selig is was and always will be nothing but a bum... good riddance
3
Amen.
One can only assume from the photo of Bush, Selig and Vincent that Vincent is pretending to laugh at some inane remark by W and thinking to himself, "How did I manage to be sitting next to these two criminals?"
5
"Bud Selig leaves office on Sunday with a record of accomplishment, as well as some missteps, and an undeniable passion for baseball."
Accomplishments? Well, he and his fellow-owners got richer (Selig's take at $26 million a year!), but AT THE EXPENSE of baseball as a game, loved by fans. Lies, half-truths, phony steroid-fostered 'records,' disingenuously claiming he had no idea about it all, business over sports again and again, skyrocketing ticket prices... Some "accomplishments"! He got rich and baseball suffered.
Accomplishments? Well, he and his fellow-owners got richer (Selig's take at $26 million a year!), but AT THE EXPENSE of baseball as a game, loved by fans. Lies, half-truths, phony steroid-fostered 'records,' disingenuously claiming he had no idea about it all, business over sports again and again, skyrocketing ticket prices... Some "accomplishments"! He got rich and baseball suffered.
5
Bud Selig knew that steroids and other drugs were being used. He knew how tainted were the homerun records of Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, and A-Rod. So did all the players, owners, sports writers and fans, except the willfully blind. At the time it seemed like a good idea. Everybody profited. Selig made mistakes, but most of the criticism is hypocritical.
As a young man the game (MLB) was one of my great passions and provided me about a million memorable moments. I knew at least half the bio's of major league rosters. I still care and know a lot…but the passion's gone.
More importantly, I have a couple of kids in their 20's who are avid sports fans but couldn't give a whit about baseball.
Selig's fault.
Good the car guy's got no regrets. Understandable as all the regrets are taken.
More importantly, I have a couple of kids in their 20's who are avid sports fans but couldn't give a whit about baseball.
Selig's fault.
Good the car guy's got no regrets. Understandable as all the regrets are taken.
1
Ernie Banks dies and Selig retires. The consummate player and the accommodator. Oranges and rotten apples.
7
I think somewhere it should be noted that during the Bid Selig era going to a baseball game became prohibitively costly for the average American family, and football usurped baseball as The American Pastime, some legacy for the man who also presided over the PED era, some legacy!
12
I remember an article on Selig in The Times Magazine. Selig and the writer of the story were at a Brewer's game at one point in the piece.Selig remarked on how he liked to hang around after the game "In case someone wants an autograph" No one asked for an autograph.
2
Selig's legacy is the loss of MLB's integrity to PEDs. Billions of dollars won't paper over that.
6
How about a realistic assessment of his years as a commissioner instead of this rose-colored glasses send off? The writer could take some tips on how to write a sports column from Michael Powell.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/sports/football/patriots-bill-belichic...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/sports/football/patriots-bill-belichic...
3
I've got a little list.
He never will be missed.
"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly".......he stayed way too long.
"Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then
'tis time to do't."
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Go on and kiss him goodbye
He never will be missed.
"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly".......he stayed way too long.
"Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then
'tis time to do't."
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye
Go on and kiss him goodbye
4
He was a mediocre owner, and a mediocre Commissioner. Bowie Kuhn was a better commissioner because he wasn't afraid to be disliked by the owners. It's a shame that Bart Giammatti passed away far too young. He had the makings of a good commissioner and wasn't afraid to stand up to people who broke the rules, like Pete Rose.
10
Don't forget Fay Vincent. He did his best to pick up where Giamatti, his good friend, left off. Enough so to tick off the owners and be ousted.
1
Selective enforcement and double standards are the legacy.
9
Goodbye to one corrupt jerk; hello to another. Nothing will change. Bill "Spaceman" Lee had it right: Professional baseball leagues should consist of teams that play for various bars, as in Sunday softball. The bar owners are the team owners, and the commissioner is the guy who least wants the job. The players won't be that good, so big money won't be a part of it--just a lot of fun, a few bucks to pay for gas, and lots of beer.
3
Tarnished the game. Enabled Arod. Go back to selling used cars. Good Riddance.
21
Far too charitable a biography.
13
Selig saved the Wilpons and ruined the New York Mets in the process.
10
We Mets fans can thank him for bailing out the Wilpons, when they otherwise would have been forced to sell our beloved Mets. Of course, Bud concurrently had time to persecute McCourt and force him to sell the Dodgers.
Now the Mets brass heads up the MLB Finance Committee?
Black is white and white is black.
Now the Mets brass heads up the MLB Finance Committee?
Black is white and white is black.
9
At heart, he's a car salesman. What do you expect him to say?
13
Selig's legacy, to me, is just like that of John Paul II: he was in charge during a period when great corruption was brought to light, and did nothing.
And just like the former pope, he will now apparently be sanctified.
And just like the former pope, he will now apparently be sanctified.
8
"Some" missteps? I thought he supervised the drug era beautifully, though for ~$40,000,000 a year we might have expected more.
2
Bud Selig was the Great Enabler of baseball's steroid era. He happily encouraged an era where baseball was a lie, when the feats we were told to celebrate are now covered in shame---remember the McGwire-Sosa adulation? If he knew what was going on, then he's a cynical crook and if he didn't then he's an incompetent fool. Take your pick.
Also, he's the guy who forgot to plan for extra innings in the 2002 All-Star game.
Also, he's the guy who forgot to plan for extra innings in the 2002 All-Star game.
11
Way past time for him to go. Let's hope we get a real Commissioner in Manfred and not some owners patsy like Selig. All too often he looked the other way in the steroids era, which is part of his legacy. Met fans can only hope that Manfred will do what's best for the Mets and force the Mets to sell, like Selig did with the Dodgers. Guess he couldn't do the same with Fred Wilpon, his bud. Good riddance.
3
Salary cap, luxury tax: Selig's goal was to protect the profits of his employers, his fellow owners, not to put the very best teams on the field.
3
I’m one of those people who will not forgive Selig for looking the other way when anyone who knows baseball knew that juicing was comically rampant for years and years. Selig and the owners loved it, because to people who know nothing about baseball home runs rule, and make billions for MLB and Television.
An owner should never be allowed to be Commissioner of Baseball. Those two professions do not mix.
An owner should never be allowed to be Commissioner of Baseball. Those two professions do not mix.
11
To keep Pete Rose, possibly the greatest baseball mind in the history of the game, out of baseball and out of the HOF is an injustice that far outweighs the entirety of Bud Selig's 'career.'
Compare each mans contribution to baseball -- Rose is the Hit King and most-winning-athlete, ANY sport, EVER.
Selig, a vindictive obstructionist that deprived the world of what should have been the greatest "feel-good" story in the modern-era of baseball -- the reinstatement of Pete Rose to MLB.
Where was Selig's holier-than-thou attitude during the PED-crisis?
It's not the HOF without the man who produced the most hits in the history of the game: Peter Edward Rose -- the once and future Hall-of-Famer.
Compare each mans contribution to baseball -- Rose is the Hit King and most-winning-athlete, ANY sport, EVER.
Selig, a vindictive obstructionist that deprived the world of what should have been the greatest "feel-good" story in the modern-era of baseball -- the reinstatement of Pete Rose to MLB.
Where was Selig's holier-than-thou attitude during the PED-crisis?
It's not the HOF without the man who produced the most hits in the history of the game: Peter Edward Rose -- the once and future Hall-of-Famer.
Pete Rose is hardly the greatest baseball mind nor the most winning athlete ever. He IS a liar, a cheater, a gambler, and someone who broke baseball's number one rule; the rule posted in every clubhouse: NO Gambling on Baseball. He AGREED to be permanently ineligible. He deserves to be on the outside looking in. And besides, before you put him in, which you shouldn't, you should put Shoeless Joe Jackson in, who was a better hitter and fielder.
Of course Joe Jackson should be in the Hall of Fame, just like Rose should. But you can't say he was a "better" hitter. Nobody knows what Jackson would have hit in the era Rose played, or vice versa. They were both great, and both deserve to be in the HOF. And Bud Selig was a disaster.
Once Bart Giamatti died prematurely the Pete Rose case became more or less set in stone as a memorial to him. I agree that was a shame - there are lots of imperfect human beings in the Baseball Hall of Fame and Rose's on the field performance was uniquely outstanding. At the same time a "reinstatement" that would have allowed Rose to be active in MLB doesn't seem like a great idea either. Too bad a middle ground could not be found.
He's a legend in his own mind whose sole guiding "principle" was relentless greed and the vast majority of fans who deeply love the game and follow it closely have nothing but contempt for him. It's rather telling that on the MLB website registered users can post comments on virtually every article published EXCEPT those related to Bud Selig.
13
Selig gets my vote as the worst baseball commissioner ever. Besides watching PEDS pervade the game, he has lost the youth. I could never imagine watching game of the week broadcasing viagra and erectile dysfunction drugs every 10 minutes like they do today.
Sure big businesses are buying seats today. Attendance is no longer how many customers actually go through turn styles. If they printed that attendance, it would be about 75% and probably less for Yankee stadium.
Time will tell if Major League Baseball will continue to thrive, but I would argue that it is not. Most kids today under 18 watch basketball and football and could care less about baseball. They will be the CEOS in 20 years.
I hope the new commissioner does a better job.
Sure big businesses are buying seats today. Attendance is no longer how many customers actually go through turn styles. If they printed that attendance, it would be about 75% and probably less for Yankee stadium.
Time will tell if Major League Baseball will continue to thrive, but I would argue that it is not. Most kids today under 18 watch basketball and football and could care less about baseball. They will be the CEOS in 20 years.
I hope the new commissioner does a better job.
5
Bud Selig might have no regrets about his term as Commissioner, perhaps most of the owners and some of the players don't either. That just leaves everyone who used to enjoy relaxing and watching the occasional major league baseball game.
2
This Bud's for Selig's, not the pure game nor the fans. Indefaticable, yes, but that's not enough to be lionized, as he seems to be, by the media as well as his MLB, monopolistic cronies.
His tenure was flawed by drugs and other blind-eyed, commissions and omissions.
Bud was a used car salesman, at best ... mean-spirited at his wurst, who was the Ultimate Schmoozer.
His tenure was flawed by drugs and other blind-eyed, commissions and omissions.
Bud was a used car salesman, at best ... mean-spirited at his wurst, who was the Ultimate Schmoozer.
1
He put money first, not the game. History will be the judge of his tenure, not his opinion.
14
I am SO glad to see the back of him.
10
Wow, sitting by apparently idle as PEDs forever change the nature and image of America's pastime is just a "misstep". I guess nothing is wrong if you have no regrets.
8
A net worth of $400 million helps anyone achieve that. The article doesn't mention that while owners and players are doing just dandy, most of the average fans are forced to watch on TV because they can't afford to attend games. There is no Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, etc. Hall controversy without Mr. Selig as opposed to someone else who would have wondered why Popeye and Bluto looked puny compared to the power hitters of that age. Mr. Selig encouraged baseball for people who don't care about baseball, who go to the game to talk on their cell phones, do business, have dinner, watch hot dogs race between innings (and then he wonders why games have lengthened) because, I guess, the game bores them too much. So, if $9 billion is all you care about, you'd have no regrets. This is the USA in 2015, after all. Good luck to him.
6