Bud Selig Biography

1934-

American baseball commissioner

As Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner for more than a decade (the first six as acting commissioner), Bud Selig has won few friends. In fact, he seems to have an uncanny ability to do things that will enrage the maximum number of people in and around the game. Even when Selig engineered a last-minute compromise settlement between players and owners to avert a season-ending baseball strike in the late summer of 2002, he came under fire for his absence from negotiations until the eleventh hour. This only added to the list of the most recent grievances against Selig, which include his widely reviled decision to end the 2002 All-Star

Bud Selig

game after the 11th inning, a late-2001 proposal to eliminate two or more teams from MLB, and his strong support of testing to detect the use of steroids and other drugs by players. There's no question that Selig is in a delicate position. A great deal of passion surrounds the American pastime, and it's only logical that decisions that favor owners over players very likely would earn Selig the enmity of the players, or vice-versa. However, Selig in recent years has been unable to make anyone—players, fans, or even owners—very happy.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, 245 Park Ave., 31st Fl., New York, NY 10167. Phone: (212) 931-7800.