Fay Vincent, former MLB commissioner who banned Yankees’ George Steinbrenner, dead at 86

Fay Vincent, the commissioner who banned George Steinbrenner from baseball in 1990, died Saturday. He was 86.

Vincent died in a hospital in Vero Beach, Fla., after complications from bladder cancer, his wife, Christina, told The New York Times.

It was under Vincent’s guidance that the 1989 Bay Area World Series resumed following an earthquake.

Vincent also led MLB’s first expansion in over 15 years and, as deputy commissioner, was involved in the Pete Rose gambling investigation that led to baseball’s all-time hits leader accepting a lifetime ban.

But Vincent was more directly involved in Steinbrenner’s banishment, after the Yankees owner paid $40,000 to Howie Spira for information meant to embarrass one of the team’s stars, Dave Winfield.

Steinbrenner agreed to a lifetime ban in which he maintained his ownership stake in the Yankees but would relinquish control of the team’s daily operations.