A. Bartlett Giamatti

Dr. Angelo Bartlett Giamatti

• Born April 4, 1938 in Boston, MA USA
• Died September 1, 1989 in Oak Bluffs, MA USA

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Biographical Information

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." - Frequently-quoted prose by Bart Giamatti

Bart Giamatti served as National League President and then Commissioner of Baseball.

Bart was an English professor at Yale University who was a strict traditionalist. He first gained notice when he published a piece in the New York Times about the 1981 strike. In fact, he was on the short list to replace Commissioner Bowie Kuhn in 1983-1984 but he was not ready to leave the Presidency of Yale.

Two years later, he was ready to move. He replaced Chub Feeney as National League president. He had several battles with Pete Rose while in office. In 1988, Giamatti suspended Rose 30 days for having contact with umpire Dave Pallone.

When Peter Ueberroth resigned in 1989, Giamatti was unanimously selected as the seventh commissioner. His five-month term, which started on April 1st, was eventful. Giamatti was commissioner during the Pete Rose Scandal. Some believe Giamatti died as a result of the stress of the Rose scandal, as he died one week after the decision to suspend Rose for life was announced.

His book Take Time for Paradise was originally published in 1989. His other writings about baseball were collected posthumously in the book A Great and Glorious Game, published in 1998.

Giamatti's son, Paul, is a well known actor.

After his death, the new research center at the Hall of Fame was named the Giamatti Research Center. The Little League complex in Bristol, CT is also named in his honor.

Related Sites

• The Green Fields of Mind by Bart Giamatti
• Bart Giamatti: A Profile by Robert P. Moncreiff