Selig: where do you stand?

[Buckhunts]

As I start to get more comfortable with posting on BF.net, I have decided it is time for me to start my first thread. I read the comments on ESPN stories, Northside Baseball (which is not that bad, I know shame on me), and Whitesox Interactive, I see there are a lot of people that seem to hate Allen H. "Bud" Selig. I know where I stand, but since I am from Milwaukee and have benefited greatly from his works, I am probably not the best person to write his biography. So my question is: has Bud Selig been good for BASEBALL? Not good for Milwaukee Baseball, not good for Milwaukee, but good for the game and the institution of baseball?

[dadofandrew]

Best commish ever. Anyone who can't see that lacks an understanding of where the game was 15 years ago compared to now.

[razzzorsharp]

I agree with the above poster. He doesn't have any charisma with the media like Stern or Tags therefore people make judgements based off his looks rather than his actions.

[UndraftedFA]

My view is that Bud has been good for Milwaukee, the Brewers, and as the commish. It is easy to criticize other's work. He will always get that. He isn't made for TV, and he might not be the best speaker, but his actions have been good as I could expect from him. I think a lot of people confuse what they want with what is best. It isn't always the same thing. I think Bud has always had a good grasp on what his hands were on.

[kramnoj]

I have decided it is time for me to start my first threat.

 

I was intrigued to see where this was heading!

 

Seriously, I am in favor of most choices that Selig has made. Playing chicken with the MLBPA and losing a WS over it didn't seem to accomplish much (anything?), and I think that alone has made him a villian to many fans. Other that than, speaking for Mrs. Lincoln, I enjoyed the play.

 

The WC seems to have kept more markets interested in the baseball season for a longer period of time, which has increased attendance, which has increased revenue, which has made everybody in baseball richer (well, the owners and players anyway).

[nate82]

Selig has done a lot of good things for baseball in general. The wild card love it or hate it it has kept baseball very competitive. The Red Sox fans should be thankful to Bud Selig he is the one who brought in the Wild Card and the Red Sox won a world series which hasn't happened in a long long time. I believe during the strike year Selig was able to get revenue sharing in for the small market clubs. The realigning of baseball was also part of Selig's reign. 1993 was the last year of the East and West divisions which was also the first winning season for the Yankees in the 90's and their first winning season since 1988.

 

I believe Selig has done a great job for baseball and for Milwaukee. The only gripe I had with the Selig's is how they ran the team they tried the win now and build for the future approach which really didn't work out at all. This was mostly a management problem and the decisions they made on players and trades.

[BrewCrewForever]

The game is as popular now as ever. That alone says a lot for what Bud has done. He is a little dorky and goofy but has done a good job. He has been great for Milwaukee baseball of course bringing it back in 1970. The only mistake he made was letting his daughter run the team into the ground farther then they were already. But he did make her sell the team to a good owner like Attanasio so that is cool.

 

I also like the fact that he is bringing replay in on HR/Fair/Foul calls.

[Pioneers3]

The game is as popular now as ever. That alone says a lot for what Bud has done. He is a little dorky and goofy but has done a good job. He has been great for Milwaukee baseball of course bringing it back in 1970. The only mistake he made was letting his daughter run the team into the ground farther then they were already. But he did make her sell the team to a good owner like Attanasio so that is cool.

 

I also like the fact that he is bringing replay in on HR/Fair/Foul calls.

I don't like that they are bringing it in mid-season, if they are going to do it it should be at the beginning of the year, it would be like the NBA saying we are moving the 3 pt line back right before the playoffs.

 

I second most thoughts, Bud has been great for the game of baseball, very popular...lots of teams in the mix that normally shouldn't be, the Wild Card interleague, plus the strike was brewing before he had any control

[berniebrewer4life]

Great Commish, poor owner.

[JimH5]

As an owner, I'll be eternally grateful to Bud for having the passion and diligence to bring baseball back to Milwaukee. To think how they must have worked in that first year, after getting that team in the closing days of Spring Training. . .that's really a story that needs to be told.

 

You can put him, Uecker, Yount and Molitor on the Mt. Rushmore of Brewers baseball.

 

Toward the end, his group just ran out of money to make the team work. And he continued to run the team like a family business with Wendy and Laurel.

 

But his group did find an owner willing to keep the team in Milwaukee, so as an owner, I'd give him a top grade.

 

As a commissioner, I'm not sure yet. I think the steroid issue will leave a pretty lasting stain. I'm a record books guy, and the last 15 years still leave too much in question.

 

Still, the game is very popular. Teams are almost all playing in newer, publicly financed parks. There's labor peace, and it seems like it will last.

 

Owner = A

Commissioner = B-minus

[bigredrobbo]

But what about the tie in the All Star Game? I mean, think of the children!

[orca1963]

Overall I would have to agree he has been good for the game

Realignment = good

Wildcard = good

Lights at Wrigley...was that him? If it upset Cub fans = good http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

All he did for Milwaukee baseball as a whole = really good!

 

Downside: Steroids, he knew what was going on and kept blinders on. So did many others (especially players union)though so he cannot be totally to blame and he does appear to be serious about fixing it now.

 

Allstar game: He gets poor marks for the tie and the fact that it has anything at all to do with the home field advantage. It should remain an exhibition game. I believe I heard that he was pressured into that by whatever network was carrying the game that year.

 

I give him a B+ overall. Add the DH to NL though and he gets an F minus minus minus.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/devil.gif

[JoeHova]

The mere mention of Selig's name fills me with loathing. I don't want to get into a big thing, I just wanted to weigh in. Not everyone in Milwaukee likes Selig, many hate him with a burning passion.

 

In addition, a lot of people who don't hate him for Milwaukee-centric reasons dislike him because of the cancellation of the 1994 World Series, the killing of the Expos, the attempted killing of the Twins, the shady deals he engineered in Montreal, Florida, and Boston, and the even shadier loan he got from Carl Pohlad (the Twins owner). Then, there are traditionalists who dislike him because of the wild card. The lunatic fringe of traditionalists can safely be ignored, but the wild card does kind of cheapen the 162 (witness MLB not even bothering to decide who won the 2005 AL East).

[davego]

Why was a loan shady? MLB owners have a history of doing so before this deal with Pohlad? Bud gave the Twins a 'bad guy' and the state government rallied around a building project for the Twins. I think he did them a great service.

 

1994, hard to blame him when the players went on strike.

1995 spring training, I don't think it was the greatest idea but when MLB showed they were going to play one way or another...the regular players came back.

The Expos had to move, that isn't on Bud. They had to move or close up shop. Seems to have worked out Ok for the DC area.

Revenue sharing has been helpful for the clubs in the shallow end of the pool.

Steriods I supppose would be the big black mark on his run as comish.

 

As far as an owner; he might have held on to the team a bit longer then his family could really afford, but with getting MP built...he gets a pass from me.

 

Obviously I'm in the Selig camp. Bud has done great things for baseball in Milwaukee and around MLB. I suspect we all are going to be grateful for the Wild Card the way this season is playing out...

[Patrick425]

The mere mention of Selig's name fills me with loathing. I don't want to get into a big thing, I just wanted to weigh in. Not everyone in Milwaukee likes Selig, many hate him with a burning passion.

 

Joe, I'm not sure how any Brewer fan can loath Selig. Without Selig, there is no Brewers or Miller Park..period. That's all that needs to be said. It's like winning the lottery and complaining about the taxes you have to pay on it. If you are upset about the way he ran the club after the early 80's, I think JimH5 put it best:

Toward the end, his group just ran out of money to make the team work. And he continued to run the team like a family business with Wendy and Laurel.

 

But his group did find an owner willing to keep the team in Milwaukee, so as an owner, I'd give him a top grade.

In regards to his commissioner-ship (is that a word?), I think he has done a pretty good job. I have no problem with the cancellation of the WS (although, I wish he would have held out even longer) or what happened with the All Star game. However, I shudder every time I hear him utter the words "this is the golden age of baseball". I completely disagree with that. Just raw attendance and TV viewing numbers do not make this the "the golden age of baseball".

 

edit: This probably belongs in the "explain your avatar thread" in the OT forum, but I think my avatar explains how I feel about Selig. To me, he is the most valuable Brewer ever.

[fondybrewfan]

I think he has done an excellent job, the only thing I don't agree with is his crazy homefield advantage scheme. It is ludicrous that home field advantage for the World freakinh Series is determined by who wins an exhibition game. That is just dumb. But besides that I think he has been awesome

[yount19.u]

Despite the fact that he was responsible for bringing baseball back to Milwaukee, I dislike Selig for the way he and his family poorly ran the Crew from the 90's on. With that being said, I fail to see how any baseball fan cannot see that he has been the best commissioner this sport has seen in a long time.

 

Many people across the country hate Selig because of the contraction fiasco, the All Star game in Milwaukee and steroids. Contraction would have been a good idea if it was with both Florida teams, the All Star game was no more Selig's fault than it was the managers and players for trying to get everyone into the game, and steroids were around well before he took over (not to mention everyone ignored them and at least he tried to put policies in place to finally clean the game up).

 

Since he has taken over, the game has never been more popular, the wild card and re-alignment have given more teams a shot at the World Series, revenue sharing has given teams like the Brewers a chance to be competitive, and the All Star game actually matters now. Given the state of the game now compared to where it was right after the strike, and the fact that he is up against the strongest players union in sports, I don't see how Selig deserves less than an A- as a commissioner.

 

 

(edit: paragraph divisions --1992)

[tristarscoop]

I may have posted this in the past, but it's relevant to the conversation, so I'm bringing it back. In April, Costas was in town filming a segment and spent an inning in the booth with Bill and Brian and he said this about Selig:

 

"I'm pretty sure that my friend Bud Selig is watching the game back in Milwaukee as he kind of makes his trip around the satellite dish and watches all the games but maybe with a special bit of attention toward the Brewers. Baseball does not need a new commissioner. There were times in the past when I was critical of Bud - although I always valued his friendship. But I think on balance, while there will be questions about certain things and legitimate criticisms, on balance if you look at his tenure, his tenure has been a successful one and in many ways a revolutionary one. Because there have been changes, not all of which I've agreed with, but changes under his leadership that he has spearheaded and he deserves credit for a lot of that. ... And if in fact, he was slow on the steroid issue and if the game was slow, he certainly is trying to make up for it now. He's certainly trying to be as proactive as he can be now."

[dfourni]

The game is as popular now as ever. That alone says a lot for what Bud has done. He is a little dorky and goofy but has done a good job. He has been great for Milwaukee baseball of course bringing it back in 1970. The only mistake he made was letting his daughter run the team into the ground farther then they were already. But he did make her sell the team to a good owner like Attanasio so that is cool.

 

I also like the fact that he is bringing replay in on HR/Fair/Foul calls.

I don't like that they are bringing it in mid-season, if they are going to do it it should be at the beginning of the year, it would be like the NBA saying we are moving the 3 pt line back right before the playoffs.

 

That is pretty poor analogy. If baseball changed the distance between base paths, than maybe your analogy would have merit. Allowing replay on homerun calls doesn't actually effect the way the game is being played.

[Postseason2006]

Things I think he choked on are the lack of cap and revenue sharing. The joke move of the Xpos to DC which has been just a disaster.

[Bring Back the Stein]

"Hands in His Pockets: The Passion of Alan "Bud" Selig."

 

My three-act play, in rehearsals. Kidding, but all my hatred of him was seriously diminished by the way he marked, but did not venerate, the Barry Bonds abomination. It was especially poignant given his relationship with Henry Aaron. (I also like the way he's resisted the Cult of Pete Rose).

 

I'm bent up about his obeisance to the Steinbrenners and Reinsdorfs of the world when it comes to revenue sharing and then there's the Molitor thing, but for people of the Braves generation, I can see how holy a man would be that brought big-league baseball back to town. (One of the few fights I ever got into with my step-dad involved this quibble.)

 

The way that he lied to the public, at the same time he was using money that could have gone to payroll and instead was retiring the equity of the minority owners of the team, thus seriously enriching himself, is a story that's never been told properly or fully. It's a particularly shabby narrative. But whatever. We have short memories. He's a (definitionally) scumbag used-car salesman who has been not particularly more or less moral than any other owner, and has made some inspired decisions along the way.

[jhart05]

Best commish ever. Anyone who can't see that lacks an understanding of where the game was 15 years ago compared to now.

 

Agreed.

 

Adding a third division and the wild card in each league has done wonders for the game.

 

That alone has been a great addition since he's been "in office".

 

 

[Ranier]

I think he has been incredible for the game as a whole. Baseball might be more popular than ever right now. The Wild Card is great.

 

Also, without him, Milwaukee doesn't even have a team.

[True CryM]

Best commish ever. Anyone who can't see that lacks an understanding of where the game was 15 years ago compared to now.

Best commissioner ever? Every commissioner has had major flaws, so being the best of the worst is not something to write home about. The steriod era, although not his doing, was propelled by his blind eye. His aloofness surrounding performance enhancing drugs is as bad as anything good he's done. Grade - C+

 

[bjkrautk]

Baseball, by and large, didn't have revenue sharing prior to Selig's tenure. Since he's taken over, revenue sharing has improved with every labor agreement. The subsequent improvement to competitive balance throughout the league is one of the big reasons that league attendance have set records in each of the last 3 seasons.

 

At the same time, the league has been increasingly proactive in pooling its revenue streams. Granted the convergence in mass communication (cable TV, satellite radio, internet) certainly made the process easier, but MLB has been more upfront than any of its competitors on the tech front.

 

 

There are a number of issues surrounding the game, but the product that is major league baseball is much stronger now than it was pre-Selig.