Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent died on Feb. 1. The Major League Baseball network was transmitting the Caribbean World Series when his death was announced, and it flashed the news on the crawl space at the bottom of the screen. Immediately, I felt sorry for whoever it was who was managing t he messages that appeared on that crawl space. After all, there have been only 10 commissioners in the history of the major leagues. Subsequent messages about Vincent’s death would have to be embellished. Something nice must be included. But not too nice. Remember, MLB Network is owned and operated by Major League Baseball. Everyone who works there is an employee of the current commissioner, Rob Manfred, who was hand-picked for the job by his predecessor, Bud Selig. Selig was a prominent part of the nasty palace revolt that ousted Vincent. Whatever was now said about Vincent couldn’t risk angering the boss. The next time the news of Vincent’s death crawled across the bottom of the screen it included a notation that he had been the commissioner who presided over the 1989 “earthquake” World Series. There was no mention that he was the one who permanently banned Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from baseball — a ruling that was reversed by Selig. There was no mention that he was the lawyer who hammered out the agreement between Commissioner Bart Giamatti and Pete Rose that left Rose permanently banned from every aspect of baseball. There was certainly no mention of his most important contribution of all — in 1990 when he temporarily saved the owners from themselves by ordering them to end their spring training lockout of the players and allow the season to begin — almost on time. The owners complied but not many of them did it cheerfully. Many of them were angry that in the last two decades the players had won the right of salary arbitration and free agency. They wanted to reverse those gains and were willing to endure a lengthy labor dispute if that’s what it took. Vincent spoiled their plans. The owners took the unprecedented step of adopting a no-confidence resolution against their commissioner and Vincent agreed to step down. The owners made Selig the “acting commissioner” and set out to desecrate the game. In 1994, the existing contract with the players was expiring and the players requested at extension of the existing deal. They emphasized that they wanted nothing new. That wasn’t what the owners were looking for. They refused the request, fully aware that the refusal would probably precipitate a strike. The players walked out in August. Major League Baseball plunged into the unknown and it wasn’t pretty. The 1994 season was never completed and, for the first time since 1905, there was no World Series. From there things got even worse. The owners refused to modify their position during the winter. As spring training approached, they instituted a radical scheme. They apparently had convinced themselves that it was brilliant, but in reality it was disastrous. First, they declared an impasse to the negotiations, which they said gave them the right to dictate the terms of employment. Then they declared that Spring Training would be open to any players willing to play under their new terms. The regular season would follow under the same conditions. Evidently, the owners believed — or at least hoped — that some of the players would break with the union and report to work, and eventually the union would crumble. If they did, they underestimated the players. No one broke from the union. Most of the players in the high minors also refused to participate in spring training. The players in the camps were mostly misfits — major league ballplayers in name only. They were called “replacement players,” but everyone knew what they actually were. They were scabs. While the union remained solidly resolute, there were cracks among the ownership. The Toronto Blue Jays were informed that Ontario law prohibited an employer from using scabs during a labor dispute. The Baltimore Orioles refused to field a team even for spring training. Their owner, Peter Angelos, said he would not employ scabs under any circumstance. As the regular season approached season ticket holders and corporate partners began to peel away, but Selig and his cronies resolved to plunge forward — until they were dealt a sudden blow they didn’t expect. A federal judge named Sonia Sotomayor —yes, THAT Sonia Sotomayor — ruled that the owners had acted illegally when they declared an impasse and imposed their own conditions of employment. The whole thing, she declared, had been an illegal sham and had to end immediately. It did. The owners agreed to bring the players back into the fold by extending the existing contract — the move they could have made and probably should have made 20 months earlier. Instead, they’d eliminated a World Series and demonstrated a willingness to make a general mess of almost everything else. Many former fans had tuned out. The game’s popularity, which was already declining, had taken a deep plunge. It was a disaster that didn’t have to happen. It probably wouldn’t have happened if the owners had been willing to listen to their own commissioner. The people who work at the MLB network dare not say this, but I will: Fay Vincent was one of the best darn commissioners Baseball ever had. A FEW SPRING TRAINING STATISTICS (Wednesday’s games not included): The Bronx Bombers haven’t reached the Bronx yet, but the bombing has begun. In 25 exhibition games the Yankees have hit 45 home runs … Matthew Lugo of the Angels has four doubles and three triples, but zero home runs … The Giants have won 17 of 23 Cactus League games. Their team batting average (,286) and ERA (3.54) both rank second among the 30 clubs … Sam Hilliard of the Rockies has struck out 20 times in 35 at bats … The Brewers’ Rhys Hoskins is batting .310. Six of his nine hits have been home runs … The Royals have hit 17 triples, which is six more than any other club. Two teams, the Mets and the Twins, have not hit a triple … Antonio Sanzatela of the Rockies has an ERA of 0.84 after pitching 16 2/3 innings. Opponents are batting .190 against him … Leonardo Pestana of the Yankees has pitched to only 26 batters, but is responsible for three wild pitches and one balk … As a team the Cubs batted .305 in 19 exhibition games. Then they played two regular season games in Tokyo, where they batted .172. Former Hall of Fame voter Jay Dunn has written baseball for The Trentonian for 57 years. Contact him at jaydunn8@aol.com ...read more read less