Yankees Have a History of Troubles

We are working on our putting game in the fashionable office where we practice law when the receptionist announces that CBS has walked in.

“The client apologizes for not making an appointment,” she says. “But he is very upset. He says he needs help.”

“Tell the client that putting is 75% of the game,” we answer. “We had set aside the time for touch-up. Mention, too, that Jacoby and Meyers works cheaper.”

But assuring her that, in his frame of mind, cost is no item, he is admitted to the office. “What’s the gig?” we inquire.

“In 1964,” CBS begins dolefully, “we purchased 80% of the New York Yankees for $11.2 million. We later bought the rest of the stock, bringing our investment to roughly $14 million. We also promoted, at major cost to the city, a remodeling of Yankee Stadium.

“All the while,” CBS continues, “we are getting heat from priests of journalism, pointing out it is conflict of interest for a communications giant to own a team. Our coverage of news involving the Yankees could be biased.”

CBS swears to the nation it won’t tilt its news in favor of the Yankees, but it still is summoned before a Congressional investigating committee to explain its presence in baseball.

About that time, the team has begun to malfunction and, between its flameout and the finger-wagging over its ownership, CBS decides to unload.

And the purchaser? George M. Steinbrenner III, who heads a group that buys the Yankees for $10 million.

At the last estimate, the Yankees are valued at $200 million, tending to show the punishment the baseball commissioner has inflicted on George by forcing him to sell off enough stock to reduce his interest below 50%.

For making a farce of the pastime, upsetting the multitudes who love the Yankees and bowing out under a cloud, suspected of slipping money to a gambler for scam on a player George is trying to nail, our knightly owner will come away with a multimillion-dollar gain.

“That will teach you a lesson you won’t soon forget,” the commissioner can say.

We ask our client, CBS: “So what does this have to do with your visit here?”

“It is our feeling,” he responds, “that we have a lawsuit against Congress, baseball and all those making our life so miserable over conflict of interest, causing sale of the Yankees prematurely.”

“Were you in conflict of interest?” CBS is asked.

“What we were doing was considered so reprehensible,” he answers, “that the Tribune Company later comes along and buys the Chicago Cubs. No protest is offered, much less a Congressional hearing. The Tribune Company not only owns the Cubs but newspapers that report on them. It also has the TV, radio and cable interests that put the games on the air.”

“Everyone likes a tidy package,” we say.

CBS: “Taft Broadcasting bought the Philadelphia Phillies. Ted Turner bought the Atlanta Braves and Hawks. For a spell, a newspaper in Cincinnati owned a piece of the Reds and the Bengals.

Our client suppresses some strong emotions.

“For all the years John Fetzer owned the Detroit Tigers,” he goes on, “what station did the broadcasting? It was the station belonging to Fetzer. And what do the California Angels and the station broadcasting their games have in common? A distinguished cowboy owns both.”

“When you were shamed into selling the Yankees,” CBS is asked, “what were the conflict problems that were outlined?”

“We promised to cover the Yankees as we would the rest of the teams,” he answers, “but debunkers warned that when the Yanks fouled up, we would deliver wrist slaps, saving the haymakers for the others.”

“But how many broadcasters throughout the majors deliver haymakers to the teams they cover? If they do, the teams complain to the station. The station fires the broadcaster, unless the broadcaster works for the team, in which case the team fires him.”

“That’s why we think we have a case,” CBS replies. “We were discriminated against. The right to do a house job on baseball was just as much ours as it is for owners today. We were intimidated. And George Steinbrenner cashed in.”

“But don’t you feel George deserves a profit for the integrity he has brought to the game?”

“If we had offered to get out of baseball and turn over the Yankees to one of our affiliates, the commissioner never would have allowed it. You get a break like that only when you are being punished.”