Wednesday, July 1, 1998

BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Marge Schott

Major League Baseball is waiting to hear from Marge Schott as to when she'll discuss her murky future as principal owner of the Cincinnati Reds.

Apparently it won't be on or before July 9, the day Bud Selig is expected to become Baseball's first permanent commissioner in six years.

At least one MLB insider believes Selig's elevation means the Schott saga can be resolved before the Sept. 1 target date. After Sept. 1, baseball likes to minimize off-field news so as not to take attention away from pennant races.

The 10-member executive council that has suspended Schott twice will transfer its legal power to the permanent commissioner. Schott met with the group days before the council suspended her for eight months in 1993 and 2 1/2 years in 1996 for insensitive comments.

"Bud can fly in, meet with her, and say he'll have a decision in a week or so," the source said. "There aren't 10 people involved. But it's unknown how Bud would use the council. (Schott) could still appear before the council. He could use it as an advisory group. It's like the president with a line-item veto. Legally, (Bud) can't delegate his power."

With Selig able to act unilaterally, he should have no problem rendering a decision by August, which is when baseball approved John Allen as her replacement in 1996.

Selig has the option of extending Allen's contract while keeping Schott suspended beyond the World Series by citing violations of her suspension, or a General Motors' allegation she used the names of Reds' employees to help defraud the automaker.

Baseball would like her to bow out gracefully before it comes to that, but there have been no signals she plans to sell her 42 percent. Officials aren't overly concerned because they feel her run as principal owner ends when the Reds' limited partnership ends Dec. 31, 2000.

Baseball doesn't want to interfere in Schott's bid to get the highest value for the franchise, which hinges on an imminent memorandum of understanding with Hamilton County for a stadium deal.

Yet observers suggest the Reds' memorandum of understanding might not be worth as much to the franchise value as one was for the NFL Bengals.

There were no questions surrounding the Bengals' Elm Street site. But before the Reds and county can forge a lease, they must first find out if a ballpark can be built between Cinergy Field and the Crown.

Selig has reached permanent status because of what he calls "consensus building" among the owners. So it remains to be seen if he'll still use the executive council to advise on such matters as Schott and Pete Rose's bid for reinstatement.

At first blush, two of Cincinnati's biggest names don't appear to have a shot with Selig as commissioner.

Selig was acting chairman of the executive council that has suspended Schott twice. Plus, he said as recently as May that Baseball stands by the agreement banning Rose for life for allegedly betting on games.