MacPhail: Vincent Should Stand Behind White

Lee MacPhail, former American League president, said Commissioner Fay Vincent should have stayed out of the dispute between National League President Bill White and the league’s umpires.

“In on-field matters of this nature, the league president has full and complete authority,” MacPhail was quoted as saying in Monday’s Philadelphia Inquirer. “The commissioner should have said, ‘I support Bill White 1,000% in this case,’ and left it at that.”

White criticized umpire Joe West for his ejection of Von Hayes of the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 22. West, umpiring first base, overheard Hayes complain to first-base coach John Vukovich that plate umpire Harry Wendlestedt made a bad call on a pitch.

White, West, and umpire’s union chief Richie Phillips met last week to settle the matter. After the meeting, West claimed White supported his action. White disputed the umpire’s version of the meeting and publicly criticized the ejection.

That’s when the umpires union asked Vincent to enter the dispute.