Once upon a time there were two very strong sports commissioners, Bowie Kuhn for MLB and Pete Rozelle for the NFL. Both were tough on players and owners, acting on behalf of what they called “the best interests of the game.”
Kuhn took on Charley Finley of the Oakland A’s and put the kibosh on selling off Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and Joe Rudi just prior to the beginning of free agency in 1974. Kuhn took on and suspended retired greats Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays when they took public-eye jobs with casinos. He endured player strikes in 1972 and 1981, and Kuhn took on and suspended the recently departed George Steinbrenner when the Yankees owner made illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election. Sometime after Kuhn’s stewardship, The Boss took another suspension from Fay Vincent when he hired some two-bit chump named Howie Spira to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield and his foundation. And let’s not forget the late Bart Giamatti banning Pete Rose in 1989 for gambling on baseball.
Rozelle suspended stars Alex Karras and Paul Hornung for the 1963 season for gambling on football, gently twisted arms among NFL owners on the way to network TV contracts, Monday Night Football, revenue sharing, a common draft and merger with the AFL, expansion, the world-wide spectacle known as the Super Bowl, and battled Al Davis in a protracted litigation related to Davis’ desire to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles (and ultimately back again to Oakland). He won a staring contest with Joe Namath in 1969 over the Bachelors III nightclub in New York City, and endured four player strikes (1974, 1975, 1982 and 1987). Rozelle set the table for Paul Tagliabue and exponentially increased wealth for the NFL, and ultimately the current stewardship of Roger Goodell and his platform of honoring the NFL badge.
This brings me to two high-profile people in yesterday’s news, NBA commissioner David Stern and George Steinbrenner.
Over the past couple of days, Commissioner Stern “looked into” the migration of LeBron James and Chris Bosh to South Beach and joining of forces with Dewayne Wade and the Miami Heat. Despite protestations from fans, owners, and members of the media, Stern found no wrongdoing or any hint of questionable antics as the balance of power potentially shifts to Miami and their new “Miami Thrice”-led roster. According to Stern there was no collusion or tampering involved and everything’s kosher.
Funny, in the grand scheme of things, is it really in the best interests of the NBA for two high-profile free agents to join another high-profile star on one team, especially after all three players openly discussed their long-term master plans for years? What would Kuhn say to this? What would Rozelle say to this? Well, we now know what Stern says to this? As long as the TV ratings and revenue keep looking good, no harm no foul, the perfect non-call of all time. But the NBA is losing billions each season, and it’s rather incredulous for Stern to fine Cavs owner Dan Gilbert $100,000 for ripping LeBron James in an email to fans and barely stating “I wish he hadn’t” with regards to James’ hour-long self-tribute on ESPN. I guess Stern believes as long as the players are rich, happy and unaccountable to owners, fans and the league brand all is well. Makes you wonder what exactly the best interests of the game are in the NBA.
What’s left to say about George Steinbrenner that hasn’t already been said since he first bought the Yankees from CBS in 1973 for $10-million? The Boss passed away yesterday at 80 years old from a massive heart attack, and for all his faults, that’s the appropriate way for George to go, as he had a massive heart for people in and out of baseball, as well as a massive desire to win. It’s been cruel to see the King of Bombast slowly slip away from dementia. His mind shouldn’t have to fade away. A man sometimes larger than life needs to go out with a bang, go out with the “big one,“ as Redd Foxx used to say on Stanford and Son, because for a mind that sometimes defied logic and good manners, The Boss mostly worked from his heart, sometimes from his gut, and always wore it on his sleeve with a Yankees logo.
Bill Madden of the New York Daily News said it best: George was part benefactor, part genius and part lunatic all wrapped into one. For all his charitable giving’s through his many philanthropic efforts, he also gave second and third chances to Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry as well as too many chances to Steve Howe. Did I always like the way George ran the Yankees? Not really, although who can argue with 11 AL pennants and 7 World Series titles in 37 years? But George spent and spent, as we well know, using the “greed over need” approach as he craved championship after championship. I grew up in a National League home, so the Yankees were the “other team” in my house. I’ve never hated nor loved the Yankees, but I respected them. When they made the World Series in 1976, and won four titles in five years during 1996-2000, you admired the grit of the team. But George changed the way baseball is done as a business, and while fans of other teams may whine about him outspending and buying pennants and World Series titles, the fact remains Steinbrenner’s way worked and dared other owners to match his efforts.
But what I’ll remember George Steinbrenner most for is the stupefying things – hiring AND firing Billy Martin five times, firing Yogi Berra 16 games into the 1985 season. And I’ll remember him for the comical things – Miller Lite Beer commercials with Billy Martin, and hosting Saturday Night Live, parodying himself. George may have been the Lion that roared around Yankee Stadium, but he made baseball operations in the Bronx a lot more fun.
Maybe MLB will finally find its backbone and install a new commissioner who doesn’t act like a lackey for the owners, and maybe the economics of baseball will reconfigure to a more sane fiscal level, but I do hope we have a few more owners like George down the road. For the best interests of the game, we need more owners who bleed their team colors and do whatever it takes to try and win every season.
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