Bud Selig will write his memoirs from UW-Madison

[hawing]

Wisconsin State Journal link. Text follows since I don't know how long the link will last.

This story doesn't directly say Bud will really retire as commissioner in 2012, but his plans (which I'd heard about a year ago) for post-commish life are certainly taking shape.

 

Selig to retire to Madison to write memoirs on UW campus

As the World Series begins, the most powerful man in baseball

readies a nest in Madison for retirement. It contains bubble gum,

pretzels, a basket of baseballs and a cable connection to Major

League Baseball's TV channel.

 

 

 

Allan H. "Bud" Selig has charmed the UW-Madison history

department, paid a million-plus for a professor to teach the

history of sports and had scholarships created in his honor. His

new office in the Humanities Building is cozy and modest. The

effect of his presence will be the opposite.

 

 

 

Selig, 77, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers from 1970 to 1992 and

commissioner of Major League Baseball since, will retire in 2012.

His intention to return to his alma mater to write his memoirs, and

to create a legacy in his chosen-but-not-followed field of history,

has been in the works for at least a few years.

 

 

 

"One of the favorite parts of my life was the four years I spent

in Madison, and I always thought I would be coming back as a

history professor," Selig said Tuesday.

 

 

 

"I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it, to write

my book and do what I want to do in Madison," he said.

 

 

 

The department is getting ready to search for a professor to

fill Selig's endowment wish — and preparing for sightings of the

commissioner wandering the maze of halls and giving a lecture or

two, said department chairwoman Florencia Mallon.

 

 

 

"We're not hiring (the professor) this year, but there is a very

good chance, if all goes to plan and the commissioner is on board,

we will be hiring next year," Mallon said.

 

 

 

Not only will Selig be on board, he will be on site, in two

small remodeled rooms tucked into the brutish Humanities Building

on Park Street, a pop-fly away from the Wisconsin Historical

Society, where plans are under way to archive Selig's papers.

 

 

 

"He will be working on his memoirs and be fully engaged in the

life of the department, and we thought it would be a good

investment of gift funds," said Gary Sandefur, dean of the College

of Letters and Sciences, when asked why Selig gets an office. The

commissioner's office paid for the furniture, Sandefur said.

 

 

 

The space is comfy, not presumptuous. If it made a statement, it

would be: "Have a seat. Want a pretzel?"

 

 

 

Selig has already made a few appearances, Mallon said, giving

guest lectures and getting used to the place.

 

 

 

Selig's executive assistant, Mary Burns, was responsible for

turning the two rooms into a pleasant environment for study and, of

course, watching baseball on television. A baseball theme, muted

and uncluttered, is woven throughout the sand-colored rooms, with

two small desks for two employees in one room, and Selig's larger

desk in the other.

 

 

 

There is a bowl of Dubble Bubble gum, a container of pretzels, a

stack of Brewers schedules, a photograph on the wall of the old

County Stadium. On a shelf, there is a jar of "County Stadium

Infield Dirt," a Rawlings glove, a Badgers red-and-white football,

photographs of Selig giving the commencement address at UW-Madison

in 2009, and of the Seligs with President Barack Obama. In the

corner are four baseball bats. There is no sign on the office

door.

 

 

 

There's a television on the wall, hooked up via Ethernet to the

Vernon Telephone Cooperative in Westby, which was the only option

available to provide the MLB Network. (The Humanities Building is

not fitted for cable.)

 

 

 

Mallon said she was grateful for Selig's financial contribution

but also impressed with his devotion to the subject and his

informality.

 

 

 

"He's kind of fun," she said. "He seems to be a modest man, a

sharp but regular guy."

 

 

 

Though in 1956 Selig's history classes were probably in Bascom

Hall, there is at least one nearby reminder of his college days.

Three blocks away a building carries the name of his college

roommate, Herbert Kohl.

 

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_ab1e31a0-f9f1-11e0-983d-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1bC4bIkyT

[Baldkin]

Wow.

 

I wish I were going to UW now.... best college roommates ever?

[tristarscoop]

Ok, I read this story on the J-S app this afternoon and its not there now, which is weird. I can't find it on their website either, but I'd swear I did. I even read some of it to my bf. Anyway, that story did specifically say that Selig was retiring in 2012.

[owbc]

All the good stuff happens after I leave Madison. I would have done anything to take a history class with him.

[JohnBriggs12]

I am very much looking to read his memoirs. I heard him on an interview several years ago hint he had some inside, never been revealed stuff, on what happened in the final years of the Braves in Milwaukee. For those that don't know, Bud and his group were essentially hired by the Braves ownership to run the team the final year in Milwaukee, because none of the owners dared step foot inside the state much less County Stadium that year. I have a lot of suspicions about those days that involve certain people in the game, namely Walter O'Malley and Phil Wrigley, pulling strings behind the Braves leaving town and later blackballing Milwaukee for an expansion franchise because it had the audacity to fight baseball in court and I can't wait to get Bud's take on it.

[JimH5]

I am also interesting in reading what comes of this. My own interest is in the 1969-70 offseason, with the Pilots bankruptcy and not knowing where the team was going.

 

The team was in Spring Training, without knowing where they would play their home games. That seems like a story that needs to be told.

 

Plus, Bud seems like a good storyteller, so I'm psyched to get his perspective on those days.

 

Hawing, if there are any symposiums or other public access sessions with Bud, I hope you'll pass the word along.

[The Truth]

I'm not a Bud Selig fan, at all. However, if in his last days he can at least convince the University of Wisconsin to once again have a baseball team I might be able to at least look at the Selig statue outside of Miller Park as opposed to averting my eyes and pretending it doesn't exist.

 

While many will always love Selig for bring baseball back to Milwaukee, and he certainly deserves full credit for that, I cannot stand the way the Selig family used the Brewers as essentially a tax write-off for a few decades. And then there is what I consider his horrendous track record as the Commisioner: looking the other way during the Steroid Scandals, making the All-Star game decide home field in the World Series and all sorts of other annoyances and idiocies

[Baldkin]

record as the Commisioner: looking the other way during the Steroid Scandals,

I am sick of seeing that written by people.

"Starting in 1995, I tried to institute a steroid policy," Selig told

Newsday. "Needless to say, it was met with strong resistance. We were

fought by the union every step of the way."

He did not turn a blind eye, he tried to put policy in place, but had no power to do so. Until the media (who truly turned a blind eye) and the players union got on board (as a result of being hammered in the media).

[PrinceEatMeat]

record as the Commisioner: looking the other way during the Steroid Scandals,

I am sick of seeing that written by people.

"Starting in 1995, I tried to institute a steroid policy," Selig told

Newsday. "Needless to say, it was met with strong resistance. We were

fought by the union every step of the way."

He did not turn a blind eye, he tried to put policy in place, but had no power to do so. Until the media (who truly turned a blind eye) and the players union got on board (as a result of being hammered in the media).

I agree, I really hate people saying they hate Selig just because he was commissioner during the steroid era. He put out effort to stop it, but unfortunately it took forever to come through. Apparently people don't realize that without Selig there'd be no Wild Card and Interleague play. We'd still be stuck with 2 division and the Brewers in the AL, the unbalanced schedule wouldn't exist, there'd be no world baseball classic, no replay at all. Also, there have been 20 new stadiums built under his watch.

[1992casey]

I'm hoping that Bud's memoirs will finish some puzzles that are mostly complete but are missing some key pieces.

 

One area I'm interested in is the Brewers financial condition during the 1990s and early 2000s. We know quite a bit from the "audits," especially when their contents are combined with some "inside" information that was posted on Brewerfan at the time. We're missing Bud's take, though.

 

I'm also interested in the role he may have played to end the steroid era. Wouldn't it be something if we found out that Bud actually pushed for the Congressional hearings that ultimately caused the union to acquiesce?

[RightFieldCoder]

The Truth wrote:

---

making the All-Star game decide home field in the World Series and all sorts of other annoyances and idiocies

Yes, it was much better when the All-Star visitor always had World Series home field. I think people who hate the AS deciding home field think the best record used to have WS home field, which isn't true.

[RockCoCougars]

I still don't get all the whining about the All Star Game home field thing. Immediately before they made this rule, every year there were d-bags faking injuries or otherwise trying to get out of playing in the game because they wanted the vacation. As such, the game was starting to go the way of the Pro Bowl. I think this has been effective in alleviating this quite a bit.

[Invader3K]

One area I'm interested in is the Brewers financial condition during the 1990s and early 2000s. We know quite a bit from the "audits," especially when their contents are combined with some "inside" information that was posted on Brewerfan at the time. We're missing Bud's take, though.

Can you elaborate on this for those of us who weren't on the forum way back then?

[Patrick425]

I really don't understand how anyone can be a Brewer fan but hate Bud Selig. To me, it's like loving Apple products but hating Steve Jobs. You don't have the product without the person. I wonder how different my life would be if it wasn't for Bud Selig. I'm not sure I would be the baseball fan I am today and be able to share that love of baseball with my son.

 

 

Edit: Steve Jobs...not Bill Gates!

[The Truth]

To me, it's like loving Apple products but hating Bill Gates.

Exactly!

[1992casey]

One area I'm interested in is the Brewers financial condition during the 1990s and early 2000s. We know quite a bit from the "audits," especially when their contents are combined with some "inside" information that was posted on Brewerfan at the time. We're missing Bud's take, though.

Can you elaborate on this for those of us who weren't on the forum way back then?

We knew several months ahead of time that the relationship between the Brewers board of directors and Ulice Payne was anything but hamonious, even when he looked to be a hero to the general public. Along with that, we were told that "something huge" regarding the team's finances would happen in January 2004. While we were surprised that the huge thing would be the sale of the team, the news matched up to the information that was posted here.

 

Also, the team's $27 million 2004 payroll was due to the fact that the team was going to need to pay down $30 million in debt that year. Apparently, that debt couldn't be refinanced. Media outlets didn't directly confirm this when the "audits" were released. However, they did report that the $133 million or so debt reported in the audits had recently been reduced to about $100 million.

 

I

really don't understand how anyone can be a Brewer fan but hate Bud

Selig. To me, it's like loving Apple products but hating Bill Gates.

You don't have the product without the person. I wonder how different my

life would be if it wasn't for Bud Selig. I'm not sure I would be the

baseball fan I am today and be able to share that love of baseball with

my son.

I don't get the Apple-Bill Gates analogy. While Gates and Microsoft played an important role in getting the Macintosh platform off the ground, most people tend not to realize this. Additionally, Apple and Microsoft were huge rivals for most of the 1990s and spent the better part of that decade in court. Today, the two companies still compete much more than they cooperate, and most Mac users dislike working in Windows.

[Patrick425]

Ooops...Ha...I meant Steve Jobs!

[The Truth]

I wouldn't call him evil, and I don't hate him... But I very seriously doubt the Brewers would have made the playoffs in '08 or '11 if the Selig family still owned the team. It was very very hard to root for the Brewers through most of the 2 decades before Mark A bought the team.

 

I get the whole "we love him because he brought baseball back to Milwaukee", honestly I do, but Mark A seems more concerned with building a winner than Selig ever did from 1990 on...(and yes I realize he was the Commish from 1992 on, but don't you think he had a hand in the Brewers during the 90's and 00's until Mark A bought the team? And yes, I know that Selig's defenders point to the poor management of the team after

Wendy Selig-Prieb took control as proof that Bud Selig was not working behind the

scenes!)

 

Maybe it is Wendy Selig-Prieb that I really should have a problem with. But I always assumed that Bud was the one directing Wendy to use the Brewers as a tax write-off

 

And then there was Selig's part in the owners' collusion in 1985-1987 resulting in the owners paying 280 million dollars in damages to the players.

[The Truth]

Looking back, I guess they did have a good team in 1992, but most of the years after 1983 the Brewers had one of the worst teams in baseball. '84, '85, and '86 were disasters. And I blame Selig in part for the strike in 1994-1995. He's the only commissioner to cancel a World Series since 1904!

 

As Faye Vincent said "The Union basically doesn’t trust the Ownership because collusion was a $280 million theft by Bud Selig and Jerry Reinsdorf of that money from the players. I mean, they rigged the signing of free agents. They got caught. They paid $280 million to the players. And I think that’s polluted labor relations in baseball ever since it happened. I think it’s the reason Fehr has no trust in Selig."

 

MLB had very serious problems after that strike as fans stayed away. Many fans (including myself) were very angry. And it wasn't until steroid freaks started bombing HR's left and right that fans started coming back. And despite what he says, I think Selig looked the other way on the steroid thing for a long time because it generated revenue

 

I dunno, I just think you gotta have some real rose-colored glasses or be a revisionist historian in order to see Bud Selig in a positive light

 

Except for the fact that he brought baseball back to Milwaukee. That was awesome. But that doesn't change the rest

[Ennder]

I've always felt Bud tanked the Brewers on purpose to use as a platform for his ideas on revenue sharing etc. As for his job as commissioner, I think he's done well even if I don't agree with all of the changes.

[RockCoCougars]

Looking back, I guess they did have a good team in 1992, but most of the

years after 1983 the Brewers had one of the worst teams in baseball.

'84, '85, and '86 were disasters. \

Those were really the only 'bad' seasons that the franchise had in a 15 year period. OK- '90 was a disaster, but they were picked by many of the pundits to win the division. Until money started ruining everything, Selig was considered one of the best owners in the game, even by the players. Until things got really crazy in the early 90's, Selig wasn't afraid to spend money on the team either. He signed guys like Bando and Hisle, was in the bidding for Nolan Ryan, etc. He kept all the stars too, Molitor in '92 was really the first substantive player the Brewers lost in free agency (unless you count Billy Travers).

[The Truth]

1993-2004 they were a sub .500 team. I suppose one could blame that 100% on Wendy and not Bud but I just don't buy that. Maybe I should re-think that.

[RockCoCougars]

1993-2004 they were a sub .500 team. I suppose one could blame that 100% on Wendy and not Bud but I just don't buy that. Maybe I should re-think that.

 

I blame Laurel, Bando and Wendy in that order. A typical second generation running the family business into the ground deal- even though I tend to agree with the notion that they were tanking a bit to get the new stadium. Especially in '93/'94.

[JimH5]

I just don't think the Selig ownership group had the resources (or perhaps the foresight) to get the Brewers into a mid-tier revenue situation.

 

I think I was paying about $16 a seat for a good lower grandstand (infield about 8 rows up) partial season ticket. Maybe they didn't have the confidence that the team could grow much beyond that.

 

I don't think they tanked anything or that they weren't trying. I just think they were poor by MLB ownership standards.

[Oldcity]

I can't believe he's 77. That's pretty old to still be commissioner. I would have guessed he was maybe 70.