Marge Schott Biography Quotes 7 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Marge Schott was born in 1928 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and spent virtually her entire life in the city whose baseball team she would later lead. Raised in a German American, Catholic household, she absorbed a local, hands-on sensibility that shaped her approach to business and community life. She married Charles J. Schott Jr., a Cincinnati businessman, and after his death she became the principal steward of the family's holdings and philanthropy. That combination of local roots, business responsibility, and civic interest set the stage for her emergence as one of the most visible women in American professional sports during the late twentieth century.

Path to Baseball Ownership
Schott entered Major League Baseball ownership in the early 1980s when she bought a stake in the Cincinnati Reds. By the mid-1980s she had become the club's managing general partner, one of the few women to hold such authority in MLB history. Her ascent coincided with a period of transition for the franchise in the years after the Big Red Machine era. She presented herself as a practical, cost-conscious owner who prized affordability and approachability. She was often present at the ballpark, greeting fans in person and projecting an image that mixed civic pride with a blunt, sometimes old-fashioned managerial style.

Running the Cincinnati Reds
Schott's ownership was marked by both on-field success and constant attention to her public persona. She liked to keep ticket and concession prices relatively modest, and she cultivated an image as a fan's owner, frequently appearing with her St. Bernard dogs, Schottzie and later Schottzie 2. On the baseball side, she presided during a high point: the 1990 season, when manager Lou Piniella led the Reds to a World Series championship. Her circle in those years included respected baseball figures such as Hall of Famer Tony Perez, who served in a variety of roles, and front-office leaders like general manager Jim Bowden, who navigated club-building within the constraints of her frugal approach.

Conflicts, Clubhouse Decisions, and Public Controversy
The public narrative around Schott was also defined by controversy. Her comments on race, ethnicity, and history drew criticism from civil rights groups, fans, and insiders, and they led Major League Baseball to investigate and discipline her more than once. Under commissioners Fay Vincent and, later, Bud Selig, she was suspended from day-to-day control of the team for remarks widely condemned as offensive, including statements about Black people and Jewish people and a comment suggesting that Adolf Hitler initially did some good for Germany. These episodes strained relationships within baseball and in the Cincinnati community.

Her personnel decisions drew scrutiny as well. Early in the 1993 season she dismissed Tony Perez as manager after a brief tenure, a move that upset many in the organization and fan base given Perez's stature. Davey Johnson, who later managed the club to a division title, also collided with her sense of propriety; she announced in advance that he would be replaced after the 1995 season by Ray Knight, citing personal objections unrelated to on-field performance. Those choices, along with disputes over spending and player relations, kept the franchise in the headlines for reasons beyond wins and losses.

Relationship to the Broader Game
Schott saw herself as a steward of Cincinnati's baseball tradition and frequently took positions that she framed as defending the club's identity. She publicly supported Pete Rose, who had been banned from baseball, and at various points expressed interest in his reinstatement. Her dealings with fellow owners and league officials could be combative, but she remained an unmistakable presence at ownership meetings and in ballpark corridors. The Reds, one of MLB's oldest franchises, thus spent the 1990s not only chasing competitive results but also navigating the crosscurrents created by an owner whose voice carried beyond Cincinnati.

Sale of Control and Later Years
By the late 1990s, after years of controversy and league pressure, Schott agreed to sell a controlling interest in the Reds to Cincinnati financier Carl H. Lindner Jr., a longtime figure in the city's business community and a stabilizing force in MLB ownership circles. She retained a minority stake for a time but stepped away from daily oversight. Even out of the spotlight, her name remained closely associated with the franchise, and debates about her tenure continued in local media and among fans who remembered both the 1990 title and the turbulence of the years that followed.

Philanthropy and Civic Presence
Beyond baseball, Schott and the foundation associated with her family supported a range of Cincinnati institutions, including schools, youth programs, and cultural organizations. The practical, hometown-oriented sensibility that characterized her public image showed up in her charitable giving, which was often directed toward visible, local projects. Facilities at area universities and community organizations bore her name, reflecting the scale of that support. Over time, some institutions confronted the contradictions of her legacy, with public conversations about whether honors should remain in place given the controversies that surrounded her remarks.

Personality, Reputation, and the People Around Her
Schott's circle featured a roster of prominent baseball figures and civic leaders who, in different ways, shaped her public profile. Managers Lou Piniella, Tony Perez, Davey Johnson, and Ray Knight each experienced her management up close, with results that ranged from a championship to abrupt changes in direction. In MLB's upper ranks, Fay Vincent and Bud Selig became key actors in the disciplinary actions that made her one of the most controversial owners in modern sports. In Cincinnati's business sphere, Carl H. Lindner Jr. emerged as the figure who would take control of the club, signaling a new chapter for the franchise.

Death and Legacy
Marge Schott died in 2004 in her hometown of Cincinnati. Her legacy remains complicated: she was a pioneering female owner in Major League Baseball who presided over a World Series champion and spent heavily on local causes; she was also a public figure whose statements brought censure, suspensions, and lasting criticism. The Reds' history in the late twentieth century cannot be told without her, nor can the local story of civic philanthropy and its reassessment in light of evolving values. The people who intersected with her career, from Lou Piniella and Tony Perez to Davey Johnson, Ray Knight, Fay Vincent, Bud Selig, and Carl H. Lindner Jr., help chart the arc of a life that left a deep and debated imprint on both baseball and Cincinnati.

Our collection contains 7 quotes who is written by Marge, under the main topics: Ethics & Morality - Sports - Dog - Family - Money.