Scorecard August 26, 1996

Does It Come in Purple?
According to a Nike media alert, Monica Seles will appear at a "gala event" in New York City on Saturday to unveil a signature tennis shoe, the Air Haze, "named for Seles's love of music from the 1960s." The alert promises that the gala will be "a tie-dyed evening of lovebeads, lava lamps, black-lighting and '60s music." Sounds groovy—and talk about a flashback: Seles was born in 1973.

Looking for a Landis

Now that baseball's owners and players appear close to settling their contractual squabbles, it's time to think about filling a long-standing vacancy. Baseball has been without a commissioner since the owners fired Fay Vincent in September 1992. Bud Selig, the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, has been imitating a commissioner, and not too convincingly, ever since.

One thing the next commissioner should not be is an owner—or a puppet of the owners. One thing the next commissioner should be is hired jointly by the owners and the players. And the commissioner's power to act independently in the "best interests of the game," a concept weakened since the ouster of Vincent, should be reestablished.

Applicants should send résumés to Selig, in care of Milwaukee County Stadium. In the meantime, we hope the following candidates get consideration.

•Mario Cuomo, former New York governor, onetime minor league centerfielder. Strengths: smart, populist, has convictions, loves the game. Weakness: suffers fools poorly.

•Len Coleman, National League president. Strengths: Reasonable, fair, liked by owners and players. Weakness: liked by owners.

•Billy Payne, chairman, Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. Strengths: master salesman, comfortable with TV execs and corporate chiefs, sympathetic to spectators. Weakness: tells whoppers.

•Jim Bunning, Hall of Famer, U.S. representative from Kentucky. Strengths: keen sense of baseball and politics. Weakness: occasionally inflexible.

•Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian, baseball fan. Strengths: intelligent, has enthusiasm for the sport, would be first member of the stronger sex to serve as commissioner. Weakness: baseball experience limited to appearances in Ken Burns's PBS series.