In 1992, Bud Selig became the acting commissioner of Major League Baseball. Twenty years later, fans are still dealing with his blundering. Let’s take a look at all of the ‘wonderful’ things we’ve gotten during the Selig reign:
1) The first cancellation of a World Series in 90 years when we lost it in 1994.
2) The explosion of, “The Steroid Era.”
3) A tie in the All-Star Game.
4) The ridiculous concept of having the All-Star Game decide what league would get home field advantage in the World Series.
5) Playoff games in November.
6) The first ever suspension of a World Series game.
7) The introduction of the play-in…uh second wild card.
It’s not that Mr. Selig has been a complete disaster as MLB commissioner. He did give us Interleague play and the addition of one wild card was actually a pretty solid idea. The problem is that Bud’s good moves just aren’t enough to overcome his bad ones. Part of the problem is his rush to put something in place before he’s had time to think it through. I mean declaring the All-Star game a tie was bad but the overreaction to ‘make it count’ was worse. Did he ever consider that players on teams with zero chance at making the post-season would be helping to decide who got the extra World Series home game? I think not. Does anyone think that when Bud was being pressured to add a second wild card team he thought at all about the logistics issues surrounding travel not to mention that a one-game play-in was somewhat ridiculous? Yeah, me neither.
Despite his faults and some of the things he’s done that have hurt baseball, Bud Selig was given a contract extension through the 2014 season. Originally, this was to be his last. I fear for baseball and its fans over the next two years. We could see the addition of a fourth outfielder, a playoff game on Thanksgiving Day, or the announcement that all World Series games will be played at Miller Park, whether the Brewers are in it or not.
May God have mercy on the sport.