Boss Faces Suspension

George Steinbrenner faces suspension from baseball’s ruling executive council for suing the sport over the Yankees’ Adidas deal, two baseball officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

In addition, the council may start an investigation that could lead to the owner’s third suspension from control of his team, the officials said, speaking on condition they not be identified.

The 10-man executive council, which governs baseball in the absence of a commissioner, will meet Tuesday in Chicago and discuss Steinbrenner’s possible suspension from the council and whether to begin an investigation that could lead to his suspension from the Yankees.

Steinbrenner is in the third season of a four-year council term that began in 1995.

Under the Major League Agreement, teams and owners are prohibited from suing the commissioner’s office. Because of that provision, the officials said it would be close to impossible for the council to keep Steinbrenner as a member.

In a 91-page complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla., the Yankees and Adidas America Inc. sued the other 29 teams, several baseball officials and the sport’s central marketing corporations. The team and the company contend there is an illegal conspiracy in violation of antitrust laws to interfere with their 10-year agreement, said to be worth about $95 million.