Reds Have A New Owner

September 15, 1999 / 8:13 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Marge Schott's rocky 15-year reign as owner of the Cincinnati Reds ended Wednesday when baseball approved the $67 million sale of the team to her limited partners.

Carl Lindner, who owns the Great American Insurance Co., will take over as the controlling owner from Schott, who repeatedly has infuriated baseball with inflammatory statements about minorities and women.

The deal, in which 36.7 percent of the Reds' shares would be sold, values the franchise at $181.8 million.

George Strike and William Reik, two of the Reds' current limited partners, are helping fund Lindner's bid.

The owners also recommended no vote be taken this week on the pending deals involving the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics as they ended their meetings one day early because of concerns about getting home with Hurricane Floyd heading north.

A sale of the Montreal Expos also is pending, but the team and the commissioner's office agreed Friday not to put it to a vote this week.

Also Wednesday, NL president Len Coleman officially announced he will retire after the World Series because of baseball's decision to move control of the umpires and disciplinary action from the league presidents to the commissioner's office.

AL president Gene Budig was offered a job as a senior vice president in the commissioner's office Wednesday.

Save Mart Foods chairman Bob Piccinini is the lead investor in a group that reached an agreement in May to purchase the Athletics from Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann for $122.4 million.

Piccinini's group, put together by former A's executive Andy Dolich, includes Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson and needs to close the deal by the end of the season or it expires. Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown has lobbied Selig and even considered coming to Cooperstown but decided against it, Brown spokeswoman Stacey Wells said.

During his meeting with the ownership committee, Piccinini emphasized his group's attributes, not the deadline.

"Baseball, I don't think, reacts very positively to threats," Piccinini said.

New York investor Miles Prentice agreed Nov. 13 to buy the Royals for $75 million from a trust that acquired the franchise following the death of founder Ewing Kauffman in 1993. But some baseball officials are concerned Prentice's group doesn't have enough money to operate the team successfully and some are worried his group, which has more 40 investors, is too large.

Montreal's situation is tied to a new ballpark. While New York art dealer Jeffrey Loria heads a group that wants to buy the team from Brochu's group, baseball will not bring the deal t a vote until stadium financing is in place.

"Everything has to be signed, sealed and delivered," Brochu said.

While a group in northern Virginia has been interested in buying the Expos, baseball commissioner Bud Selig has said his first choice is to keep the team in Montreal.

The current plan is for the government to help finance a ballpark by using about $5.3 million a year in tourism funds for 20-30 years to back a $67 million bond issue.