One more season for Selig
Commissioner’s reign will end with 22nd year
NEW YORK – Bud Selig took over a sport with $1.7 billion in revenue, four teams in each year’s postseason, economic disparity among the clubs and a fixation on sticking with traditions that dated to the 19th century.
After a decade of maintaining his departure was imminent, the 79-year-old baseball commissioner put his exit plans in writing Thursday and said in a statement he will retire in January 2015 after 22 years – the second-longest term behind Kenesaw Mountain Landis.
His revolutionary reign produced an $8 billion industry, interleague play, an expanded postseason and two decades of labor peace. But, he also presided over a canceled World Series and long-running drug scandal.
Selig said in 2003 that he would step down at the end of 2006 but has repeatedly accepted new contracts.
But this marked the first time he issued a formal statement that he will give up the sport’s top job. Selig said he will soon announce a transition plan that will include a reorganization of central baseball management. Rob Manfred, baseball’s chief labor negotiator, has gained increased influence in recent years, but it’s not clear whether Selig’s successor will come from within the commissioner’s office.
Many had speculated Selig wanted to surpass the term of Landis, who served from November 1920 to November 1944.
Perhaps the biggest mark on Selig’s tenure was the prevalence of performance-enhancing drugs. Management didn’t have a drug agreement with its players from October 1985 until August 2002, and drug testing with penalties didn’t start until 2004. Selig has repeatedly defended his record, saying baseball acted as fast as it could in a matter that was subject to bargaining with players.
Selig’s tenure also included splitting each league into three divisions instead of two in 1995, when wild cards and an additional round of playoffs were added. Wild cards doubled to four last year, when the postseason stretched to four rounds.
Expansion teams in Arizona and Tampa Bay started play in 1998, raising the major league total to 30. Interleague play began in 1997 along with revenue sharing, which allowed the smaller-market clubs a better chance to compete.
Owners have repeatedly praised his financial stewardship, which has led to record franchise values as shown by the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.