@@@THIS BUD’S FOR WHO? [MAY 2011]

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NOT MANY LIKE BUD SELIG PERIOD LET ALONE AS A COMMISSIONER BUT IS THAT FAIR AND/OR DOES THAT MATTER?

 

I want to than Cory and an even wiser man, Cory’s dad for suggesting this article

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Bud Selig bought the Seattle Pilots in 1970 and moved them to Milwaukee and renamed them the Milwaukee Brewers. In 1982 the Brewers even made it to the World Series.  The Brewers even won 7 organization of the year awards under his management. Whether you like him or not the man does have a passion for baseball.

 

The problem is is that his #1 passion. Of course we hope his family comes #1 but you know what I am getting at here. Why do  we ask this?

 

That’s because in 1992 he took over as the 9th Commissioner of MLB.  Ironically it was not his official capacity until 1998. When you think of Bud Selig as a commissioner however what is your over all feeling? Good commissioner? Bad? Neither? He sucks? Son of a ……………?

 

First of all let’s be honest we need to break this down into a reality and not our fantasy perfect world scenario.

 

1. In a perfect world a great commissioner should be one that makes baseball great for the fans and successful for the league, the owners, and the players

2. In reality a great commissioner is one who makes the people he works for RICHER!

In the perfect fantasy world he would be lucky to get a D on his report card. Because the fans remember …..

 

• The strike that cost us a World Series in 1994. Although it did mean the Phillies were the reigning NL Champions for an extra year!

• The steroid era he ignored and then pretended to care about later

• The bumbling All – Star game tie in 2002

• His name was consistently linked to previous collusion law suits by the Players union

• His general country bumpkin idiot personality

• Not trusted by players or fans as a general consensus

• And the perceived lack of aggressive action to make baseball better

• Many of us hate that the NFL is still #1

On the other hand there are things he should reluctantly get credit for whether we personally like it or not.

• Inter-league play

• Wild Card Round of playoffs

• A reported 400% increase in MLB revenues

• Merging the AL and NL offices under the Commissioners oversight

• MLB’s version of revenue sharing

Now if you were doing the proverbial math based on the 2 above lists than you got your answer to the questions what kind of commissioner is he and who is he working for. THIS BUD’S FOR WHO?  You got it!!!!! He works for the owners!

Surprised? Of course not that is who pays him! The fact is the commissioner of every sport is always going to seek approval of the owners first and everybody else 5th! What makes Buddy boy worse is he has the blood of an English-mun! He was ……. and deep down still is an owner!

 

Frankly then what kind of commissioner is he? By definition he’s very good! Because ultimately the judgment is in the wallet of the beholder! You know what I’m saying? No you don’t have to like him nor do the players. It would be nice but it really doesn’t matter as long as cash is flowing down the Swanee River and into the coffers of the owners or as we know them “Bud’s Brethren”.

 

The irony is this bunch is not the brightest. Because while I will give him props for some of the growth in context of the reality they are giddy over the wrong things. Yes the biggest boon in wealth has been through increased gate sales and that should not be good enough for the rich boy club. WHY?

 

Because while tickets sales add up to some serious scratch it pales in comparison to the big ticket items like TV contracts! Yes this is what makes the NFL king they know how to cash in on the biggest revenue streams like TV, RADIO, INTERNET, SATELLITE, ADVERTISING, MERCHANDISE, and the related items. Baseball and Selig has not maximized those things to the NFL degree. And they could do much better.

 

Yes gate sales is enormous but it pales in comparison to the other things. Take the Eagles for example. According to the 2010 Forbes report the Eagles are the 7th most valuable team in the NFL. They generate a revenue of $260,000,000 a year at present. But note this only $53,000,000 comes from the gate! Which is quite a lot of dough but look at the percentage! They are reeling in a ton more tunas from other revenue streams.

 

Granted the NFL has a much shorter season but that works for the MLB in both ways. They can bring in more cash from the gate due to the increased number of games but that is also that many more games to broadcast and that many more opportunities to sell merchandise and ads! I think Bud has failed here.

 

Not enough smaller teams get the exposure hurting their local revenue. Now he did get some of the big fish to share some morsels with the little fish but that is not maximizing. That is patronizing for the most part. The MLB should also have at least a minimum salary cap. In other words maybe there is no need to put a ceiling on what a team spends, although the luxury tax revenue share does sort of lean that way, but all teams should have to spend a minimum amount. At least on their teams future. If you can prove you are spending dough on the farm maybe you can count that. I mean the problem with a salary only minimum cap is may only increase the salary of the Wilson Valdez’s of the world. That really isn’t going to make the Pirates better. I mean paying Zack Duke $5,000,000 more or giving Ryan Doumit a raise is not the root of their problem. Although they do have some young Bucs that are making a pittance.

 

However the Marlins prove that player development and scouting is a viable endeavor. They do not have an excessive major league roster of high ticket talent but they do spend money toward their players at lower levels. They have a great farm system and that should count for something.

 

Regardless even in the owners eyes Bud needs to put the hot derg and sodey can down and start plugging away at the real money! Hey give him credit for the increased fan interest but come Bud! It’s time to get wiser! ……………………………… NO I DIDN’T GO THERE!

 

So in the final analysis this Bud’s for them not for me and you and even they should not be as happy as they are. Of course it’s harder to see your dissatisfaction over the pile of cash he is making you!

 

 

talk at me anytime at andynatalie@yahoo.com