Howard Lincoln

Last updated
Howard Lincoln
Lincoln and Armstrong salute Navy (cropped).jpg
Lincoln in 2007
Born (1940-02-14) February 14, 1940 (age 84)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley
Known forFormer chairman of Nintendo of America, former CEO of Seattle Mariners
Military career
AllegianceFlag of the United States (Pantone).svg United States
Service/branchFlag of the United States.svg  United States Navy
Years of service1966–1970
Rank US Navy O3 infobox.svg Lieutenant

Howard Charles Lincoln (born February 14, 1940) is an American lawyer and businessman, known primarily for being the former Chairman of Nintendo of America and the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Seattle Mariners baseball team, representing absentee majority owner Hiroshi Yamauchi until Yamauchi died on September 19, 2013.

Contents

Early life

Born in Oakland, California, Lincoln was an active Boy Scout. As a thirteen-year-old boy, he posed for the famous Norman Rockwell painting The Scoutmaster , which was published in a calendar in 1956. [1] In the painting, young Lincoln is on the immediate right of the campfire. Lincoln eventually attained the rank of Eagle Scout and received a Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

Lincoln matriculated in 1957 at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his BA in political science in 1962 and his Juris Doctor degree from University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1965. From 1966 to 1970, he served as a Naval lieutenant within the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He then worked in private practice as an attorney in Seattle, Washington.

Nintendo

Lincoln did legal work in 1981 for Nintendo, culminating in the legal case Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. , in which Universal City Studios had sued Nintendo claiming that the video game Donkey Kong infringed upon Universal City Studio's rights to King Kong . Lincoln hired John Kirby to represent Nintendo in the courtroom. Nintendo won the case, as well as successive court appeals. [2]

Lincoln met Yamauchi in 1982 and joined Nintendo in 1983, as its Senior Vice President and General Counsel. He and Minoru Arakawa were instrumental in rebuilding the North American video game industry (after the crash of 1983) with their highly successful marketing of the Nintendo Entertainment System. [3] In 1994, he was appointed its chairman. [4] [5]

As chairman of Nintendo, Lincoln was involved in litigation with Tengen, a subsidiary of Atari Games, about the rights to Tetris, and defended Nintendo's use of the 10NES lock-out chip. [6] [7] He represented the company in the 1993 United States Senate hearings on video games, during which he promised Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl he would not release Night Trap on a Nintendo console because it was considered inappropriate for children. [8]

Lincoln announced his retirement from Nintendo in 1999 [9] and departed the company in 2000 [10]

Seattle Mariners

In September 1999, Lincoln became CEO of the Seattle Mariners, serving as the point man for majority investor Hiroshi Yamauchi when it came to making decisions (up until 2008, Lincoln noted that Yamauchi only pushed heavily for the team to pursue three players: Kazuhiro Sasaki, Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima); it was Lincoln that hired Pat Gillick to serve as general manager for the 2000 season. [11] [12] [13]

Lincoln's tenure as CEO of the Seattle Mariners saw both success and controversy. Lincoln was considered instrumental, along with former Senator Slade Gorton, in preserving the team's location in Seattle and negotiating with the city for a new stadium, Safeco Field. His stewardship has seen the team's first post-season appearances, in 1995, 1997, 2000, and 2001, as well as the aggressive expansion of the Mariners into the Japanese market, most noticeably through the acquisition of Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki.

Lou Piniella left after the 2002 season and Pat Gillick left the following year. Pinella once described Lincoln and Gillick prior to his departure: "I like Howard personally. I enjoyed working with him. He's a bright guy, a charming guy. But I'll tell you this -- he's bottom line. Howard likes total, total control. Pat wants to win. Howard just doesn't know how." Lincoln disagreed with that remark, stating that he gave the benefit of the doubt to those he had serve as general manager. [14] [15] Lincoln replaced Pinella with Bob Melvin and Gillick with Bill Bavasi, with the latter being considered by Lincoln as a regret. [16] In 2002, the first season without playoff baseball for the Mariners in years, he was quoted as saying the following about the goal set out for the team when it came to acquisitions in or out of season: "You can go to the Series two ways; first, go for it regardless of the financial risk or consequences, the way Cleveland or Florida has; or go for it with a competitive team that plays for championships on a continual basis. The objective of the Seattle Mariners is not to go to the World Series regardless of the financial consequences, that is irresponsible." (this clarification arose after he had been quoted as saying the goal of the team was not to win a World Series but to be competitive every year). [17] [18] From 2003 to 2016, the Mariners went through nine different managers, with none of them reaching the playoffs under Lincoln (who was reported as having kept a notebook of the insults leveled at him up to 2004) as CEO.

In April of 2016, Lincoln retired as CEO, concurrent with Nintendo selling its stake in the team. [19] [20] [21]

Philanthropy

In addition to Lincoln's business achievements, he is an active philanthropist. He has served as campaign chair for United Way of King County and the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is also a trustee of Western Washington University. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Mariners</span> Major League Baseball franchise in Seattle, Washington

The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team in 1977 playing their home games in the Kingdome. Since July 1999, the Mariners' home ballpark has been T-Mobile Park, located in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiroshi Yamauchi</span> Japanese businessman (1927–2013)

Hiroshi Yamauchi was a Japanese businessman and the third president of Nintendo, joining the company on 25 April 1949 until stepping down on 24 May 2002, being subsequently succeeded by Satoru Iwata. During his 53-year tenure, Yamauchi transformed Nintendo from a hanafuda card-making company that had been active solely in Japan into a multibillion-dollar video game publisher and global conglomerate. He was the great-grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, Nintendo's first president and founder. Hiroshi Yamauchi owned the Seattle Mariners baseball team from 1992 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Piniella</span> American baseball player and manager

Louis Victor Piniella is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees. During his playing career, he was named AL Rookie of the Year in 1969 and captured two World Series championships with the Yankees.

William Frederick "Woody" Woodward is an American former professional baseball player, college baseball coach, and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball, primarily as a shortstop from 1963 to 1971 for the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds. Woodward is better known for his tenure as general manager of the Seattle Mariners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slade Gorton</span> American politician (1928–2020)

Thomas Slade Gorton III was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Washington from 1981 to 1987, and again from 1989 to 2001. A member of the Republican Party, he held both of the state's U.S. Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice, first in 1986 by Brock Adams and again in 2000 by Maria Cantwell following a recount, becoming the last Republican senator to date for each seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariner Moose</span>

The Mariner Moose is the team mascot of the Seattle Mariners, a Major League Baseball team. He is an anthropomorphic moose who mainly appears and performs during Mariners home games at T-Mobile Park; he additionally makes several hundred appearances in the community each year, at everything from hospitals to wedding receptions. His appearance has remained relatively unchanged since his introduction in 1990, making him one of the most recognizable and popular mascots throughout all of Major League Baseball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Niehaus</span> American sportscaster

David Arnold Niehaus was an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for the American League's Seattle Mariners from their inaugural season in 1977 until his death after the 2010 season. In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus the Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for American baseball broadcasters. Among fans nationwide and his peers, Niehaus was considered to be one of the greatest sportscasters in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Gillick</span> American professional baseball executive (born 1937)

Lawrence Patrick David Gillick is an American professional baseball executive. He previously served as the general manager of four MLB teams: the Toronto Blue Jays (1978–1994), Baltimore Orioles (1996–1998), Seattle Mariners (2000–2003), and Philadelphia Phillies (2006–2008). He guided the Blue Jays to World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, and later with the Phillies in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McLaren (baseball)</span> American baseball coach and manager

John Lowell McLaren is an American former professional baseball coach and manager. He is best known for his brief tenure as manager of the Seattle Mariners, from July 1, 2007 to June 19, 2008. A native of the Houston, Texas area, McLaren was a catcher in the Houston Astros minor league system from 1970 to 1976, and later managed in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Sinatro</span> American baseball player and coach

Matthew Stephen Sinatro is an American former professional baseball player, coach and scout. A catcher during his playing days, he appeared in 140 games over ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four clubs: the Atlanta Braves (1981–84), Oakland Athletics (1987–88), Detroit Tigers (1989) and Seattle Mariners (1990–92), and had a 15-year career as an MLB coach.

The 1993 Seattle Mariners season was their 17th since the franchise creation. The team ended the season finishing fourth in the American League West, finishing with a record of 82–80 (.506). It was the franchise's first full season under the ownership of Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, with team chairman John Ellis representing him. During the 1993 season, Randy Johnson set a club record with 308 strikeouts. It was also the first season he walked less than 100 batters.

The 1992 Seattle Mariners season was their 16th since the franchise creation. The team finished seventh (last) in the American League West with a record of 64–98 (.395).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John W. Stanton</span> American businessman

John W. Stanton is an American businessman. He is the chairman of the board of Trilogy International Partners, as well as the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Seattle Mariners</span>

The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in 1977, the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field, now T-Mobile Park has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July 1999. From their 1977 inception until June 1999, the club's home park was the Kingdome.

The Double was a double hit by the Seattle Mariners' Edgar Martínez in Game 5 of Major League Baseball's 1995 American League Division Series on October 8, 1995. Trailing by one run in the bottom half of the 11th inning, with Joey Cora on third base and Ken Griffey Jr. on first, Martinez's hit drove in Cora and Griffey, giving the Mariners a 6–5 victory over the New York Yankees to clinch the series, 3–2. The play is held to be the "biggest hit in franchise history".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Armstrong</span>

Charles G. Armstrong is an American attorney and former officer of the United States Navy, best known for his 28-year tenure as president of the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball club, a position from which he stepped down on January 31, 2014.

Stephen James Kahn is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Kahn was drafted in the fifth round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft by the Seattle Mariners. Kahn attended Servite High School and then Loyola Marymount University prior to being drafted. He was signed by scouts Greg Whitworth, Dennis Gonsalves and Phil Pote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame</span> Baseball hall of fame in Seattle, Washington

The Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame is an American museum and hall of fame for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. It is located at T-Mobile Park in the SoDo district of downtown Seattle.

<i>The Scoutmaster</i> 1956 painting by Norman Rockwell

The Scoutmaster is a 1956 painting by American illustrator Norman Rockwell. It was originally created by Rockwell for the 1956 Brown & Bigelow Boy Scout Calendar. Since then, it has become one of the most collected images that Rockwell created for the Boy Scouts of America.

References

  1. ↑ "The Scoutmaster by Norman Rockwell". Oakland Area Council. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ Sheff, David (1994). Game over : how Nintendo conquered the world (1st Vintage Books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. ISBN   0-679-73622-0. OCLC   29390202.
  3. ↑ "75 Power Players". Next Generation (11). Imagine Media: 58. November 1995. In 1985 when Nintendo entered the US home videogame market, there was no home videogame market, just the spectacular remnants of an industry that left everyone wary. With Arakawa and Lincoln at the helm and the odds stacked against them, Nintendo of America brilliantly laid the foundations for the sprawling, multifaceted beast that now likes to be known as the interactive entertainment business.
  4. ↑ Crump, Larry (23 June 2005). "For the Sake of the Team: Unity and Disunity in a Multiparty Major League Baseball Negotiation". Negotiation Journal. 21 (3): 338. doi:10.1111/j.1571-9979.2005.00067.x. ISSN   1571-9979 . Retrieved 20 January 2022. For example, in 1994 Lincoln was appointed chairman of Nintendo of America..
  5. ↑ "Lincoln Named Chairman At Nintendo Of America | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  6. ↑ Groves, Martha (1989-03-06). "Judge Bars Suits by Nintendo, Atari Games". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  7. ↑ McGill, Douglas C. (1989-03-09). "A Nintendo Labyrinth Filled With Lawyers, Not Dragons". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  8. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (2018-04-20). "Nintendo once vowed Night Trap would never be on its systems, but things change". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  9. ↑ Street Journal, Jim CarltonStaff Reporter of The Wall (1999-07-26). "Howard Lincoln Will Retire From Nintendo's U.S. Unit". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  10. ↑ "Ex-Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln had big brass balls". Destructoid. 2013-03-17. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  11. ↑ https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/mariners-ceo-howard-lincoln-to-resign-source-says/#:~:text=July%2015%2C%201999%3A%20Mariners%20play,to%20the%20San%20Diego%20Padres.&text=%E2%80%A2-,Sept.,Lincoln%20selected%20chairman%20and%20CEO.
  12. ↑ https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2016/4/27/11520710/before-he-destroyed-the-mariners-howard-lincoln-saved-baseball-in
  13. ↑ https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/it-hasnt-been-a-pleasant-year-for-howard-lincoln-ms-ceo/
  14. ↑ https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/baseball/article/piniella-lincoln-clash-led-to-exit-1125407.php
  15. ↑ https://www.heraldnet.com/sports/gillick-leaving-the-mariners/
  16. ↑ https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/lincoln-addresses-failures-from-his-1286731.php
  17. ↑ https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/apr/27/john-blanchette-howard-lincolns-departure-from-mar/
  18. ↑ https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20020802&slug=mnotes02
  19. ↑ "Seattle Mariners CEO resigns amid ownership change". oregonlive. Associated Press. 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  20. ↑ "CEO Howard Lincoln leaving Mariners with 'a few regrets'". The Seattle Times. 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  21. ↑ "Nintendo plans sale of Mariners' controlling stake". ESPN.com. 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  22. ↑ "Seattle Mariners Chairman, CEO Howard Lincoln Appointed WWU Trustee". Western Washington University. Western Washington University Communications. Archived from the original on 2006-06-26. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.