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Recently the Owners unanimously voted to extend Bud Selig’s contract for three more years. I’ve seen a lot of articles lately praising this move, saying it gives Selig time to finish his job of cleaning up baseball, to work on his legacy, to continue the peace he’s kept between labor and owners.
Its all a bunch of hooey.
Selig does not deserve three more years. His legacy should be the Steroid Era and the Mitchell Report, and if the owners really want to bring about the change in regards to players and PEDs they should have started with the man who let it happen, Selig.
Is Selig solely to blame? Of course not. The players are the ones who did the drugs. The trainers supplied them. Fellow players, coaches and owners looked the other way. We the fan even continued to come out in record numbers and spend more and more on the produce despite overwhelming signs that our beloved stars were juicing. But the buck has to stop somewhere, and that somewhere is the man with the ultimate authority, Selig. He could implement tougher testing, tougher rules. He could use the power of the lifetime ban, banishing the worst offenders to the same baseball limbo occupied by other big time cheaters and rouges like Pete Rose and the Black Sox. But instead, he’s for the most part sat idly by.
He received praise for not clapping and supporting Barry Bonds, and while he didn’t enthusiastically support Bonds he didn’t exactly go out of his way to find the truth behind the cloud of doubt that surrounded one of baseballs most suspected steroid users.
Selig is the commissioner who brought us the Strike, the tied All Star Game and tell all Jose Canseco books. When baseball was getting mired in the cloud of doubt brought about by fixed games and gambling, they moved to bring in Landis, the first commissioner to show the ownership meant business when it came to restoring the reputation of the sport. This month they had the chance to do so again, to bring in a new commissioner who could be tough on Steroids and perhaps once again clean up baseballs tarnished image.
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One Response for "This Buds For You?"
Yes Selig was the head of baseball when the steroids happen but I see it a bit different in regards to his legacy. Actually I see it very differently. IMO 20 or 30 years down the road the steroid battle will probably be ongoing. Selig may be the one who sets the precedent of how it is battled. To me Selig’s legacy should also include the fact that he changed baseball for good implementing the Wild Card/Divisional Playoffs.
He has brought baseball back from a horrific time post-strike and has made it wildly successful and popular again. Yes the steroids played a part but to me a bigger part is the wild card. It keeps stadiums filled through the end of the season because so many teams are still in it through September as opposed to being out of the hunt in the beginning of August.
As you say yourself everyone else turned their heads. How do we know he even knew for sure. As commish he couldn’t just come out and say hey steroids are going on without some sort of proof. Read the Mitchell Report, team officials talk about it as part of deciding whether to sign a player or let him go, why not blame them for not saying hey we know this guy is doing roids? What about the players who turned their heads. You target Selig simply because he is the head but why should he be the only one to lose his job? What about the owners, front office execs, if they are all equal to blame why do they get no discipline?
Now you want him to ban the “worst offenders” who have been caught like Pete Rose and the Black Sox? So what would your criteria be? Guys who have effected their performance the most by using or guys who do the most steroids? Guys like Clemens are no doubt bad but to me guys like Nook Logan and Paul Lo Duca are just as bad why should they be treated differently… Bottom line they all cheated. Banning them would be tough to back up because there isn’t a whole lot of physical evidence and making claims like this guy hit 10 HR’s last year and has now hit 45 HR’s doesn’t fly.
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