Watch out for that doorknob, Bud
The thought of major league baseball without Bud Selig as commissioner? I'm absolutely giddy.
Selig has reportedly informed MLB owners that he'll step down as commissioner following the 2012 season. There will be multiple candidates for the gig by then, including baseball executives and politicians.
I seriously doubt any ex-players or broadcasters will be considered.
Replacing Selig is the only way that major league baseball can really get their house in order. Yes, Selig has done a number of positive things during his reign; having said that, he's missed the boat on other opportunities.
Perhaps a new commissioner will embrace the concept of two 15-team leagues, and schedule one interleague game every day, rather than 2 dedicated interleague periods, leaving a lone NL game on the schedule. Maybe he'll recongize the necessity to go back to the balanced schedule, if for no other reason than to help the have-nots in the AL East have a fighting chance.
Bud will make the Hall of Fame. Of that I have no doubt. With an annual salary of $18 million, he's likely done much better as commish than he did as Brewers' owner, and he's made the job a most desirable plum.
The travesty of the whole "contraction" issue - a total red herring - and the "this time it counts" nonsense surrounding the All- Star Game are just two of the strikes against Selig. Avoiding a work stoppage for 15-plus years is a genuine accomplishment.
But make no mistake about it, a change is overdue.
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Categories (click for archive)Phil Wood |
Selig was a terrible owner and he is a terrible commissioner. Too bad he'll be around for 3 more years. Along with the things cited in your article, Selig also looked the other way as PEDS made a joke of the record book while increasing attendance.
Or heaven forbid baseball take a longer view of the health of the sport in general. Sure the Yankees and Red Sox have increased baseball's popularity immensely, but baseball is about more than the handful of teams in the biggest markets. Some teams are withering and not solely because of bad direction. Baseball is all about money - whether you're an owner bidding for a star player or a fan paying to follow your team on TV. It's no surprise the NFL is America's sport these day. Competition and little difficulty following games. Amazing concept.
Didn't one of the 'have nots' of the AL East just win the World Series? The unbalanced schedule actually favors the other AL East teams. Are you really that excited to watch KC play Arizona on opening day, or better yet have the Yankees playing the Nationals on October first with the AL East pennant up for grabs. ===== The last AL East "have-not" that won a World Series was the Blue Jays in 1993, the pre-YES network days. The Rays made it to the World Series in 2008 before losing to the Phillies, but that was a fluke, in retrospect. There will be years where the Yankees or Red Sox will suffer a lot of injuries to their pitching staff or key players (like New York in '08), but you can't rely on someone else getting hurt to level the playing field. Anyone can win a World Series once they reach the playoffs. It's getting there that's so much more difficult in the AL East unless your cap has an NY or a B on it.
Until the commisioner balances out baseball incomes we can continue to watch the yankees win almost every year. Is that fun? When I was young I would watch the series because of the drama. Now with only big market teams winning. It just isn't fun anymore. The fact that the Packers are successful and the Pirates aren't tells me that there is something wrong with the way baseball is being run.
I never get over how he dithered while the Expos languished and traded away one future star after another, only to later engineer the sale of the team to a personal friend who Selig knew would keep the payroll as low as possible. It'd be nice if the next commish didn't come from ownership and simply hand off his team to his daughter like Selig did. =============== I'd prefer a non-owner resume, too, but I think the key owners in the game - who tried to talk Bud out of retiring - like their own kind in charge. That's why I think G.W. Bush may be at the top of their list.
Gee, Phil, you let Bud Lite off easy. How about the travesty of interleague play, the distortion of league records, the idiocy of the wild-card, the multiple playoffs that make it a near-certainty the best teams don't reach the World Series, the too-late gametimes of all the showcase events from the All-Star Game to the World Series, the ill-advised start times of weekend Games of the Week on FOX, TBS, and ESPN, the overlooking of the all-too-obvious steroids issue, the failure to impose a salary cap, the failure to
keep the Yankees from operating in their own league, the travesty of the All-Star Game tie, the travesty of allowing fans to vote for All-Stars, etc. etc. Waiting til 2012 is awful too -- Bud should have been fired years ago.
Bud Selig has done more harm than good during his tenure as Commish of MLB. He has been a lackey of owners; has had an attitude of the fans be damned; turned his head during the drug use of the '90's and early 2000's so that owners could make more money; turned scared records upside down due to his negligence, and on and on........good riddance to old Bud.....personally I would love to see Bob Costas as Commisioner....he would bring integrity back to the game and be pro-fan, which would be a breath of fresh air!! ============= It seems pretty obvious to me that the owners aren't really interested in fresh air.
I applaud any efforts Selig may have made to get baseball back in DC. I applaud the recognition of the accomplishments of Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente. And I would love to see him lift the lifetime ban on Pete Rose before he leaves. MLB was guilty of the most heinous crime in the history of sports, the segregation of baseball. MLB, during Selig's tenure, has done much to make amends and remember and honor those who suffered as a result of segregation. Selig did the right thing, but people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Baseball had the opportunity to make amends. A lifetime ban? MLB doesn't seem to have the moral ground to impose a lifetime ban. It is time once again, for Selig to do the right thing, and lift the ban. Let Pete Rose give himself a chance to make amends too, and let him sink or swim on his own accord. ====== Let him lift the ban on Joe Jackson first.
Everyone says Buds problem was not keeping teams like the Yankees in check. Buds problem is also his lack of ability to keep teams like the Marlins, Royals and Pirates in check. Those teams get lots of dollars every year from the leagues heavy weights and the fans never get to see that money put on the field.
Personally, I don't mind the Wild Card. It does make things more of a crapshoot but hey isn't every other sport like that? On issues of starting times for World Series, All-Star game, etc you can't help it.
8 to 830pm start times on the east coast is only fair to make sure the people on the west coast get a chance to watch the game they also love. ===== I could see late afternoon starts for the World Series - say 3 or 4 pm - so the start times for the games outwest would by noon or 1pm. But don't forget that night games in the postseason didn't begin until the 1970's, and the folks out west didn't seem to mind a start time of 10am - not unlike what they have now with east coast NFL games.
What the hell is the matter with you people??? Two leagues - 15 teams??? The mocking of the wild card??? The wild card is the best thing to happen to baseball for sometime. Imagine if we did not have it, the revenue that would be lost by the Cardinals, White Sox, Rockies, etc. The season would be over in July and baseball would not enjoy the profits it is seeing impacted in many ways, i.e. i attendance, merchandising, etc. The wild card is fun, exciting and gives baseball new life in the dog days of summer. ============== You'd still have a wild card team. With three 5-team divisions in each league you'd have the same situation you have now: 3 division titles and the best second-place finish in each league goes to the postseason.
I don't agree with two 15-team leagues at all (perhaps because I think that interleague play is an unfunny joke and that having to put up with that every single day would be sickening to me). If anything then I would rather have two teams retracted and have two 14-team leagues (with better pitching!). I know that the chances of that are slim to none, though, so I am content with keeping things as is. ======= Contraction simply isn't possible. There are far too many peripheral contracts that every team is involved in, from concessionaires, to minor league operators, etc. The avalanche of litigation contraction would produce would last for years. I'm not that crazy about interleague play either; it's why I think a single interleague game daily is better than a raft of them for two weeks twice a season.
So when do you think you'll apply for the job Phil? ============== Apparently the position's benefits aren't quite as good as what my wife receives from her job at Wegman's.