ITHACA, N.Y. -- Fay Vincent, the former commissioner of Major League Baseball, will deliver the Stephen and Evalyn Milman Lecture in American Culture and Baseball Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall. Vincent's talk, "The Baseball Mystery: Why Is It So Special?" is free and open to the public.

Vincent became the eighth commissioner of baseball in 1989, following the death of A. Bartlett Giamatti, and resigned in 1992. In his first tumultuous year as commissioner, he presided over the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, which was interrupted for 10 days by the Loma Prieta earthquake. During his first year, Vincent also endured an acrimonious owners lockout and oversaw the suspension of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Vincent was no stranger to conflict management prior to assuming the hot seat. As deputy baseball commissioner, he led the investigation into the Pete Rose gambling scandal that, following negotiations, led to Rose's banishment from baseball. Vincent is the author of a popular book on his beloved sport The Last Commissioner: A Baseball Valentine (Simon & Schuster, 2002).

In 2003 Stephen and Evalyn Milman, both Cornell alumni, provided funding to the American Studies Program for a seminar on baseball and American culture. The course, to be taught every other academic year by Glenn Altschuler, the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions at Cornell, was launched in spring 2004. Vincent originally was slated to speak in April 2004 to mark the occasion, said Larry Moore, director of the American Studies Program and Cornell professor of history, who invited Vincent to the campus.

"We asked Vincent to deliver a lecture . . . because of his importance in the administrative history of baseball but also because he is an articulate, thoughtful man," said Moore. "His topic, 'The Mystery of Baseball: Why Is It So Special,' may speak to many issues, including why many American university professors passionately follow the game."