are King and Cincinnati Reds Manager Lou Piniella, the Yankee manager during Hank’s brief tenure with the club. Both gave him glowing recommendations.

“This is a very dedicated young man,” King said from his North Carolina home. “He’s not real outgoing. He’s very reserved. He won’t volunteer opinions, but when he gives one he has the facts and the evidence to back it up. Those under him will work relaxed. He’ll make the workers do their job better.”

“Hank is intelligent and gets along well with people,” said Piniella, who was contacted in the visitors clubhouse at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium. “If I owned a club, Hank is the type of young man I’d want to run things. He’s diligent. He listens to people. He has been involved in the baseball outskirts. I’m sure once he gets acclimated to the day-to-day operation of the Yankees, he’ll do a terrific job.”

The question that remains is, will Hank Steinbrenner get that chance?