Another Foul Schott

Regarding Marge Schott, the embittered and pitiable owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, we have two wishes.

First, we hope that the National League’s executive council will summon the resolve to suspend Schott again, as it has now apparently threatened to do, for her continuing, clear pattern of offensive remarks, her lack of remorse for those remarks and the dishonor she continues to bring to the national pastime. This time, the suspension should be coupled with a fine she can feel.

Following a lengthy meeting with Schott this week, the council said it will decide by next Wednesday what action to take against her. League officials reportedly have given her the choice of ceding day-to-day control of the Reds or facing a second suspension. Schott was suspended in 1993--barred from the stadium and control of the club--for the racial and ethnic slurs she seems compelled to utter and was ordered to take a sensitivity-training course. Neither took. Now it’s time for tougher medicine.

Our second wish? Reporters of course have the right to ask Schott questions. But we surely wouldn’t mind if, when she made these foolish remarks, the batteries in all the recording equipment just happened to fail.

Schott’s pathetic comments demean her. She should be saved from herself, much as baseball’s loyal fans need to be saved from her.