Schott Apologizes for Her Remarks : Baseball: Cincinnati owner says she didn’t mean them and that she is not a racist or bigot.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —  Cincinnati Red owner Marge Schott acknowledged and apologized for “insensitive” racial remarks she has made.

Major league officials insisted her apology Wednesday was not part of a deal being negotiated between attorneys for Schott and baseball to avoid a confrontation over those remarks.

Schott could be fined and suspended, but sources have said that a negotiated settlement might be based on her willingness to withdraw from the Reds’ daily operation for a specified period and implement a minority hiring program.

Appearing at an early-morning news conference, Schott refused to take questions after reading from a statement in which she said:

“I acknowledge that in the past I have, on occasion, made insensitive remarks, which I now realize hurt others. On those few occasions, it was my mouth but not my heart speaking.

”. . . I am profoundly sorry and I apologize to anyone I hurt. I can only say that I did not mean them. I love baseball, and if anything I have said caused embarrassment to the game, the Reds, the wonderful fans and the city of Cincinnati, I am sorry.”

Schott said the controversy has caused her sorrow, that she is not a racist or bigot and that she welcomed a chance to “refute falsehoods being stated about me by people with their own agendas and private interests.”

She revealed that she has hired Washington attorney Bob Bennett to represent her in baseball’s inquiry and said, “. . . while I am not without blame in this matter, I am also not the cause of the problem. Minority issues have been present in baseball long before I came to the game.”

“They must be resolved,” she said. “In this regard, I want to assure everyone that I will work diligently as an owner to address these important and legitimate concerns of minorities.”