Selig to get a statue

[berniebrewer4life]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/83817137.html

 

We may not like how his reign turned in the late 90s, but Bud is not only the reason baseball was brought back, but also the reason why it's still here today.

[bacon06]

I think a statue is well deserved for Bud. As the main drive to get baseball back to Milwaukee, he has earned a free pass for life in my book. It's scary to think how crummy life would be without a Major League team.

[JoeHova]

Uggh. Horrible.

[sheethead]

He deserves it.

[Invader3K]

Yep, without Selig, there are no Brewers. Period. He deserves it.

[owbc]

Not sure how anybody who calls themselves a Brewers fan can be upset about this. Without Selig, the Brewers and Miller Park would not exist. I think this would have been done much sooner if the Selig family had not still owned the team.

[brewerguy71]

Actually, its the taxpayers of the 5 counties that are the biggest players in Miller Park being built. If anything, they should burn Selig in effigy in front of the park on a daily basis. He held the city hostage pleading for a new stadium, knowing full well that if it were built, he would triple the value of the franchise he and his family so miserly ran into the ground.

[TooLiveBrew]

Well, if you discount that whole 'bringing baseball back to Milwaukee', then yeah -- burn the witch!!

[endaround]

A statue just seems out of place. A plaque? Sure. A special smoking section? Why not! But a statue just feels wrong.

[RockCoCougars]

Love the man or hate him, there is no doubt than no one would be here talking about the Brewers without him (actually maybe there would be a Triple A team). The team would have never been here to 'hold the city hostage' in the first place.

[RobDeer 45]

You have to admit that Baseball is in one of its better times right now. Sure there is a big issue with the steroid era but that's not all on him, that's more on the player's assoc. I agree when I heard the news, a statue seemed weird but looking back, some day, I think he will be well respected. But there are plenty of haters out there.

 

http://img.dealclick.co.uk/760954.jpg

 

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

 

[Patrick425]

I feel very strongly about this and I'm trying my best to abide by the rules of the brewerfan.net

 

I gotta agree with obsessedwithbrewcrew. How can any person who claims to be a Brewer fan not agree with this honor for Selig that is long overdue?

 

Yes, 'hold the taxpayers hostage', so that the community can enjoy a MLB team and a state of the art stadium that attracts 3 million per year. What a horrible thing! I'd much rather live some place like Des Moines or Omaha.

 

Congratulations and thanks Bud! You deserve it!

[topper09er]

I love Bud and us Brewer fans should defend him as a great commish because for some reason all other fans seem to just absolutely hate him. Everything that went wrong during his tensure is the players union fault and the progress made from 1994 when millions of fans were vowing to never watch again to now when MLB has the same revenues as the NFL is amazing. Bud tried to implement a steroids policy in 1995 and the union shot it down. Also, in the future, maybe a ways off still, everyone is going to get their TV over the internet and Bud has wisely implemented a policy that all internet revenue is equally shared by all teams.

[1992casey]

But a statue just feels wrong.

Yeah. It's not that Bud doesn't deserve that level of recognition. It's more that I can't imagine a statue of Selig turning into a very good piece of art.

[RobDeer 45]

Yeah, see above. I feel like it will look like Mr. Burns from the simpsons!

[bjkrautk]

I think context, ultimately, is king when evaluating the statue.

 

- If you're looking at Robin Yount, Hank Aaron, and Bud Selig while walking in the main gate....bad idea.

- A Bud Selig monument / bust with some text about keeping baseball in Wisconsin - particularly near other displays of WI baseball history, makes some sense.

- If Wendy shows up, physically holding Bud's shares in trust, then it's the worst idea in the history of mankind.

- A Selig statue, behind the Brewers bench, holding a permanent shrug in commemmoration of the All-Star Game tie -- probably not under consideration.

 

I don't think that the timing is particularly great while Selig is still Commissioner, but I don't hate the idea.

 

 

EDIT: Yahoo!(AP) story says they're going with the bad idea:

Selig’s foundation donated statues of Hank Aaron and Robin Yount that were unveiled when Miller Park opened in 2001. Selig’s statue, which will be more than 7 feet tall, will be built by the same designer, Brian Maughan.

[Invader3K]

Ideally, Bud probably would have sold the team in the late '80s or early '90s when it became clear he didn't have the financial resources to field a consistently competitive team...however, more than likely some investor would have bought the franchise and moved the Brewers out of state in a few years time (citing low attendance and an outdated stadium, of course). Bud Selig was probably the only person with the connections and drive to ensure the team stayed in Milwaukee.

 

Setting aside his tenure as owner of the team, he should have a statue based solely on getting Miller Park built in a caustic anti-sports/anti-tax environment and time period. People can whine about paying a minuscule higher tax rate, but it's no exaggeration that it truly is a "world class" stadium facility. I'm so appreciative of being able to buy tickets, knowing that when I make the drive out to Miller Park, I will be seeing a baseball game in a comfortable environment, without risking a rain out or freezing my rear off during an early April or late September game. I loved County Stadium too, but it was 50 years old when it was demolished. They couldn't keep it around forever.

 

Now someday if they can add a Bob Uecker statue, the circle will be complete. Paul Molitor would be nice as well.

[berniebrewer4life]

I think something like what the tigers did with Ernie Harwell would be cool. Have the statue be(or bust, probably would look better) just inside the home plate doors, with an explanation of how he kept baseball in wisconsin.

[RockCoCougars]

Ideally, Bud probably would have sold the team in the late '80s or early '90s when it became clear he didn't have the financial resources to field a consistently competitive team...however, more than likely some investor would have bought the franchise and moved the Brewers out of state in a few years time (citing low attendance and an outdated stadium, of course). Bud Selig was probably the only person with the connections and drive to ensure the team stayed in Milwaukee.

 

Setting aside his tenure as owner of the team, he should have a statue based solely on getting Miller Park built in a caustic anti-sports/anti-tax environment and time period. People can whine about paying a minuscule higher tax rate, but it's no exaggeration that it truly is a "world class" stadium facility. I'm so appreciative of being able to buy tickets, knowing that when I make the drive out to Miller Park, I will be seeing a baseball game in a comfortable environment, without risking a rain out or freezing my rear off during an early April or late September game. I loved County Stadium too, but it was 50 years old when it was demolished. They couldn't keep it around forever.

 

Now someday if they can add a Bob Uecker statue, the circle will be complete. Paul Molitor would be nice as well.

In the late 1980's maybe into the early 90's, I would guess that the Brewers were somewhere in the upper end of MLB payrolls. Yount was the highest paid player in the game for a short time. Going further, Selig probably had one of the highest payrolls in the game during the first 10 years or so of free agency, therefore I think his reputation as a cheapskate who bled the team dry is undeserved. Once his daughter and Laurel took over in 1992 is when the team went to pot because they were not equipped mentally or financially to run the team. Couple this with the changing corporate economics of baseball and teams getting new stadiums left and right, it's easy to say he should have sold the team- the problem is that if he would have sold the team before securing the stadium, they wouldn't be in Milwaukee anymore.

[Invader3K]

Well, you are right that selling in the late '80s may have been a stretch, but by '91 or '92 it was probably becoming clear that the Brewers weren't going to be able to compete as well, at least with Selig's budget. When it was clear he was going to become commissioner, it would have probably been more financially prudent to sell to the team, rather than essentially gift it to Wendy and Laurel. But you are right that an outside buyer probably would have moved the team (as I noted in my original post).

[endaround]

No it wasn't. It wasn't until Selig became commissioner that the salary structure fell apart.

[colbyjack]

I definitely agree that Selig deserves whatever honor he receives, but a statue seems odd, and putting that statue next to Aaron and Yount's seems even more odd to me. As others have mentioned, if the team feels that a statue of him (or a bust, which I agree would be a better way to honor him) is the way to go, find somewhere else to put it. Place it down the third base line by the Hot Corner, in front of Helfaer Field, or somewhere inside the stadium, but not as you walk in through the main gate next to the city's/team's finest players.

 

I just can't wrap my head around this. It's just weird, and there must be some reason for the team wanting to kiss his butt (there always is), and it likely is coming from the top.

[snyttri]

Based on his importance to baseball history and Milwaukee baseball Bud belongs with Aaron and Yount. I think Warren Spahn deserves a statue on that basis as well.

I think he will be known first for how long he served as commissioner, including a time of great prosperity, and second as the commissioner of the steroid era. Bud had the authority to act on PEDs whenever he wanted. It was his choice to look the other way. In '91 Commissioner Vincent distributed a memorandum to the team owners that stressed that baseball's drug policy prohibited “all illegal drugs and controlled substances, including steroids or prescription drugs for which the individual...does not have a prescription.” Bud will also be remembered as the commissioner who was appointed to end the string of independent commissioners and make the job part of ownership. It doesn't seem that anyone besides Bud could have brought baseball to Milwaukee and assure that it would stay here. It's been an honor to have MLB operated in part from Milwaukee.

[Schlitz001]

I appreciate Bud as much as the next guy, but I have to agree that a bust is a much better idea. Aaron and Yount were

ballplayers and I associate them with full body athletic poses, like

swinging a bat or fielding a ground ball. When I think of Bud Selig in

a full body pose, I think of him with his hands in his pockets or with

his arms crossed.

 

Bud thinking about what his statue might look like in front of County Stadium.....

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/7d2153908d62c33ff7706426a1e81d9a6e70651.jpg

[Dragonbait]

http://www.cnnsi.com/baseball/2002/allstar/news/2002/07/09/allstar_game_ap/lg_selig_ap.jpg


Or this pose.

I think a bust would be better than a statue.