Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has officially announced a January, 2015 retirement.
Bud Selig has been the league’s commissioner full-time since 1998, and partially since 1992. He has helped shape the sport over the last 22 years, and has seen his share of good and bad times.
The two year wait before Bud Selig’s official retirement will be what he describes as a transition period. Very soon he will lay out his transition plan, which includes a reorganization of central baseball management.
Bud Selig’s lasting impact on the sport of baseball will be great. His involvement began in 1970, when he bought the Seattle Pilots in bankruptcy court, then moved the team to Milwaukee. During his tenure as the Milwaukee Brewers’ owner, the team went to the World Series in 1981, and won multiple organization of year awards.
In 1992, Jay Vincent resigned as commissioner after team owner’s grew tired of his reign. Bud Selig became the de facto commissioner, and officially received the title in 1998.
Bud Selig’s retirement comes at a good time for his legacy. He has largely removed steroids from the game, and has increased baseball’s international appeal ten fold.
Of course, Selig also let steroid use run rampant in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, a fact which soon won’t be forgotten.
Basically, Selig’s legacy is an interesting one. The sport blossomed under his tenure, despite players cheating to balloon numbers and increase their salaries.
This is also not the first time Bus Selig has announced his retirement. In 2006, he claimed he would retire in 2009, but that didn’t happen. At 79-years-old, it’s hard to imagine he will change his mind this time.
What do you think Bud Selig’s legacy will be?
[image via mookiefl | flickr ]
