Reply #5: Objection

[Jack Rabbit]

Bud Selig ended the era of the independent commissioner that began when Judge Landis was made the first Commissioner of Baseball in the wake of the Black Sox scandal of 1919. This was in a failed attempt to break the players' union, a movement led by Selig, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and others.

The Selig-Reinsdorf coup over baseball took place in 1992 when Commissioner Fay Vincent was ousted and Selig named by the owners as acting commissioner. The owners left Selig in power in this "acting" capacity until 1998, never seriously entertaining any to return the office of the commissioner to an independent person who would make decisions for the overall good of baseball, not the overall good of the owners. What Selig, Reinsdorf and the others had against Vincent is that Vincent enforced rules against collusion on them when they attempted the rig the free agent market to force players to accept lower salaries.

Never mind the DH, artificial turf or even the Black Sox scandal itself, the coup of the owners against the commissioner's office was the worst thing that ever happened to baseball. Selig canceled the 1994 World Series rather than settle the players' strike, which by that time had become an owners' lockout. Fortunately, a court ruling brought the owners' anti-labor scheme to an end. He lifted the life time ban of Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, who was suspended by Vincent for associating with gamblers and, ironically, is largely responsible for the out-of-control salary structure that Selig and Reinsdorf found so disturbing. Meanwhile, Pete Rose, suspended for gambling by Vincent's predecessor, Bart Giamatti, complained of getting no such consideration from Selig. Worst of all, Selig presided over the era of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, doing nothing to stop it since juiced up players hitting home runs was so good for the owners' bottom lines.

If any one wonders what America will look like once corporate bosses start treating politicians like their personal employees to an even greater extent than they do now, one can look at the sordid history of baseball in the Selig era. If Selig deserves a statue to honor his contribution to baseball, then the image of George W. Bush should adorn Mount Rushmore.