Marge Schott: On the Record
This page records specific public conduct. It does not claim knowledge of private beliefs or motives.
Documented record
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May 5, 1996: On May 5, 1996, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott told ESPN's Sal Paolantonio in a nationally aired interview that Hitler "was good" at the outset of his rule before he "went nuts" and "went berserk," remarks for which MLB's ruling council banned her from day-to-day control of the team through the 1998 season — a penalty layered atop her February 3, 1993 suspension and $250,000 fine, imposed after an MLB-commissioned investigation into her use of a racial slur about Black players and allegations she kept a Nazi swastika armband and made disparaging remarks about Jewish people.
Everything you read, when he came in he was good. They built tremendous highways and got all the factories going. He went nuts, he went berserk.
Source 1 Source 2
Context and response
Schott repeatedly denied being a bigot; she said the swastika armband was a gift from a former employee and characterized the "million-dollar" racial slur about Black players as having been said in jest. She did not fully retract the Hitler remarks. No connection to Israel/Israeli policy was found in the sourced record — this is a pre-2023, domestic racism/antisemitism case, not an Israel-related one.
Where Galil stands
Our opinion: We don't stand with a team owner who praised Hitler's leadership on national TV and was twice sanctioned by Major League Baseball for racist and antisemitic conduct.
Sources manually reviewed 2026-07-27. Corrections and later context will be appended to this page.