So I've been feeling like this for years and never wrote anything about it, but last nights Hall of Fame announcement really pissed me off. I'm sure everyone has their own opinions and will write about it, but I just have to make my voice known.
First, how the hell can you elect Bud Selig and not Mark McGwire? Selig has done nothing meaningful to the game and doesn't deserve to be in. The main 2 reasons that he got elected apparently are that he helped start MLB Network and MLB.com, and that he got steroid testing into baseball. MLB Network can be ok at times, but all Selig did to get that going was sign paperwork. He didn't come up with the idea, and I'm sure he didn't come up with any ideas for shows or anything. When is the last time he even appeared on the network other than to give out an award?
MLB.com is nothing to be proud of. The heading for the news articles are a joke, and some of the articles are just laughable, mainly the trade rumors and predictions. All of the rest of the articles you can't read without seeing the word 'Statcast' or some other new stat-measuring thing that most of the baseball world doesn't care about. It also runs like crap on my iPhone 5, which should t happen, even for a slightly old phone.
Selig did sign the paper to have steroid tests approved, but remember, he turned a blind eye to the rampant steroid use in the '90's, and if you go back to his time as the Brewers owner, he turned a blind eye to it before then. You can't tell me that someone in their right mind wouldn't think something was shady about those Tony LaRussa A's teams in the '80's, and as an owner of an AL team back then, Selig should've said something.
Selig has done far more negative things than positive for baseball. It's been said before, but let me rehash it. Where do I start? He moved his Brewers to the NL to pave the way for Interleague play, then the All-Star Game is meaningless. Let's not forget that he still had shares in the Brewers when he was Commissioner and did this. Too bad the Brewers didn't win a title since then, else it would've been another thing to add to the list. Selig had his hand on the strike in '94 as he and the owners couldn't budge just a little. He had a hand in collusion in the 'late '80's, and you can't tell me that collusion didn't happen in the 2000's. Decent players like Barry Bonds, Jermaine Dye, Derrek Lee, Vladimir Guerrero are just some of the players who were forced to retire towards he end of their 30's earlier than they wanted to because nobody would sign them. I think for whatever reason that owners colluded not to sign them.
Steroids were running rampant by 2002, and the All-Star game was another bright moment for Selig. With the game tied in the top of the 11th, and Selig decided to have the game finish in a tie if nobody scored in the 11th. Mind you, the NL had Vicente Padilla, a starter, and the AL had Freddy Garcia, another starter, pitching, and they only had pitched 2 Innings when the game was called. Selig could've call d each pitchers respective manager, and just gotten the ok to pitch them 3 more Innings, and somebody would've scored. So in 2003, with the ASG even more of a joke, Selig decides to give the winner of the game home field advantage in the World Series. The Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos were Bud's next target, when he threatened to contract both teams. I can just see the Yankees licking their chops. Did I mention that during Selig's time that he never got a salary cap approved? The Twins actually improved their attendance and their record, so they never got contracted, but soon, the Expos were sold to MLB, so Selig owned 2 teams at that point, the Expos and Brewers. Too bad they they both sucked then. The Expos played their home games in Puerto Rico at one point. Then MLB sold them and they moved to Washington. Expos fans were stunned. While this went on, Selig let the Marlins build a championship team, then trade it away twice. The Yankees were buying every free agent they could, and small market teams were out of the playoff hunt by June. I missed the fact that Selig realigned the divisions. Some of it made sense, but others didn't. He did this to add another playoff spot. I guess I'm ok with the first Wild Card. I am not fond of the second one. Another Selig idea. Another chance at the Yankees making the playoffs. Towards the end of Seligs reign of terror, the Marlins bought another nice team to give fans something to watch at their nice new ballpark. Then they traded it away the next season. Selig couldn't offer any help to the A's or Devil Rays who were struggling with a bad stadium location. Teams like Atlanta, who just built a new ballpark in 1997 were planning on building new ones in the late 2010's. The idea of having an even number of teams in each league (Selig's reason for moving his Brewers to the NL) was scrapped by Selig in favor of having Interleague play during the entire season. Selig decides that instead of moving his Brewers back to the AL, that he would move the Astros to the AL. He finally retired 2 years ago, and Rob Manfred has started the long task of erasing Selig's mess. He recently got a deal with owners and players signed in a much faster time than Selig, and one of the new parts of the deal was to make the team with the best record get home field advantage in the World Series, erasing Selig's ASG debacle.
If Selig is in, McGwire should be in, both played a part in the steroid mess, but McGwire did more for the game as a hitting coach than Selig has ever done as an owner and commissioner combined. I'm gonna stop here, but my next post will be on players and other people who should be in the Hall and some who I feel shouldn't be. Most of the players I am planning on writing about have customs that I made of them, so I will post those to so you can get your baseball card fix. Thanks for reading my latest post. Feel free to leave comments and any Selig disasters that I have forgotten to list.
-Jeremy
First, how the hell can you elect Bud Selig and not Mark McGwire? Selig has done nothing meaningful to the game and doesn't deserve to be in. The main 2 reasons that he got elected apparently are that he helped start MLB Network and MLB.com, and that he got steroid testing into baseball. MLB Network can be ok at times, but all Selig did to get that going was sign paperwork. He didn't come up with the idea, and I'm sure he didn't come up with any ideas for shows or anything. When is the last time he even appeared on the network other than to give out an award?
MLB.com is nothing to be proud of. The heading for the news articles are a joke, and some of the articles are just laughable, mainly the trade rumors and predictions. All of the rest of the articles you can't read without seeing the word 'Statcast' or some other new stat-measuring thing that most of the baseball world doesn't care about. It also runs like crap on my iPhone 5, which should t happen, even for a slightly old phone.
Selig did sign the paper to have steroid tests approved, but remember, he turned a blind eye to the rampant steroid use in the '90's, and if you go back to his time as the Brewers owner, he turned a blind eye to it before then. You can't tell me that someone in their right mind wouldn't think something was shady about those Tony LaRussa A's teams in the '80's, and as an owner of an AL team back then, Selig should've said something.
Selig has done far more negative things than positive for baseball. It's been said before, but let me rehash it. Where do I start? He moved his Brewers to the NL to pave the way for Interleague play, then the All-Star Game is meaningless. Let's not forget that he still had shares in the Brewers when he was Commissioner and did this. Too bad the Brewers didn't win a title since then, else it would've been another thing to add to the list. Selig had his hand on the strike in '94 as he and the owners couldn't budge just a little. He had a hand in collusion in the 'late '80's, and you can't tell me that collusion didn't happen in the 2000's. Decent players like Barry Bonds, Jermaine Dye, Derrek Lee, Vladimir Guerrero are just some of the players who were forced to retire towards he end of their 30's earlier than they wanted to because nobody would sign them. I think for whatever reason that owners colluded not to sign them.
Steroids were running rampant by 2002, and the All-Star game was another bright moment for Selig. With the game tied in the top of the 11th, and Selig decided to have the game finish in a tie if nobody scored in the 11th. Mind you, the NL had Vicente Padilla, a starter, and the AL had Freddy Garcia, another starter, pitching, and they only had pitched 2 Innings when the game was called. Selig could've call d each pitchers respective manager, and just gotten the ok to pitch them 3 more Innings, and somebody would've scored. So in 2003, with the ASG even more of a joke, Selig decides to give the winner of the game home field advantage in the World Series. The Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos were Bud's next target, when he threatened to contract both teams. I can just see the Yankees licking their chops. Did I mention that during Selig's time that he never got a salary cap approved? The Twins actually improved their attendance and their record, so they never got contracted, but soon, the Expos were sold to MLB, so Selig owned 2 teams at that point, the Expos and Brewers. Too bad they they both sucked then. The Expos played their home games in Puerto Rico at one point. Then MLB sold them and they moved to Washington. Expos fans were stunned. While this went on, Selig let the Marlins build a championship team, then trade it away twice. The Yankees were buying every free agent they could, and small market teams were out of the playoff hunt by June. I missed the fact that Selig realigned the divisions. Some of it made sense, but others didn't. He did this to add another playoff spot. I guess I'm ok with the first Wild Card. I am not fond of the second one. Another Selig idea. Another chance at the Yankees making the playoffs. Towards the end of Seligs reign of terror, the Marlins bought another nice team to give fans something to watch at their nice new ballpark. Then they traded it away the next season. Selig couldn't offer any help to the A's or Devil Rays who were struggling with a bad stadium location. Teams like Atlanta, who just built a new ballpark in 1997 were planning on building new ones in the late 2010's. The idea of having an even number of teams in each league (Selig's reason for moving his Brewers to the NL) was scrapped by Selig in favor of having Interleague play during the entire season. Selig decides that instead of moving his Brewers back to the AL, that he would move the Astros to the AL. He finally retired 2 years ago, and Rob Manfred has started the long task of erasing Selig's mess. He recently got a deal with owners and players signed in a much faster time than Selig, and one of the new parts of the deal was to make the team with the best record get home field advantage in the World Series, erasing Selig's ASG debacle.
If Selig is in, McGwire should be in, both played a part in the steroid mess, but McGwire did more for the game as a hitting coach than Selig has ever done as an owner and commissioner combined. I'm gonna stop here, but my next post will be on players and other people who should be in the Hall and some who I feel shouldn't be. Most of the players I am planning on writing about have customs that I made of them, so I will post those to so you can get your baseball card fix. Thanks for reading my latest post. Feel free to leave comments and any Selig disasters that I have forgotten to list.
-Jeremy
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