BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Vincent Is Victimized by Hypocrisy

It is presumed that the major league owners will begin their evaluation of Commissioner Fay Vincent’s performance Thursday in Chicago with an evaluation of their own performance.

It is presumed that any attempt to remove Vincent from office will be made only after several owners agree to step down.

Dodger owner Peter O’Malley noted the other day that you can’t name an issue in which Vincent’s involvement hasn’t raised concern among the owners, but how many times have the owners--unable to find solutions by themselves--requested his help and involvement only to criticize the result?

Is there a measure of hypocrisy here, or what?

Acknowledged George W. Bush Jr., the owner of the Texas Rangers, “If you’re going to ask someone to adjudicate, you should be willing to live with his decision.”

But that hasn’t happened. Consider:

--Realignment: Vincent is being sued by the Chicago Cubs for ordering National League realignment, but he used his “best interest of baseball” power only after several league clubs urged him to, believing realignment made economic and geographic sense.

--Expansion: American League clubs aren’t happy with their $42-million slice of the $190-million expansion income, and National League clubs aren’t happy that the American got any of it. Vincent laid out the terms only after a committee of owners from both leagues was unable to come up with a solution and turned to the commissioner in desperation.

--Labor: Many owners--in violation of the Major League Agreement, which says a commissioner’s powers cannot be diminished during his term of office--are still looking for ways to remove Vincent from labor negotiations. The fear is that if they reopen collective bargaining talks in December, he will again intercede with a more conciliatory position that would undermine their hard-line attempt to change the economic structure. Vincent became involved in the last talks only after Milwaukee Brewer owner Bud Selig, then president of their Player Relations Committee, asked for his assistance.

--Superstations: The Atlanta Braves, New York Mets and Cubs are all fighting Vincent’s bid to get Congressional help in curtailing superstation intrusion into smaller markets. Again, Vincent is simply the voice for several of those small-market teams that have asked for his help in limiting cable access.

--Steinbrenner: It has become clear that many clubs did not want George Steinbrenner reinstated as the New York Yankees’ general partner and have argued that Vincent can’t reinstate Steinbrenner without reinstating Pete Rose. There may be some bottom-line validity to that, but there is a major difference to this point. Steinbrenner asked for reinstatement; Rose hasn’t.

No commissioner can satisfy all of his constituents all of the time, but that might not mean much Thursday. Does the opposition have enough votes to issue a meaningful statement of no confidence in Vincent? Jackie Autry, wife of Angel owner Gene Autry, said the other day that a strong majority of the 28 teams was dissatisfied with his leadership.

However, sources close to the commissioner say Vincent’s own list includes 11 clubs in support of him, five in the middle and leaning his way, and 12 against him. The breakdown:

Supporting Vincent: Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Montreal Expos, Toronto Blue Jays, Rangers, Mets and Braves.

Undecided: Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies.

Against Vincent: Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, Brewers, Yankees, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants.

Vincent, according to the sources, is most disturbed by the opposition of San Francisco owner Robert Lurie and Cleveland owners Richard and David Jacobs.

In each case, Vincent said, their respective clubs met his criteria for moving and had his approval to seek buyers outside their current markets. The Jacobs brothers used that as a wedge to get a new stadium in Cleveland. Lurie used it to sell to a Florida group for $111 million, then joined the anti-Vincent coalition for a promise from Selig that the American League would support his sale.

The opposition--led by O’Malley, Autry, Selig, Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox and Stanton Cook of the Cubs--seems hopeful that a large enough show of strength and a large enough settlement offer might influence Vincent to step down.

However, he has insisted he won’t, that he is prepared to fight what he considers any illegal attempt to remove him from office.

The Major League Agreement states that a commissioner cannot be fired during his term. Several owners seem to believe that they have a legal basis for challenging that. But is that what they want? Do they want a legal fight that would still be going on in December, when they have to decide on reopening collective bargaining talks, and might still be going on in March of 1994 when Vincent’s term expires?

Do they want a legal fight that would require them, under terms of the Major League Agreement, to pay the commissioner’s attorney and court costs?

The uncertainty over Vincent’s status has already affected negotiations on a new TV contract and prompted a consortium of banks put together by Vincent to withdraw a $140-million line of credit.

“We’ve created a mess, but we may be headed for an even bigger mess,” said Phillie president Bill Giles, referring to the possibility of a court fight.

The bottom line on all of this is a timeless one.

The owners don’t know what they want in a commissioner--never have and never will.

Vincent has been nobody’s puppet. The major concerns among the owners are these:

They fear his arbitrary use of the “best interest” powers and fear that if he can mandate realignment he can order a club from one league to another or, God forbid, order the major-market teams to accept revenue sharing.

--They are determined to rework the compensation system and dump arbitration and fear his conciliatory intervention.

--They believe he lacks the personal touch of his successor and good friend, Bart Giamatti, and has shown no ability or inclination to get owners together on critical issues and work in partnership for a consensus conclusion.

Will he survive? Tough question.

The best solution was advanced the other day by the Rocky Mountain News: Let the 28 owners rotate serving as commissioner. Let them handle the calls and complaints from their colleagues and constituents.

They might then go running back to Vincent, asking his help, as they have been right along.

RICH GET RICHER

The contending Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers could have blocked the deal in which the American League East-leading Toronto Blue Jays acquired David Cone by claiming Cone on waivers in late July and early August, but lacked the late-season aggressiveness--and resources?--that have distinguished Pat Gillick’s tenure as the Blue Jay general manager.

The Orioles and Brewers insist that the Mets were still in the National League East race at that time and would have withdrawn waivers if Cone had been claimed. They also cited his imminent free agency and the more than $1 million that remained of his $4.25-million salary as major drawbacks.

“I recognize the fact that the Blue Jays have acquired an outstanding pitcher,” Baltimore General Manager Roland Hemond said. “It also indicates to me they felt compelled to make a trade to stay ahead of us, which is a credit to our club.

“The Blue Jays have been heavy favorites, but haven’t been able to put any distance between us. They obviously felt they needed another pitcher. That doesn’t mean the trade will work or that we’re conceding anything.”

Brewer General Manager Sal Bando said he was disappointed because he didn’t want to see the Blue Jays get any stronger.

“But the Mets and Dodgers illustrate that the best teams (most expensive, he seemed to mean) on paper don’t always win,” he pointed out.

Bando also said, “The reality of the situation is that we need hitting more than pitching,” adding that the deal was illustrative of baseball’s “uneven playing field” in that the Blue Jays could make a financial obligation that the Orioles and small-market Brewers couldn’t.

Gillick snickered at that.

“It seems to me that the Orioles just signed a guy (Cal Ripken Jr.) for $30 million and that the Brewers spent $12 million a year ago on a pitcher (Ted Higuera) with a history of shoulder problems. Those teams must be in better financial shape than we are.”

METS’ DIRECTION?

Cone, who suffered a 7-2 loss to the Brewers on Saturday, called the Mets’ decision to trade him “abrupt and rash,” but said he wasn’t totally surprised. He might have sensed it was coming since July 17, when he was allowed to throw 166 pitches in a 1-0 victory over the Giants. It was the fifth consecutive start in which he threw at least 134 pitches. No surprise that he was 10-4 before July 17 and 3-3 since.

“Maybe they don’t have any plans of bringing me back, so they’re going to squeeze whatever they can out of me,” Cone said after the 166-pitch game.

Perhaps, but it seems incredible that the Mets would simply assume that it was going to take a five-year contract to sign Cone.

It seems incredible that they wouldn’t have made some kind of contract run at a pitcher who has been dominating in the National League, who hasn’t missed a start in five years, who was 80-48 with them and has shown the tenacity to handle New York, which he has made his home and to which he may return as a free agent with the Yankees.

It is easy to picture Cone as the veteran ace of a retooled Yankee rotation that could include some of the most explosive young pitchers in baseball. Sam Militello has already arrived. Bob Wickman and Brien Taylor should follow.

The Mets, General Manager Al Harazin said, are retooling, too, but as Cone said, “The picture is very cloudy and I’m not sure they have the answers.”

The $42-million payroll will be cut, but the “heart and soul . . . the personality and guts” are already gone, Cone said. The “arrogant image” of the ‘80s has been coated with vanilla. Any player who was his own man has been weeded out, Cone said, adding that it began “the day they traded Roger McDowell and Lenny Dykstra to the Phillies for Juan Samuel.”

Now Cone, too, is gone from a once-proud rotation that has Dwight Gooden talking of retirement at 27, Sid Fernandez injured as often as he is active and Bret Saberhagen on the disabled list for the second time in 1992 and eligible to leave as a free agent after 1993.

“The end of an era,” Cone said.