(Don Donovan/MLB Photos/Getty Images)

Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent passed away yesterday due to complications of bladder cancer, according to a report from George Vecsey of the New York Times earlier today. He was 86 years old. Commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement about Vincent’s passing this afternoon in the aftermath of the report.

“Fay Vincent played a vital role in ensuring that the 1989 Bay Area World Series resumed responsibly following the earthquake prior to Game Three, and he oversaw the process that resulted in the 1993 National League expansion to Denver and Miami,” the statement reads. “Mr. Vincent served the game during a time of many challenges, and he remained proud of his association with our National Pastime throughout his life.  On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Fay’s family and friends.”

Vincent took over as commissioner on September 13, 1989, in the aftermath of former commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti’s sudden death due to a heart attack.

Almost immediately, Vincent faced a major crisis when, as Manfred’s earlier statement referenced, the 1989 World Series between the Giants and Athletics was forced to halt due to a major earthquake that wreaked havoc on the entire Bay Area.

Under the guidance of Vincent, the World Series resumed a week later after the earthquake.

That was far from the only important moment during Vincent’s brief tenure as commissioner, however. Vincent took over as commissioner ahead of a fractious time for baseball when relations between the Players Association and ownership were more hostile than ever before.

And Vincent, unlike most commissioners in sports, was more “pro-player” than one to cater to the owners. Which, unfortunately for him, led to his downfall.

Vincent presided over a lockout in 1990 that delayed the start of the season but ultimately did not involve cancelled games, but in avoiding the loss of games Vincent lost the faith of the owners, who viewed him as too pro-player as he tried to mend relations between the league and the players’ union after the collusion scandal of the 1980s. The league’s owners gathered in September of 1992 and gave Vincent an 18-9 vote of no-confidence, and he was fired shortly thereafter before being replaced with then-Brewers owner Bud Selig. Famously, the sport went on to suffer through a protracted players’ strike and cancelled World Series in 1994 amid Selig’s attempts to implement a salary cap.

“I don’t want to work for these guys,” Vincent said of the owners in an interview with Tyler Kepner of The Athletic when reflecting on his time as commissioner in November 2024. “I know that there’s going to be cheating, and I don’t want to be the policeman without community support. I mean, it’s hopeless.”

A tribute article by SI said it best:

“Vincent was the right man at the wrong time. His love of the game was indisputable. He loved to tell the story of watching a spring training game with Giamatti and, like one giddy kid to another, his friend whispering to him, “Remember, this is work.”“

After his exit, Vincent had one of the most poetic lines one could say in his position:

“You’re not going to leave this job popular, unless you try very hard to do nothing,” he said.

We here at Interstate 70 Sports Media extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Fay Vincent.