2008 Gaudino Dialogues: Failing to Succeed
Fay Vincent ’60, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball
Following Vincent’s graduation from Williams College in 1960 and Yale Law School in 1963, he joined the Washington, D.C. law firm Caplin and Drysdale, where he specialized in corporate, banking and securities matters from 1968 to 1978. He also served in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an associate director of the Division of Corporate Finance.
In 1978, Vincent became the chairman of Columbia Pictures and in 1982 the vice-chairman of Coca-Cola. He was promoted to executive vice president of Coca-Cola before becoming the 8th commissioner of Major League Baseball in 1989 and serving until 1992. He joined Major League Baseball as deputy commissioner under A. Bartlett Giamatti. After stepping down from the commissioner’s office, Vincent became president of the New England Collegiate Baseball League and served from 1998 to 2003.
Vincent’s tenure as commissioner of baseball saw a number of events and controversies. He presided over the 1989 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, which was interrupted by the Loma Prieta Earthquake in San Francisco. During the 1990 lockout, caused by controversy over salary caps, Vincent was able to broker an agreement ending the 32-game lockout. He also banned fellow Williams alumnus George Steinbrenner from baseball for life, but Steinbrenner was eventually reinstated.
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