Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent Jr. (May 29, 1938 – February 1, 2025) was an American entertainment lawyer, securities regulator, and sports executive who served as the eighth commissioner of baseball from September 13, 1989, to September 7, 1992.
Early life and education Vincent was born on May 29, 1938, in Waterbury, Connecticut, the son of Alice (née Lynch), a teacher, and Francis Thomas Vincent, a telephone company employee and sports official.Vincent, Francis Thomas, Jr. 1938- (Fay Vincent) Encyclopedia.com He was a graduate of the Hotchkiss School.Cohn, Roger. "Nothing But Curve Balls", The New York Times, June 3, 1990; accessed December 18, 2007. "At the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., young Fay played guard on the football team, excelled at Latin and French and was remembered by classmates for his witty parodies of the poetry of Keats and Coleridge."
He attended Williams College, where a near-fatal accident left him with a crushed spine and paralyzed legs. He had been locked inside his dorm room as a prank; while climbing onto the roof to escape he slipped off a four-story ledge. Surgery and three months in traction followed. Doctors said that he would never walk again and his leg never fully recovered, however he was able to walk relying on a cane for the rest of his life.
He received a B.A. degree from Williams (class of 1960) with honors and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School (class of 1963). He went on to become a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Caplin & Drysdale. He also served as Associate Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Beginning in 1978 he became the chairman of Columbia Pictures, and senior vice president of Coca-Cola when it purchased Columbia in March 1982. In April 1986 he was promoted to Executive Vice President. During his nine years as chief executive officer with Columbia, the film studio produced financially successful movies such as Kramer vs. Kramer and Tootsie and box-office bombs like Ishtar.Wulf, Steve. "A Man in Command," Sports Illustrated, October 30, 1989. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
Commissioner of Baseball At the behest of his longtime friend, incoming Commissioner of Baseball Bart Giamatti, Vincent accepted the position of deputy commissioner. As deputy commissioner, Vincent played a major role in negotiating a settlement to the betting scandal involving Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose. As part of the settlement, Rose agreed to withdraw from the sport for an indefinite period of time to avoid further punishment.
Vincent became acting commissioner when Giamatti died suddenly on September 1, 1989. After consulting with Giamatti's widow, Toni, he agreed to succeed Giamatti as commissioner and was duly elected by MLB owners as the eighth commissioner of baseball on September 13. In his first year as commissioner, he presided over the 1989 World Series, which was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake; the owners' lockout during Spring Training of the 1990 season; and the expulsion of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from the game.
In 1990, National League president Bill White was prepared to suspend umpire Joe West for slamming Philadelphia pitcher Dennis Cook to the field, but Vincent intervened and no discipline was imposed. On September 4, 1991, the Committee for Statistical Accuracy, appointed by Vincent, changed the definition of a no-hitter to require that a pitcher or pitching staff hold a team hitless for at least nine full innings and a complete game. Since New York Yankee Andy Hawkins (who never gave up a hit during a game against the Chicago White Sox on July 1, 1990, despite the White Sox winning the game 4–0) played for the visiting team, the White Sox never batted in the ninth inning and Hawkins lost the credit for a no-hitter.
This same committee also ruled that Roger Maris was (then) the one and only single-season home run record holder, overturning the 1961 decision of former commissioner Ford Frick that Maris and Ruth's home run totals should be listed side-by-side for 154- and 162-game seasons. (Contrary to popular belief, Frick never mentioned using an asterisk). Also during his commissionership, Vincent made it known (e.g. while being interviewed by Pat O'Brien during CBS' coverage of Game 4 of the 1991 World Series) that if he had the chance, he would get rid of the designated hitter rule. During and after his tenure, Vincent defended the indefinite suspension of Rose and his role in its imposition. When Rose applied for re-instatement, which he was permitted to do under the terms of the settlement, Vincent never acted on the request.
In the 2004 made-for-television movie about the Rose scandal, Hustle, Vincent was portrayed by actor Alan Jordan.
1989 World Series
On October 17, 1989, Vincent sat in a field box behind the left dugout at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. At 5:04 p.m., just prior to Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics, the 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake hit with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At approximately 5:35 p.m., after coming to the conclusion that the power couldn't be restored before sunset, Vincent ordered the game to be postponed. According to Vincent, he had already made the decision to postpone Game 3 without telling anybody first. As a result, the umpires filed a formal protest of Vincent's decision. However, the game had to be postponed due to trouble with gas lines as well as the power issue.
The World Series ultimately resumed after a 10-day postponement (and some initial conflict between Vincent and San Francisco mayor Art Agnos, who felt that the World Series ought to have been delayed much longer) on October 27, 1989. While presenting the World Series Trophy to the Athletics, who wound up winning the World Series in a four-game sweep, Vincent summed up the 1989 World Series as a "remarkable World Series in many respects."
1990 lockout
In February 1990, owners announced that spring training would not be starting as scheduled. This occurred after MLBPA Executive Director Donald Fehr became afraid that the owners would institute a salary cap. Fehr believed that a salary cap could possibly restrict the number of choices free agents could make and a pay-for-performance scale would eliminate multiyear contracts. The lockout, which was the seventh work stoppage in baseball since 1972, lasted 32 games and wiped out almost all of spring training.
Vincent worked with both the owners and MLBPA, and on March 19, 1990, Vincent was able to announce a new Basic Agreement (which raised the minimum major league salary from $68,000 to $100,000 and established a six-man study committee on revenue sharing). As a consequence for the lockout, Opening Day for the 1990 season was moved back a week to April 9, and the season was extended by three days to accommodate the normal 162-game schedule.
George Steinbrenner On July 30, 1990, Vincent banned New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from baseball for life after Steinbrenner paid Howard Spira, a small-time gambler, $40,000 for "dirt" on his outfielder Dave Winfield after Winfield sued Steinbrenner for failing to pay his foundation the $300,000 guaranteed in his contract. Steinbrenner was eventually reinstated in 1992 for a return in the spring of 1993.
It came out later from Vincent that he had wanted to suspend Steinbrenner for only two years. It was Steinbrenner who asked for a lifetime ban as he was tired of baseball and wanted to help run the US Olympic effort (at the time, he was vice president of the US Olympic Committee) while his family could run the team around his absence. Steinbrenner knew he could not run the Olympic effort if he was suspended, so he asked for a lifetime ban, which he received after 11 hours of negotiation. Steinbrenner then applied for (and received) reinstatement after two years.
Steve Howe On June 24, 1992, Vincent permanently suspended pitcher Steve Howe for repeated drug offenses. Vincent was incensed when upper Yankee management (Buck Showalter, Gene Michael, and Jack Lawn) agreed to testify on Howe's behalf, and threatened them with expulsion from the game: The three men testified for Howe as promised, and remained active in baseball. Three months later, Vincent was removed from his job as commissioner. An arbitrator overturned Vincent's suspension of Howe on November 11, 1992.
Collusion Fay Vincent on the effects of collusion:
1993 expansion In June 1991, Vincent declared that the American League would receive $42 million of the National League's $190 million in expansion revenue and that the AL would provide players in the National League expansion draft (involving the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins).
In an attempt to win support in the American League and balance the vote, Vincent decreed that the AL owners were entitled to 22 percent of the $190 million take. This decision marked the first time in expansion history that leagues were required to share expansion revenue or provide players for another league's expansion draft. He said the owners expanded to raise money to pay their collusion debt.
Realignment Just prior to leaving office, Vincent had plans to realign the National League. Vincent wanted the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals to switch divisions with the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. When Major League Baseball realigned in 1969, this geographical anomaly was created in order to give the Chicago and St. Louis franchises more games during television's prime time schedule. National League president Bill White warned Vincent that realigning without league approval would be in violation of the National League Constitution.
Many thought that plan would be beneficial to the league as a whole, especially by building a regional rivalry between the new franchise in Miami and the Atlanta Braves. The Cubs, however, opposed the move, suggesting that fans in the Central Time Zone would be forced to watch more games originating on the West Coast with later broadcast times (had the realignment included the use of a balanced schedule, the Cubs would have actually played more games against teams outside their division). On July 17, 1992, the Chicago Cubs sued Vincent and asked the U.S. District Court in Chicago for a preliminary injunction to prevent implementation, which was granted two weeks later. After Vincent's attorneys appealed, oral arguments were scheduled for August 30 of that year. Ultimately, Vincent resigned before the litigation was scheduled to resume, so as a result, the Cubs dropped their suit.
Although Vincent's vision never really came into fruition, Major League Baseball did in fact realign in 1994, albeit in the form of three divisions in each league, and the addition of an expanded playoff format with the Wild Card.
Relationship with the owners Vincent's relationship with baseball's owners was always tenuous at best. He resigned in 1992 after the owners gave him an 18–9 no confidence vote. Supportive votes came from ownership of the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers. The Cincinnati Reds abstained.