BASEBALL; League Presidents Out As Baseball Centralizes

From Morgan Bulkeley in 1876 to Leonard Coleman in 1999, from Ban Johnson in 1901 to Gene Budig in 1999, the National and American Leagues have had presidents who operated offices separate and apart from one another. No longer.

Major league club owners voted unanimously today to abandon the traditional arrangement and consolidate all operating functions in the commissioner's office.

''This is an historic moment that many have felt was long overdue,'' said Commissioner Bud Selig, who spearheaded the move to consolidate such matters as umpiring, scheduling and discipline. At the same time, Selig stressed that the leagues would remain separate and competitive on the field.

The move, which apparently generated little or no opposition among owners but drew a negative vote in the executive council from Coleman, was the primary piece of business the owners conducted, but also among the least controversial.

The owners, meeting near the Hall of Fame at the Otesaga Hotel, declined to approve the sale of the Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals, causing concern about the future of both franchises. They took no vote on the sale of the Montreal Expos, who asked for a delay, but they approved the $67 million transfer of the controlling ownership shares of the Cincinnati Reds from the controversial Marge Schott to Carl Lindner, a billionaire Cincinnati businessman (Chiquita bananas), who has been a limited partner.

In announcing the act of centralization, Selig said that Budig has been offered the role of senior vice president for educational and government affairs in baseball and confirmed that Coleman was resigning as the National League president after the season. But, Selig added, Coleman will serve as senior adviser to the commissioner and president of Major League Baseball charities.

''I did not want to serve in a ceremonial post or be a figurehead,'' Coleman said. Earning a $650,000 salary in his sixth year as National League president, Coleman, who is black, has been the most outspoken advocate within baseball for the hiring of members of minority groups in decision-making positions.

At least two of the functions that have heretofore been handled by the league presidents will have to be negotiated with baseball's players and umpires unions. Placing the umpires under the supervision of the commissioner's office is expected to be an issue in the upcoming negotiations for a new labor agreement to replace the current one, which expires Dec. 31. The umpires' lawyer, Richie Phillips, maintains that the move constitutes a change in terms and working conditions. Centralization was one of the issues that triggered the recent dispute that led to the loss of jobs for 22 umpires.

The players' labor representatives have said a change in meting out disciplinary measures for players must also be negotiated. ''This is all about eliminating redundancy and being more efficient in the league office,'' Jerry Colangelo, managing partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, said. ''Baseball's unique with two leagues. I know there's tradition involved, but I don't think this takes anything away from it.''

Sandy Alderson, executive vice president for baseball operations in the commissioner's office, is expected to oversee much of the consolidation. He will most likely have umpiring supervisors working under him, and baseball will very likely name someone to be the official who determines discipline for on-field personnel, as other leagues have.

Selig, at a news conference following the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, ticked off ways in which the leagues will remain separate and retain their identities: the All-Star Game, the World Series, league records, the debate among fans over which league is better. The American League's designated hitter will not be affected by today's change.

Baseball, Selig said, ''has had to re-evaluate how it operates its business off the field.'' Separate functions, he added, have ''become an encumbrance that inhibits sound and timely decisions.''

''We're getting ready for the 21st century,'' Selig said.

Some of his constituent teams, however, may go limping into the next century. Miles Prentice, a New York lawyer, heads a group of 42 investors who have agreed to buy the Royals for $75 million, but the owners voted, 29-1 today, with the Royals being the one, to ask the Royals to consider other alternatives.

The owners voted by 28-2 (the Athletics and the Chicago Cubs cast the no votes) to take no action on the $122.4 million sale of the Athletics until a Selig task force completes its study of baseball economics.