Selig at 70: Much to celebrate about

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Selig at 70: Much to celebrate about

Commissioner has come long way since taking job

By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com

 

MILWAUKEE -- Seventy years ago today, Marie Selig gave birth to a baby boy and named him Allan.

 

At the time, Major League Baseball wasn't played in the cheese state of Wisconsin, and no one could have imagined that the newborn would be the future owner of Milwaukee's second big league baseball team and Major League Baseball's ninth Commissioner.

 

Ben, the baby's dad, sold automobiles, and Marie was an elementary school teacher. When the proud parents, who were of European Jewish ancestry, brought the child home a few days later, they told his older brother, Jerry -- four years old at the time -- that they had a new buddy for him.

 

"My mom liked the name Allan, but it's been 'Bud' or 'Buddy' ever since," said Allan H. "Bud" Selig as he sipped a Diet Coke, his signature drink, while sitting at his desk in MLB's Milwaukee office.

 

Praise him or snipe at him -- and many have done both -- but it's undeniable that on the milestone of his 70th birthday, Selig has had a massive impact on the game he oversees. The sport has undergone a sea change since he replaced Fay Vincent as interim Commissioner in September 1992. He was given the job formally six years later.

 

Revenue sharing, Interleague Play, Wild Card berths, the three-division format, the long-needed consolidation of the American League and National League under one office, globalization, relative labor peace, steroids testing of Major League players, home field advantage in the World Series for the winning league in the All-Star Game, and the new ballparks now dotting the Major League landscape. You name it. All of it happened under his watch.

 

"Bud is the renaissance man most responsible for baseball's current renaissance," said National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who knows Selig well because the baseball man also sits on the board of directors of the Green Bay Packers.

 

"He has moved forward forcefully in every area that's important to the success of sports leagues in the 21st century -- collective bargaining, revenue distribution, globalization, television and marketing," said David Stern, Commissioner of the National Basketball Association.

 

"Bud clearly has a passion for baseball and always seems to put the best interest of the game over any other concerns," said Garry Bettman of the National Hockey League, who, at 52, is the youngest of the four Commissioners.

 

Little in common with the other commissioners

Selig has very little in common with his three counterparts save that he, Bettman and Stern are all Jewish. Selig is an active participant in Jewish philanthropy and has recently been honored for those contributions. He is the oldest of the quartet and like the other three, shows no signs of slowing down even though he will be 72 by the time his current contract expires after the 2006 season.

 

Selig graduated with a degree in American history and political science from the University of Wisconsin, followed his father into automotive sales, and became involved in baseball promotions after his beloved Braves left Milwaukee in 1965. The other three graduated from law school and are attorneys with league experience: Tagliabue under Pete Rozelle, Stern under Larry O'Brien and Bettman under Stern, before Bettman left for the NHL in 1993.

 

"David, Paul and I got together and decided we wouldn't hold (Selig's lack of a formal law background) against him," Bettman said, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

 

The fact that Selig is not an attorney, the fact that the former Milwaukee Brewers owner is considered "one of the guys" within baseball ranks and is committed to ruling by consensus, may be his greatest strength. The four MLB Commissioners preceding Selig all had their roots outside baseball: Bowie Kuhn (attorney), Peter Ueberroth (Los Angeles Olympic Committee), Bart Giamatti (academia) and Vincent (big business).

 

All had limited success in tackling baseball's mammoth problems, but no one was as entrusted with the owners' complete confidence as Selig.

 

"I was a big critic of baseball in my first year because I thought there was too much of a desire to create a consensus," said John Moores, who joined the ranks as majority owner of the Padres in the waning days of 1994 when baseball was still on strike. "It turns out I was wrong. Selig is an extraordinarily effective leader. He manages to control the process by involving as many owners as he can and convincing them that this is the direction that's right for them to go in."

 

"Bud's done a lot for baseball," said Peter Magowan, the Giants president and managing general partner, whose group saved the team for San Francisco when they bought it in 1992. "It hasn't been fully appreciated by everybody, but there's a long laundry list of things that are directly attributable to him."

 

A dinosaur

Baseball in the final decade of the 20th century was "a dinosaur," Selig is fond of saying.

 

In 100 years, baseball had made only a few halting strides. Expansion from 16 teams began in 1961, but was mostly used as a tool in the early going to replace franchises that had fled angry communities for seemingly greener pastures; the two-division and two-tier playoff format was adopted in 1969 amid great criticism from traditionalists; and the AL created the designated hitter rule in 1973, much to the chagrin of the NL, which still remains one of the only organized baseball leagues in the world that refuses to have anything to do with it.

 

In the era after free agency began in 1977, labor relations with the players were a mess, to say the least.

 

"Back in those days, it was easy to take the path of least resistance," Selig said. "But my father taught me years ago that the path of least resistance is generally the worst. And he was right, as he almost always was. We have a great sport with a great history and tradition, but we're no longer dinosaurs. The dinosaur days are over.

 

"Our economic problems were only going to get worse. They were exacerbated, and have been for years, by not solving them. Instead of dealing with the problems, they ignored them. The '90s, particularly, were a very tumultuous period. The economics were far worse than anybody imagined."

 

Love of baseball

Selig credits his love for baseball as a youngster to his mother.

Pictures of his family sit on the polished wood shelves near his desk. His parents emigrated from Europe as children, his father from Romania and his mother from Russia. Their families passed through what are now the hallowed halls of Ellis Island, the depot situated next to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor where an entire generation of Europeans gained permanent entry into the U.S.

 

Like many who chose not to remain in New York, the Seligs' fate would be carved in the Midwest.

 

"Why Milwaukee? I used to ask my father that question. Why here? Why couldn't we wind up someplace where it was warm?" Selig said. "He'd just laugh."

 

Ben, of course, was only four years old when his parents, Bud's grandparents, made that decision.

 

"My dad was an amazing story," Selig said with clear reverence. "When you talk about that generation, it was stunning. We think we've been successful, but it's nothing in comparison to what they were able to accomplish. To think what they did, holy cow."

 

It was no wonder, then, that when Selig graduated from college and concluded his term in the military service, he responded to his father's request to go into the family business -- Selig Ford in west Milwaukee. Buddy was preparing to begin a career as a history professor, a goal he still says he'd like to accomplish if he retires from baseball at the end of his term.

 

"When I left college as an undergrad I was coming back to be a history professor," Selig said. "I had a very close relationship with both of my parents. My dad said, 'Give me a year.' I did, because my dad asked me."

 

As it turned out, Selig gave his father the first part of his career.

 

Affinity for baseball

As a youngster, Selig's affinity for baseball was kindled during many an afternoon watching the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

 

The Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee in 1953 and a love affair was born. By then, Selig was in his 20s and became acquainted with such Braves stars from that era as Hank Aaron -- still a friend of Selig's -- and the late Eddie Mathews. The Braves defeated the Yankees in the 1957 World Series, lost to them in 1958, and in a blink of an eye were gone.

 

"I wound up in baseball because the Braves left Milwaukee and that broke my heart," Selig said. "That's how it started. I got involved with the effort to bring baseball back to Milwaukee and became a central figure for 5 1/2 years. It's been a long journey."

 

The journey included the promotion of exhibition and regular-season games that brought the White Sox from Chicago to old County Stadium at least once a year from 1967 to 1969 and proved to be smashing successes. An exhibition game between the Twins and the White Sox in 1967 helped pave the way.

 

"People said it would ruin baseball in Milwaukee, nobody would come, don't even attempt it," Selig said. "The day before we were out of tickets. Sold out. I can still remember the number -- 51,174. Sox and Twins, July 24, 1967. What a night that was. Wow! That helped keep baseball alive in Milwaukee."

 

Ultimately another city's plight turned out to be the key to Milwaukee's resurgence. The first-year expansion Pilots went into bankruptcy after a local court filed a temporary injunction to keep the team in Seattle.

 

In 1970, the Pilots trained in Arizona as litigation in Seattle was pending. When Spring Training ended, all the equipment was sent north and the truck driver was told to wait in Las Vegas for a phone call regarding a pending decision. If the court ruled in favor of Seattle, the team would remain there for the 1970 season. If the court ruled against Seattle, the team was free to leave.

 

A judge ruled that the team was indeed bankrupt and ordered it sold. Since there were no local buyers, Selig had his team. The date was April 1, 1970, six days before the start of the regular season, and nearly six months after a group led by Selig had agreed in principle to buy the team.

 

"A great day," Selig recalled. "We had almost given up. We had been turned down so many times."

 

New team

The newly christened Brewers opened against the Angels at County Stadium on April 7, 1970, and lost, 12-0. They finished that season with 97 losses.

 

A group led by Selig and Ed Fitzgerald paid $10.8 million for the team, which after 34 years is now again on the market and could be sold by the Selig family for as much as 20 times that amount.

 

"It happened against all odds," Selig recalls now about Milwaukee getting that team. "It was a great period in my life because it taught me a number of things: Patience and persistence."

 

Those were qualities that would serve Selig well as Commissioner.

 

Through the dark days of the 1994 baseball strike and the cancellation of that year's playoffs and World Series, what Selig now calls the toughest and most agonizing decision he has ever had to make.

 

"It had to be done, but it was very painful. Very painful," Selig said.

 

Through the owners' unanimous vote to contract two teams after the 2001 season and the two-year search to relocate the Montreal Expos. Selig still pledges it will happen before the 2005 season.

 

Red Sox president Larry Lucchino, who has known Selig since 1979 when he joined the Baltimore Orioles as a lead attorney, said he has watched with admiration as Selig tackled the tough issues and grew into the job.

 

"Since Bud is a student of history, we always joke about comparing him to (President) Harry Truman, who was known more for his substance than his style," Lucchino said. "'Harry Truman would've approved this,' or 'Harry Truman would've liked that.' Like Harry Truman, the significance of what Selig has done may be more affected by what historians say about him than the credit he's being given in his own time."

 

But this is still his time, and 70 years ago today, Allan H. Selig was born. Call him Bud, Buddy or Harry Truman. He's the Commissioner by any definition of the name.

[IlliniKrush]

Congrats Selig, you've been a complete joke.

[mreye]

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