Bud Selig
MILWAUKEE—Before Bud Selig became owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and later Commissioner of Baseball, he was involved in the game at its most intrinsic and important level.
He was a fan.
In fact, you can successfully argue—and Selig certainly wouldn’t dispute it—that he never would have thought about being a team owner or the game’s leader without first growing to love it as a young child. And he had his mother, Marie, to thank for that.
About to turn 15 in the summer of 1949, Bud spent six glorious weeks with his mother in New York City, the epicenter of major league baseball. They went to Yankee Stadium to watch the graceful yet powerful Joe DiMaggio and squatty, gritty catcher Yogi Berra. Then it was on to Ebbets Field, where Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella were changing the face of the game. They also made it to the Polo Grounds, where two years later Bobby Thomson would hit “the shot heard round the world.”
These were heady times for a teenager experiencing both life in the big city and one of the greatest baseball pilgrimages one could imagine. On days when the heat and humidity kept Marie inside, Bud would ride the subway alone to watch an afternoon game.
“You could do things like that in those days,” he recalled. “Some days, she would go to a museum. I would go to one of the ballparks. That was a trip I’ll never forget.”
That same summer, Marie took Bud to Boston, where the Red Sox were playing a big series against the Yankees. They walked up to the ticket window at Fenway Park, only to be told the game was sold out.
“You can’t do that! I have my son here from Milwaukee,” Marie informed the club employee. “That guy couldn’t care less,” Selig recalled. “So, we walked around the ballpark. She was so disappointed and so was I . . .
“Thirty years later, the Brewers were playing a big series against the Red Sox at Fenway. Remember, ‘Bambi’ (manager George Bamberger) was there and we won 95 games that year; we were really good. I said to my mother, ‘Why don’t you come to Boston to watch the games?’ As we got to Fenway Park, she looked at me and said, ‘A little different from 30 years ago, huh?’ ”
When Selig’s beloved Milwaukee Braves bolted to Atlanta after the 1965 season, it was his determination and perseverance that brought major league baseball back in town.
It was Selig’s leadership role in the game as owner of the Brewers that eventually would lead to him being elected interim commissioner in 1992, then full-time boss six years later. But to this day he will tell you that bringing big-league baseball back to Milwaukee was his greatest achievement.
“Of all the marvelous things that have happened to me, including becoming commissioner of baseball, that will always be my proudest accomplishment because the odds were stacked tremendously against us,” he said.
Not that the odds were on ownership’s side when Selig took over as commissioner. The game was being damaged badly by ongoing labor strife with the players union and Selig knew another labor war was inevitable.
Battle lines had been drawn and with players on strike late in the ’94 season, Selig eventually had no choice but to step to a microphone and announce the cancellation of the World Series. Much ire was directed at Selig for being ownership’s point man, but he knew the game’s economic structure needed to change to allow small-market teams such as his Brewers to survive.
Selig’s skills at consensus building finally united management after years of infighting and self-destructive behavior at the bargaining table. He suggested he had no intention of staying long on the job, but he was such as natural, owners wouldn’t let him leave.
Baseball went from no revenue sharing to currently sharing some $400 million annually. Had that system been in place when Selig ran the Brewers, the late ’90s and early years of the new millennium likely would not have been such a struggle for the club.
“That has been pointed out to me more than once,” said Selig. “Those were painful years. Some things take time. The important thing is we changed the game’s economics to give teams what I like to call hope and faith.”
There were be many more changes to come. Dragging the game kicking and screaming into the 20th and 21st centuries, Selig led the charge to implement the three-division format, wild-card playoff berths, interleague play on a yearly basis, increased revenue sharing, realignment of the leagues, consolidation of the league administrative offices and, eventually, video replay of contested calls by umpires.
Ongoing labor peace allowed baseball to prosper as never before, but there would be one major blemish that took time to address. With the union refusing drug testing in labor deals, use of performance-enhancing drugs became rampant in the majors, resulting in the so-called “Steroid Era.”
With Congress giving the sides a not-so-gentle nudge, a comprehensive drug-testing program eventually was put in place. Against the wishes of confidants, Selig commissioned the Mitchell report to investigate the extent of PED use in the game. He later pushed the extensive investigation into the scandalous Biogenesis clinic, leading to the suspension of 13 players including Alex Rodriguez.
Critics suggested Selig and baseball were too slow to react to PED use but no one could question the eventual result.
“We have the most comprehensive drug-testing policy in all of professional sports,” said Selig. “Everyone agrees on that. In the end, we did the right thing.”
As a result of his success leading the game, Selig was given one contract extension after another. The game’s revenues had soared from $1.2 billion when Selig took over as interim commissioner to $9 billion in 2014, but he finally told owners he was ready to turn the job over after 22 years on the job.
Selig was replaced by longtime assistant Rob Manfred, who inherited a healthy sport with ever-expanding revenue streams, thanks in large part to one of the biggest advancements—the creation of Major League Baseball Advanced Media. That wing of MLB centralized the game’s Internet rights and created the MLB Network.
There is little question that many underestimated Selig at the start of his commissionership. He was well aware of the characterization that “a used car salesman” was leading the game, a reference to the family business started by his father, Ben, in Milwaukee.
“I’ve never actually sold a used car,” Selig said. “I’m sure that would disappoint a lot of people.”
Selig fully understands the value of perseverance. It has been the foundation of his life in baseball. Otherwise, there would have been no Brewers, no commissionership. You stay the course, no matter how painful some of the steps might be.
“Baseball will be here long after we’re gone,” he said. “We are the custodians of this generation in the game. There will be others after us. I always told the owners you have to do what’s in the best interest of the game, not yourself. I always tried to follow that advice.”
