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45-477: The Baseball Assistance Team was founded in 1986 during the term of Commissioner Peter Ueberroth as a way for Major League Baseball and its players to take care of former players who have fallen upon hard times. Eligibility for help from B.A.T. has since been expanded to include those with two years of service as Major League and Minor League front office personnel, umpires , scouts , Minor League players, athletic trainers, former Negro leagues players, women from

90-554: A committee of over 150 members (mostly business people and entrepreneurs) to generate ideas, opportunities and solve problems. His aggressive recruiting of sponsors for the 1984 Olympics is credited as the genesis for the current Olympic sponsorship program. Due to recruiting competitors between the Los Angeles Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), after 1984 all Olympics in

135-590: A heavy smoker for many years, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 51, eight days after banishing Pete Rose and 154 days into his tenure as commissioner. He was interred at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut. He became the second baseball commissioner to die in office, the first being Kenesaw Mountain Landis in 1944. Fay Vincent , Giamatti's close friend and baseball's first deputy commissioner, became acting commissioner upon Giamatti's death, and

180-548: A long-term program but as a bridge to help people become self-sufficient. In 1991, a contribution from Major League Baseball, the MLBPA, and the Freedom Foundation established an endowment for B.A.T. While B.A.T. was not, and is not, meant to be a substitute for a pension or retirement savings, it is able to assist in times of need. In 2018, B.A.T. created a scholarship program for former Major and Minor League players. The program

225-531: A strike and bankruptcy from Texas Air . However, a management dispute with Texas Air CEO Frank Lorenzo led to the deal falling through. In 1990, Ueberroth bought controlling interest of Hawaiian Airlines with his brother John and business partner J. Thomas Talbot. Three years after leaving office, he led the Rebuild Los Angeles project after the 1992 Los Angeles riots . In 1999, Ueberroth, along with Arnold Palmer and Clint Eastwood , bought

270-548: A successful and vigilant anti-drug campaign, significant industry-wide improvement in the area of fair employment, and a significantly improved financial picture for the industry. When Ueberroth took office, 21 of the 26 clubs were losing money; in Ueberroth's last full season – 1988 – all clubs either broke even or finished in the black. In 1987 , for example, baseball as an industry showed a net profit of $ 21.3 million, its first profitable year since 1973 ." Nonetheless, following

315-692: A volume of essays by Thomas G. Bergin he had co-edited with a philosophy graduate student, T. K. Seung . He became a professor of comparative literature at Yale University, an author, and master of Ezra Stiles College at Yale, a post to which he was appointed by his predecessor as Yale president, Kingman Brewster Jr. Giamatti taught briefly at Princeton but spent most of his academic life at Yale. His scholarly work focused on English Renaissance literature, particularly Edmund Spenser , and relationships between English and Italian Renaissance poets. His tenure as Stiles master ended in 1972. Giamatti served as president of Yale University from 1978 to 1986. He

360-584: Is an investor and chairman of the Contrarian Group, Inc., a business management company, and has held this position since 1989. He is also co-chairman of Pebble Beach Company . He is a director of Hilton Hotels Corporation and previously served as director of Adecco S.A. from 2004 to 2008. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Aircastle since 2012 and been on the board since 2006. In 1989, Ueberroth considered purchasing Eastern Air Lines , then crippled by

405-478: Is awarded annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Ueberroth married Virginia "Ginny" Nicolaus in 1959, and they have four children. Bart Giamatti Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti ( / ˌ dʒ iː ə ˈ m ɑː t i / JEE -ə- MAH -tee ; April 4, 1938 – September 1, 1989) was an American professor of English Renaissance literature, the president of Yale University , and

450-520: Is designed to provide financial assistance in the pursuit of educational and vocational opportunities related to career growth goals. Major League Baseball provides for the overhead expenses of the Baseball Assistance Team, including salary and travel expenses, which allows all funds raised to be donated to grant recipients. To date, the Baseball Assistance Team has awarded more than $ 62 million in grants, benefiting more than 10,400 members of

495-701: The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League , former Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) employees, and their widows, widowers, and children under the age of 23. B.A.T. has expanded its efforts into Latin America where they have provided help to players from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. This organization was founded with the goal of helping members of the Baseball Family during times of hardship, not as

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540-414: The Baseball Family in need. Through the payroll deduction program, players and coaches can pledge a portion of their salary to B.A.T. which goes directly to the grants. Most importantly, the visits also educate the players to be the eyes and the ears of B.A.T. by notifying the organization about anyone who may be in need of assistance. The teams that donate the most money to B.A.T. are honored each year with

585-755: The Baseball Family , including current and former, on-field Major & Minor League personnel (players, managers, coaches) as well as scouts, umpires, athletic trainers, Major & Minor League front office personnel, Negro League players, and players from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The annual B.A.T. Spring Training Fundraising Tour is another major endeavor for B.A.T. Since 2003, B.A.T. board members, staff, and former applicants, have visited each team in Major League Baseball and solicited donations, all of which are given back to former players and members of

630-677: The Bobby Murcer Award. The 2023 Bobby Murcer Award recipients are the San Diego Padres and the Chicago White Sox . The Lifetime Achievement Award B.A.T. Award, The B.A.T. Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has dedicated their services for the betterment of individuals and families who are in need of assistance. Past award winners include Michael Weiner, Bob Gibson, Cookie Rojas, Frank Torre, Bob Watson, and Sam McDowell. The Frank Slocum Big B.A.T. Award, named for

675-688: The Olympics and in Major League Baseball . A Los Angeles–based businessman, he was the chairman of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee which brought the games to Los Angeles in 1984. Ueberroth was named 1984's Time Man of the Year for his success in organizing the Olympic games. After the conclusion of the games, he was named as the sixth commissioner of Baseball , a role he held from 1984 to 1989. He later served as

720-455: The Pebble Beach golf course . Ueberroth ran for Governor of California in the 2003 California recall election as an independent, though he was a registered Republican . His campaign focused on California's economic and budget crisis, avoiding social issues. With polls indicating only a low level of support, he pulled out of the race on September 9, 2003, though his name still appeared on

765-511: The 1956 United States Olympic water polo trials but failed to make the team. Ueberroth ultimately graduated from San Jose State in 1959 with a degree in business. After college, Ueberroth became a vice president and shareholder in Trans International Airlines (he was 22 years old at the time). Ueberroth worked at Trans International until 1963, when he founded his own travel company, which would become First Travel Corporation. By

810-512: The Battle for Fairness that Giamatti's early life with his parents and family in New Haven established the code of conduct about fairness that tempered his decision about Pete Rose. Proto also states that as president of Yale, Giamatti was a consequential force in changing Yale's once-harmful relationship with New Haven; in reintroducing Sterling Scholarships for New Haven high school students, which had been discontinued by his predecessors; in challenging

855-887: The Beautiful " that has been since repeated by other a cappella groups. The Little League Eastern Regional Headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut is named after Giamatti. One of the three awards given annually by Major League Baseball's Baseball Assistance Program is named the " Bart Giamatti Award ". Giamatti was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. James Reston Jr. notes in his book Collision at Home Plate: The Lives of Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti that Giamatti suffered from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease , an inherited neuromuscular disease affecting peripheral nerves. Neil Thomas Proto argues in his book Fearless: A. Bartlett Giamatti and

900-557: The League Championship Series expanded from a best-of-five series to a best-of-seven series. At his urging, the Chicago Cubs chose to install lights at Wrigley Field rather than reimburse the leagues for lost night-game revenue. Ueberroth then found a new source of income in the form of persuading large corporations to pay for the privilege of having their products endorsed by Major League Baseball. However, Ueberroth, with

945-521: The US had their local organizing committees enter into recruitment agreements with the USOC to jointly recruit sponsors and share revenue. Ueberroth was elected to succeed Bowie Kuhn on March 3, 1984, and took office on October 1 of that year. As a condition of his hiring, Ueberroth increased the commissioner's fining ability from US$ 5,000 to $ 250,000. His salary was raised to a reported $ 450,000, nearly twice what Kuhn

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990-559: The United States from Telese , near Benevento, Italy , around 1900. Giamatti's maternal grandparents, from Wakefield, Massachusetts , were Helen Buffum (Davidson) and Bartlett Walton, who graduated from Phillips Academy Andover and Harvard College . Giamatti attended South Hadley High School, spent his junior year at the American Overseas School of Rome , and graduated from Phillips Academy in 1956. At Yale College , he

1035-466: The Year in 1984. Under Ueberroth's leadership and management, the first privately financed Olympic Games in history resulted in a surplus of nearly US$ 250 million, and became a model for all of the future games to follow. This was subsequently used to support youth and sports activities throughout the United States. Coincidentally, he was born on the day on which the founder of the modern Olympic Games , Baron Pierre de Coubertin , died. Ueberroth created

1080-400: The announcement of the first of three large awards to the players following the collusion findings, Ueberroth stepped down as commissioner before the start of the 1989 regular season ; his contract was to have run through the end of the season. He was succeeded by National League president A. Bartlett Giamatti . Ueberroth has been a director of The Coca-Cola Company since 1986. Ueberroth

1125-457: The assistance of the owners, also facilitated collusion between the owners in violation of the league's collective bargaining agreement with the players. Players entering free agency in the 1985, 1986 and 1987 offseasons were, with few exceptions, prevented from both signing equitable contracts and joining the teams of their choice during this period. The roots of the collusion lay in Ueberroth's first owners' meeting as commissioner, when he called

1170-589: The ballot and received a small but significant number of votes. He placed 6th in a field of 135 candidates . Ueberroth was chairman of Ambassadors International , Inc. but was replaced by his son, Joseph Ueberroth in April 2006. Ueberroth resigned from the board in November 2008. Ueberroth was also the chairman of the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors from 2004 to 2008. Ueberroth

1215-603: The board of trustees of Mount Holyoke College for many years. Giamatti was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1980 and a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1982. Giamatti had a lifelong interest in baseball and was a noted Boston Red Sox fan. In 1978, when he was first rumored to be a candidate for the presidency of Yale, he had deflected questions by observing that "The only thing I ever wanted to be president of

1260-899: The chairman of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee from 2004 to 2008. Ueberroth was born in Evanston, Illinois , the son of Laura (Larson) and Victor Ueberroth. His father was of German and Austrian descent, and his mother was of Swedish and Irish ancestry. He caddied at Sunset Ridge Country Club , in Northfield, Illinois. He grew up in Northern California . While attending Fremont High School , Ueberroth excelled in football , baseball, and swimming. After graduating from high school, Ueberroth attended San Jose State University on an athletic scholarship . While attending San Jose State he joined Delta Upsilon . He competed in

1305-433: The commissioner's office, laid the crippling labor problems of the early 1990s (including the 1994–95 strike ) directly at the feet of Ueberroth and the owners' collusion, holding that the collusion years constituted theft from the players. Under Ueberroth, Major League Baseball enjoyed "increased attendance (record attendance four straight seasons), greater awareness of crowd control and alcohol management within ballparks,

1350-418: The community at large. Previous winners include CC Sabathia , Cal Ripken Jr. , Ken Griffey Jr. , Derek Jeter , Al Leiter , Don Mattingly , Tom Glavine , Jorge Posada , Dale Murphy , Tim Wakefield , and Carlos Beltran . Peter Ueberroth Peter Victor Ueberroth ( / ˈ juː b ər ɒ θ / ; born September 2, 1937) is an American sports and business executive known for his involvement in

1395-491: The course of his stint as commissioner, Ueberroth reinstated two Hall of Famers , Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle , who had been banned from working for Major League Baseball by Kuhn because of their associations with gambling casinos. Also, Ueberroth suspended numerous players because of cocaine use, negotiated a $ 1.8 billion television contract with CBS , and initiated the investigation against Pete Rose 's betting habits . In 1985, Ueberroth's first full year in office,

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1440-513: The first Executive Director of the Baseball Assistance Team, is given to "an individual or a group of individuals whose exemplary service to B.A.T. has helped provide dignity and self-esteem to members of the Baseball Family ." Past award winners include Commissioners Bud Selig , Peter Ueberroth and Fay Vincent , as well as Bob Costas , Bob Uecker , John Carter, Jane Forbes Clark , Richard McWilliams, Rick White , Phil Laskawy, Slocum Family, Joe Malone , Edward Stack, Ozzie Smith , George Brett ,

1485-412: The late George M. Steinbrenner , Don Zimmer , Bob Watson , Brad Lidge , Adam Jones , and Jake Peavy . The Bart Giamatti award is given to the "individual associated with baseball who best exemplifies the compassion demonstrated by the late commissioner." Generally, it is given to a player involved in a wide range of charity work, benefiting both those involved with the game of baseball and those in

1530-522: The need to improve the environment for the fan in the ballparks. He also decided to make umpires strictly enforce the balk rule and cited affirmative action as a remedy for the lack of minority managers, coaches, or executives in the major leagues. While still serving as National League president, Giamatti suspended Pete Rose for 30 games after Rose shoved umpire Dave Pallone on April 30, 1988. Later that year, Giamatti also suspended Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jay Howell for three days, after Howell

1575-654: The owners "damned dumb" for being willing to lose money in order to win a World Series. Later, he told the general managers that it was "not smart" to sign long-term contracts. Former Major League Baseball Players Association president Marvin Miller later described this as "tantamount to fixing, not just games, but entire pennant races, including all post-season series." The MLBPA, under Miller's successor, Don Fehr , filed collusion charges and won each case, resulting in "second look" free agents, and over $ 280 million in fines. Fay Vincent , who followed as Ueberroth's successor in

1620-495: The seventh commissioner of Major League Baseball . Giamatti served as Commissioner for only five months before dying suddenly of a heart attack. He is the shortest-tenured baseball commissioner in the sport's history and the only holder of the office not to preside over a full Major League Baseball season. Giamatti's most notable act as Commissioner was to negotiate the agreement resolving the Pete Rose betting scandal in which Rose

1665-658: The time he sold First Travel in 1980, it was the second largest travel business in North America. For five years Ueberroth served as the organizer of the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. He was a prominent figure in the games, receiving the Olympic Order in gold at its conclusion from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Due to the success of the games, he was named Time magazine's Man of

1710-630: Was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon (Phi chapter) and as a junior in 1960 was tapped by Scroll and Key , a senior secret society. He graduated magna cum laude in 1960. In 1960, he married Toni Marilyn Smith, who taught English for more than 20 years at the Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut , until her death in 2004. Together the couple had three children: actors Paul and Marcus and jewelry designer Elena. Giamatti stayed in New Haven to receive his doctorate in 1964, when he also published

1755-699: Was caught using pine tar during the National League Championship Series . Giamatti, whose tough dealing with Yale's union favorably impressed Major League Baseball owners, was unanimously elected to succeed Peter Ueberroth as commissioner on September 8, 1988 . He formally took office on April 1, 1989 . Determined to maintain the integrity of the game, on August 24, 1989, Giamatti prevailed upon Pete Rose to agree voluntarily to remain permanently ineligible to play baseball. While at his vacation home in Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard , Giamatti,

1800-611: Was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2010. Ueberroth is a Life Trustee of the University of Southern California . Ueberroth and his wife, Ginny, were two of the founders of Sage Hill School . He additionally served briefly on the school's Athletic Advisory Council. Ueberroth is a board member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy , which is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott , and

1845-628: Was paid. Just as Ueberroth was taking office, the Major League Umpires Union was threatening to strike the postseason. Ueberroth managed to arbitrate the disagreement and had the umpires back to work before the League Championship Series were over. The next summer, Ueberroth worked behind the scenes to limit a players' strike to one day before a new labor agreement was worked out with the Players Association . During

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1890-765: Was permitted to voluntarily withdraw from the sport to avoid further punishment. Giamatti was born in Boston and grew up in South Hadley, Massachusetts , the son of Mary Claybaugh Walton ( Smith College 1935) and Valentine John Giamatti. His father was professor and chairman of the Department of Italian Language and Literature at Mount Holyoke College . Giamatti's paternal grandparents were Italian immigrants Angelo Giammattei ( Italian pronunciation: [dʒammatˈtɛi] ) and Maria Lavorgna ( Italian pronunciation: [laˈvɔrɲa; -orɲa] ): his grandfather Angelo emigrated to

1935-538: Was quickly elected by MLB owners to succeed Giamatti as the new commissioner. On October 14, 1989, before Game 1 at the World Series , Giamatti—to whom this World Series was dedicated—was memorialized with a moment of silence . Son Marcus Giamatti threw out the first pitch before the game. Also before Game One, the Yale Whiffenpoofs sang the national anthem, a blend of " The Star-Spangled Banner " with " America

1980-955: Was the American League ." He also wrote several noteworthy essays about baseball, including "The Green Fields of the Mind", published in the Yale Alumni Magazine in November 1977; "Tom Seaver's Farewell", published in Harper's Magazine in September 1977; and "Baseball and the American Character," published in Harper's in October 1986. Giamatti was named president of the National League in 1986 . During his stint in that position, he placed an emphasis on

2025-462: Was the youngest president of the university in its history and presided over the university during a bitter strike by its clerical and technical workers in 1984–1985. As university president, he refused student, faculty, and community demands to divest from apartheid South Africa. Giamatti prohibited students from playing Bladderball on campus after years of increasingly strange pranks and several student hospitalizations in 1982. He also served on

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