Selig Gets Commissioner’s Power : Baseball: Brewers’ owner to take position temporarily. It could take a year to find permanent successor.

Bud Selig, the activist owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and a leader of the group that forced the resignation of Fay Vincent as commissioner, was elected chairman of baseball’s executive council Wednesday and entrusted with the power of commissioner.

Selig said he will serve only until a new commissioner is selected. He said he hopes it will be a “short-term” assignment, but he could not predict how long the search would take, and he acknowledged that the process could be delayed as the owners consider ways to restructure the commissioner’s office.

“Don’t be surprised if Bud rides this thing for a year under the guise of looking for the right person,” said a Milwaukee-based attorney with close ties to Selig and the Brewers.

A “year’s ride” would ensure the owners that the commissioner would not intercede if they reopen collective bargaining talks in December and take a hard-line approach.

Selig is chairman of the Player Relations Committee, the owners’ negotiating arm, and was a leader of the group that failed in a June attempt to have the conciliatory Vincent give up his negotiating rights in the labor area.

Selig insisted Wednesday that no decision has been made on reopening talks with the players’ union.

He said he has “100% authority” to act on behalf of the executive council but would consult the council on all significant issues and act only with consensus support. That seemed to be a shot at Vincent, whom the owners accused of failing to develop or attempting to develop a consensus on important issues.

The executive council, comprised of the two league presidents and four owners from each league, gave Selig the title of chairman--as opposed to acting or interim commissioner--to avoid a vote that would have required three-fourths approval of the 28 owners.

Selig said that deputy commissioner Steve Greenberg, who was appointed by Vincent, will remain for the time being to handle the daily business of the commissioner’s office.

Greenberg, however, wouldn’t confirm that when reached in St. Louis at the quarterly owners meeting. He said he needs to have a longer talk with Selig and would have no comment until today, when the executive council is expected to name members of the restructuring committee.

Meanwhile, Haywood Sullivan, managing partner of the Boston Red Sox and a member of the executive council, said the council would serve as its own search committee. The field of commissioner candidates is believed to be growing rapidly. It now includes:

Ron Brown, chairman of the Democratic party; Richard Ravitch, president of the PRC; Harvey Schiller, executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee; Neal Pilson, president of CBS Sports; Paul Beeston, CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays; Richard White, executive director of Major League Properties, and several general managers, including Fred Claire of the Dodgers, Sandy Alderson of the Oakland Athletics, John Schuerholz of the Atlanta Braves and Andy MacPhail of the Minnesota Twins.

No owner has ever become commissioner, and Selig, while not ruling it out, said it is unlikely he would become the first. The Major League Agreement, which is baseball’s constitution, does not cover the possibility, leaving it unclear whether Selig, if he became commissioner, would have to sell his approximate 20% interest in the Brewers or could merely place it in a blind trust and possibly elevate his daughter, Wendy, the club’s general counsel, to club president.

The well-placed Milwaukee attorney said “absolutely not” when asked if he thought Selig would be willing to sell his holdings to become commissioner.

“But if there was a way to put it in a blind trust, I think Bud would love to be pictured making a sacrifice for the betterment of baseball,” the attorney said. “I think he’d love to have the job because he has a tremendous ego and a genuine love for the game, a respect for its integrity.”

Selig, 58, has had controlling interest in the Brewers since 1970, and began taking a more active role in the club’s daily operations last year, when he sold the family car dealership.

In addition to his role with the PRC, he is a member of the ownership committee and co-chairman with union leader Don Fehr of the economic study group. He also was chairman of the search committee that recommended Peter Ueberroth and Bart Giamatti for the job of commissioner.

Of Selig’s activism, former commissioner Bowie Kuhn wrote in his book, “Hardball”: “Bud talks to everybody and everybody talks to Bud. AT&T; must love Bud.”

Baseball Commissioners

KENESAW MOUNTAIN LANDIS: Nov. 12, 1920, to Nov. 25, 1944 HAPPY CHANDLER: April 24, 1945, to July 15, 1951 FORD FRICK: Sept. 20, 1951, to Nov. 16, 1965 WILLIAM ECKERT: Nov. 17, 1965, to Dec. 20, 1968 BOWIE KUHN: Feb. 4, 1969, to Sept. 30, 1984 PETER UEBERROTH: Oct. 1, 1984, to March 31, 1989 A. BARTLETT GIAMATTI: April 1, 1989, to Sept. 1, 1989 FAY VINCENT: Sept. 13, 1989, to Sept. 7, 1992