Should Bud Selig be a Hall of Famer?

[Chris Counts]

With all this talk about who shouldn't be in Cooperstown because he did steroids or produced numbers that suggested he did steroids, I wonder what Bud Selig's ultimate legacy will be. The one man who could have put a stop to the steroid scandal years ago — and ignored it — is on track to be a Hall of Famer. I say there's no way he should be inducted because the scandal happened on his watch, and half of America knew it existed before he publicly admitted there was a problem. It's only a matter of time before he's on the ballot, and considering the ineptitude of the voters and the cronyism that clearly exists among those who run baseball, he'll probably get in. What do you think? Should Bud have a plaque in Cooperstown?

And his legacy? He made millions for himself and other owners, but the game's credibility took a huge hit, in large part because he ignored a very serious problem for years. With the money he makes ($20 million a year plus), you would think he gets paid to tackle tough issues. While I disagree with much of what Kenesaw Landis did — from banning players for life over salary disputes to being an outright racist — he restored credibility to the game when it needed it by taking action and banning crooked players. The guy had balls.

Imagine if Bud had banned a couple players 20 years ago, before Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and others made a mockery over baseball statistics. We likely wouldn't be having this debate. And nobody would question Bud's Cooperstown credentials ...

[chaddurbin]

you judge a commissioner but the growth of the sport under his reign, both in popularity and revenue. selig has done a good job in both. mlb was really the first major sport to capitalize on the burgeoning online media biz way back and has made alot of money for every teams through revenue sharing. not counting the regional networks, mlb is about to negotiate a huge national tv deal that would make every team's value go up. all of that trickles down to the escalating players' salaries. what other sports do you see multiple 200+ mil guaranteed contracts?

when you look at the struggles in the nba/nfl/nhl with stern, goodell, and especially bettman...then you start to appreciate the stability of mlb and bud selig. maybe he's not hof-worthy because i don't put commisioners in, but the flack he's gotten is ridiculous.

[bigtrain]

His legacy is his initial "glacial response to the growing stain on baseball". Car Leasing Hall of Fame, maybe. Cooperstown, no.

[Jason]

If the Players from the era can't get in then Bud Selig should suffer the same fate.

[Jantz]

Depends on which Hall of Fame you are referring to?

Baseball Hall of Fame -- _ _ _ _ No! (You can fill in the blanks with whatever letters you want)

Incompetency Hall of Fame -- The vote would be unanimous.



Jantz

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by Jantz

Baseball Hall of Fame -- _ _ _ _ No! (You can fill in the blanks with whatever letters you want)

is "DRAY" ok? How bout "FERG"? "Guy-"?

Anyways. I agree, given all that has gone on under his watch, I'd say NO! BUT He will get inducted. Somehow he will manage to avoid the steroid links, and people will probably focus more on the good things he has done for the game.. Those I can't deny. My personal feeling is that he's a clueless douche. The steroid thing is a nightmare, OR it was necessary in bringing the game back to prominence, however you wanna view it. Either way the game could've been saved without them. I LOVE the wild-card, but absolutely DESPISE this new 2nd wild-card crap. I like the thought of replay, but I have a bad feeling that it will soon get WAY out of hand..

Selig is like the "Larry the Cable Guy" of commissioners. Most of what he's done, has had great merit at it's core, but he tends to go way over the top, over do things, and then runs it into the ground.. He's "Git 'r Done'd" everything to death. He just can't accept that once something works, you should just leave it be..

[nolemmings]

Selig in the baseball HOF would be the ultimate buffoonery

[glynparson]