In Defense of Uncle Bud

When people think of Bud Selig, they immediately have the image of an older man with an expression of complete and utter bewilderment. They think of someone who inherently seems as trustworthy as a used car salesman, which is ironic since Selig made his money through running an automotive leasing company. In general, they think of incompetence.

Part of that thought process is due to several situations that occurred during his tenure as acting commissioner and when he officially became the commissioner of baseball. First was the strike of 1994, and the cancellation of the World Series. That work stoppage effectively ruined baseball in Montreal, and it took years before the sport was able to get back to the level of popularity it had been at previously. This has been a huge black mark for Selig; yet since that point in time, baseball has had unprecedented labor peace. In fact, while the NFL and NBA are staging lockouts, the collective bargaining agreement for baseball is also up after this year, and there has been no talks of strikes or lockouts there. They are already working on the new CBA, which they hope to have done by the end of the year.

Selig also presided over the tied All-Star Game in 2002, which he takes an undo amount of flak for. While he could have created a way to determine the winner with some contest (home run hitting derby, skills competition, whatever), the managers were the ones that ran out all of the pitchers. Not Selig. This definitely could have been handled better, but that is not entirely his fault, as a lot of people seem to think.

Then there was the steroid era. Technically, steroids were being used in baseball as far back as the mid to late 1980's, when he was not even commissioner. In fact, the steroid era taints the reigns of at least four commissioners - Peter Ueberroth, A. Bartlett Giamatti, Fay Vincent, and Selig. Selig catches the most heat for the steroid era because he was the commissioner when it all came to a head in 2005. However, steroids helped the game of baseball get back into the national consciousness with the McGwire-Sosa home run chase. Also, other sports, notably football, have a far greater issue with steroids and PEDs, but no one cares. Selig is the victim of a double standard here.

Now, lets look at some of the positives of his tenure. First, baseball has had labor peace for almost 20 years at this point. The union and the owners, while not exactly friends, are no longer as adversarial has they had been in the past. Selig has a large part in this, as the face of the owners at the negotiating table. Also, the sport has had tremendous financial growth during his tenure, outpacing the United States GDP by almost 150%. From 2007 to 2008, baseball had an increase in revenue of over $400Million, despite selling 800,000 fewer tickets. This is partially due to the revenue sharing plan Selig instituted, which is helping smaller market teams invest money into their product, and also due to MLB embracing the internet and new media.

Selig also brought about radical realignment after the 1994 strike, and added the wild card. More teams now have a better chance to make the playoffs, which keeps fans interested. Without the wild card, the Florida Marlins would not have won either of their championships. It would have been 2007 until the Red Sox won a World Series. In total, nine wild card teams made the World Series, with four of them winning it. In fact, in 2002, both teams (the Giants and Angels) were wild cards.

Interleague play was another creation of Bud Selig. While there are issues in terms of the interleague schedule, there is no doubt that fans want to see it. Ticket sales increase during these games, and it creates fun situations where the Cubs played at Fenway for the first time since the 1918 World Series. Yes, people may want to see it eliminated, but it still draws attention to the game.

Selig has also made it where the American and National Leagues are controlled by the same office, the umpires are no longer split according to league, brought about the World Baseball Classic, helped create a stricter PED testing policy (and got the union to agree to it), and created Jackie Robinson Day. Is Selig perfect? Hell no. But everything he does is due to his true love of baseball, and his desire to help improve the sport. In the end, the good far outweighs the bad.

Bud Selig has been a good commissioner, and has been good for the game of baseball. He deserves a lot more credit than he gets.

1918 World Series Fixed?

Everyone that knows baseball knows of the infamous Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919. Eight players, most notably Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte, were banned from baseball for life as a result of their throwing the World Series. However, a court disposition from 1920 shows that Cicotte and the others may have gotten the idea from an outside source - the cross town Chicago Cubs.

While he did not name any specific players and was intentionally vague, Cicotte mentions how during train rides to the east coast, players would discuss how a member or members of the Cubs got $10,000 for throwing the series. Incidentally, $10,000 is the same amount of money that was left in Cicotte's hotel room for him to throw the 1919 World Series.

Going through the statistics for the 1918 World Series, there are no significant dropoffs in production for any of the players. Despite this, research on plays during the 1918 World Series shows that there were several suspicious incidents involving outfielder Max Flack. During game 4 of the series, Flack was picked off twice. In game 6, he turned a catchable fly ball into an error, leading to two runs scoring in a 2-1 defeat, causing the Cubs to lose the World Series. There was another instance where Flack was playing Babe Ruth shallow in the outfield, and the pitcher, Lefty Tyler, waved for him to move back. Flack stayed where he was, and Ruth hit a two run triple over his head.

Major League Baseball did not investigate the 1918 World Series, as they claimed that gambling was removed from the game following the banishment of the eight players from the White Sox. However,  one former member of that team, Phil Douglas, was banned from baseball for 'treachery,' as he was reported as saying that another team in the pennant race pay him to leave and 'go fishing'. Douglas faced one batter in the 1918 World Series, and committed an error on a comebacker, throwing the ball far over the first baseman's head.

Perhaps the 'curse' on the Cubs is not the result of a goat. Perhaps it is karma striking back for the forgotten misdeeds of the Cubs players over nine decades ago.

Red Sox and Rays - Out Of Playoff Contention?

It is still very early in the baseball season, with the first week just being concluded. However, there are still two teams that have yet to taste victory. One is the Tampa Bay Rays, which may not be much of a surprise given the talent they lost this offseason. The second is the Boston Red Sox, which is shocking considering how most experts predicted them to win the World Series.

For the Red Sox or the Rays to win the World Series after this start would truly be historic. The worst start for a team to still make the playoffs is 0-5, by the 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates and the 1995 Cincinnati Reds. Both the Red Sox and Rays find themselves at 0-6 presently.

Now does this mean that both teams are already out of playoff attention? Not at all. If either of these teams lost six games in a row in the middle of the season, analysts would be paying much less attention. However, this is at the start of the year, where the accumulating losses are more obvious, especially when both teams have been swept by teams that were expected to be terrible (the Rays by Baltimore, the Sox by Cleveland).

The Rays have become just the second team to go from having the best record in the American League to 0-5, joining the 1905 Red Sox. They have been horrendous on offense, becoming the fourth team since 1919 to score one or fewer runs in five of their first six games. The Rays rank dead last in baseball in runs (7), batting average (.136), on base percentage (.218), and slugging (.260). The Sox, meanwhile, are 29th in batting average (.190) and 26th in runs (16). The biggest issue for Boston, even more than their offense, has been their pitching. They rank dead last in ERA (8.33), 29th in WHiP (1.68), had not had a quality start until today.

So, are both teams out of it already? In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "It ain't over 'til it's over." But the odds are certainly stacked against both clubs after the first week.