Mets co-owner Nelson Doubleday, who had filed a lawsuit alleging accounting shenanigans against MLB, has agreed to sell his half of the Mets and to drop his lawsuit.
"I am pleased this is behind us," Doubleday said in a statement issued by the commissioner's office. "While I was not happy with the results of the appraisal, I deeply regret and apologize for the conclusions many drew from the papers that were filed last week by my lawyers."I did not in any way mean to impugn the integrity of the commissioner, who has been a longtime friend and will continue to remain one."
UPDATE: Jeff Cooper sees it the same way.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 14, 2002 to BaseballYup...agreed, Charles. MLB has been crying poverty and if Doubleday was right, they weren't reporting the Real Deal. His case would likely have exposed that little bit of unpleasantness and so my guess is that Selig decided to reevaluate the worth of Doubleday's offering.
Meanwhile, MLBplayers should be frosted, I think...that Doubleday walked out without getting to the bottom. The bottom, would likely have cost a bazillion in lawyers fees and not such good publicity for the game but would have satisfied the players suspicion that the folks at the top were playing fast and loose with the fuzzy numbers.
But there's other things to consider..like the issue that most folks see the average baseball salary of 2 mil as being a whole helluva lot of money and there's no need to cry over that kinda poverty.
Ah...such a problem, though...to have that kind of major league chump change and still be pining for more.
Posted by: Lisa English on August 14, 2002 8:09 PMYeah, if I were Don Fehr I'd be writing a nasty letter to Nelson Doubleday. The depositions alone would be enough to give him palpitations.
Oh, well. The truth of MLB's books will come out eventually.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner on August 14, 2002 9:03 PM