The major-league owners, after all these years of maintaining a myth, struck a blow for truth in advertising Thursday when they elected Allan “Bud” Selig the game’s ninth commissioner. He’ll be given the usual five-year contract, at about $3 million a year, and is likely to stay in office until he decides it’s time to go.
He is the first owner elevated to such stardom, which should help destroy the fiction that the commissioner, a supposed Solomon, also has command of the players. The players have their own commissioner, Don Fehr, the executive director of the players union ,who will pull down an equivalent salary when he gets his next raise.
Selig has been the ultimate insider as the majority owner of the Milwaukee franchise for 32 years. As commissioner, he has agreed to put his holdings in trust. His daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb, the club’s counsel, will be the chief operating officer.
It was not a surprise announcement. As chairman of the game’s powerful Executive Council, Selig has been the acting commissioner two months short of six years–2,132 days, longer than the combined terms of his two predecessors, the late Bart Giamatti, who died in office, and Fay Vincent.
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Vincent, who had the naive notion he had suasion over the players union, was dismissed Sept. 9, 1992. He had been told not to intercede in labor negotiations but did so anyway, an action that most of the owners determined was not in their “best interests.”
Selig is so popular with his compatriots that his election was without challenge. A month ago, the Cubs and White Sox were seeking to unseat him on the premise he had a poor public image. But after Thursday’s one-hour meeting at the O’Hare Hilton, both Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf of the Sox and President Andy MacPhail of the Cubs appeared to be sincere in proclaiming Selig a wonderful choice.
As the interim commissioner, Selig pushed through revenue sharing, a procedure in which the big-market owners agreed to a limited subsidy for the financially disadvantaged. He had to twist a lot of arms. The small-market clubs since have received welfare benefits in excess of $125 million.
Selig also fought for interleague play, which went into effect last season and has been successful; increasing the number of divisions in each league from two to three, accompanied by a wild card; and geographical realignment that thus far has had only the effect of transferring the Brewers from the American to the National League. More realignment is sure to follow.
The Yankees’ George Steinbrenner, usually difficult to please, described Selig as the “best man for the job” and hailed him as “an honest man . . . who in the last six years never showed any favoritism for the Milwaukee club. I can tell you this, he won’t suffer from commissioner-itis. Some of the guys we’ve had had big egos. And something else: Bud is a great baseball fan.”
He has been accessible to owners. Carl Pohlad of Minnesota, who is among the most influential owners, said he hopes Selig remains in office for the next 10 years. “He has the personality for it–that certain extra something,” Pohlad said.
He said Selig calls him every Sunday night. “I remember when I used to try to get hold of (former Commissioner Peter Ueberroth). It would take three days.”
Clearly, the overriding fact in Selig’s elevation is that he understands every facet of the game, particularly the financial problems of the owners. He already has opened a dialogue with Fehr.
He’s also respected by almost all of the players who have played for his team, including Paul Molitor and Robin Yount. “I can speak of him only in the highest regard,” Molitor said. “He’s very fair.”
The owners have made a wise choice. Had they hired a big-name politician or university president, two or three years of on-the-job training would’ve been necessary. This way they have a ready-made commissioner who, in my opinion, is as good a man as can be found in a long day’s march.
Hail, Caesar!