Byline: Associated Press
Black and Jewish leaders who met Monday with Marge Schott's lawyer said she had established a plan to improve her hiring of minorities but must continue to show progress.
The leaders of Cincinnati community groups met for 2 1/2 hours with Robert Bennett and Reds general manager Jim Bowden, and agreed to meet again Feb.12. Schott met Friday with baseball's ruling executive council, which is studying her remarks. They have the power to suspend her or fine her up to $250,000.
'They gave us voluminous information, and that's what we're working on,' council chairman Bud Selig of the Milwaukee Brewers said Monday. 'We're just going over the material and we'll move as expeditiously as possible.'
Bennett and Bowden gave the community leaders copies of the Reds' new guidelines for minority hiring and discussed the Reds distribution of money to youth baseball programs.
'Our goal is reinvestment in the community,' said Sheila Wilson, president of the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati Inc. 'We want our youth to benefit from these programs. We've seen progress, but we want to see more.'
Frank Allison, president of the Cincinnati chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the meetings had motivated Schott to hire four black former ballplayers in recent months and to start a minority internship program.
'This group deserves some credit for negotiating,' Allison said.
Schott has promoted a black man to the front office, giving the team two minorities among 46 front-office employees. She also established a scholarship fund at a predominantly black Cincinnati high school.
In other baseball news:
Luis Polonia, Mike Stanton and Dante Bichette agreed to one-year contracts for big raises, leaving 94 players left in salary arbitration.
Three free agents also agreed to minor league contracts and were invited to spring training: infielder Wally Backman with Atlanta, pitcher Jimmy Jones with Montreal and pitcher Jerry Don Gleaton with Florida.
Maury Wills, the first major leaguer to steal more than 100 bases in a season, was hired by the Mets as a part-time baserunning instructor.
