Bud Selig Is Staying... Forever

Doug Pappas, one of the first and best minds ever applied to the business of baseball, kept a countdown clock at his website, marking the seconds until Bud Selig's term as Commissioner of Major League Baseball ended. To say Pappas did not like Selig's work as the titular head of baseball would be the type of understatement you would rarely catch the outspoken Pappas committing.

Pappas railed constantly against the creative bookkeeping MLB teams committed that allowed them to approach local and state governments with hat in hand, asking for new stadiums and tax breaks, and yet never break into laughter.

Of course, Selig's sins have been numerous: the All-Star tie, the performance enhancing debacle, the Wild Card (a venial sin but a sin nonetheless), the violation of Montreal, threats of contraction, and so on. Worst of all, he canceled the 1994 World Series to punish the players for their labor insolence.

Again: Allan H. "Bud" Selig canceled the 1994 World Series. Never forget.

On the other hand, baseball owners have never been so rich, having extracted nearly every possible dollar out of taxpayers while creating a wildly successful new media venture (MLB Advanced Media) that other leagues are having problems imitating.

The Society for American Baseball Research graciously took over the care and maintenance of Doug Pappas' website when he passed away at age 42 in 2004, keeping the knowledge and the foundations he laid available to the world. They even reset his Selig countdown clock in December 2006 when Selig signed a contract extension through 2009, declaring he would retire at the end of the deal.

SABR should probably consider replacing Pappas' clock with another kind of website upon hearing the news this week that he isn't going anywhere, thank you very much. He signed a new vote of confidence in his moneymaking abilities through 2012, when he will be 78 years young.

No one would be remiss in believing Selig is Commissioner for Life at this point, having promised in the past that each subsequent contract would be his last. The owners have found their milquetoast used car salesman, able to protect their interests at every turn. Of course, many of those turns are blind and ill advised, but ticket sales and television revenue continues to rise, so let the next group of owners deal with it.

Article Author: Tuffy

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