Bud Selig to retire after 2012

[ragtopW]

no firm confirmation on the Report that R2 is too busy doing Back flips
to post this..

http://www.nesn.com/2009/11/report-bud- ... eason.html

[Wino you know]

2012 can't come soon enough.
That S.O.B. is by far THE worst thing to ever happen to major league baseball.

[Elrod]

2012 can't get here fast enough.



Can you hear us now Bud?

[sonofabeach]

After 2012? I gotta call bullcrap because the world ends on 12-21-12. Duh!

[Nighthawk]

2012 can't come soon enough.
That S.O.B. is by far THE worst thing to ever happen to major league baseball.

When he leaves, they really should make Ron Santo the commish. That would REALLY tick off Seilg.

[C-Dawg]

Good riddance Selig.....if he would just do it now and take Mark McGuire with him I'd be happier. They are a real pair of turds in the punchbowl we all know as MLB. How Selig and the league can allow McGuire to coach for the Cards is beyond me. It's just wrong.

[Bicycle Bill]

As bad as he might have been for MLB in general as Selig the commish, I'll always have a little bit of a soft spot for him since he *DID* bring the Brewers to Milwaukee as Selig the owner.

And for that matter, given the problems he had to look at — steroids, for example, or TV revenues — who's to say that somebody else would have been able to do anything different? The players now have more rights, their union is strong, and all that started with Curt Flood — under Bowie Kuhn's watch. The next three guys — Peter Ueberroth (who stepped down amidst collusion scandals), Angelo Giamatti (who died after only a half-year as commish, but even in that short time found himself facing the Pete Rose gambling scandal), and Faye Vincent (who resigned following an 18-9 vote of 'no confidence' by the owners) — didn't last eight years between them. Selig has been at the helm since 1992 as interim commish and as 'official' commish since 1998.

The game itself has faced many challenges over the last twenty years with the enlargement of other sports such as NASCAR, the NFL, and the NBA, as well as the emergence of newer sports such as WWE and MMA competing for TV time, advertising and revenue dollars, and fan base. Baseball has remained true to itself....three strikes are still an out; four balls are a walk; the bases are still 90 feet apart; and the ball is still 9 inches around. Compare that with some of the changes in football and basketball over the last twenty years, for example — new rules to 'enable the passing game' in the NFL; instant replay and challenges to the referees; and when was the last time you saw anyone called for 'traveling' in an NBA game? For that matter, when I was growing up basketball was supposed to be a non-contact sport (as envisioned by Mr. Naismith); now, some of the contact under the basket and as the players "drive the lane" is more reminiscent of Australian Rules football!

I think Selig did the best he could with what he had to work with. The day when one man could rule with an iron fist and his utterances had the force of law were already vanishing when Selig took over as interim commish in 1992, and are long gone by now. I like baseball as well as the next guy, but you couldn't give me the job even as a gift. Whoever takes over from Selig will find himself on the hot seat literally from day one, and I personally wish him well.

-"BB"-

[C-Dawg]

As bad as he might have been for MLB in general as Selig the commish, I'll always have a little bit of a soft spot for him since he *DID* bring the Brewers to Milwaukee as Selig the owner.

And for that matter, given the problems he had to look at — steroids, for example, or TV revenues — who's to say that somebody else would have been able to do anything different? The players now have more rights, their union is strong, and all that started with Curt Flood — under Bowie Kuhn's watch. The next three guys — Peter Ueberroth (who stepped down amidst collusion scandals), Angelo Giamatti (who died after only a half-year as commish, but even in that short time found himself facing the Pete Rose gambling scandal), and Faye Vincent (who resigned following an 18-9 vote of 'no confidence' by the owners) — didn't last eight years between them. Selig has been at the helm since 1992 as interim commish and as 'official' commish since 1998.

The game itself has faced many challenges over the last twenty years with the enlargement of other sports such as NASCAR, the NFL, and the NBA, as well as the emergence of newer sports such as WWE and MMA competing for TV time, advertising and revenue dollars, and fan base. Baseball has remained true to itself....three strikes are still an out; four balls are a walk; the bases are still 90 feet apart; and the ball is still 9 inches around. Compare that with some of the changes in football and basketball over the last twenty years, for example — new rules to 'enable the passing game' in the NFL; instant replay and challenges to the referees; and when was the last time you saw anyone called for 'traveling' in an NBA game? For that matter, when I was growing up basketball was supposed to be a non-contact sport (as envisioned by Mr. Naismith); now, some of the contact under the basket and as the players "drive the lane" is more reminiscent of Australian Rules football!

I think Selig did the best he could with what he had to work with. The day when one man could rule with an iron fist and his utterances had the force of law were already vanishing when Selig took over as interim commish in 1992, and are long gone by now. I like baseball as well as the next guy, but you couldn't give me the job even as a gift. Whoever takes over from Selig will find himself on the hot seat literally from day one, and I personally wish him well.

-"BB"-

Sorry, I disagree....only reason Selig has had the job as long as he has, is he's part of the "Good Old Boy" network of the owners.
Under his watch as Commish they turned a blind eye to steroids as long as they could, because after the strike teams couldn't get people in the seats until the steroid infused Sosa and McGuire started swinging their corked bats at the corked balls and swatting HR's like the pitchers were throwing tennis balls. He has completely mismanaged the whole steroid scandal.

[SuperTrooper]

As bad as he might have been for MLB in general as Selig the commish, I'll always have a little bit of a soft spot for him since he *DID* bring the Brewers to Milwaukee as Selig the owner.

And for that matter, given the problems he had to look at — steroids, for example, or TV revenues — who's to say that somebody else would have been able to do anything different? The players now have more rights, their union is strong, and all that started with Curt Flood — under Bowie Kuhn's watch. The next three guys — Peter Ueberroth (who stepped down amidst collusion scandals), Angelo Giamatti (who died after only a half-year as commish, but even in that short time found himself facing the Pete Rose gambling scandal), and Faye Vincent (who resigned following an 18-9 vote of 'no confidence' by the owners) — didn't last eight years between them. Selig has been at the helm since 1992 as interim commish and as 'official' commish since 1998.

The game itself has faced many challenges over the last twenty years with the enlargement of other sports such as NASCAR, the NFL, and the NBA, as well as the emergence of newer sports such as WWE and MMA competing for TV time, advertising and revenue dollars, and fan base. Baseball has remained true to itself....three strikes are still an out; four balls are a walk; the bases are still 90 feet apart; and the ball is still 9 inches around. Compare that with some of the changes in football and basketball over the last twenty years, for example — new rules to 'enable the passing game' in the NFL; instant replay and challenges to the referees; and when was the last time you saw anyone called for 'traveling' in an NBA game? For that matter, when I was growing up basketball was supposed to be a non-contact sport (as envisioned by Mr. Naismith); now, some of the contact under the basket and as the players "drive the lane" is more reminiscent of Australian Rules football!

I think Selig did the best he could with what he had to work with. The day when one man could rule with an iron fist and his utterances had the force of law were already vanishing when Selig took over as interim commish in 1992, and are long gone by now. I like baseball as well as the next guy, but you couldn't give me the job even as a gift. Whoever takes over from Selig will find himself on the hot seat literally from day one, and I personally wish him well.

-"BB"-

Ummm, "BB"...

Did you forget about lowering the pitching mound in 1969 to improve the offense?

The DH?

Also, baseball does not have uniform field dimensions beyond the infield. In general, parks built in the past 20 year have been designed to promote the offensive side of the game.

And while the NFL was instituting PED testing, MLB stuck their fingers in their ears and chanted "LA,LA,LA!" while McGuire and Sosa were rescuing baseball from the horrendous after-effects of the latest strike. Don't tell me the game wasn't changed by the steroid era.

[Bicycle Bill]

Ummm, "BB"...

Did you forget about lowering the pitching mound in 1969 to improve the offense?

The DH?

Also, baseball does not have uniform field dimensions beyond the infield. In general, parks built in the past 20 year have been designed to promote the offensive side of the game.

And while the NFL was instituting PED testing, MLB stuck their fingers in their ears and chanted "LA,LA,LA!" while McGuire and Sosa were rescuing baseball from the horrendous after-effects of the latest strike. Don't tell me the game wasn't changed by the steroid era.

Lowering the mound? I was 14 years old and a freshman in HS. I was unaware of that, and probably wouldn't have paid much attention to it if I were. Did it ever get raised back up, or is it still at that level today?

The DH rule? No, I don't like it, but the upside to it is that I would probably have never seen Hank Aaron in person if he hadn't finished out his career as a DH for the Brewers.

Uniform dimensions? The quirkiness of the old parks is the biggest reason I want to make a road trip to see some of them — specifically Fenway and Wrigley; it's too late for other oldies like Comiskey, Tiger Stadium, and The House that Ruth Built — before they all end up looking like Miller Park.....which for the record reminds me of an indoor shopping mall that just happens to have a ballpark in the middle of it (like the amusement park at the Mall of America). Agreed, some parks have outfields that are deeper than others or the foul territory is less, but this can work to either team's advantage (or disadvantage). It is also my understanding that there is still a certain minimum distance down the line or in the 'power alley'. And let's face it, in this day of instant gratification fans want to see the long ball, the slugfest, and the walk-off HR. They're not impressed by the low-scoring pitcher's duels (probably because it doesn't reflect into their fantasy league stats...tough noogies for them), and they definitely aren't into the head games and the tactics of manufacturing a run by means of the hit-and-run, hitting to the holes (vs swinging for the fences), and heads-up base running.

The 'roid era? You got me there. Can't say anything about it except for the apparent loophole that if they weren't banned until such-and-such a day use of them prior to that would have to be a non-issue. As for alleged use after this date, if Selig had tried to do too much about it without incontrovertible proof — rather than hearsay and circumstantial evidence, similar to what has plagued Lance Armstrong since his 1999 return to cycling's elite — he would have come off looking like Don Quixote jousting with his windmills.

-"BB"-