duckbunny
11-29-2009, 10:22 AM
I saw this article by Barry Petchesky, and thought it interesting, to say the least.
Bud Selig: Retrospecticus.
In honor of the commish starting a three year countdown clock until retirement, I thought it would be instructive to take a look at his tenure a fair and thorough manner: bullet points!
Allan Huber Selig gave us the Wild Card, two new teams in the Sun Belt, and landed MLB hugely impressive TV deals. Is that enough to overcome the myriad fiascoes? Let's take a stroll down memory lane...
•Led a secretive group of owners ("The Great Lakes Gang") in pushing for commissioner Fay Vincent's ouster. As the most vocal, he became de facto acting commissioner.
•After one year in office, rescinded George Steinbrenner's lifelong suspension. Denied that the fact that the suspension was handed down by Fay Vincent had anything to do with it.
•Upheld, to this day, Pete Rose's lifelong suspension, despite overwhelming public opinion. Denied that the fact that the suspension was handed down by close friend Bart Giamatti had anything to do with it.
•Oversaw the 1994 strike.
•Opened the door for replacement players.
•Gave us interleague play, which, for every White Sox/Cubs game gives us Pirates/Rays and Padres/Athletics games.
•To compensate for 1998's expansion, one AL team had to move to the NL, with a considerable financial advantage. Selig's Brewers were selected.
•Though acting commissioner for the past six years, Selig continued to operate the Brewers. Upon officially being named commissioner, Selig transferred his ownership interest to his daughter. Many suspected he continued to make decisions for the team up until their sale in 2004.
•Threw daughter under the bus, claiming the Brewers' disastrous performance under Wendy Selig-Prieb is proof that he was no longer running the team after 1992.
•Helped to write the hagiographies of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds. Perhaps they should have been fact checked first.
•Saw the NFL institute an almost-total instant replay policy in 1999. Nine years later, introduced instant replay only for home run calls.
•Two days after the thrilling and inspiring 2001 World Series, held a vote on contracting the Twins and Expos. Was charged with racketeering and settled the case outside of court. Got the Expos moved anyway.
•Oversaw the 2002 All-Star Game in which both sides ran out of players. From then on, the ASG determined home field advantage in the World Series. The National League has yet to win home field advantage.
•Commissioned the Mitchell Report, led by Director of the Red Sox, and which seemed to rely on two sources and revealed nothing new.
•Failed miserably at keeping a secret list of steroid users secret. Fans now look forward to the annual reveal of superstar names.
•Saw other sports praised for their parity; oversaw an uncapped league where one team regularly spends six times as much as others.
•Made sure October baseball regularly ends after midnight.
•Made sure October baseball regularly ends in November.
With a record like that, he's a lock to join Bowie Kuhn in the Hall of Fame.
-db
Bud Selig: Retrospecticus.
In honor of the commish starting a three year countdown clock until retirement, I thought it would be instructive to take a look at his tenure a fair and thorough manner: bullet points!
Allan Huber Selig gave us the Wild Card, two new teams in the Sun Belt, and landed MLB hugely impressive TV deals. Is that enough to overcome the myriad fiascoes? Let's take a stroll down memory lane...
•Led a secretive group of owners ("The Great Lakes Gang") in pushing for commissioner Fay Vincent's ouster. As the most vocal, he became de facto acting commissioner.
•After one year in office, rescinded George Steinbrenner's lifelong suspension. Denied that the fact that the suspension was handed down by Fay Vincent had anything to do with it.
•Upheld, to this day, Pete Rose's lifelong suspension, despite overwhelming public opinion. Denied that the fact that the suspension was handed down by close friend Bart Giamatti had anything to do with it.
•Oversaw the 1994 strike.
•Opened the door for replacement players.
•Gave us interleague play, which, for every White Sox/Cubs game gives us Pirates/Rays and Padres/Athletics games.
•To compensate for 1998's expansion, one AL team had to move to the NL, with a considerable financial advantage. Selig's Brewers were selected.
•Though acting commissioner for the past six years, Selig continued to operate the Brewers. Upon officially being named commissioner, Selig transferred his ownership interest to his daughter. Many suspected he continued to make decisions for the team up until their sale in 2004.
•Threw daughter under the bus, claiming the Brewers' disastrous performance under Wendy Selig-Prieb is proof that he was no longer running the team after 1992.
•Helped to write the hagiographies of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds. Perhaps they should have been fact checked first.
•Saw the NFL institute an almost-total instant replay policy in 1999. Nine years later, introduced instant replay only for home run calls.
•Two days after the thrilling and inspiring 2001 World Series, held a vote on contracting the Twins and Expos. Was charged with racketeering and settled the case outside of court. Got the Expos moved anyway.
•Oversaw the 2002 All-Star Game in which both sides ran out of players. From then on, the ASG determined home field advantage in the World Series. The National League has yet to win home field advantage.
•Commissioned the Mitchell Report, led by Director of the Red Sox, and which seemed to rely on two sources and revealed nothing new.
•Failed miserably at keeping a secret list of steroid users secret. Fans now look forward to the annual reveal of superstar names.
•Saw other sports praised for their parity; oversaw an uncapped league where one team regularly spends six times as much as others.
•Made sure October baseball regularly ends after midnight.
•Made sure October baseball regularly ends in November.
With a record like that, he's a lock to join Bowie Kuhn in the Hall of Fame.
-db