TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Thursday, September 09, 2004

MLB'S COMMISSIONER SHOWS LACK OF LEADERSHIP

By Diane M. Grassi


Everyone always gets their gander up when the New York Yankees are ever involved in a controversial matter or dispute. In the case of the New York Yankees v. Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the main issue has again been obfuscated and turned on its head since the Bronx Bombers are involved.

The story, although it's another "he said - he said" situation, concerned the Labor Day doubleheader which was to have been played at Yankee Stadium on Monday, September 6th. However, Tampa Bay did not make it into NY until Labor Day evening due to the delay in travel accommodations in Florida given its state of emergency resulting from Hurricane Frances.

There was only enough time left to play the first of the two scheduled games after Tampa Bay's arrival on September 6th. It was not known until Tuesday, September 7th whether the second game of the double header would be made up, played only if necessary at the end of the season, or would be a forfeited game as requested by the NY Yankees. And it is because of the Yankees request, rather than the sequence of events, that has clouded the whole matter. The Yankees initially asked that the game be made up at the end of the season if necessary, and since MLB President, Bob DuPuy, rejected their request, they then asked for a forfeit.

What has not been addressed or touched upon other than by Hall of Famer and ESPN baseball analyst, Joe Morgan, is that the whole matter showed the need to revisit the administrative structure of Major League Baseball. He made reference to the elimination of the league presidents which normally in the past would have addressed such a matter. Previously a decision would have been made immediately by the league president, and it would have ended there eliminating all of the speculation and in-fighting.

Commissioner, Bud Selig, eliminated the American and National League presidents in 2000 which included their oversight of each league and rules matters, in an effort "to unify the leagues." And since 2002, Selig and Bob DuPuy, have exclusively micro-managed all matters baseball. This explains a lot of the delay in major issues being finalized such as the relocation of the Montreal Expos, promised a year ago.

But in this instance, a matter of physical safety and well-being should not have had to go before the Commissioner of Baseball and to wait on him to come up with an answer. He has never been known to be quick to respond and at times even unreachable when a decision is immediately needed. It became obvious to Tampa Bay that when there are no other persons to go to other than DuPuy or Selig in an emergency situation on a holiday weekend and time is of the essence, they must decide and took the issue into their own hands by remaining in Tampa until Monday.

This should never have come down to a proverbial shoot out between the front offices of NY and Tampa Bay. After all, this was a natural disaster area and no longer just a "team issue." On Tuesday, Bob DuPuy, on behalf of the Commissioner announced that no games would be forfeited and the double header would be played. But the double header had to be rescheduled again for Wednesday which also got rained out, so the actual days remaining and practicality of actually making up this initial game plus now an additional rained out game remains in doubt if not impossible. NY has acquiesced to the Commissioner's decision but still remains concerned about having to make up the now two games given the tightness of the remaining schedule. NY is still awaiting another decision from the Commissioner's office about the second rained out game.


Yes, NY should probably have stayed away from asking for a forfeited game. Ideally it should have been handled as a rain out. Tampa Bay's decision to stay in Tampa and face the consequences later given little time to decide about the impending storm was not a bad decision. MLB claims it ordered Tampa to leave for NY prior to the hurricane's hit on Florida although the Devil Rays dispute that claim. The Yankees were led to believe by the Commissioner's office that everything was on schedule. So, this whole matter started with the Commissioner's office. We do not need a special investigation of this whole mess. What we need is direct communications oversight within the Commissioner's office to address matters of emergency whether weather or security related to avoid this debacle again.

Major League Baseball, always so concerned about its image, failed in its leadership once again in the handling of this matter. It allowed the Yankees to take the black eye for the whole Hurricane Frances situation while it much more importantly reflects the disorganization and lack of procedures in place within the Commissioner's office on matters of safety and security. And given the additional national security measures we all must now deal with on a daily basis across the country, such a delayed and ambiguous response from the Commissioner's office is not only unacceptable but irresponsible.

posted by Diane M. Grassi 6:37 PM