Is This Guy Really Our Commissioner?, By: Forrest Wilkinson
07-14-06
Allen Huber Selig, better known as Bud Selig, the current MLB commissioner, was born on July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Selig was not what you would call an average child at the time, nor was he the most popular. He had, what some would call, an obsession in the area of American History, and not a whole lot of athletic ability. Selig did play baseball as a youth; but quit shortly after starting because he no longer enjoyed the game because he was unable to hit a curveball -- little did he know of his future career; because apparently, he still doesn't enjoy the game -- he destroys it.
Selig graduated from the University of Wisconson-Madinson in 1956 with a bachelor's in American History and Political Science. Shortly after graduating, Selig served two years in the armed forces and returned to Milwaukee. As soon as he arrived, Bud began to work in the automotive business with his father -- he began to watch baseball with great regularity. Before long, Selig became a die-hard Braves fan when the team moved from Boston to Milwaukee in 1953. In 1964, Selig became the team's largest public stockholder -- ironically, the same year that Barry Bonds was born. However, to Selig's dismay, in 1965, the Braves made their most recent move -- to Atlanta. Selig vowed that there would once again be baseball in Milwaukee.
Bud, soon thereafter, began to follow up on his vow by founding "Teams, Inc." which, in 1968, had several Chicago White Sox games arranged to be played in Milwaukee. Selig would attempt to purchase the White Sox and move them to Milwaukee, but the AL vetoed his purchase because of their belief that the team should be able to compete with the cross-town Cubs. Selig was furious. In 1970, he would purchase the bankrupt Seattle Pilots franchise, moved them to his hometown, and renamed them the Brewers -- bankruptcy would become a trend with his franchise, however.
Selig did well for the Brewers franchise -- appearing in the 1982 World Series and winning seven Organization of the Year awards. But Selig's success in Milwaukee would cost him later in his baseball career -- as it would cost all of baseball.
Selig assumed the commissioner's role by transferring all of his ownership to his daughter, Wendy Selig; this, he believed, removed any conflict of interest -- especially because Wendy was his daughter. Many questions have been raised regarding Selig's continued involvement in the ownership role. Defenders of Selig point to the fact that the organization was poorly managed after Selig's daughter began running the franchise as proof that Selig had no involvement -- however, this only proves, to me, even further that he was still involved with the team; I mean, it's not like he's done a very good job with baseball either.
But Selig would not keep baseball out of controversy for very long as acting commissioner. In 1994, Major League baseball suffered a labor strike -- but Selig didn't just put an end to baseball, he put an end to the Montreal Expos' franchise; something that would come up several more times throughout his history as a commissioner.
For several years, Selig would continue to own the Brewers, receive bridge loans from the owner of the Twins, and control the salary of the Expos -- he still didn't think that he had any conflict of interest. He contributed $13.2 million dollars to the Brewers organization over the next couple of years; as well as allowing the Brewers franchise to transfer to the NL -- so that he didn't have to pay for a DH -- Selig would also be a strong supporter and help lobby for a new Brewers’ ballpark.
His obvious biases towards the Milwaukee franchise don't stop there. In 1995, the Brewers posted a debt level of 97% of the franchise's value -- however, in 2001, the Brewers boasted record profits, boosting them out of debt. A few weeks later, Selig announced that he would begin enforcing a strict "60/40" rule -- 60/40 alluding to asset/debt -- his Brewers would have been 100/97. In Bud's books, it was just a coincidence -- as were all of his other moves that got him accused of having a bias.
Then, in 2001, after the dramatic conclusion to the World Series -- actually, within 48 hours of -- Selig announced contraction hearings on the Minnesota Twins and the Montreal Expos. This was the last straw -- Selig was charged with racketeering and conspiring with Jeff Loria, the Expos owner, to deliberately defraud the Expos' minority owners. Should he have been found guilty, Selig could have cost the league up to $300 million in damages. Bud was eager to settle the case because the judge had ruled that Expos were not to be moved or contracted until after the case was over -- after going to arbitration and finally settling the case, Selig refused to disclose the amount that he settled it for.
The most highly publicized down of Bud's career came when Selig declared the 2002 All-Star game a tie in the 11th inning, in Milwaukee of all places. The following year, Selig decided -- after the public's frequent criticism of Bud's action -- that he was going to make the All-Star game count; just what were you thinking when you called the game, Bud?
But none of these moves could compare to Bud's stance on steroids -- if you consider it a stance, that is. During the massive homerun totals that were registered between 1998-2001, including the McGwire-Sosa stand-off and Barry Bonds' 73 homerun season following his weight increase of twenty pounds in one off-season -- Bud sat back in his LazyBoy and watched the baseball ratings skyrocket.
Between 2003 and 2005, Selig received much criticism for his failure to act on the obvious steroids issue in baseball. So he decided -- much like he did in 2002 after the All Star game -- to flip-flop on the issue so that he would become more popular. In 2005, he went to Congress saying that he had no idea about the steroids issue until the 1998 season -- even if this was true, why didn't he act in 1998? But somewhere between the skyrocketing ratings, the McGwire-Sosa race, and Bonds' 73 homerun season; Selig forgot about the meeting that the MLB and the owners had in 1993 about the steroids issue. But no, it wasn't his fault, Selig asserted; it was the MLBPA that was the real problem, they're the ones to blame, not him.
Selig jumped on the anti-steroid bandwagon with the American public and began to enforce a "stricter" policy, which boasted a massive 10-game suspension for the first offense -- unheard-of. However, on July 1st, 2005 -- a short while after Selig's implementation of his strict steroids policy -- he suspended Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers for 20 games after Rogers pushed a couple of cameras off of their respective operator's shoulders. Certainly, this was a lot more severe than taking steroids -- in fact, according to the suspension, it was two-times as severe.
And now, as if he hadn’t angered baseball-fans enough with his All-Star Game policies, Selig has proposed that the MLB begin enforcing a policy which prohibits teams from using any pitchers who have been selected into the All-Star Game on the Sunday before the game itself. Is this guy really our commissioner?
Hopefully Bud was kidding, because what he’s asking is ridiculous. With division races being decided by half-of-a-game, coming down to the final days of the season – Selig wants to illegalize the use of each teams’ star-pitchers on All-Star Sunday? Now teams aren’t allowed to use pitchers? Even though the game itself could prove to be a deciding factor in their season? Heck, why don’t we just not count the games on All-Star Sunday – they’ll be “just for fun.”
I’ve held myself together throughout Bud’s reign as commissioner; but, alas, my patience is wearing thin – I just can’t stand this guy anymore. I’d rather see George Steinbrenner confiscate all of the television revenue-sharing policies than see Selig tarnish the reputation of the game any further. Bud, it’s time to just admit it – you’re just not fit to be a commissioner. It’s time to put your “in the best interests of baseball” power by removing yourself from office. Maybe then people will start taking the game a little bit more seriously.
