Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent Jr. (May 29, 1938 – February 1, 2025) was an American entertainment lawyer, securities regulator, and sports executive who served as the eighth commissioner of baseball from September 13, 1989, to September 7, 1992.
Vincent was born on May 29, 1938, in Waterbury, Connecticut, the son of Alice (née Lynch), a teacher, and Francis Thomas Vincent, a telephone company employee and sports official. He was a graduate of the Hotchkiss School.
He attended Williams College, where a near-fatal accident left him with a crushed spine and paralyzed legs. He had been locked inside his dorm room as a prank; while climbing onto the roof to escape he slipped off a four-story ledge. Surgery and three months in traction followed. Doctors said that he would never walk again and his leg never fully recovered, however he was able to walk relying on a cane for the rest of his life.
He received a B.A. degree from Williams (class of 1960) with honors and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School (class of 1963). He went on to become a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Caplin & Drysdale. He also served as Associate Director of the Division of Corporation Finance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Beginning in 1978 he became the chairman of Columbia Pictures, and senior vice president of Coca-Cola when it purchased Columbia in March 1982. In April 1986 he was promoted to Executive Vice President. During his nine years as chief executive officer with Columbia, the film studio produced financially successful movies such as Kramer vs. Kramer and Tootsie and box-office bombs like Ishtar.
At the behest of his longtime friend, incoming Commissioner of Baseball Bart Giamatti, Vincent accepted the position of deputy commissioner. As deputy commissioner, Vincent played a major role in negotiating a settlement to the betting scandal involving Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose. As part of the settlement, Rose agreed to withdraw from the sport for an indefinite period of time to avoid further punishment.
Vincent became acting commissioner when Giamatti died suddenly on September 1, 1989. After consulting with Giamatti's widow, Toni, he agreed to succeed Giamatti as commissioner and was duly elected by MLB owners as the eighth commissioner of baseball on September 13. In his first year as commissioner, he presided over the 1989 World Series, which was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake; the owners' lockout during Spring Training of the 1990 season; and the expulsion of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from the game.
In 1990, National League president Bill White was prepared to suspend umpire Joe West for slamming Philadelphia pitcher Dennis Cook to the field, but Vincent intervened and no discipline was imposed. On September 4, 1991, the Committee for Statistical Accuracy, appointed by Vincent, changed the definition of a no-hitter to require that a pitcher or pitching staff hold a team hitless for at least nine full innings and a complete game. Since New York Yankee Andy Hawkins (who never gave up a hit during a game against the Chicago White Sox on July 1, 1990, despite the White Sox winning the game 4–0) played for the visiting team, the White Sox never batted in the ninth inning and Hawkins lost the credit for a no-hitter.
This same committee also ruled that Roger Maris was (then) the one and only single-season home run record holder, overturning the 1961 decision of former commissioner Ford Frick that Maris and Ruth's home run totals should be listed side-by-side for 154- and 162-game seasons. (Contrary to popular belief, Frick never mentioned using an asterisk). Also during his commissionership, Vincent made it known (e.g. while being interviewed by Pat O'Brien during CBS' coverage of Game 4 of the 1991 World Series) that if he had the chance, he would get rid of the designated hitter rule. During and after his tenure, Vincent defended the indefinite suspension of Rose and his role in its imposition. When Rose applied for re-instatement, which he was permitted to do under the terms of the settlement, Vincent never acted on the request.
In the 2004 made-for-television movie about the Rose scandal, Hustle, Vincent was portrayed by actor Alan Jordan.
On October 17, 1989, Vincent sat in a field box behind the left dugout at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. At 5:04 p.m., just prior to Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics, the 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake hit with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At approximately 5:35 p.m., after coming to the conclusion that the power couldn't be restored before sunset, Vincent ordered the game to be postponed. According to Vincent, he had already made the decision to postpone Game 3 without telling anybody first. As a result, the umpires filed a formal protest of Vincent's decision. However, the game had to be postponed due to trouble with gas lines as well as the power issue.
The World Series ultimately resumed after a 10-day postponement (and some initial conflict between Vincent and San Francisco mayor Art Agnos, who felt that the World Series ought to have been delayed much longer) on October 27, 1989. While presenting the World Series Trophy to the Athletics, who wound up winning the World Series in a four-game sweep, Vincent summed up the 1989 World Series as a "remarkable World Series in many respects."
In February 1990, owners announced that spring training would not be starting as scheduled. This occurred after MLBPA Executive Director Donald Fehr became afraid that the owners would institute a salary cap. Fehr believed that a salary cap could possibly restrict the number of choices free agents could make and a pay-for-performance scale would eliminate multiyear contracts. The lockout, which was the seventh work stoppage in baseball since 1972, lasted 32 games and wiped out almost all of spring training.
Vincent worked with both the owners and MLBPA, and on March 19, 1990, Vincent was able to announce a new Basic Agreement (which raised the minimum major league salary from $68,000 to $100,000 and established a six-man study committee on revenue sharing). As a consequence for the lockout, Opening Day for the 1990 season was moved back a week to April 9, and the season was extended by three days to accommodate the normal 162-game schedule.
On July 30, 1990, Vincent banned New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from baseball for life after Steinbrenner paid Howard Spira, a small-time gambler, $40,000 for "dirt" on his outfielder Dave Winfield after Winfield sued Steinbrenner for failing to pay his foundation the $300,000 guaranteed in his contract. Steinbrenner was eventually reinstated in 1992 for a return in the spring of 1993.
It came out later from Vincent that he had wanted to suspend Steinbrenner for only two years. It was Steinbrenner who asked for a lifetime ban as he was tired of baseball and wanted to help run the US Olympic effort (at the time, he was vice president of the US Olympic Committee) while his family could run the team around his absence. Steinbrenner knew he could not run the Olympic effort if he was suspended, so he asked for a lifetime ban, which he received after 11 hours of negotiation. Steinbrenner then applied for (and received) reinstatement after two years.
On June 24, 1992, Vincent permanently suspended pitcher Steve Howe for repeated drug offenses. Vincent was incensed when upper Yankee management (Buck Showalter, Gene Michael, and Jack Lawn) agreed to testify on Howe's behalf, and threatened them with expulsion from the game:You have effectively resigned from baseball by agreeing to appear at that hearing.... you should have left your conscience and your principles outside the door.
The three men testified for Howe as promised, and remained active in baseball. Three months later, Vincent was removed from his job as commissioner. An arbitrator overturned Vincent's suspension of Howe on November 11, 1992.