Мардж Скотт: Владелица «Цинциннати Редс» и её противоречия.

Major League Baseball owner (1928–2004)

Margaret Carolyn Schott (née Unnewehr; August 18, 1928 – March 2, 2004) was an American baseball executive. Serving as managing general partner, president and CEO of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds franchise from 1984 to 1999, she was the second woman to own a North American major league team without inheriting it, after New York Mets founder Joan Whitney Payson. She was banned from managing the team by MLB in 1993 due to racist comments and again from 1996 through 1998 due to statements in support of German domestic policies of Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, amongst other controversies over her beliefs; shortly afterwards, she sold the majority of her share in the team.

Schott was born in Cincinnati, one of five daughters of Edward Henry Unnewehr and Charlotte (Sauerland). Her father grew wealthy in the lumber business. She attended parochial schools and graduated from the Sacred Heart Academy. While in college, Marge Schott became a member of Theta Phi Alpha fraternity. She married Charles Schott, a member of a wealthy Cincinnati family, in 1952, and inherited his automobile dealerships and interests in other industries when he died of a heart attack in 1968. In 1985, she was named president and CEO of the club. Five years later, the Reds won the World Series, when they swept the Oakland Athletics. Schott quickly became one of baseball's most publicly visible owners. The Reds had long been a family oriented franchise, and fans praised her efforts to keep ticket and concession prices low. For instance, she kept the price of the basic hot dog at one dollar (1.0 in 1996 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years), and kept box seats around $12 (12.0 in 1996 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years)the cheapest in baseball.

On November 13, 1992, Charles "Cal" Levy, a former marketing director for the Reds, stated in a deposition for Tim Sabo, a former employee who was suing the team, that he'd heard Schott refer to then Reds outfielders Eric Davis and Dave Parker as "million dollar niggers." Sabo, who had been the team's controller, alleged that his 1991 firing was due to testifying against Schott in another lawsuit brought against Schott by several limited partners and because he opposed the unwritten policy of not hiring blacks. Schott's countersuit alleged that Sabo wrote unauthorized checks to himself and paid health insurance premiums to retired front office employees. She asked for $25,000 in damages for defamation. Sabo ultimately lost his suit. Levy, who is Jewish, alleged that Schott kept a Nazi swastika armband at her home and claims he overheard her say "sneaky goddamn Jews are all alike." On November 29, Schott said the "million dollar niggers" comment was made in jest, but then stated that she felt that Adolf Hitler was initially good for Germany and did not understand how the epithet "Jap" could be offensive. During the same season, a former Oakland Athletics executive assistant, Sharon Jones, is quoted in The New York Times as having overheard Schott state: "I would never hire another nigger. I'd rather have a trained monkey working for me than a nigger," before the start of an owners' conference call. On May 5, 1996, Schott aroused ire when she made statements favorable of Adolf Hitler, saying he "was O. K. at the beginning, [ ] He just went too far." On May 18, 1994, during a speech before the Ohio County Treasurers Association, Schott commented that she did not want her players to wear earrings because "only fruits wear earrings." She said, "I was raised to believe that men wearing earrings are fruity." The Reds won the division (before losing the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves, 4 games to 0), and Johnson was fired anyway. The Reds traditionally played the first game of the season at home. On April 1, 1996, they played the Montreal Expos. The weather was cold and blustery and it had snowed earlier in the day. Shortly after the game started, home plate umpire John McSherry called a time out and motioned towards the Reds dugout, it was later presumed, for medical attention. After taking just a few steps, McSherry collapsed and fell to the artificial turf face first. Attempts to resuscitate McSherry failed and he was pronounced dead on arrival at University Hospital about an hour later. The other umpires decided to postpone the game until the next day. Video showed Schott visibly upset that the game was to be postponed; reportedly she groused, "Snow this morning and now this. I don't believe it. I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This is our history, our tradition, our team. Nobody feels worse than me." Schott later insisted that she was standing up for the fans, though critics saw her comments as highly insensitive and grossly inappropriate. Schott reportedly offended major league umpires in general—and members of McSherry's crew in particular—by regifting a bouquet of flowers given to her, adding a sympathy note, and sending it to the funeral home. The New York Times later dubbed her "Baseball's Big Red Headache", and Sports Illustrated would dub her as a "Red Menace". Jim Bowden took over as managing partner. Schott returned to work on November 1. Schott's comments about Hitler led MLB to ban Schott from day to day operations through 1998. On April 20, 1999, Schott agreed to sell her controlling interest in the Reds for $67 million to a group led by Cincinnati businessman Carl Lindner. At the time she was facing a third suspension, failing health, and an expiring ownership agreement with her limited partners, who planned to oust her. Schott remained as a minority partner.

In addition to her interest in the Reds, Schott was a major contributor to charitable organizations in Cincinnati, including Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Cincinnati Zoo, where they named an Asian elephant, Schottzie, after her dog. A second Asian elephant, named Princess Schottzie II, was donated by Schott in 1996. She is recognized for her major donation to the Boy Scouts' Camp Friedlander that was used to create an lake, christened 'Lake Marge Schott' in her honor. Marge Schott was also a generous contributor to special events at the University of Cincinnati, such as the annual Homecoming Parade. From 2006 to 2020, UC's baseball stadium was named the Marge Schott Stadium in her honor. In June 2020, the university's board of trustees voted to remove her name from the stadium, citing her record of racism and bigotry, and renamed it UC Baseball Stadium.

Schott was a long time smoker; in 2001 she began to develop health problems. Schott was hospitalized twice for breathing problems and suffered from pneumonia in 2003. Schott was hospitalized again on February 9, 2004. Some reports claim she was hospitalized due to a cold, while others said she complained of knee ailments; regardless, during her stay she developed breathing problems and had to be put on life support. She died on March 2 at age 75 at the Christ Hospital, in Cincinnati. Schott's funeral was held at All Saints Catholic Church, in the Cincinnati suburb of Kenwood. She was interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery wearing her signature red suit with an elephant brooch.