Ooh, ooh, me, me me.

Is it race?

Whether that is Screamin' A Smith or Claire Smith, the article will not be worth registering for.

Big deal, I flunked plenty of history tests in my day.

Is it race?

No. It's Hairism.

You know, I feel bad for Bud. Almost. He's like the Richard Nixon of Baseball Commissioners. He did a crapload of great stuff but there's one thing that is going to forever going to kill his standing in the halls of Sports Commissionerdom. Dick Nixon had Watergate (and being a general paranoid). Bud Selig has Roidgate and Bonds.

He's like the Richard Nixon of Baseball Commissioners. He did a crapload of great stuff but there's one thing that is going to forever going to kill his standing in the halls of Sports Commissionerdom.

Cancelling the World Series?

Dick Nixon had Watergate (and being a general paranoid). Bud Selig has Roidgate and Bonds.

Thankfully, Nixon and Selig each only did one thing wrong.

Cancelling the World Series?

The Strike and interleague play are two big strikes against him in my book. Nobody should care whether or not Selig was in San Francisco last night.

He did a crapload of great stuff

What-what-WHAAAAAAT?!?!

Okay. Okay, the whole cancelling the world series thing totally slid my mind. Bad metaphor. Bad metaphor..


The "good stuff" I was talking about was the whole financial success thing.

The "good stuff" I was talking about was the whole financial success thing.

Which is not to be sneered at.

As much as we want it to be otherwise, the commissioner's job isn't to protect the platonic ideal of the sport and make hardcore fans happy. It's to help the owners make as much money as humanly possible, and to that extent, Selig's been a tremendously successful commissioner.

The "good stuff" I was talking about was the whole financial success thing.

Which is not to be sneered at.

Good for whom? A very small group of people. The rest of us 1)couldn't care less and 2) are paying tax dollars into their revenue generating stadia.

It's to help the owners make as much money as humanly possible, and to that extent, Selig's been a tremendously successful commissioner.

Fine but that doesn't make him any less worthy of our sneers.

"Bud Selig has Roidgate and Bonds."

Also the death of the Expos and the whole fiasco with the tied All-Star game.

I mean, personally, this is how I will always remember him.

It's to help the owners make as much money as humanly possible, and to that extent, Selig's been a tremendously successful commissioner.

Just think how great he'd be at making money if he didn't persuade owners to collude and cancel the World Series!

Good for whom? A very small group of people. The rest of us 1)couldn't care less and 2) are paying tax dollars into their revenue generating stadia.

Point taken, but in terms of doing his job, Selig's been very successful.

I mean, personally, this is how I will always remember him.

I still don't see how (a) that was his fault, and (b) it really makes a difference in the scheme of things. Who cares who wins the All-Star Game?

Yeah, collusion only cost the owners a hundred and something million...

Point taken, but in terms of doing his job, Selig's been very successful.

To the 30 owners/ownership groups he's beholden to, yes, Selig has been very successful. The rest of us pretty much have to just take what we can get.

The "good stuff" I was talking about was the whole financial success thing.

Which is not to be sneered at.

In addition to Pops' response to these comments (*), I would add: how much of the financial success is attributable to Selig? I mean, Selig may have helped blackmail cities into handing over taxpayer money, but teams were doing that before he got there. To the extent that baseball has good labor relations, it's because of how badly Selig hurt the league in 1994, not because of how great a job he has done as commissioner.


(*) I wouldn't completely say, Who cares?" While I don't care whether owners make $50M or $500M, I do -- and we all should -- care that baseball is financially successful. It's that success that gives us 4000 games of baseball on television every night, all throughout the season. It's that success that gets us the salaries that leads to some great athletes choosing baseball over some other sport. Etc.

Who cares who wins the All-Star Game?

This time it counts!

That might go in his "success" bucket.

Yeah, collusion only cost the owners a hundred and something million...

Wasn't that during Ueberotth, several commissioners ago?

What good thing did Richard Nixon do?

What good thing did Richard Nixon do?

Resigned.

I still don't see how (a) that was his fault(All-Star Game fiasco)

I dunno. For years I was wondering what would happen if the game went 15 innings like the Tony Perez HR game in 1967, when the current vogue was to use up the pitchers by the 9th inning. A tiny little foresight would either just declare a new rule that
1. a 9 inning tie was a 9 inning tie or
2. that there were special rules for AS games -- pitchers could re-enter.

For years I was wondering what would happen if the game went 15 innings like the Tony Perez HR game in 1967, when the current vogue was to use up the pitchers by the 9th inning.

This seems like a managerial problem, not one for the commissioner's office to worry about.

This seems like a managerial problem, not one for the commissioner's office to worry about.

I disagree -- Selig's 30 bosses don't want their own pitchers pitching a couple innings and their rivals' pitchers not pitching at all.

He's been a PR nightmare. At every turn, he badmouths the game he should be promoting, the one he should champion.

-Teams are losing money (false.)
-Drugs are a huge problem for our sport.
-The All-Star Game should MEAN something.
-We can't support 30 teams.
-I hate traveling to ballparks to see history made.
-Ummmm, this time it counts?

He sucks.

I disagree -- Selig's 30 bosses don't want their own pitchers pitching a couple innings and their rivals' pitchers not pitching at all.

This was no less a problem in 1968 than it was in 1998, and somehow the game survived without the commissioner stepping in.

Can anyone be truly surprised that Bud Selig has absolutely no feel for the public stage, no feel for the history of the game or the role of commish?

Personally, this is how I picture Zelig.

This was no less a problem in 1968 than it was in 1998, and somehow the game survived without the commissioner stepping in.

The usage pattern has changed. I only looked at one sample (1967) but it gibes with my memory that pitchers went 2-3 innings at a clip. In that game, only Tom Seaver worked 1 inning and he came in for the 15th inning (and picked up a save).