Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 22, 1994 TAG: 9403220097
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
During a contentious 2 1/2-hour session across the street from a spring training ballpark, executive council chairman Bud Selig repeatedly attempted to avoid direct answers to questions from Sen. Howard Metzenbaum and advanced a new theory about the powers of the commissioner.
"You don't have to be a genius, you don't have to be a Philadelphia lawyer, you don't have to be a Supreme Court Justice to understand that under this new agreement you have denigrated the position of the commissioner," Metzenbaum told Selig, the Milwaukee Brewers president.
Selig replied: "Senator Metzenbaum, I must say to you with all due respect, I disagree, and I disagree coming from a background in baseball. . . . That man has as much authority in this industry as any human being in the United States of America."
Owners voted in January to strip the commissioner of his "best interests" power over most business decisions, an authority that had been upheld in federal appellate court.
Selig testified several times that the commissioner - an office vacant for 18 months - still had broad power because of his authority to protect "integrity and public confidence in baseball."
"He has more authority in those areas than he ever had in the past," Selig said.
"I say BS," Metzenbaum replied.
Selig argued that the commissioner's power was a myth and cited the temporary restraining order the Chicago Cubs won against commissioner Fay Vincent to block National League realignment. The order was withdrawn in a settlement after Selig took power after Vincent's forced resignation on Sept. 7, 1992.
"There is no opinion in that case. No appeals court ever ruled on it. No future plaintiff can ever rely on it," Metzenbaum said. "You're trying to tell me that's a basis?"The Ohio Democrat, chairman of the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on antitrust, monopolies and business rights, last year introduced legislation to strip baseball of its antitrust exemption, created in a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The High Court said in 1972 that rescinding the exemption was up to Congress.
Metzenbaum was joined at the hearing by Florida's Senators, Democrat Bob Graham and Republican Connie Mack, who are co-sponsors.
Metzenbaum, who is retiring from the Senate after this session, dominated the hearing. He said the changes to the Major League Agreement made the commissioner a "lackey" and "figurehead" who had nothing left but a "high salary and a plush limo and driver."
"By refusing to hire a commissioner and by downgrading that job, the owners have broken their word to the Congress and breached faith with the fans," he said.
Selig maintains the antitrust exemption is needed to prevent teams from leaving their cities without permission from other owners and is essential to the survival of the minor leagues. The Major League Baseball Players Association, which has struck four times and been locked out three times since 1972, wants the exemption repealed so it would be able to file suit during a breakdown in collective bargaining.
by CNB