Bud Selig Isn’t Really Going to the Hall of Fame Right?
So every year, it’s an annual rite of passage that the members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America get to vote on who gets into the Hall of Fame, and then the fans and other media members get to scrutinize them for their choices. This annual exercise is annoying in many ways because it constantly brings up the same arguments, but is also amazing in one simple way: it lets us relive our childhood and think of all the great players that made us fall in love with baseball in the first place.
However, ever since the Mitchell Report on steroid use was released, the HOF induction ceremonies have become much less of a celebration of the stars of yesterday, and much more of an annoying referendum on the troubles from baseball’s past. The conversation never moves forward- a true hamster wheel in every sense of the word (besides the actual hamster- whatup Richard Gere). Because of the way steroid use was ignored in the Steroid Era by writers, fans, and owners alike, BBWA voters are now placing retroactive morality on the time period.
Many players who are believed to have taken PEDs are strictly not given a chance because they used steroids (Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro), others have their election delayed for years just for the mere suspicion of usage with zero proof (Piazza, Bagwell), and other players people have no clue what to do with because their greatness is undeniable, but they clearly did cheat, so they split the electorate (here’s looking at you Mr. Bonds and Mr. Clemens).
All of this is old news, but I bring it up for a simple reason. Bud Selig is getting inducted this Sunday, by virtue of election by the Veteran’s Committee, and the fact that he oversaw the game while all this cheating went on, and did nothing about it until years after the fact, is a complete joke. If the owner of a company allows his employees to steal from customers, they shouldn’t go to jail while he gets lauded for what a great job he did. The entire annoying conversation, the entire problem with baseball in the ’90s, and the mere existence of PEDs in the game not being outlawed until it’s too late, those are all Bud Selig’s fault, and no one else’s. He’s the leader and the buck starts, and stops, with him.
The thought that Bud Selig can get into the HOF while Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, and many others sit in the outside is downright laughable, if not a complete travesty of justice.
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As commissioner of MLB, Selig is mandated with a duty to act in the best interests of baseball. In Collective Bargaining Agreements made under his watch, this has even been explicitly included in the language. Now let me show you the multitude of ways that Selig has completely ignored this preeminent duty of his position:
STRIKE 1

In 1994, the baseball players’ union went on strike, and as a result, there was NO WORLD SERIES. Of course, with regards to posturing and taking sides, the players occupy one side of the table while Selig and the owners occupy the other, but the fact remains that Selig was the man in charge while the strike happened, and the buck starts with him. He was so intent on trying to institute a hard salary cap that he didn’t care how much it affected fans and made them resent the game- all he cared about was padding the pockets of the owners, completely ignoring the fact that the fans are the paying customers and that their feelings should count in this too.
STRIKE 2

He is the guy that ran the show, and the fact that he allowed the entire Steroid Era to happen under his watch is a huge blemish to which there can’t be enough blame placed upon him. For those who say that the steroid era was allowed to proliferate only because MLB had to engender some goodwill with the fans after the MLB strike, I say that the MLB strike also happened under Selig’s watch. So basically, the single worst sports event to happen during my childhood- the 1994 strike- happened because of Bud Selig, and then the single defining moment that made me realize that all of my child was a complete hoax- the realization that all of my favorite players were phonies- also happened because of Bud Selig.
There were rumblings as early as 1988 that Canseco was on steroids. By the time Selig was acting commissioner in the early ’90s, tt was pretty widely known in baseball circles that steroid use was rampant, yet Selig did nothing. In 1998, when Mark McGwire had a bottle of Andro in his locker and a reporter asked him about it, Selig thought nothing of the idea of looking into possible usage of other products. By the time Barry Bonds broke the single season HR record 3 years later, it was a joke amongst all baseball fans. This leaves us with one of two conclusions. 1- Selig lacked the foresight to realize what a problem steroid use was becoming and would become, or 2- he had the foresight but lacked the power to convince owners and players that the best interests of the game predicated on the record books being clean and the fans trusting in the integrity of the sport. Even if the final result is a combination of the 2, it is a damning referendum on Selig’s incompetence, lack of institutional control, and lack of vision for how to steward the game into its next era of prosperity.
Seventh Inning Stretch (sidebar comment)
For those who say that he helped usher in a new era of economic prosperity, which includes overseeing the construction of 22 new stadiums built in his time, I ask people to wake up and smell the roses. Bud Selig was a happy partner to the extortionist practices that are now common place by teams of MLB and all pro sports- taking hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds to build a new stadium and threatening to move if these demands aren’t met. What in the world is actually commendable about this?
STRIKE 3
Bud Selig also instituted the one thing about baseball that we can all agree is universally hated and thankfully was finally undone under Rob Manfred’s watch- making the All-Star Game count for home field advantage in the world series. Some may say that this was only done as a reaction to the 7–7 tie in the 2002 ASG, but to that I say the same refrain- Bud Selig was the man running the ship when the tie game happened, so he has no one to blame but himself for not being proactive in the first place. It was a terrible marketing ploy that fans openly mocked, and didn’t make us want to watch the game any more than we had previously. On top of that, it ensured that the sport’s preeminent event, the World Series, hinged upon not anything to do with the two partcipants’ on-field success, but on how a random group of players performed on one night in July. Just base the home field advantage on whichever team has the best record, it really isn’t rocket science and it keeps the integrity of the game intact with no questions asked. Shockingly, this is exactly what happened in Rob Manfred’s first year as commission under a new CBA- the ASG no longer counted and the best record was rewarded home field advantage.

There is a recurring theme with Bud Selig- he has incompetent leadership, a problem arises because of it, and then after the fact he creates a solution but not until a PR nightmare has emerged.
In what world are we living in where this is considered competent leadership, let alone leadership that should be lauded? In all fairness, when judging Selig we must also allow for the truth that Selig initiated the wild card system that is a universal success. On top of that, he was commissioner while the sport grew economically with digital revenues that far outweigh those of the other sports. But with regards to revenue growth, literally every single sports league grew by the billions during this time so it’s hard to say that Selig did anything exceptional to usher in this growth. So really, the only true A+ grade we can give him is for instituting the wild card, followed by a cavalcade of Fs.
It sickens me that we can live in a world where a leader can run a league that doesn’t have steroid testing, can feign ignorance when he gets called out for it, institute a hard-line plan after the fact, and then get applauded for it afterwards. For anyone who even has to think for a second whether Bonds or Clemens should be inducted, Bud Selig’s leadership over the sport was the premiere reason why they were even allowed to turn to steroids in the first place and is proof that he was horrible for baseball. For him to get in while the very players whose best interests he did nothing but ignore have to wait on the outside is a travesty of justice.
The steroid era alone should leave Bud on the outside looking in. Throw in the cancellation of the 1994 world series and it’s even clearer that he has no place in the hall. Add in the concept of making the All Star Game count, and it becomes pretty clear that when it comes to Bud Selig and the Hall of Fame, it’s 3 strikes and you’re out.
