Bud Selig

[Gashouse6]

I don't really like some of Selig's decisions. Does anybody agree with me? I don't really think he was that great of a commissioner.

[Mattingly]

Could you please be a bit more specific about decisions made during his tenure? He's introduced Interleague in 1997. He had a tied All-Star Game. He's insisted that said All-Star Games should count towards home-field advantage in the World Series, rather than the W-L record of the opposing teams.

He's also been lax about PED usage in the league. Those are just a few examples off the top of my head.

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

I don't want to get into this...it's too painful h

[Chisox]

I wonder if there's enough room on here for a list that long? I know we tried five years ago and came up with more pages than could keep track of. Yeah, Selig's a bone-head.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Could you please be a bit more specific about decisions made during his tenure? He's introduced Interleague in 1997. He had a tied All-Star Game. He's insisted that said All-Star Games should count towards home-field advantage in the World Series, rather than the W-L record of the opposing teams.

He's also been lax about PED usage in the league. Those are just a few examples off the top of my head.

How is the All-Star game tie Selig's fault? It was the managers' fault for burning through all their pitchers.

[KCGHOST]

Selig is not a warm guy. He is not terribly articulate. Nor does he represent the most popular of constituencies.He is in a job that will draw criticism from someone no matter what he does.

The tied ASG was caused by Torre and Brenly burning through their pitchers and then dumping the problem in Selig's lap. Can't say much positive about the "now it counts" foolishness, but it is hardly worse than the alternating league set-up we had before.

Inter-league, while unpopular with purists, is very popular with most fans.

He may have been soft on PED's, but tell me what he could have done about it anyway?? The Player's Union was adamantly opposed to any form of drug testing ("we must protect the privacy of the players"). It wasn't until Congress bludgeoned Fehr that something happened on this front.

Sure the billionaires don't want to pay for stadiums when they can get them free, but they are Bud's constituents.

The list goes on and on. Many things that people who post in forums and blogs in variably complain about have another side of the coin. Well, the Expo thing doesn't. It just sucks.

[Twisted Wicker]

Does anybody seriously like Selig?

The only thing I like that he has done is interleague play. Gives me a chance to see some NL teams in person, seeing as my Tigers aren't getting into the World Series anytime soon. His steroid policy is pretty good too.

The All-Star Game home-field advantage thing is just plain stupid, though.

[Retire21]

Selig introduced interleague play and the wild card as a means of making more money for the owners. Now, I am a capitalist like everyone else and the more scratch the better, but the owners and Bud needed to consider the fans more (or at all) in the decisions.

It has been said before but, the great thing about MLB is that it consists of two automomus leagues working together for mutual benifit, not simply a union of geographically organized teams. Interleague play was never a good idea and still is not. You cannot simply force geographic rivalries down the throats of the fans. The Series in 2000 would have meant a lot more if the Clemens/Piazza nonsense from the regular season had not happened. I know I have harped on this ad naseum, but the point needs to be made as many times as it takes.

The AS game granting home field advantage has only served to cheapen what was once a fun exhibition between the most popular players in the game. It meant more when it meant nothing!

Selig claims to always have the "best interest of baseball" at heart. If you look historically, anyone claiming that just wants to keep their job. Come on 2009!

[Francoeurstein]

Selig backwards is Giles, woo go Marcus Giles!!!!!!!!!

[Gashouse6]

WOW

[Brian McKenna]

a capitalist that doesn't see what a good move that was financially for mlb - obviously it WAS what the fans wanted - think there is some confusion here

the all-star game is an exhibition - hence it is there for entertainment purposes only - i could care less if it ends in a tie nor does it really matter if it's tied to the opening of the world series - the ws happens every year - potentionally with different teams - there is no real fair way to give home field advantage - so what the hell does it matter if the decision comes from the all-star game - at least it makes it more interesting than a coin flip or a rotational basis

what does the clemens/piazza deal have to do with anything? - in the history of baseball are you saying that the only personal rivalry that took place was between those two - don't follow??

selig is the ceo of a billion dollar plus corporation/industry - do you somehow believe he doesn't care about the best interest of the game - and do you somehow believe that millionaire businessmen would allow someone who didn't to oversee their investment?

all this just sounds like a lot of whining from people who frankly do know any better but, for some reason, believe they could do a better job - ah the american way - mouth off and laugh at the other guy to hide our own deficiencies

i'm more a traditionalist than many but if you do what you have always done, you will get what you've always gotten - or less actually - because if you are not driving change - you will get left behind - what industry do you know that has refused to change - and please remind me of their names because they've long since gone out of business

[Mattingly]

How is the All-Star game tie Selig's fault? It was the managers' fault for burning through all their pitchers.

I always thought that managers in the ASG were supposed to go through all the guys, in order to get as many people to pitch as possible. That way, even if for only 1-2 batters, they could say that they've played in the ASG.

Now had Selig said that managers could bring back guys, I'd be OK with that. To let the game end in a tie, to me, doesn't make much sense.

[ReignInBlood]

I always thought that managers in the ASG were supposed to go through all the guys, in order to get as many people to pitch as possible. That way, even if for only 1-2 batters, they could say that they've played in the ASG.

Now had Selig said that managers could bring back guys, I'd be OK with that. To let the game end in a tie, to me, doesn't make much sense.

Bring back guys when they have already pitched? That's a no no.

[Knick9]

a capitalist that doesn't see what a good move that was financially for mlb - obviously it WAS what the fans wanted - think there is some confusion here

the all-star game is an exhibition - hence it is there for entertainment purposes only - i could care less if it ends in a tie nor does it really matter if it's tied to the opening of the world series - the ws happens every year - potentionally with different teams - there is no real fair way to give home field advantage - so what the hell does it matter if the decision comes from the all-star game - at least it makes it more interesting than a coin flip or a rotational basis

what does the clemens/piazza deal have to do with anything? - in the history of baseball are you saying that the only personal rivalry that took place was between those two - don't follow??

selig is the ceo of a billion dollar plus corporation/industry - do you somehow believe he doesn't care about the best interest of the game - and do you somehow believe that millionaire businessmen would allow someone who didn't to oversee their investment?

all this just sounds like a lot of whining from people who frankly do know any better but, for some reason, believe they could do a better job - ah the american way - mouth off and laugh at the other guy to hide our own deficiencies

i'm more a traditionalist than many but if you do what you have always done, you will get what you've always gotten - or less actually - because if you are not driving change - you will get left behind - what industry do you know that has refused to change - and please remind me of their names because they've long since gone out of business

You gotta lay off the smoke pipe, my friend.

Do you have any proof on how the All-Star game decision efecting the WS is what the fans wanted? It's just that ever since the All-Star game tie, Selig has been making more worse decisions one by one with no stop (somewhat barring his steroids policy, but even there he took too long of a time to make up a reasonable policy.) Oh, and it matters alot about who gets home field advantage, and I believe the best way to do that is to just look at the best team in MLB, and look at which league it's in. It's that simple. I don't think he cares about the best interest of the game, rather he cares about making an extra buck for the bank and cares about his own interest, (or his buddies' interests.)

I will always believe that Selig is an idiot until he corrects everything that he's done wrong, but it isn't likely. He's worn out his welcome, and he is certainly the guy who sparks up alot of my baseball jokes. MLB management, as far as I'm concrened, hardly has a backbone, and with Selig at the helm, does it look that much more obvious? I'm not saying that I should run for MLB commissioner, (if that's what you're trying to really refer to), I'm just saying that I can see alot of noticeable flaws that make Selig the guy who he is precieved to be. He is biased because of the revenue sharing between the teams, and look $250M+ against $30-ishM is absolutely not parity in any way. What other reason is there for him to sit down and talk with Steinbrenner in Yankee Stadium's box seats? In other words, he is one of the worst commissioners in sports.

[Gashouse6]

I don't like the All-Star game effecting home field advantage in the World Series. 2004 was a good example. The Cardinals had a better regular-season record. Because the American League won the All Star Game, the Red Sox got HFA. This meant David Ortiz got to be DH and Kevin Millar played 1st. This gave the Red Sox a huge advantage. The Cardinals should have gotten home field advantage and would take away one big Red Sox bat. The All-Star game SHOULD NOT have any effect on the World Series.