Office of the Commissioner Fan Mail collection

Collection

Identifier: BA MSS 031

Scope and Contents

The records contained in this collection are mostly letters and postcards that baseball aficionados sent to the commissioner, with the respective responses attached to a majority of letters. Fans occasionally attached newspaper articles and other material, and of interest may be the groups of letters sent by various school classes with their attending artwork.

Dates

Creation: 1990-1992

Language of Materials

English .

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions but viewing materials does require an appointment. Please contact the Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.

Conditions Governing Use

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum provides use copies of materials to facilitate private study, scholarship, and research. The Museum welcomes you to use materials in our collections that are in the public domain and to make fair use of copyrighted materials as defined by copyright law and with proper citation. Permission to publish materials must be obtained from: Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 25 Main St., Cooperstown, NY 13326 Phone: 607.547.0330 E-mail: research@baseballhall.org

Biographical / Historical

Francis "Fay" T. Vincent, Jr., was the commissioner from September 13, 1989 to September 7, 1992. Some of the issues that Vincent faced during his tenure were the repercussions of Pete Rose's lifetime ban from professional baseball, the decision to proceed with the 1989 World Series between San Francisco and Oakland after an earthquake struck the area, the banishment and reinstatement of George Steinbrenner, the potential sale and move of multiple franchises, economic issues of escalating salaries and small market revenues, and the expansion of two National League teams.

Full Extent

4.79 Linear Feet (12 legal document boxes)

Full Extent

5.29 Cubic Feet

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection contains fan mail received by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball between 1990 and 1992. Fay Vincent was the commissioner during this time. The themes that received the most attention from fans were the potential move and/or sale of the Seattle franchise, the debate surrounding Pete Rose and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, the reinstatement of George Steinbrenner, and the potential move and/or sale of the San Francisco franchise. Other subjects included are economics and realignment.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into five series. Series I - Correspondence related to the American League; Series II - Correspondence related to the National League; Series III - Correspondence about non-regular season games; Series IV - Fan reactions to decisions, rulings, rules of the game; Series V - Fan suggestions and requests about the game.