Fay's Book

After having finished Fay Vincent's book "The Last Commissioner," I loaned the book to Dan Fox, who commented on the book in his blog.

My final thoughts on the book are here.

I found Fay's retelling of the World Series Earthquake in 1989 very interesting. I was at home, preparing to watch the game on TV, so I remember the event well. Fay's insight into the decisions made, and how they were made, were fascinating. Vicnent also fondly recalls the police officer who took charge at the stadium after the quake, and how he also convinced Vincent to postpone the game.

Vincent's love for the game comes through throughout the book. Even though Fay has bitter memories of dealing with owners such as Bud Selig and Jerry Reinsdorf, as well as struggling with George Steinbrenner's "lifetime ban" and Pete Rose's Lifetime Ban, he still loves the game with all of his heart. That is the strength of the game. While sports like football and basketball can have a huge number of fans, no game has the number of lovers that baseball has. Baseball evokes history, memories, emotion and love like no other sport. There is no trouble that can't be soothed by an afternoon at the ball park.