Baseball

Commissioner Fay Vincent said that before he would consider an application for reinstatement by George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees’ owner would have to agree to pay baseball’s legal fees from their two-year dispute.

“Baseball people are not allowed to sue the commissioner,” Vincent said. “When you sue the commissioner, you pay his legal fees.”

Vincent estimated the fees were about $1 million from defending three lawsuits involving Steinbrenner.

Robert Nederlander’s resignation as the Yankees’ managing general partner is effective Wednesday, and Yankee partners said they would like to nominate Steinbrenner as the replacement.

Steinbrenner agreed on July 30, 1990, to quit as managing general partner and bar himself from the team’s day-to-day business after Vincent had intended to suspend him because of his $40,000 payment to gambler Howard Spira.