By Cliff Peale
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It's been more than three years since she sold the team, but the tension between the current management of the Cincinnati Reds and former owner Marge Schott is as thick as ever.A dispute over how many seats were promised to Schott spilled into court last week. But the argument has been simmering since last fall, with Schott complaining about mistreatment by current owner Carl Lindner.

The other owners and Major League Baseball are privately sneering at Schott's lawsuit, which says that she should have her own luxury box and 29 seats next to the field at the new Great American Ball Park, citing a 1999 letter from an MLB lawyer.

Her fellow owners say she personally negotiated details of the perks into the $67 million contract that transferred control to Lindner in 1999. He's offering 29 seats about 30 rows back, and use of the "owners box" for one-thirteenth of the games, equal to her ownership interest in the club.

It could get ugly, as the two sides aren't talking. And the bad feelings remain.

One nugget: When Schott ran the club, she gave one limited partner red seats - the worst seats in Cinergy Field. Schott's lawyer declined to make her available for comment.

Reds chief operating officer John Allen said Lindner has been "more than fair" to Schott. For example, her field-level blue seats in Cinergy Field were actually those controlled by the club and were supposed to be held for people like visiting dignitaries. And Box 401, the box she controlled at Cinergy, actually belonged to all of the owners.

"In my opinion, Mr. Lindner did more than he had to," Allen said.

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com