January 17, 2008
Baseball Finds Leader To Save From Steroids
By
Zeldink
Posted at 6:11 pm
What, you were expecting someone other than Bud Selig?
Despite saying repeatedly that he would retire after 2009, Selig accepted the offer of a 3-year contract extension.
The man who courageously lead baseball into its steroid mess will also be the one to blindly lead it out. This time he’s got just four years to do it, unless he accepts another extension in 2012, which he’s assured everyone he won’t. Just like in 2006.
I listened to some guy on XM radio this morning ramble on and on about how great Selig is… attendance… wild card… owners… money, money, money…
He’s been horrible for “real” baseball fans. The traditions and integrity of the game have been horribly overlooked under his reign. Sure numbers and attendance have gone up… casual fans like Bud’s game, because has increasingly become more and more like other sports.
Zeldink – spot on. The caption for the photo you included with your post: “Okay, Mr. LaRussa, so that this game can get started, here is your sobriety test: How many fingers do I have up?”
You will of course note that Selig has his eyes closed and is grimacing. That’s because he’s praying furiously, and trying to send a telepathic message to LaRussa, since there are no guarantees Tony is going to come up with the correct answer.
And that’s the twofold problem here. The fact there’s just in general a substance abuse problem in baseball, and the fact that baseball as an institution hasn’t the foggiest notion what to do about it.
In a perfect world (which this isn’t), MLB would get a big surprise from the fans this year when people reacted to the Mitchell Report by showing up in record numbers at ballparks across the country, cleverly disguised as empty seats. I’m not holding my breath, and in fact it would surprise me if attendance took a dive as a result of the whole PED issue – but it ought to. If it doesn’t, MLB should consider itself fortunate that so many of its fans are too preoccupied with other things to give a flying (expletive deleted).
JK
I think in a perfect world, Congress would revoke baseball’s antitrust exemption, allowing for some competing leagues. I doubt anything would overtake MLB, but competition never hurt anyone.
Except the Pirates.
I would like to see some new blood as the commissioner. I’m tired of Selig’s used car salesman schtick. While I like the realignment and wild card changes he introduced, those were done quite a while ago. I don’t think Selig’s been good for the long-term success of baseball for a while.