What Bud Selig Really Left the Game

Bud Selig is no longer the Commissioner of Major League Baseball but will stick around in an advisor and consultant’s role for Rob Manfred and company after retiring at age 80. Whether you love Bud or hate Bud, I find myself somewhat in the middle and leaning towards the latter, the mark he left on the game today is undeniable. For the sake of argument, and to more honor the man than spit on his name, we are going to ignore the 1994 strike, cancellation of the World Series and the years leading up to the “cleanup” of the game.

Selig has brought the game two decades of labor peace with no real end in sight thanks to new collective bargaining agreements and a great working relationship with the MLB Players Union. Selig has expanded the game to a three division format from two divisions, a wild card team, then a second wild card team, 22 new stadiums and ballparks, attendance records each and every year, MLB.com, MLB Network, MLBTV, instant replay, the harshest and hardest steroid and drug testing program in the game, the World Baseball Classic, explosions of money due to lucrative television deals and billions and billions of dollars in revenue for everyone with the additions of the luxury tax, profit sharing etc.

Say what you will about Bud but you cannot deny the simple fact that the game is a better place today than it was in 1992 when Selig was merely just an owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. For that, one last time, I thank Mr. Selig for everything he did and brought to this great game of Major League Baseball.