Marge Schott | |
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| Born | Margaret Carolyn Unnewehr (1928-08-18)August 18, 1928 Cincinnati,Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 2, 2004(2004-03-02) (aged 75) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation | Owner of theCincinnati Reds |
| Years active | 1968–1999 |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | 1990 World Series Champion |
Margaret Carolyn Schott (néeUnnewehr; August 18, 1928 – March 2, 2004) was an American baseball executive. Serving as managing general partner, president and CEO ofMajor League Baseball'sCincinnati Reds franchise from1984 to1999, she was the second woman to own a North American major-league team without inheriting it, afterNew York Mets founderJoan Whitney Payson.[1]
She was banned from managing the team by MLB in 1993 due to racist comments and again from1996 through1998 for stating thatAdolf Hitler was initially good forGermany. Shortly afterwards, she sold the majority of her share in the team.
Schott was born inCincinnati, one of five daughters of Edward Henry Unnewehr and Charlotte (Sauerland).[2] Her father grew wealthy in the lumber business.[3] Both of her parents were ofGerman descent, with her mother having immigrated viaEllis Island in 1923.[4][5][6] Her mother's sister had five sons who fought for Germany inWorld War II.[4]
She attended parochial schools and graduated from theSacred Heart Academy.[7] While a student at theUniversity of Cincinnati, Marge Schott became a member ofTheta Phi Alpha sorority. She married Charles Schott, a member of a wealthy Cincinnati family, in 1952, and inherited his automobile dealerships and interests in other industries when he died of a heart attack in 1968.[3] A widow at 39, Marge Schott never remarried and had no children of her own.[7]
Schott had been a Reds fan for most of her life; from 1963 onward, she held an auction to raise money for theCincinnati Children's Hospital, attended by several Reds players. In1981, Schott bought a minority interest in the Reds as part of a group headed by insurance magnatesWilliam andJames Williams. On December 21, 1984, she purchased a controlling interest for a reported$11M, making her managing general partner, and becoming the first woman to buy an MLB team.[8] In1985, she was named president and CEO of the club.[9] Five years later, theReds won theWorld Series, when they swept theOakland Athletics.
Schott quickly became one of baseball's most publicly visible owners. The Reds had long been a family-oriented franchise, and fans praised her efforts to keep ticket and concession prices low. For instance, she kept the price of the basic hot dog at one dollar (equivalent to $2 in 2024), and kept box seats around $12 (equivalent to $24 in 2024) – the cheapest in baseball.[3] Unlike most owners, she sat in a regular box seat atRiverfront Stadium, and often signed autographs.[3] She often allowed groups of children on the field to run to deep center field and back before the games would start, due to her love for children stemming from her inability to have any of her own. She was also noted for always having Schottzie, her petSaint Bernard, with her.[3]
Overall, Schott owned the Reds from 1984-1999. During this time, she gained a reputation as one of the worst owners in Major League Baseball, and has since been regarded as one of the worst owners in the history of North American professional sports. She was criticized for not spending the money it would have taken to build the Reds into contenders. This "cheap" attitude was sometimes conveyed in her own statements. She would publicly comment on occasion about having to pay players while they were on the disabled list, notablyWorld Series heroJosé Rijo (who had an elbow injury), about whom she once complained of "paying three million dollars to sit on his butt."[3] She also maintained one of the smallest and lowest paid front office staffs in the major leagues; it was said to turn the heat down and lights off to save electricity.[citation needed]
In addition, it was revealed Schott was far from happy about the team winning the1990 World Series. She was annoyed the team won the series in a "sweep" (the Reds swept the heavily-favoredOakland Athletics in four games). In her opinion the series was over too early; she believed team owners made the most money from a World Series once it reached a Game 5, 6, or 7, thus robbing her of major revenue. She fussed and refused to pay for any post-game celebration for the team. The players reportedly resorted to celebrating on their own.[10]
Lou Piniella, the champion manager of the team, left in 1992 after finding her not willing to back him in any way when he was sued by umpireGary Darling for defamation (he had to get his own lawyer).[11]
In fifteen seasons of ownership under Schott, the Reds compiled a regular season record of 1,300-1,226 (.514) with 2 playoff appearances and a playoff record of 11-6 (.647) for a lifetime record of 1,311-1,232 (.515) under 7 different managers. The Reds had nine winning seasons, 1 .500 season, and 4 losing seasons. However, they only qualified for the playoffs twice, winning the 1990 World Series and advancing to the National League Championship Series in 1995, which they lost in a 4-game sweep to the Atlanta Braves. The Reds also finished the 1999 season tied with the New York Mets for the final Wild Card spot in the National League, but they lost a one-game playoff tiebreaker game to the Mets at Cinergy Field.
On November 13, 1992, Charles "Cal" Levy, a former marketing director for the Reds, stated in a deposition for Tim Sabo, a former employee who was suing the team, that he had heard Schott refer to then-Reds outfieldersEric Davis andDave Parker as "million-dollarniggers."[12] Sabo, who had been the team'scontroller, alleged that his1991 firing was due to testifying against Schott in another lawsuit brought against Schott by several limited partners and because he opposed theunwritten policy of not hiring blacks. Schott's countersuit alleged that Sabo wrote unauthorized checks to himself and paid health insurance premiums to retired front-office employees. She asked for $25,000 in damages for defamation. Sabo ultimately lost his suit.
Levy, who isJewish, alleged that Schott kept aNaziswastikaarmband at her home and claims he overheard her say "sneaky goddamn Jews are all alike."[12] The next day, Schott issued a statement saying the claims of racism levied against her were overstated and that she did not mean to offend anyone with her statement or her ownership of the armband. Schott explained that the swastika armband had been a gift from a former employee.[13]
On November 29, Schott said the "million-dollar niggers" comment was made in jest, but then stated that she felt thatAdolf Hitler was initially good forGermany and did not understand how theepithet "Jap" could be offensive.[14]
During the same season, a formerOakland Athletics executive assistant, Sharon Jones, is quoted inThe New York Times as having overheard Schott state: "I would never hire another nigger. I'd rather have a trained monkey working for me than a nigger," before the start of an owners' conference call.[15]
On May 5, 1996, Schott aroused ire when she made statements favorable of Adolf Hitler, saying "Everything you read, when he came in he was good. They built tremendous highways and got all the factories going. He went nuts, he went berserk. I think his own generals tried to kill him, didn't they?"[16] Later in the month, Schott was quoted inSports Illustrated as speaking in a "cartoonishJapanese accent" while describing her meeting with thePrime Minister of Japan.[3] Schott later stated that she did not likeAsian kids "outdoing our kids" in high school.[3]
Schott was the target of frequent criticism for allegedly allowing her ever-presentSt. Bernards, Schottzie and Schottzie 02, near-complete free rein of Riverfront Stadium, including their defecating on the field. In particular, Reds personnel had also complained of her dogs' hair frequently getting stuck on their uniforms; Schott believed this was a good-luck charm, and during their 1990 World Series run would send bags of his hair to the team facilities. The hair was so old it began to smell. When the original Schottzie died, he was buried in Schott's backyard, wearing a Reds hat.[3]
Schott was known for not wanting to hire scouts, stating that "All they do is sit around and watch ball games,"[3] and, for the opening week of the 1996 season, refusing to post scores of other games on the Riverfront Stadium scoreboard (the cost of this service was $350 a month). Schott reportedly said of the scoreboard issue, "Why do [fans] care aboutone game when they're watchinganother?"[3]
On September 21,1989, professional wrestlerRandy Savage (in his "Macho Man" gimmick), was invited by Reds broadcasterMarty Brennaman to join him in the booth. Prior to his wrestling career, Savage was aminor league baseball player who played forTampa Tarpons (a Reds farm team). He joined Brennaman during the third inning, in a 11–7 loss to theSan Diego Padres, which garnered attention from players, umpires and fans in attendance. A furious Schott wanted Savage off the air and sent a message via her nephew Stephen H. Schott and the radio producer to Brennaman threatening to fire him. Brennaman cornered the younger Schott off the air, telling him: "Don't you ever try to intimidate me again. And if you have something to say, say it yourself". Redscenter fielderEric Davis also criticised the decision to have Savage ejected from the game, saying:
"Macho Man is a celebrity. If a celebrity can't go in the booth, who can? If it had been somebody from pet control Schott wouldn't have minded. They shoulda paid him to come to the game. She says she wants to entertain the fans and then she deprives them of this? That's the most excitement we've given the fans in two months."[17]
On May 18,1994, during a speech before the Ohio County Treasurers Association, Schott commented that she did not want her players to wear earrings because "onlyfruits wear earrings."[18] She said, "I was raised to believe that men wearing earrings are fruity."[18] Up to1999, the Reds had a long-standing rule prohibiting players from having facial hair. In 1985, Schott famously offered future Hall of FamerRollie Fingers to play for the Reds, on the condition that Fingers would shave off his famous handlebar mustache. Fingers supposedly responded that he would shave his mustache "when (Schott) shaves her Saint Bernard."[3] The rule was rescinded in 1999 (shortly before she relinquished control of the Reds) after a discussion between Schott and newly acquired outfielderGreg Vaughn.
In1995, Schott famously announced in the middle of the season that managerDavey Johnson would not return, regardless of how well the Reds did. By all accounts, this was because of a personality clash between Johnson and Schott. Most notably, Schott did not approve of Johnson living with his fiancée before they were married later in the year.[19] The Reds won the division and made it all the way to theNational League Championship Series, where they were swept by theeventual World Series championAtlanta Braves, and Johnson was fired. The Reds'1995 NLDS win over theLos Angeles Dodgers in that same postseason remains their most recent postseason series win to date, as the Reds have made the postseason five additional times since 1995, only to be eliminated in the first round on each occasion. It was also the last playoff appearance for Cincinnati until 2010.
Being Major League Baseball's oldest franchise, theReds traditionally play the first game of the season at home. On April 1, 1996, they played theMontreal Expos. The weather was cold and blustery and it had snowed earlier in the day. Shortly after the game started, home plateumpireJohn McSherry called a time out and motioned towards the Reds dugout, it was later presumed, for medical attention. After taking just a few steps, McSherry collapsed and fell to the artificial turf face first. Attempts to resuscitate McSherry failed and he was pronounced dead on arrival atUniversity Hospital about an hour later. The other umpires decided to postpone the game until the next day. Video showed Schott visibly upset that the game was to be postponed; reportedly she groused, "Snow this morning and now this. I don't believe it. I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This isour history,our tradition,our team. Nobody feels worse than me."[20] Schott later insisted that she was standing up for the fans, though critics saw her comments as highly insensitive and grossly inappropriate. During the team's next homestand, Schott attempted to smooth over her feud with the umpires by apologizing to the crew—despite none of them having been in attendance at the game in question—only to have them refuse the gesture.[3]
At an unknown time on an airplane, Schott was allegedly approached by a woman who introduced herself asEdd Roush's granddaughter. Schott then replied, "That's nice hon, what business is he in?" Roush is a Hall of Fame center fielder who had many of his greatest years with the Reds.[21]The New York Times later dubbed her "Baseball's Big Red Headache", andSports Illustrated would dub her as a "Red Menace".[7]
Due to Schott's racist comments, a four-man committee was convened to investigate Schott. On February 3, 1993, she was fined $250,000 and banned from day-to-day operations of the Reds for the1993 season.[22]Jim Bowden took over as managing partner. Schott returned to work on November 1.[23]
Schott's comments about Hitler led MLB to ban Schott from day-to-day operations through1998.[24][25] On April 20,1999, Schott agreed to sell her controlling interest in the Reds for $67 million to a group led by Cincinnati businessmanCarl Lindner. At the time she was facing a third suspension, failing health, and an expiring ownership agreement with her limited partners, who planned to oust her. The deal was approved on September 15; Schott remained as a minority partner.[26][27]
In addition to her interest in the Reds, Schott was a major contributor to charitable organizations in Cincinnati including theCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center andCincinnati Zoo, where they named anAsian elephant, Schottzie, after her dog.[28] A second Asian elephant, named Princess Schottzie II, was donated by Schott in 1996.[29] She is also recognized for her major donation to theBoy Scouts'Camp Friedlander that was used to create an 18-acre (7.3 ha) lake, christened 'Lake Marge Schott' in her honor.[30]
Except for several million bequeathed to relatives and friends, Schott left nearly the entirety of her $124 million estate to charity.[31][32]
Schott was a generous contributor to theUniversity of Cincinnati. From 2006 to 2020, UC's baseball stadium was named the Marge Schott Stadium in her honor. In June 2020, the university's board of trustees voted to remove her name from the stadium, citing her record of racism and bigotry, and renamed itUC Baseball Stadium.[33][34]
Schott was a long-timesmoker;[35] in 2001 she began to develop health problems. Schott was hospitalized twice for breathing problems and suffered frompneumonia in 2003. Schott was hospitalized again on February 9, 2004. Some reports claim she was hospitalized due to a cold, while others said she complained of knee ailments; regardless, during her stay she developed breathing problems and had to be put on life support.[36] She died on March 2 at age 75 atthe Christ Hospital, in Cincinnati.[37]
Schott's funeral was held atAll Saints Catholic Church, in the Cincinnati suburb ofKenwood.[38] She is interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery wearing her signature red suit with an elephantbrooch.[39]
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