Rozner: Einhorn never lost love of baseball, White Sox

Eddie Einhorn was one of those guys who always met you with a smile and a handshake.

He had bad days, sure, but he never dwelled on them. He chose to be happy, a lesson never lost on those he loved and worked with.

He was at least an innovator of the highest regard and in some ways - according to those closest to him, like Jerry Reinsdorf - a genius when it came to televising sports and monetizing a new world.

The 80-year-old Einhorn passed away Tuesday night in New Jersey after the complications of a stroke. He was Reinsdorf's partner in buying the Chicago White Sox in 1981, the two having become friends during law school at Northwestern.

He was White Sox president and CEO from 1981-90 and vice chairman for the next 25 years.

"Eddie was a creative whirlwind whose ideas - many of them far ahead of their time - changed the landscape of sports, and sports on television forever," Reinsdorf said in a statement Thursday. "He was a man of many interests, projects, ideas and opinions, and we all will miss him dearly.

"It is exceedingly rare in this day and age to have enjoyed a friendship and a working partnership that lasted our lifetimes. We celebrated many great moments together."

One of those occurred at 10:40 p.m. Chicago time on Oct. 16, 2005, when the Sox clinched the ALCS in Anaheim, sending the team to its first World Series since 1959.

"I can't believe it took so many years," said a drenched Einhorn in the clubhouse. "It was worth all the trouble."

Also a former vendor - Einhorn worked at Comiskey Park in 1959 - I spent some time reminiscing with Einhorn that weekend in Anaheim.

He was feeling great after celebrating the three-year anniversary of his kidney transplant, the recent wedding of his daughter Jennifer, and, of course, the White Sox' postseason.

"What a few weeks. What a roll I'm on," Einhorn said. "But, knock wood, my health is great and that's the only thing that really matters."

Einhorn was the founder of the TVS network and a sports programming pioneer. He wrote a book about the evolution of March Madness, remembering his days as a TV exec and the considerable impact of the 1968 Astrodome (Houston-UCLA) game on college basketball and TV sports.

In 2011, he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor, and during his 30 years in baseball he was a member of the Television Committee, considered a key architect of The Baseball Network and baseball's first billion-dollar TV contract.

Before going in on the White Sox, Einhorn produced "CBS Sports Spectacular," winning an Emmy, and was known nationally for his work with youth baseball.

On Opening Day 2007, we talked at length about the Cubs being for sale for the first time in 25 years, and he was not shy with his feelings about an owner's influence - or lack thereof.

"Ownership has a very limited role and it's generally overstated by most people," Einhorn said that day. "You hire and fire, but mostly you hope you hire the right people and let them do their jobs.

"When the owners are extremely involved and extremely public, or big ego guys, they don't win much. Ownership isn't supposed to be a distraction, I don't think. Ownership is supposed to be a calming influence."

But Einhorn did believe the Cubs' corporate ownership had not been a benefit for the fans.

"In that situation, the fan doesn't know who to blame when things don't go well, and the fan needs that. The fan deserves that," Einhorn said. "That's the role of ownership. I took a lot of heat early, then Jerry took on a bigger role.

"I like the role of vice chairman because when we do well it's 'our team.' When we don't do well, it's 'Jerry's team.'

"You have to understand it's not personal, and I say that because nobody really knows Jerry the person, or Eddie the person. It's just an image, and it's our role to be the ultimate object of fan scorn.

"You get conditioned to it and you realize it's part of it. Sometimes it gets a little too personal and Jerry has to stick up for himself.

"But after 27 years, I love it as much as ever. The funny thing is, there was only one person happier than we were on that first day (of ownership). The only guy in the park happier was Danny Kaye, because he had just sold the Mariners.

"After he told us that, Jerry and I looked at each other like, 'What did we just get ourselves into?'

"But we never knew it would be this big. Never imagined that. Still, we were just over there behind the plate talking about how much we still love the game and how much wins are still great and losses still hurt."

And never did Einhorn lose his love of baseball.

"There's something about owning a team that has to be about love if you're going to be involved," Einhorn said. "You can't consider it a business and you can't run it as a business.

"We did it because we loved the game. I used to be here for 50 or 60 games a year. So did Jerry, and we would have been here today if we didn't own the team."

But Einhorn never took himself too seriously. Unlike so many owners, he didn't believe he was a star, and he understood fans come to the park to see the players.

"There's this huge encyclopedia of baseball, like 700 pages, and I think there's four or five pages on ownership," Einhorn said. "The Comiskeys, Tribune, us, Bill Veeck, whoever.

"It's not about that, not about business. It's more like a public utility.

"But to us it's a game, and this game keeps you young. It brings out the kid in you.

"Thank goodness for that."

brozner@dailyherald.com

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Einhorn services

Services will be held noon Sunday in Fair Lawn, N.J., for Chicago White Sox and Bulls executive Eddie Einhorn, who passed away Tuesday after complications following a stroke. He was 80. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Einhorn's name to the Professional Scouts Foundation (<a href="http://www.pbsfonline.com/index.html">www.pbsfonline.com</a>).

He was born Jan 3, 1936 in Paterson, N.J., and is survived by his wife Ann, daughter Jennifer (her husband Darryl), grandson Meyer, and a son, Jeff.

<b>Einhorn's career:</b>• Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern School of Law.

• Was part of a limited partnership in 1981 that purchased the White Sox with Jerry Reinsdorf.

• Executive with the White Sox for 35 years and served on the Chicago Bulls board of directors

• Founder and chairman of TVS Television Network, which broadcast college basketball's "Game of the Century" in 1968.

• Inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2011.

• Key consultant in building The Baseball Network.

• Founded Cooperstown Baseball World, a sports camp for kids. \

Source: Chicago White Sox