BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AMERICAN LEAGUE

New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner was fined $50,000 by the American League for comments he made about umpires during his team’s playoff series against the Mariners.

The volatile Steinbrenner confirmed the fine Wednesday, saying, “It seems that everyone else can speak, without being fined, but not me.”

Steinbrenner was fined for his public reaction to umpires’ calls he disputed in the first two games of the series last Tuesday and Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. Steinbrenner was highly critical of the umpires and American League President Gene Budig’s position on the umpires.

Steinbrenner, whose fines have reportedly exceeded $600,000 in his 22 years owning the Yankees, cited ball-strike calls and safe-out calls as wrong and showed television replays to reporters.