Sport: CBS Bespeaks

It was no surprise when Dan Topping, 54, announced last week that he was quitting as president of the New York Yankees and selling his remaining 10% interest for $1,400,000 to the Columbia Broadcasting System. Two years ago, CBS bought control of the Yanks for $11.2 million, and Topping now spends most of his time in Florida. The puzzle was what CBS wanted with the rest of his stock: in those two years, the Yankees have tumbled from first in the American League to dead last, and attendance has fallen off 11%.

Still, insisted CBS Executive Michael Burke, 48, the Yankee future could hardly be brighter—given the right man in the presidency. “That is the genius of this organization,” said Burke. “Stashed away in the broom closet is a bespoke fellow for any task, even baseball.” The fellow he meant was himself.

Just Like Lou. Once captain of the baseball team at Kingswood School in West Hartford, Conn., Burke passionately claims to have been an “always, always” Yankee fan. Together with the late “Pride of the Yankees,” Lou Gehrig, he shares the honor of having had his career commemorated by Gary Cooper on the screen. The flick was Cloak and Dagger, and it concerned Burke’s OSS exploits in World War II —blowing up bridges for the Resistance, sneaking into Italy to spirit out a defecting admiral. He was recruited for the job by General “Wild Bill” Donovan, who saw him play halfback for the University of Pennsylvania and decided: “Anybody who can run back punts the way you can ought to be able to wiggle behind enemy lines.”

If life gets dull around the Yankee front office, Burke can always swap war stories with Manager Ralph Houk, who was an Army major in the war—and still has three years to go on his four-year contract at $75,000 a year. The actual responsibility for reshaping the Yankee image will fall to a new general manager, who at week’s end was still to be named. Top candidate: Lee MacPhail, 48, ex-general manager of the Baltimore Orioles and currently chief assistant to Baseball Commissioner William Eckert. If MacPhail does get the job, it will be a true triumph of irony. His father, Larry MacPhail, was president of the Yankees from 1945 to 1948—when he was forced out by Dan Topping and Partner Del Webb. His brother Bill is a vice president and director of sports for CBS.