A. Bartlett Giamatti
Encyclopedia
Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti (dʒiːəˈmɑːti; April 4, 1938 – September 1, 1989) was the president of Yale University
and later the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball
. Giamatti negotiated the agreement that terminated the Pete Rose betting scandal by permitting Rose
to voluntarily withdraw from the sport, avoiding further punishment.
and grew up in South Hadley, Massachusetts
. His father, Valentine John Giamatti, was chairman of the Department of Italian Language and Literature at Mount Holyoke College
. His mother, Mary Claybaugh Walton (Smith College
'35), was the daughter of Bartlett and Helen (Davidson) Walton of Wakefield, Massachusetts
. His maternal grandfather graduated from Phillips Academy Andover
and Harvard College
. His paternal grandfather, Angelo Giammattei [sic], emigrated to the United States from Telese, near Naples, Italy, around 1900.
Giamatti attended South Hadley High School, spent his junior year at the Overseas School of Rome, and graduated from Phillips Academy
in 1956. At Yale University
, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
(Phi chapter) and as a junior was tapped by Scroll and Key
, a senior secret society. He graduated magna cum laude in 1960. That same year, he married Toni Marilyn Smith, who taught English for more than 20 years at the Hopkins School
in New Haven, Connecticut
, until her death in 2004. Together the couple had three children: Hollywood actors Paul
and Marcus
and jewelry designer Elena. In the film Sideways
, a photograph of the character Miles Raymond (portrayed by Giamatti's son Paul) with his late father is really a picture of Paul and Bart Giamatti.
Giamatti's friend and successor as baseball commissioner, Fay Vincent
, wrote in The Last Commissioner that Giamatti's official religious view was agnosticism
.
. He became a professor of comparative literature at Yale University, an author, and master of Ezra Stiles College
at Yale, a post to which he was appointed by his predecessor as Yale president, Kingman Brewster, Jr.
. Giamatti taught briefly at Princeton
but spent most of his academic life at Yale. Giamatti's scholarly work focused on English Renaissance
literature, particularly Edmund Spenser
, and relationships between English and Italian Renaissance
poets. His writings on the pastoral
influence in literature and the effect of Ludovico Ariosto
on English literature remain influential.
As a teacher of undergraduates, he was well known, and rejected the conventional wisdom that the Renaissance represented an abrupt cultural change, stressing the continuities between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. He sometimes referred to the Protestant Reformation as the "Protestant Deformation."
When Giamatti's tenure as Stiles master ended in 1972, he was so popular that his students wanted to honor him with a present. Giamatti told them he wanted a joke gift and they got him a moosehead (from a yard sale), which was ceremoniously hung in the dining hall.
Giamatti served as president of Yale University from 1978 to 1986. He was the youngest president of the university in its history and presided over the university during a bitter strike by its clerical and technical workers
in 1984-85. As university president, he refused student, faculty, and community demands to divest
from apartheid South Africa
. He also served on the board of trustees of Mount Holyoke College
for many years, participating fully despite his Yale and baseball commitments. Giamatti was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1980.
fan). In 1978, when he was first rumored to be a candidate for the presidency of Yale, he had deflected questions by observing that "The only thing I ever wanted to be president of was the American League
." 1 He became president of the National League
in , and later commissioner of baseball in . During his stint as National League president, Giamatti placed an emphasis on the need to improve the environment for the fan in the ballparks. He also decided to make umpires strictly enforce the balk
rule and supported "social justice" as the only remedy for the lack of presence of minority managers, coaches, or executives at any level in Major League Baseball.
While still serving as National League president, Giamatti suspended Pete Rose
for 30 games after Rose shoved umpire Dave Pallone
on April 30, 1988. Later that year, Giamatti also suspended Los Angeles Dodgers
pitcher Jay Howell
, who was caught using pine tar
during the National League Championship Series
.
Giamatti, whose tough dealing with Yale's union favorably impressed Major League Baseball owners, was unanimously elected to succeed Peter Ueberroth
as commissioner on September 8, . Determined to maintain the integrity of the game, on August 24, , Giamatti prevailed upon Pete Rose to agree voluntarily to remain permanently ineligible to play baseball.
, Giamatti, a heavy smoker
for many years, died suddenly of a massive heart attack
at the age of 51, just eight days after banishing Pete Rose
and 154 days into his tenure as commissioner. He became the second baseball commissioner to die in office, the first being Kenesaw Mountain Landis
. Baseball's owners soon selected Fay Vincent
, Giamatti's close friend and baseball's first-ever deputy commissioner, as the new commissioner.
On October 14, 1989, before Game 1 at the World Series
, Giamatti—to whom this World Series was dedicated—was memorialized with a moment of silence
. Son Marcus Giamatti
threw out the first pitch before the game. Also before Game One, the Yale Whiffenpoofs sang the national anthem, a blend of The Star-Spangled Banner
with America the Beautiful
that has been since repeated by other a-capella groups.
James Reston, Jr. notes in his book Collision at Home Plate: The Lives of Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti that Giamatti suffered from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
, an inherited neuromuscular disease affecting peripheral nerves.
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and later the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball
Commissioner of Baseball
The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive of Major League Baseball and its associated minor leagues. Under the direction of the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts...
. Giamatti negotiated the agreement that terminated the Pete Rose betting scandal by permitting Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
to voluntarily withdraw from the sport, avoiding further punishment.
Personal life
Giamatti was born in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and grew up in South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. His father, Valentine John Giamatti, was chairman of the Department of Italian Language and Literature at Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
. His mother, Mary Claybaugh Walton (Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
'35), was the daughter of Bartlett and Helen (Davidson) Walton of Wakefield, Massachusetts
Wakefield, Massachusetts
-History:-Geography:The diagram above shows what is to the east, west, north, south, and other directions of the center of Wakefield. Towns with population above 25,000 are in bold italics.-Demographics:-Notable residents:...
. His maternal grandfather graduated from Phillips Academy Andover
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
and Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
. His paternal grandfather, Angelo Giammattei [sic], emigrated to the United States from Telese, near Naples, Italy, around 1900.
Giamatti attended South Hadley High School, spent his junior year at the Overseas School of Rome, and graduated from Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
in 1956. At Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
(Phi chapter) and as a junior was tapped by Scroll and Key
Scroll and Key
The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the wealthiest and second oldest Yale secret society...
, a senior secret society. He graduated magna cum laude in 1960. That same year, he married Toni Marilyn Smith, who taught English for more than 20 years at the Hopkins School
Hopkins School
The Hopkins School is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational day school, located in New Haven, Connecticut....
in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, until her death in 2004. Together the couple had three children: Hollywood actors Paul
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
and Marcus
Marcus Giamatti
Marcus Giamatti is an American actor, best known for being a regular member of the cast of the CBS drama series Judging Amy.-Background:...
and jewelry designer Elena. In the film Sideways
Sideways
Sideways is a 2004 comedy-drama film written by Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne and directed by Payne. Adapted from Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, Sideways follows two forty-something year old men, portrayed by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, who take a week-long road trip to...
, a photograph of the character Miles Raymond (portrayed by Giamatti's son Paul) with his late father is really a picture of Paul and Bart Giamatti.
Giamatti's friend and successor as baseball commissioner, Fay Vincent
Fay Vincent
Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr. is a former entertainment lawyer and sports executive who served as the eighth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from September 13, 1989 to September 7, 1992.-Early life and career:...
, wrote in The Last Commissioner that Giamatti's official religious view was agnosticism
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
.
Yale
Giamatti stayed in New Haven to receive his doctorate in 1964, when he also published a volume of essays by Thomas Bergin he had coedited with a philosophy graduate student, T. K. SeungT. K. Seung
T. K. Seung is a Korean American philosopher and literary critic. His academic interests cut across diverse philosophical and literary subjects, including ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law, cultural hermeneutics, and ancient Chinese philosophy....
. He became a professor of comparative literature at Yale University, an author, and master of Ezra Stiles College
Ezra Stiles College
Ezra Stiles College is a residential college at Yale University, built in 1961 by Eero Saarinen. Architecturally, it is known for its lack of right angles. It is adjacent to Morse College.-Origin:...
at Yale, a post to which he was appointed by his predecessor as Yale president, Kingman Brewster, Jr.
Kingman Brewster, Jr.
Kingman Brewster, Jr., was an educator, president of Yale University, and American diplomat.-Early life:...
. Giamatti taught briefly at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
but spent most of his academic life at Yale. Giamatti's scholarly work focused on English Renaissance
English Renaissance
The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th century; like most of northern...
literature, particularly Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
, and relationships between English and Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
poets. His writings on the pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
influence in literature and the effect of Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic Orlando Furioso . The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, describes the adventures of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks as they battle against the Saracens with diversions...
on English literature remain influential.
As a teacher of undergraduates, he was well known, and rejected the conventional wisdom that the Renaissance represented an abrupt cultural change, stressing the continuities between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. He sometimes referred to the Protestant Reformation as the "Protestant Deformation."
When Giamatti's tenure as Stiles master ended in 1972, he was so popular that his students wanted to honor him with a present. Giamatti told them he wanted a joke gift and they got him a moosehead (from a yard sale), which was ceremoniously hung in the dining hall.
Giamatti served as president of Yale University from 1978 to 1986. He was the youngest president of the university in its history and presided over the university during a bitter strike by its clerical and technical workers
Federation of Hospital and University Employees
The Federation of Hospital And University Employees is a coalition of labor unions in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, which represents thousands of workers at Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital...
in 1984-85. As university president, he refused student, faculty, and community demands to divest
Disinvestment from South Africa
Disinvestment from South Africa was first advocated in the 1960s, in protest of South Africa's system of Apartheid, but was not implemented on a significant scale until the mid 1980s...
from apartheid South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He also served on the board of trustees of Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
for many years, participating fully despite his Yale and baseball commitments. Giamatti was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1980.
Baseball
Giamatti had a lifelong interest in baseball (he was a die-hard Boston Red SoxBoston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
fan). In 1978, when he was first rumored to be a candidate for the presidency of Yale, he had deflected questions by observing that "The only thing I ever wanted to be president of was the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
." 1 He became president of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
in , and later commissioner of baseball in . During his stint as National League president, Giamatti placed an emphasis on the need to improve the environment for the fan in the ballparks. He also decided to make umpires strictly enforce the balk
Balk
In baseball, a pitcher can commit a number of illegal motions or actions that constitute a balk. In games played under the Official Baseball Rules, a balk results in a dead ball or delayed dead ball. In certain other circumstances, a balk may be wholly or partially disregarded...
rule and supported "social justice" as the only remedy for the lack of presence of minority managers, coaches, or executives at any level in Major League Baseball.
While still serving as National League president, Giamatti suspended Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
for 30 games after Rose shoved umpire Dave Pallone
Dave Pallone
David Michael Pallone is a former Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the National League from to . During Pallone's career, he wore uniform number 26.-Umpiring career:...
on April 30, 1988. Later that year, Giamatti also suspended Los Angeles Dodgers
1988 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 1988 season was a memorable one for the Dodgers as a squad that was picked to finish fourth wound up winning the World Series, beating the heavily favored New York Mets and Oakland Athletics on the way. Kirk Gibson carried the Dodger offense, winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award...
pitcher Jay Howell
Jay Howell
Jay Canfield Howell is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds , Chicago Cubs , New York Yankees , Oakland Athletics , Los Angeles Dodgers , Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers .Howell was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers when they won the 1988 World Series...
, who was caught using pine tar
Pine tar
Pine tar is a sticky material produced by the high temperature carbonization of pine wood in anoxic conditions . The wood is rapidly decomposed by applying heat and pressure in a closed container; the primary resulting products are charcoal and pine tar.Pine tar consists primarily of aromatic...
during the National League Championship Series
1988 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 4, 1988 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaThe series opened with a classic pitching matchup, pitting the Dodgers' Orel Hershiser, who had won 23 games during the regular season and carried a Major League record 59 consecutive scoreless innings into the game,...
.
Giamatti, whose tough dealing with Yale's union favorably impressed Major League Baseball owners, was unanimously elected to succeed Peter Ueberroth
Peter Ueberroth
Peter Victor Ueberroth is an American executive. He served as the sixth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1984 to 1989. He was recently the chairman of the United States Olympic Committee; he was replaced by Larry Probst in October 2008....
as commissioner on September 8, . Determined to maintain the integrity of the game, on August 24, , Giamatti prevailed upon Pete Rose to agree voluntarily to remain permanently ineligible to play baseball.
Death
While at his vacation home on Martha's VineyardMartha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
, Giamatti, a heavy smoker
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
for many years, died suddenly of a massive heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at the age of 51, just eight days after banishing Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
and 154 days into his tenure as commissioner. He became the second baseball commissioner to die in office, the first being Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and as the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death...
. Baseball's owners soon selected Fay Vincent
Fay Vincent
Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr. is a former entertainment lawyer and sports executive who served as the eighth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from September 13, 1989 to September 7, 1992.-Early life and career:...
, Giamatti's close friend and baseball's first-ever deputy commissioner, as the new commissioner.
On October 14, 1989, before Game 1 at the World Series
1989 World Series
†: Game 3 was originally slated for October 17 at 5:35 pm; however, it was postponed when an earthquake occurred at 5:04 pm.-Game 1:Saturday, October 14, 1989 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California...
, Giamatti—to whom this World Series was dedicated—was memorialized with a moment of silence
Moment of silence
A moment of silence is the expression for a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of respect, particularly in mourning for those who have recently died or as part of a commemoration ceremony...
. Son Marcus Giamatti
Marcus Giamatti
Marcus Giamatti is an American actor, best known for being a regular member of the cast of the CBS drama series Judging Amy.-Background:...
threw out the first pitch before the game. Also before Game One, the Yale Whiffenpoofs sang the national anthem, a blend of The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
with America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward....
that has been since repeated by other a-capella groups.
James Reston, Jr. notes in his book Collision at Home Plate: The Lives of Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti that Giamatti suffered from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease- , known also as Morbus Charcot-Marie-Tooth, Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy, hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy , hereditary sensorimotor neuropathy , or peroneal muscular atrophy, is an inherited disorder of nerves that takes different forms...
, an inherited neuromuscular disease affecting peripheral nerves.
Works
- Master Pieces from the Files of T.G.B., ed. Thomas K. Swing and A. Bartlett Giamatti (1964).
- The Earthly Paradise and the Renaissance Epic (1966)
- Play of Double Senses: Spenser’s Faerie Queene (1975)
- The University and the Public Interest (1981)
- Exile and Change in Renaissance Literature (1984)
- Take Time for Paradise: Americans and their Games (1989)
- A Free and Ordered Space: The Real World of the University (1990)
- A Great and Glorious Game: Baseball Writings of A. Bartlett Giamatti (ed. Kenneth Robson, 1998)
Further reading
- Kelley, Brooks Mather. (1999). Yale: A History. New Haven: Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
. ISBN 978-0-300-07843-5; OCLC 810552 - Reston, James. (1991). Collision at Home Plate: The Lives of Pete Rose and Bart Giamatti.
- Valerio, Anthony. (1991). A Life of A. Bartlett Giamatti: By Him and About Him.
External links
- "The Green Fields of the Mind", excerpt from A Great and Glorious Game
- BaseballLibrary - profile and events
- A. Bartlett Giamatti Quotations