Former MLB Executive Recounts Reinsdorf’s Failed Attempt To Block Manfred

“Have you no shame?” 

That was the last text message former Miami Marlins president David Samson says he received from Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. 

In a recent episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, David Samson detailed the roots of his contentious relationship with Jerry Reinsdorf — a disagreement that has simmered for more than a decade.

Reinsdorf’s birthday is Feb. 25, a date that Samson never forgets. 

“I’m a birthday person, I like saying happy birthday, and his birthday is the same as my late sister, who passed away way too young,” Samson said. “I’ve always known Jerry’s birthday, so I always text him on his birthday.” 

One year, Samson sent a brief message: “Happy birthday, sending best wishes and hoping all is well.” 

But Reinsdorf wasn’t in the mood for birthday pleasantries. After years of tension stemming from their battle over the 2014 election for Major League Baseball commissioner, he replied to Samson’s friendly message with a curt, “Have you no shame?” 

Back in 2014, a Baltimore hotel, filled with millionaires, found itself in a scramble to secure enough votes to determine the future of baseball.

Samson, then president of the Marlins, backed Rob Manfred. Reinsdorf preferred Tom Warner. Samson claims Reinsdorf opposed a Manfred pick in part because he questioned whether someone aligned with outgoing Commissioner Bud Selig (or Selig’s preferences) would be assertive enough during labor negotiations. 

In an early vote, Manfred carried 20 votes, Warner 10, leaving no commissioner. 

In an effort to secure enough votes, Samson met with Ted Lerner, then owner of the Washington Nationals. Lerner had been voting against Manfred, citing long-standing disputes over MASN, the regional sports network Lerner had battled with the Orioles for years. 

However, Samson convinced Lerner to agree to abstain and let his son, Mark, cast the vote instead, allowing Ted to appear neutral while still influencing the outcome.

When Samson called the vote, he was sitting just a few feet across from Reinsdorf, who was counting to eight, to signal how many votes he needed to block Manfred once again. 

Samson recalled the tense moment:

"Rob knew because I called Rob and said, ‘We got the 23rd.’ Rob said, ‘Get Bud to call a vote.’ Reinsdorf said, ‘Call a vote? You don’t have the votes. I know you don’t have the votes,’ because Jerry was with Ted Lerner. We let Ted stay with Jerry so he’d keep thinking he had the advantage. When we finally called for the vote, Jerry said, ‘Hey, you’re calling a vote—you have no chance.’ He was sitting two feet from me, and I said, ‘Call the vote, Bud, call it right now.’ Bud called the vote, it was announced 23-7 for Rob, and Reinsdorf could not understand. The look he gave me—I haven’t been looked at that way by anyone in my life. In my life, the way he looked at me."

On the seventh ballot, Manfred triumphed over Werner, 23-7, clinching the position of MLB commissioner, much to the chagrin of Reinsdorf.