Bud Selig has turned down a contract extension offer from the owners per Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune. Selig is 75 years old and has eluded to the fact he wants to invest his time in other passions. He would like to teach History, the subject he majored in at University of Wisconsin, and he would also like to write a book.
Is it time for a new commissioner in baseball? I know many people have been highly critical of Selig’s handling of issues over his 20 year tenure. The two most damaging events were the 1994 players’ strike and Selig’s handling of the issue of performance enhancing drugs. He also had the infamous tie game moment in 2002 at the all-star game in his home town of Milwaukee. However, Selig has also presided over a time of great revenue growth in major league baseball.
Selig plans to to fulfill the remainder of his contract, which will include negotiating the next labor agreement with the MLBPA which is set to expire in 2011. Hopefully these negotiations will go smoothly and not give people more reason to criticize Selig, but based on early indications it does not look good.
Is Selig’s departure after 2012 long over due or do you think he is good for baseball?
Allan H. “Bud” Selig has left a lasting impression on the game of baseball. His finger print on the game rivals that of Abner Doubleday’s and Kenesaw Mountain Landis’. Contrary to popular belief Selig was not technically the official commissioner during the 1994 players strike, and his involvement in the steroids scandal is vague. I, however, do not believe that these will be his legacy. As a baseball purest i possess a great disdain for the unbalanced schedule and interleague play. In my mind it has done just as much to tarnish the integrity of the game as pete rose and steroids combined. The restructuring of the divisions, the way the game is scheduled and the system of the playoffs will be “Buds” lasting legacy. While the game has seen unprecedented financial success in his tenure, in my view fairness and equality have not followed suit. Many of the off the field issues (i.e. Steroids and Labor agreements) cannot be attributed to failure the commissioner’s office but rather to the strength and monopoly of the MLBPA, the strongest and most influential union in the world. With that being said, the game of baseball is in a better position today than when Allan H. Selig took over the position officially in 1998.
I am divided on Bud Selig’s legacy. He has done a lot for baseball as far as the marketability of its players and teams, but I feel at his age he is doing the right thing by walking away. Let’s get someone else in charge and see what they can do. I heard Steve Phillips is looking for a job?? As far as interleague goes, the Crosstown and Subway Series, for example, are great for the fans of Chicago and New York but do we really have to see the Cardinals and Royals play each other every year?! When interleague first started it was just Central division vs. Central division, etc. Now it changes every year. It causes a dramatic balance shift in strength of schedule as some teams get to play the likes of the Nationals, Royals while others have to play the Yankees and Red Sox. Interleague definately needs to be reworked or done away with altogether.
Yeah Steve Phillips would be great, maybe he can get an even uglier and younger woman to have an affair with if he is the commissioner of baseball.
I mean he ran the Mets and his family into the ground why not all of MLB?!?!?!
Nice alternative view Alex. I do like the playoff structure Selig implemented and your points about the MLBPA is definitely valid.
My one disappointment with the current play off structure is that it seems entirely opposite and contrary to what baseball is. Baseball is a game of consistency and endurance. Why on earth would you then have a best of 5 first round elimination series? This past year the futile Kansas City Royals(65-97), who many consider to be the worst team in the AL, had 6 instances where they won 3 or more games in a row, the same amount needed to not win a 5 game series but sweep it. The New York Yankees who were the best team in baseball (103-59) had 7 such instances where they lost 3 games in a row, including skids that involved losing 3 of 4 to the White Sox and a skid that involved the Royals and Rays.
My point Jason, is that the reason baseball is so great is that it takes the largest sample size and gives us the greatest conclusive answer. Why then would you allow a 5 game series determine who is better and who should advance to the next round of the playoffs?
After 16 MLB games this year (an NFL schedule) your division winners are: Toronto (11-5), KC (9-7), Sea (10-6), FLA (11-5), STL (11-5), LAD(11-5) they play a one and done play off series so maybe that’s a bad example. Let’s take into account the NBA and NHL since they play even longer Playoffs schedule and use a “best-of” format. After 82 games (an NBA and NHL schedule) your division winners are: Boston (49-33), Detroit (44-38), Tex (46-36), PHI (44-38), STL (44-38), LAD (52-30). Similar to the teams that made the playoffs but not entirely.
I digress; my point is this, if we are not going to use the same regular season format structure that the NBA and NHL use then why use the same playoff model. Baseball is different, it always has been and it always will be, that’s what makes it great. Much like college football every game counts, the games in April count as much as the games in September but it is the overall body of work that is judged, not a hot streak. This notion that baseball playoffs need to resemble that of other sports with off days and similar length of series is completely misguided.
The reason the World Series was started was because champions had already been crowned but each league wanted to prove it was better. A National League Championship or American League Championship no longer has the significance that it once did. It used to mean that over a course of 162 games (or 154) we were the best out of everyone we played no question about it. It now means we got hot at the right time and we have 2 really good pitchers that beat you 4 times.
Don’t get me wrong, the system puts butts in the seats and gets people excited, but all in all it has taken away from the purity of the game. Not that “Bud” has ever cared about that anyways….
Interesting ideas Alex. The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals are a perfect example of the current playoff system rewarding the hot team. That team finished with 83 wins which is the lowest of any World Series winner in history. They also had a pair of 8 game losing streaks that season. However, they got hot towards the end of the season and into the playoffs and now another ring has been added to the collection. Another team that comes to mind is the ’03 Florida Marlins, which Cubs fans like myself know all too well, won the Wild Card playing excellent baseball in September and rode that all the way to a World Series victory over the Yankees. I am ok with the best of 7 format, but they got to apply that to the first round as well. The Yankees of this year threw three starters the entire postseason and were rewarded with a title. Another perfect example of this is the Arizona Diamondbacks with Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Those two single handedly brought that franchise its only championship, albeit in a short existence. It will be interesting to see where the playoff format goes from here. I know Mike Scioscia of the Angels was critical of all of the off days between games in this postseason. Baseball is a marathon not a sprint.
The bottom line is bud will be remembered for steroids,making the all star game determine home field advantage, and playoffs. The steroids don’t bother me (especially if they are used to get healthy like andy petite) but the other two are absolutely retarded.
Bud Selig is overdue for retirement. I think steroids is his fault and his legacy because he allowed the MLBPA to become as bullish and powerful as it is (I can’t explain how glad I am to see Donald Fehr go). Now there’s all this talk of giving asterisks to players who took it before it was against the rules. That’s just retarded. That’s like giving MIP’s to people who drank and were under 21 but before the law was changed.
I think interleague play is somewhat fun to watch but it does greatly unbalance the schedules and should probably be reorganized. But how else will I get to see my two favorite teams the tigers and cubs play each other? The world series? Sadly, not likely.
I also think that the first round should be best of 7 and last I heard the players were saying they wanted it too and with less days off in between. I also think it’s ridiculous that two starting pitchers and a closer can win you a world series title.
I actually think baseball earning more revenue hurts the sport not helps it. I think a player like Brandon Inge making 6 mil a year is ridiculous. I love to watch him but he’s not worth that kind of money. A guy who plays once every five days making 25+ a year is ridiculous as well. How much is Joba making to suck it up in the 7th inning? I think having more money has hurt the sport and caused things like the ’94 strike and making me pay $45 for one game in the worst seat in the stadium. Selig doesn’t get that as a positive part of his resume in my book.
I say get someone else in there who can take control. As much as I think roger goodell is a hardass who’s drunk on power I’d rather have him than some joker who gives 4 game suspensions to pitchers.
Welcome to Amateur GM Decker! Good points! Keep them coming.
I agree with bdeck except for the remarks on revenue. More money never hurts anything and you gotta give players credit for taking advantage of a free market system and receiving what they were/are “worth” when the contract was signed. You have got to remember that even the worst players in the mlb are world class athletes and 99.9% of us can not do what they do and like I said earlier the free market determined what they were worth. As far as having to pay too much for tickets, if you really want to send a message to the owners then stop going. The free market will dictate to the owner that prices are too high which will directly effect players salaries (kind of like now with the recession we are in).
It is kind of like if the cubs fans really want to win a world series they need to stop selling out wrigley and allowing the owner/gm to still make millions while putting garbage on the field.
As a self proclaimed “Laissez Faire” Capitialist i totally agree with The Pleaser’s remarks. The free market system is what allows for the prices that we see. It is simple economics of supply and demand. At the same time one could argue that small market teams do not have access to the same resources and therefore allows for an unbalanced playing field.
What i will give Selig credit for is introducing revenue sharing which up to this point, i believe, has allowed MLB to avoid a salary cap. On the business side of baseball i think Selig has made great strides, but i do not know if baseball will be able to adapt to the current economic down turn and be as successful as it has been in the past decade. All in all baseball will survive, it has withstood the great depression and 2 world wars it can make it through this phase.