I am sure the commissioner of police will be writing to you to tell you that himself.

"Presumably," the commissioner wrote, "they know extortion when they see it."

The claims of fear and extortion, the commissioner wrote, "are not credible."

"In essence, he heard no internal warnings because none went off," the commissioner wrote.

"Our views on these matters are not philosophical or political," the commissioners wrote in a letter dated April 25.

"The deportation was wholly illegal and without authority in law, either State or Federal," the commissioners wrote.

"He heard no internal warnings," the commissioner wrote in his decision, alluding to Steinbrenner's conscience, "because none went off."

"As a result," the commissioner wrote in one of the most damning phrases of the decision, "an effort was made to cover it up."

"Such thinking is insensitive," the commissioner wrote, "to the considerations of what is in baseball's best interests."

Using police officers as "political pawns" is unacceptable, the commissioner wrote.