Prepare yourself for a Mariano Rivera-esque farewell tour for Selig

[soxhop411]

 
"It's 100 percent," said Selig, who will turn 80 in July. "This is definitely it. I'm more comfortable today than I was when I [announced] it in October, if that's possible. Jan. 24, 2015, is it. And I'm very comfortable with that. I'm done."
In fact, Selig said, he would like to spend his last year as commissioner on aMariano Rivera-type tour of all 30 major league parks, speaking not with baseball dignitaries but with fans and people who work in his sport behind the scenes.
"I want to talk to season-ticket holders and fans," he said. "I've got a lot of people to thank."
That idea came about, he said, in part because several clubs reached out to him after his announcement and asked to honor him, but also because Rivera's farewell tour got Selig to thinking about ways to connect with people who love baseball.
"I like that," Selig said. "I like talking to people. And ... that's what I want to do: [speak to] season-ticket holders, people who work at ballparks. I just like to walk around and talk to people. I love that. I did that when I ran the Brewers. And I enjoyed it. I miss that.
"Many people ask me, 'Is there anything you miss [about owning a team]?' And that's it. I really miss all that. I knew every vendor. And you knew what they were thinking, too, because they'll tell you, especially if your team is losing."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10292727/bud-selig-remains-committed-retirement
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/bud-selig-wants-mariano-rivera-esque-farewell-tour-202535395--mlb.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
 
To be honest, as long as teams are not giving him gifts and making a huge show out of it. and he does things like thank the people who work behind the scenes at ballparks, It would not bother me that much…. Though I am most likely alone in that...

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I see no reason they need ceremonies a la Rivera.  Sounds to me like Selig wants to sit in the stands at each ballpark and watch a game with the fans.  Maybe they pick an inning, announce him and have a little thank-you moment while he stands and waves to the crowd. 

 

[phrenile]

Maybe they pick an inning, announce him and have a little thank-you moment while he stands and waves to the crowd.

The Bud Selig we know doesn't stand and raise his right hand.

 

[EvilEmpire]

The Yankees should give him a big ceremony.  He's earned it

 

[foulkehampshire]

So, when does he get the Brewers back? 

 

[terrisus]

At least he's not being celebrated during games in which the team celebrating him are attempting to defeat him.
 
I still contend that the Rivera "tour"/victory lap was absurd.

 

[absintheofmalaise]

At least he's not being celebrated during games in which the team celebrating him are attempting to defeat him.
 
I still contend that the Rivera "tour"/victory lap was absurd.

Why was it absurd? If anyone earned a victory lap it was Rivera.

 

[terrisus]

Why was it absurd? If anyone earned a victory lap it was Rivera.

 
Because he was an active player participating on the opposing team, with the purpose of defeating them.
Have him come around this year once he's retired and do a victory lap or something, at least that would be in a bit better tastes. Or just have everyone send him cards and flowers or something.
 
I know there was a discussion in P&G about it last year while it was going on, with the split leaning toward that people felt it was fine, and obviously there have been other players who have been recognized by opposing teams while still active, but, I still don't like it.

 

[soxfan121]

I think it is very thoughtful of Bud to provide the fans an opportunity to boo the everlivingshit out his worthless carcass. He won't get booed as loudly as Gary Bettman is booed at his public appearances, but it really should be close and it'll be enough to cancel the public part of this tour pretty quickly. 

 

[cromulence]

 
Because he was an active player participating on the opposing team, with the purpose of defeating them.
Have him come around this year once he's retired and do a victory lap or something, at least that would be in a bit better tastes. Or just have everyone send him cards and flowers or something.
 
I know there was a discussion in P&G about it last year while it was going on, with the split leaning toward that people felt it was fine, and obviously there have been other players who have been recognized by opposing teams while still active, but, I still don't like it.

 
This is so silly. So do you think the no fraternizing rule should be enforced? Opposing players definitely shouldn't chat when they meet at first base, right? I mean, that's an active player on the opposing team, with the purpose of defeating you.
 
All the Mo stuff was pregame ceremonies. You'd have a point if every time he came on for a save they stopped the game and had a ceremony. However, you do not have a point.

 

[terrisus]

 
This is so silly. So do you think the no fraternizing rule should be enforced? Opposing players definitely shouldn't chat when they meet at first base, right? I mean, that's an active player on the opposing team, with the purpose of defeating you.
 
All the Mo stuff was pregame ceremonies. You'd have a point if every time he came on for a save they stopped the game and had a ceremony. However, you do not have a point.

 
You don't see a difference between players chatting on the bases, and an elaborate celebratory tour with gifts and everything?
I mean, heck, players will chat with Alex Rodriguez when he's on the bases - should he get a celebratory tour too?

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

You're reaching at straws.
 
Reread the P&G thread.  Celebrating the career of a Greatest of All Time is something that happens once a decade or even less often.  And there's nothing wrong with recognizing extraordinary results.

 

[VTSox]

 
You don't see a difference between players chatting on the bases, and an elaborate celebratory tour with gifts and everything?
I mean, heck, players will chat with Alex Rodriguez when he's on the bases - should he get a celebratory tour too?

 

[singaporesoxfan]

Sounds like he's doing the "meet the ballpark ushers, the concession workers, and the ordinary fans" part of what Mo did, not the "let's celebrate this person" part. Which is fine, and what he should do.

 

[Fred not Lynn]

So...does this mean he's going to go to Seattle? He hasn't been in Seattle since they hosted the All - Star Game. He hates it there...

 

[Dehere]

What exactly has prevented Bud Selig from interacting with fans, ushers and concession workers for the last 20 years? He isn't Mariano Rivera, who was actually preparing to compete in games for all those years. Bud Selig can go anywhere he wants in any ballpark at any time and has been able to do so for years. The fact that he only now thinks it might be a good idea to do so says something unflattering about his style.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

So...does this mean he's going to go to Seattle? He hasn't been in Seattle since they hosted the All - Star Game. He hates it there...

 
To be fair, it's mutual.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

I'd like to see him turn up to the two spring training games in Montreal next year. That would be a sight to behold.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

I would pay 49.99 on PPV to have Selig walk back into Montreal. Wonder how those fans feel about him? Still a better market than Tampa

 

[Gdiguy]

In news you absolutely couldn't make up, Selig has been awarded the inaugural "Commissioner Bud Selig Leadership Award"
 
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/late-union-head-weiner-be-honored-bat

 

[terrisus]

What is the award even for? 
 
Is it the award for the "Commissioner of the Year" or something?
"Lifetime Achievement in Commissionering?"
"Goodbye and Good Riddance?

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

I think it is very thoughtful of Bud to provide the fans an opportunity to boo the everlivingshit out his worthless carcass. He won't get booed as loudly as Gary Bettman is booed at his public appearances, but it really should be close and it'll be enough to cancel the public part of this tour pretty quickly. 

One of the proudest moments of my life was being in attendance when he ruined the 2002 All Star Game (and pretty much all subsequent ASGs) by declaring a tie.  To participate in the massive round of booing him, in his home town, in the stadium he suckered the local tax payers to give him, was just fantastic.  I'll never forget all the good citizens of Milwaukee throwing their ceremonial seat cushions on the field to register their outrage.

 

[terrisus]

Bud Selig has been, without any dispute, the greatest and most important commissioner in the history of his sport. Period.
 
Total amount of times Kenesaw Mountain Landis was even mentioned in that article: 
0
 
Yes, to be fair, Landis had his fair share of issues.
And one could certainly build the case that he wasn't the "greatest," depending on one's definition of "great"
But, "most important?" I really don't think there's any question at all there.
 
 
I guess this is a taste of what we're in store for this year though. A "victory tour" for the "greatest and most important commissioner in the history of his sport."

 

[SumnerH]

Bud Selig has been, without any dispute, the greatest and most important commissioner in the history of his sport. Period.
 
Total amount of times Kenesaw Mountain Landis was even mentioned in that article: 
0
 
Yes, to be fair, Landis had his fair share of issues.
And one could certainly build the case that he wasn't the "greatest," depending on one's definition of "great"
But, "most important?" I really don't think there's any question at all there.
 
 
I guess this is a taste of what we're in store for this year though. A "victory tour" for the "greatest and most important commissioner in the history of his sport."

 
I think Landis is obviously #1 as far as most important goes, but I'm mildly surprised at the Selig hate here (not shocked, given the tendency of people to over- or under- rate current people in all walks of life, but somewhat surprised).   Though "greatest" may not fit (the All Star game was a joke, and in hindsight cancelling the World Series seems obviously ludicrous--but it doesn't look out of place for any of his predecessors) "least bad" might.
 
Kuhn was responsible for destroying any sort of rapprochement between players and ownership; that strife lasted for a quarter century or more and is one of the biggest net-negatives of any major sport's business leader.  Ueberoth was a zero who undermined the credibility of the office with wildly disparate approaches to gambling vs. recreational drugs vs. performance enhancing drugs, and he did nothing to help out with labor relations.  He also supported illegal collusion with the owners, entrenching bad labor relations and probably costing me the ability to watch a hundred or more Red Sox games in my lifetime.    Giamatti seemed like a swell guy, but you can't say with a straight face that someone who died within a year without pushing any major initiatives had a significant impact on the game.  Vincent gets some points for being a dick to Steinbrenner, but he empowered the umpire's union in horrible ways and continued the legacy of abject labor strife.  
 
That list alone makes Selig at least the "least bad" commissioner since the 1960s, and almost certainly the best (or least bad) of the free agent era.  It's not impossible to make cases for him over Chandler, Eckert, and Frick, either, and then you're down to the "tyrant vs. savior" argument for Landis.  I think Landis wins that, and maybe you can argue for one of those 3 over Bud (they predate my viewership, so I'm going by historical writeups evaluating them), but the idea that Selig is a demon seems preposterous to me.  He ended 3 decades of strikes and lockouts (yeah he had a bad one early on, but unlike his predecessors he learned from it and I haven't had to sit through September and October without baseball in a couple of decades), and also led baseball from a period where it looked like it might collapse into a tenuous #3 behind the NBA and NFL into a solidly lucrative #2 sport in America.

 

[SumnerH]

In news you absolutely couldn't make up, Selig has been awarded the inaugural "Commissioner Bud Selig Leadership Award"
 

 
And of course this sort of tone deafness is a big part of why he's hated.  *sigh*
 
There's only one solution when he leaves and a successor has to be picked.
 

 

[terrisus]

Oh, I agree Sumner, I don't think he's as horrible as he's often portrayed as, and think much of it is due to the intense scrutiny of every single thing he does - what with the internet being so widespread now - and the fact that many people weren't alive for too many Baseball commissioners other than him anyway. He's certainly done a number of worthwhile things, and it's not like the people who came before him were free of issues either.
 
It's just, a quote like "Bud Selig has been, without any dispute, the greatest and most important commissioner in the history of his sport. Period." is extremely sensational and extreme. And, it just feels like this is setting us up for a year-long victory tour of these sorts of things. Everything doesn't have to be black and white, best or worst, all the time. 
 
Also, I have to say I would probably vote for Pedro in absolutely anything that he was eligible for voting in.