Bud Selig's retiring in 2012? Oh, happy day!

[TheMightyFavog]

Thank you, gods!!!!

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091128&content_id=7724736&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Now, first order of business. Le's get a commissioner whose first act would be to abolish the abomination known as the designated hitter rule. Let's make all of Major Leauge Baseball play real baseball once again!

[jobycom]

1. I'm all for abolishing letting the pitcher hit, myself.

Only the NL still does that. Real Baseball has the DH. Only the weirdo conservatives in the NL don't.

As for Bud Sellig, I wonder if baseball will survive him. The first order of business is hiring someone who can make a decision independent of the owners, so there is some respectability in the sport again. I don't care whether steroid users get into the HoF or not, but at least make a firm statement and stick to it. Get people talking about it, make people care. And of course, make decisions in the first place based on the integrity of the game rather than on some pop ideal of what fills seats for the next game.

Worst commissioner ever in any sport. I miss Bart.

[bif]

2. And let's bring back some daytime World Series games.

While we're fixing things.

[meow2u3]

4. Bring back scheduled doubleheaders, especially on national holidays

I miss the Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day scheduled doubleheaders, not to mention the Sunday doubleheaders. Restoring the scheduled doubleheader will shorten the regular season in terms of number of days played and it makes perfect sense because we now have 3 rounds of playoff baseball.

I, for one, don't like the idea of baseball extending to November. November is for football, basketball, and hockey--not baseball!

[jobycom]

7. Double headers in Texas aren't good ideas.

I can see them other places. My wife once got fired for missing work because of a sunburn she got from an evening game. She was burned so badly she couldn't walk for several days and still has scarring. I guess that's not an issue in northerner type places.

[Wapsie B]

6. Agreed about this insanity on having pitchers hit

just on the off-chance there may be one who actually can do something other than bunt. The 'roid issue doesn't bother me with people like Bonds or McGuire getting into Cooperstown. Pete Rose either for that matter. If there's going to be an issue about character then there needs to be a rule that allows for expulsion of HOF members as well as their exclusion from being on the ballot in the first place.

If only Bart were still commish and not Bud. What a joke.

[KamaAina]

9. CC Sabathia hits about .250 lifetime

so, of course, he gets traded back to the AL. :eyes:

edit: oh crap, I forgot he dropped the periods from his name!

[jobycom]

10. It's not a character issue, it's a consistency issue.

I would have no problem with Bonds or McGuire in the HoF because baseball had not taken a strong stance against steroids, and from the look of it they knew it was happening and didn't care enough to stop it. WHen you cover up failed steroid tests, you are telling players to go ahead and do it, so punishing them later makes no sense.

That's what I hate about Selig. He thought homerun races and superstud pitchers would fill the seats, and he had no care what would happen once it all got exposed. So he implicitly endorsed steroids. It sounds like Bonds wouldn't have done steroids if he hadn't seen everyone else getting away with it in the first place.

Now it's all screwed. If you let Bonds in, you slap all those who didn't use steroids. If you keep him out, you screw Bonds and the other users for doing what you encouraged them to do in the first place. The whole Selig era needs an asterisk. None of the stats from the era compare to the other eras, but they are still there, and no one can forget them, so the other stats are weakened, too.

[meow2u3]

3. We need a real commissioner of baseball

Selig ruined the game. He also has a conflict of interest because he turned over ownership of the Brewers to his daughter (in name only, imo) when he became Commissioner. I say we should get someone who really knows and loves the game (ex-pResident Bush should not be eligible).

meow2u3 to Favog: I strongly agree with you when it comes to the DH rule. It's high time to get rid of it because it has outlived its usefulness. The DH rule does the following to baseball: 1) prolong the careers of overpaid players who are too injury-prone or old to play the field; 2) prevents managers from making the tough decisions late in the game, such as the double switch, putting in a pinch-hitter for the pitcher, and choosing between allowing a pitcher to throw a complete game vs. acting on behalf of the team; and 3) makes the American League look like the better league because its pitchers don't have to bat for themselves.

[gmoney]

5. 3 years out?

why do people announce retirement's so far ahead of the actual date? is it so they can have 3 years of "farewell" parties, or so they can have short-timer attitude for 3 years?

You know Oprah's going to be slacking from here on out...

[madinmaryland]

8. Meaningful Salary Cap reform. Making real competition a reality

in the sport of Major League Baseball.

[Initech]

11. The new commissoner should do everything possible to make sure one team doesn't have total dominance

over available free agents. *COUGH* Yankees *COUGH*

[madinmaryland]

12. Meaningful Salary Cap Reform.

[rcrush]

13. The Mayans predicted this.