Key events during Marge Schott's tenure as owner of the Cincinnati Reds:

1981
Feb. 17: Schott becomes a limited partner in the Reds.

1984
Dec. 21: Schott becomes general partner of Reds' ownership group.

1985
July 8: Schott becomes president and chief executive officer.

1990
Reds win NL pennant and sweep Oakland in World Series.

1991
Aug. 23: Team controller Tim Sabo is fired.

Oct. 9: Sabo sues Schott in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, claiming he was fired because he opposed a policy of not hiring blacks and because he testified against her in a lawsuit filed against Schott by several of the Reds' limited partners.

Dec. 6: Schott countersues, denying charges of racism and claiming Sabo wrote himself unauthorized checks and negligently paid health insurance premiums to retired front-office employees. Schott also asks for $25,000 in damages for defamation.

1992
Nov. 13: Former marketing director Cal Levy says in a deposition in Sabo's suit that Schott called former Reds outfielders Eric Davis and Dave Parker "million-dollar niggers" and kept a swastika arm band at home. Roger Blaemire, the former vice president of business operations, testifies in a deposition that he also heard Schott make racial remarks. The next day, Schott issues a statement saying: "I am not a racist."

Nov. 20: Schott issues a statement, saying her use of the word "nigger" and her possession of a swastika arm band weren't meant to offend.

Nov. 24: Sharon Jones, a former Oakland Athletics executive assistant, is quoted in The New York Times as saying Schott said on the telephone before the start of an owners' conference call: "I would never hire another nigger. I'd rather have a trained monkey working for me than a nigger."

Nov. 29: Schott is quoted in the Times as saying Adolf Hitler initially was good for Germany, that her references to "niggers" were in jest and that she doesn't understand why the word "Japs" is offensive.

Dec. 1: The ruling executive council appoints a four-person committee to investigate Schott.

Dec. 9: Schott, appearing at the winter meetings, issues an apology, acknowledging she made "insensitive" remarks.

1993
Feb. 3: Schott is suspended for one year, fined $25,000 for language the executive council judged "racially and ethnically offensive."

1994
April 3: The Reds open the season with Schott back running the team.

May 18: The Cincinnati Enquirer quotes Schott as saying she doesn't want her players to wear earrings, because "only fruits wear earrings."

1995
June 2: Schott is cleared of wrongdoing by a jury in Sabo's wrongful firing lawsuit.

1996
April 1: After umpire John McSherry's death on the field in the first inning forces the postponement of the Reds' season opener, Schott, who wanted the game to continue, says, "I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This is our history, our tradition, our team."

May 5: In an ESPN interview, Schott praises the start of Hitler's rule. "Everything you read, when he came in he was good," she said. "They built tremendous highways and got all the factories going. He went nuts, he went berserk. I think his own generals tried to kill him, didn't they? Everybody knows he was good at the beginning but he just went too far."

May 7: Schott releases an apology. Acting commissioner Bud Selig praises the apology but says baseball will continue to monitor the situation.

May 14: Sports Illustrated quotes Schott speaking in a "cartoonish Japanese accent" in recounting her meeting with Japanese prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa. Also in the article, in reference to seeing high school-aged Asian-Americans, she says, "I don't like it when they come here, honey, and stay so long and then outdo our kids. That's not right."

June 6: Baseball's executive council gives Schott an ultimatum: give up day-to-day operation of the Reds within a week or face a suspension of more than one year.

June 12: Schott agrees to give up day-to-day operation of the Reds through the 1998 season.

Dec. 4: General Motors files a complaint with the Ohio Motor Vehicle Dealers Board accusing Schott of falsifying 57 auto sales in order to meet quotas so she could keep her Chevrolet-Geo dealership. Major league baseball begins looking into reports that she used the names of some Reds employees on the falsified sales documents without their knowledge.

1997
Feb. 5: Schott sells her Chevrolet-Geo dealership as part of an agreement with GM, which drops its complaint against her. Baseball continues its investigation.

Nov. 13: The National League fines Schott $10,000 for talking to reporters about a new baseball stadium without first getting baseball's permission, as required by her agreement.<

1998
March 31: Schott falls in the driveway of her home a few hours after the Reds' season opener and breaks her hip.

May 17: Using a walker, Schott returns to the stadium for the first time since her accident.

Oct. 23: Schott agrees to sell control of the team rather than face another suspension from baseball.

1999
Feb. 11: Signs preliminary agreement to sell 5½ of her 6½ shares to Larry Dolan for $65 million.

April 1: Limited partners notify Schott that they would exercise their right to match Dolan's offer and buy her out.

April 12: Schott notifies limited partners she has agreed to sell to a group led by cousin Steve Schott for $67 million.

April 15: Three limited partners led by Carl Lindner sue Schott in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, saying she was improperly rejecting their right to match Dolan's offer.

April 16: Judge Robert Ruehlman grants the limited partners a temporary restraining order preventing Schott from dealing with her cousin.

April 20: Schott signs a deal to sell to the three limited partners for $67 million.

Sept. 15: Baseball owners approve the sale.