Schott Faces Suspension Baseball Execs Give Reds Owner Verbal Spanking, Ultimatum

Baseball gave Marge Schott an ultimatum Wednesday: Give up day-to-day operation of the Cincinnati Reds within a week or face a suspension of more than one year.

The 10-man executive council, which runs baseball in place of a commissioner, didn’t announce any action against Schott after Wednesday’s 5-1/2-hour meeting, but acting commissioner Bud Selig - who is reticent to criticize any owner - spoke out strongly against her.

“The executive council condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent comments attributed to Mrs. Schott,” Selig said.

Selig said the council will make a decision about Schott no later than next Wednesday. He declined to disclose what Schott said to the council and what was said to her.

A person familiar with the meeting said Schott defended her right to speak as she pleased and said she didn’t deserve punishment. After Schott met with the council for about an hour, she was asked to wait in a nearby room.

The council then deliberated for an hour, Schott returned and Selig read her the same statement he later gave reporters, the source said.

Baseball’s lawyers will contact Schott’s lawyers today to make sure they understand she will be suspended unless she gives up day-to-day control by next Wednesday, a baseball source said.

Selig confirmed the deadline was the council’s, not Schott’s.

In February 1993, the council suspended Schott for one year and fined her $25,000 for bringing “disrepute and embarrassment” to baseball with her repeated use of racial and ethnic slurs. The suspension later was shortened to eight months.

Recently, Schott was criticized for saying Adolf Hitler “was good in the beginning” but then “went too far,” and for remarks about Asians. She has apologized for those comments.