Steinbrenner Pays For Comments

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was fined $50,000 by the American League for comments he made about umpires during his team’s playoff series against the Seattle Mariners.

The volatile Steinbrenner confirmed the fine, saying, “It seems that everyone else can speak, without being fined, but not me.”

“I don’t want to say anything further about the fine,” he said. “If I say more, they will fine me more. I already had to borrow $25,000 of the $50,000 just to pay the fine.”

Steinbrenner, whose fines have reportedly exceeded $600,000 in his 22 years owning the Yankees, cited ball-strike calls and safe-out calls as wrong and showed television replays to reporters.

Former San Diego Padres general manager Randy Smith interviewed for the Montreal Expos’ GM job.

The Minnesota Twins have acquired outfielder J.J. Johnson from Boston to complete the trade that sent relief ace Rick Aguilera to the Red Sox.