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Bud Selig

(1934 - )

Allan Huber "Bud" Selig, Jr. was the Commissioner of the MLB. He was previously the owner and administrator of the Milwaukee Brewers. Selig's contract as commissioner runs through 2009, at which point he plans to retire. After the Milwaukee Braves left town for Atlanta, Selig made it his duty to bring baseball back to his hometown. After organizing several successful Chicago White Sox home games in Milwaukee, it became clear that baseball belonged in the city. Selig eventually purchased the bankrupt Seattle Pilots franchise, moving them to his hometown and officially renaming the team the Brewers. The team continued to improve and by 1982 the Brewers appeared in the World Series, under the leadership of future Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. Unfortunately, the team has failed to make the post season since. Under Selig's watch, the Brewers won seven “Organization of the Year” awards.

Once he was awarded the Commissioner's role, Selig transferred his ownership interest in the Brewers to his daughter Wendy Selig-Prieb in order to remove any conflicts of interest. His first major act was to institute the Wild Card and divisional playoff play, which has created much controversy amongst baseball fans. Those against the Wild Card see it as diminishing the importance of the pennant race and the regular season, with the true race often being for second rather than first place, while those in favor of it view it as an opportunity for teams to have a shot at the playoffs even when they have no chance of a first-place finish in their division, thus maintaining fan interest later in the season. As acting commissioner, he presided over the 1994 players strike and resulting cancellation of the World Series (the first time it had not been staged since 1904). Since then, some fans have accused Selig of being little more than a puppet for the owners rather than a true leader. During his tenure the game avoided a second work stoppage in 2002, and has seen the implementation of interleague play, divisional realignment, and the addition of a third round of post-season play.

An embarrassing moment for Selig occurred during the 2002 All-Star Game in Selig's hometown of Milwaukee. The game was tied 7-7 in the bottom of the 11th inning. Unfortunately, the recent custom of allowing each player appearance time meant that the managers had used their entire rosters. To avoid risking the arms of the pitchers who were currently on the mound, Selig declared the game a tie, to the dissatisfaction of the Milwaukee fans. Since then, Selig has tried to reinvigorate the All-Star Game, most notably by awarding the winning league home-field advantage in the World Series. In 2005, Selig faced Congress on the issue of steroids. Since the Congressional hearings in early 2005, Selig has put forth a much stricter proposal for steroid testing to replace the current system. This proposal also makes Selig the first major sports commissioner to propose the banning of amphetamines, which, some say, are more of a problem in baseball than steroids themselves.


Source: Wikipedia