Richard Justice Baseball's best-ever commish: Bud Selig

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=381768

 

I'm speechless, really..I'm quite positive Richard has some mental handicapp.

Edited March 14, 2008 by GoCubsGo!!

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

this probably should be in Baseball discussions, and eventually to rants...my bad.

[NCCubFan]

this probably should be in Baseball discussions.

Now it is.

[Tracer Bullet]

Richard Justice has said (written) some very stupid things in his time.

[rocket]

i don't know enough to say best commish ever. but he's not that bad. he's not perfect, but he's done some good things.

[BudHouse]

Selig makes Bowie Kuhn look like a Mensa founder. He is the worst.

[jersey cubs fan]

i don't know enough to say best commish ever. but he's not that bad. he's not perfect, but he's done some good things.

 

It's pretty amazing how everybody just assumes he's been horrible, especially in comparison with other commissioners.

[Tracer Bullet]

i don't know enough to say best commish ever. but he's not that bad. he's not perfect, but he's done some good things.

 

It's pretty amazing how everybody just assumes he's been horrible, especially in comparison with other commissioners.

 

There's quite a gulf between assuming someone is horrible and saying they're the best ever.

[jersey cubs fan]

i don't know enough to say best commish ever. but he's not that bad. he's not perfect, but he's done some good things.

 

It's pretty amazing how everybody just assumes he's been horrible, especially in comparison with other commissioners.

 

There's quite a gulf between assuming someone is horrible and saying they're the best ever.

 

Yes, but my point is it's amazing how blindly people follow the assumption that Selig has been horrible. Most everybody says he's horrible and then they offer no good reason why.

 

And quite frankly, given the history of the position, I'm not sure there's anybody who has clearly been better.

[MSG T]

i don't know enough to say best commish ever. but he's not that bad. he's not perfect, but he's done some good things.

 

It's pretty amazing how everybody just assumes he's been horrible, especially in comparison with other commissioners.

 

There's quite a gulf between assuming someone is horrible and saying they're the best ever.

 

Yes, but my point is it's amazing how blindly people follow the assumption that Selig has been horrible. Most everybody says he's horrible and then they offer no good reason why.

 

And quite frankly, given the history of the position, I'm not sure there's anybody who has clearly been better.

 

But just because he very well could be one of the best ever, doesn't necessarily mean he's not horrible, it just means most of them had a suckitude rating that boggles the mind.

[jersey cubs fan]

But just because he very well could be one of the best ever, doesn't necessarily mean he's not horrible, it just means most of them had a suckitude rating that boggles the mind.

 

I just don't see how this is possible. I guess it's like presidents, in that everyone of them is going to have harsh loud critics. But how can anybody judge commissioners and objectively call Selig horrible? How can they all be horrible? If they were CEOs, they'd be looked at as very good. MLB has grown exponentially. It's a huge profitable financially sound business. It's not like he's Gary Bettman presiding over a league that has crumbled. It just doesn't make any sense to me to say all the commishes have huge suckitude ratings. If they all truly sucked at what they did, baseball would have failed by now.

[TruffleShuffle]

well there haven't been that many commissioners, so let's take a look back:

 

kenesaw mountain landis - did a lot to help the game grow, including getting rid of all the gambling scandals and the brawls that were commonplace in the teens. but doesn't he have to lose a lot of points for being the primary force that kept blacks out of the game for 25 years?

 

happy chandler - only served 6 years; was a progressive commissioner who favored players' rights and integration, so of course the old racist owners got rid of him ASAP

 

ford frick - he was pretty good. before his time as commissioner, he was one of the main forces behind the creation of a hall of fame in the 1930s. he was also adamantly pro-integration, though the pioneers broke into the game before he was commissioner. he also helped baseball grow as teams moved to the west coast, there were good decisions made as far as expansion, and baseball became a fixture on television.

 

william eckert - the unknown soldier. hadn't seen a game in person for 10 years preceding his appointment. only served three years, and was forced out because the owners figured he'd have no ability to handle the impending labor trouble. suffice it to say, this was not one of the more inspired choices for commissioner.

 

bowie kuhn - fairly similar to selig, i would guess. the game grew significantly during his tenure, both in terms of attendance and tv revenue, and players were a lot better off when he left than when he started. but he was kind of a prick, tried to get jim bouton to retract ball four, suspended some players for dubious "transgressions." all in all, he was good for the future of the game, though rather awkward and ham-handed in his rulings.

 

peter ueberroth - was a good businessman and the profitability of the game improved greatly during his five years. on the down side, he was notorious for allowing collusion among owners when it came to free agency.

 

a. bartlett giamatti - only served six months before passing away.

 

fay vincent - no.

 

 

draw your own conclusions. selig hasn't been the worst, i'm pretty positive of that, and he's among the better half of commissioners at the very least. the game has certainly grown with him as commissioner, and i don't think anyone could say that selig does not love the game of baseball. there are some big negatives - the 1994 playoffs being wiped out, and the blind eye to steroids being the most egregious. but it's not like richard justice is the only person who things that selig has been the best commissioner; the official historian of MLB feels the same way.