Budding Leader

Bud Selig, the Milwaukee Brewer owner who has been baseball’s acting commissioner for almost six years, stops acting today. He is expected to receive almost unanimous approval as the game’s ninth commissioner during a meeting of major league owners in Chicago.

Although some owners still believe baseball needs--and the public expects--a more dynamic and charismatic commissioner, they accept Selig as a known quantity and source of continuity in the ongoing recovery from the devastating labor dispute of the early and mid-90s.

Although some worry about the inherent possibility of a conflict of interest in a team owner serving as commissioner, they see in Selig a passionate believer in the game and painstaking consensus builder who has maintained unity among their often balkanized fraternity while overseeing and orchestrating the most innovative era in the industry’s history.

They also cite the fact Selig, 64 on July 30, will not be alone in the new structure.

He will work with widely respected Paul Beeston, the former Toronto Blue Jay president, who is based in the New York office as the game’s chief operating officer and who will continue to handle much of the daily business while trying to forge a better relationship with the players’ union.

Make no mistake: Some of the Selig testimonials aren’t exactly ringing in support.

But the departure of Peter O’Malley as Dodger owner has removed his most vocal critic, most agree, and there is expected to be a show of solidarity in the Chicago meeting, where Selig requires 75% approval of the 30 clubs, and it would not be a surprise if the vote is unanimous.

Even the few clubs thought to be on the bubble will probably join the majority.

One of those is the San Francisco Giants.

A source said the Giants have lingering concerns about Selig’s . . .

* Inability to generate and sustain a major marketing program;

* Ongoing support for a major realignment that would put the American League’s West Coast teams in the National League. Moving the Oakland Athletics to the National League, the Giants have argued, would remove current Bay Area identity and intrude on their exclusive NL territorial rights.

The Giants threatened legal action when the plan was at the forefront of the realignment blueprint last year, but their thinking in support of Selig is representative of the widespread mood.

“Everyone is in agreement that it’s simply time for the game to move forward,” Larry Baer, executive vice president of the Giants, said. “To the extent that’s going to happen [with Selig’s coronation], it’s a good thing.

“The view seems to be that the clubs are ready to take the game into a new renaissance with certain rather than uncertain leadership.”

Said Jerry McMorris, owner of the Colorado Rockies:

“Right or wrong, there’s a degree of comfort that exists with Bud--and it runs the gamut. I mean, it’s not just the small markets. [New York Yankee owner] George Steinbrenner is among his strongest supporters. There’s a unique dynamic involved.”

Mounting pressure from fellow owners apparently convinced Selig to accept the permanent position--no surprise to skeptics who had long doubted his avowed disinterest.

Likewise, a search headed by McMorris to find commissioner candidates was viewed as a charade leading back to Selig.

McMorris rejected that view. He said he knew from the start that his search might yield to an internal movement on Selig’s behalf. At this point, he acknowledged, there is a “total lack of inquisitiveness on the part of the other owners” as to any candidates his committee might present.

“The fact is,” McMorris said, “there’s been more accomplished in Bud’s tenure than in any other period, and the idea of bringing Beeston in has made everyone more comfortable. Paul has established a line of communication with the union that hasn’t existed in the five years that I’ve been an owner. There is a focus now on growing the game [in concert with the union].”

The reality seems to be that no outsider was going to generate enough support, especially among the small-market teams that consider Selig one of their own. No one is beating war drums in the peaceful aftermath of the labor dispute, but many clubs think 1) stronger salary restraint is still needed, and that 2) it would have been too difficult to indoctrinate an outsider at a time when a new television contract has to be negotiated after the 2000 season and a new labor agreement a year later.

No one spends more time on the phone or plays the political game better than Selig. His support of the Fox purchase of the Dodgers and the Disney purchase of the Angels translates to their support in today’s vote. It puts those two media giants, not to mention Atlanta’s Ted Turner, on the inside in the next TV negotiations, considered critical to the game’s future.

“Owners talk about a strong, independent commissioner, but the bottom line is that they are reluctant to bring in someone with that kind of power and let him or her do their thing,” a National League owner said.

“The game is growing. Most feel it’s a much less risky course with Bud and Paul. It’s not what everyone wanted, but it’s the acceptable alternative. We’ve got to move on. We need someone in the office, and Bud provides us with stability and continuity.”

Selig has often referred to the myth of the office, citing the late Bart Giamatti’s comment that the commissioner has suasion over only one side since he is hired by and paid by the owners. Labor agreements with the players and umpires restrict his powers, and even that suasion over the owners is limited by his wary employers, as Fay Vincent learned when he was forced to resign on Sept. 7, 1992.

Don Fehr, executive director of the players’ association, said that with Selig, at least, there has been “a little more honesty in that there is no pretense who he works for.” He added: “I’ve been expecting Bud to become the commissioner for a very long time and would have been very surprised if it had been anyone else. I would also be surprised if he doesn’t continue to operate by consensus, and I see nothing wrong with that. I’m accountable to a board of directors myself.”

At the time of the 1996 labor agreement, Fehr made no effort to mute his distrust of Selig, but both insist that relationship has improved.

“Human events tore us apart at times, but you can’t live in the morass of anger,” Selig said.

As for the relationship between union and management overall, Fehr cited the appointment of Beeston and said there has been “a lot more contact and cooperation. Paul knows baseball and he knows marketing. Memories [of the labor dispute] are still sharp enough to make everyone a little cautious, but given the reorganization [of the commissioner’s office], I certainly think there’s a much greater possibility of a better relationship, and that should help everywhere.”

Richie Phillips, the often critical and bombastic umpires’ counsel, agreed, saying Selig had provided leadership during a difficult time “and certainly deserves this chance. We feel certain he will be the type of person who will be commissioner for all of baseball.

“If he’s going to be just a mouthpiece for the owners, then he probably will not be successful.”

No owner has more familiarity with the game’s history--Selig is a Wisconsin history graduate who went on to operate his father’s auto leasing business--or been more active in the hiring and firing of commissioners.

No owner, however, has ever served as commissioner, a concern to many colleagues--strong enough, perhaps, to prompt Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to cast one of the few dissenting votes today.

Selig plans to put the Brewers in a blind trust. He has long insisted that he has been extremely sensitive to the conflict issue, but the spotlight will be brighter now. How he convinces the public and fellow owners of his impartiality will be a critical aspect of his tenure. The first step will be to move out of his County Stadium office and into a satellite facility in either Chicago or downtown Milwaukee, which doesn’t exactly sever phone lines back to his daughter and club counsel, Wendy Selig-Prieb.

Nor does it change the public perception that 1) the owners still have one of their own running the game and 2) it was Selig who brought down the 1994 World Series, an act for which both owners and players have to be held accountable.

With all of that, there is no debating Selig’s persuasive role in a series of significant developments since becoming acting commissioner two days after Vincent’s resignation, of which he was a principal architect. While already serving longer than the last three commissioners--Peter Ueberroth, Giamatti and Vincent--Selig has been the most persistent force behind realignment of the leagues and divisions, interleague play, expanded playoffs, adoption of the wild card, expansion to Tampa Bay and Arizona, and increased revenue sharing among the clubs.

On the eve of today’s vote, Selig was reluctant to outline an agenda as commissioner, saying it would appear presumptuous.

He did say that the New York marketing staff needs to be increased and the marketing pace expanded, nationally and internationally.

He said an agreement with the union on the future of interleague play beyond a one-year extension through 1999 is imperative and requires an overhaul of the schedule, which, he insisted, necessitates additional realignment.

He cited a record attendance pace and said baseball continues a remarkable and powerful recovery from the 1994 work stoppage but that soaring salaries and a revenue disparity of more than $105 million among the clubs is a warning that the newly bargained tax restraint on payrolls isn’t strong enough.

If that represents a storm cloud on the road to the next labor talks, Selig refused to pursue it.

“For 30 years we lived with acrimony, nastiness and finger pointing,” he said. “We’ve had none of that in the last three months. The focus has been on Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey and Sammy Sosa and Kerry Wood.

“We’re now talking about everything we should be talking about, and that’s the challenge for the future.

“The game is so intrinsically good that we need to continue to take the acrimony out of it. As painful and horrible as 1994 was, if it benefits the next generations, there will have been some justification to it. We can’t fall back on the behavior patterns of the last 30 years. There is simply no margin of error, starting with me.”

That it starts with Selig--and has started with Selig--becomes official today.

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A Look at Baseball’s Commissioners Throughout the Years

Kenesaw Mountain Landis

Nov. 12, 1920 to Nov. 25, 1944

Federal district judge initiated office after Black Sox scandal, ruled with an iron fist for 24 years until his death.

*

Happy Chandler

April 24, 1945 to July 15, 1951

Senator from Kentucky instituted a minimum salary and a pension plan.

*

Ford Frick

Sept. 24, 1951 to Nov. 16, 1965

Hand picked by Walter O’Malley

*

Spike Eckert

Nov. 17, 1965 to Nov. 20, 1968

Highly ineffectual, he refused to cancel games after deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

*

Bowie Kuhn

Feb. 4, 1969 to Sept. 30, 1984

Moved World Series to night.

*

Peter Ueberroth

Sept. 30, 1988 to March 31, 1989

Significantly improved game’s finances by negotiating huge TV contracts with CBS and ESPN.

*

A. Bartlett Giamatti

April 1, 1989 to Set. 1, 1989

Banned Pete Rose for conduct unbecoming to the game, and like Landis, died in office.

*

Fay Vincent

Sept. 13, 1989 to Sept. 7, 1992

Fell into disfavor with owners after trying to realign divisions.

*

Bud Selig (acting)

Sept. 9, 1992 to present

Milwaukee owner has insisted for six years that he didn’t want the job that he will get today.

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WHAT BUD SELIG HAS SAID ABOUT BEING COMMISSIONER

SEPT. 9, 1992, after being made acting commissioner:

I hope it’s relatively short term, but if you ask me this morning what short term is, I don’t know.

*

JAN. 16, 1994, on whether he wanted to keep the job: I have no permanent interest in this job. I have many other things I want to do.

*

JULY 23, 1997, nearly five years since taking over:

All I’ll say is, I haven’t changed my mind since Sept. 9, 1992

*

JULY 6, 1998, on statement back in in 1992:

I really meant that. ...Many had said to me they wanted me to stay in some capacity. We argued. The rest is history.

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THE NEW COMMISIONER / THE SELIG FILE

* NAME: Allan “Bud” Huber Selig.

* BORN: July 30, 1934, Milwaukee.

* EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree, Wisconsin.

* BACKGROUND: Received most of his business training in his family’s auto-leasing service.

* BASEBALL HISTORY: Bought stock in Milwaukee Braves in 1963, headed group that purchased Seattle Pilots in bankruptcy court April 1, 1970, and moved the team to Milwaukee, where it became the Brewers. Just 35, he was the youngest owner in baseball.

* BREWER BUSINESS: Groomed Wendy Selig-Prieb, one of his two daughters from his first marriage, to succeed him as head of the Brewers. As executive vice president, she has been in charge of most operations for five years.

* BIGGEST TASKS: Headed commissioner search committees that recommended Peter Ueberroth, who took office Oct. 1, 1984, and A. Bartlett Giamatti, who took office April 1, 1989. Chairman of owners’ Player Relations Committee during labor negotiations in 1985 and 1990.

* EXECUTIVE COUNCIL: Appointed chairman Sept. 9, 1992, two days after the resignation of Fay Vincent.

* FAMILY: Married to wife Sue. Two daughters from first marriage, including Wendy Selig-Prieb.

* INTERESTS: Contemporary art collecting, including Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein.

* ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES: Rides exercise bike 45 minutes a day.

* OTHER BUSINESS INTERESTS: Owns auto-leasing company and deli in Milwaukee. A director of the Green Bay Packers.

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IN OFFICE

Highlights and lowlights of Bud Selig’s term as acting commissioner of baseball, beginning Sept. 9, 1992:

* Feb. 3, 1993: Cincinnati Red owner Marge Schott suspended for remainder of season and fined $25,000 for bringing “disrepute and embarrassment” to baseball because of racial and ethnic slurs.

* Sept. 9, 1993: Owners vote to split each league into three divisions starting in 1994, adding a wild-card team from each league to the postseason and starting an extra round of playoffs.

* Jan. 19, 1994: Owners approve large increase in revenue sharing but tie it to players agreeing to a salary cap.

* Feb. 11, 1994: Owners sharply curtail the commissioner’s power to act in the “best interests” of baseball.

* Aug. 12, 1994-March 31, 1995: A players’ strike cancels the final 669 games of the 1994 season, wipes out the World Series for the first time in 90 years and cancels the first 252 games of the 1995 season. The strike, caused by management’s demand for a salary cap, led to a 20% drop in attendance in 1995 and $850 million in operating losses from 1994-96.

* Jan. 19, 1996: Owners adopt interleague play starting with the 1997 season.

* June 12, 1996-end of 1998 season: Schott forced to give up day-to-day control of team after additional remarks offend blacks, women and Jews.

* Nov. 26, 1996: Owners approve collective bargaining agreement through 2000, with union option for 2001. Approval triggers the start of revenue sharing. Instead of a salary cap, owners got a luxury tax that has only slightly slowed salary escalation.

* May 13, 1997-April 30, 1998: New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner suspended from executive council for suing baseball along with Adidas in a dispute over marketing rights. Steinbrenner eventually drops suit as part of an agreement in which Adidas became a baseball licensee.

* Nov. 5, 1997: Selig’s team, the Milwaukee Brewers, become the first major league club this century to switch leagues, moving to the NL for the 1998 season.

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THE FORMER COMMISSIONERS KENESAW MOUNTAIN LANDIS

Elected Nov. 12, 1920.

Died in office, Nov. 25, 1944.

Was a federal district judge when the owners persuaded him to come in and clean up the game after the Chicago Black Sox scandal. He immediately expelled eight of those players from the sport. Ruled baseball with an iron fist for 24 years, with owners too fearful of him to fire him.

A.B. “HAPPY” CHANDLER

Elected April 24, 1945.

Resigned July 15, 1951.

Senator from Kentucky. Instituted a minimum salary, a 25% limit on salary cuts and a pension plan. Resigned under pressure from owners, who didn’t like any of those ideas.

FORD FRICK

Elected Sept. 20, 1951.

Resigned Nov. 16, 1965.

National League president. Handpicked by an emerging powerful owner named Walter O’Malley. Put the asterisk next to Roger Maris’ name after Maris set the single-season home run record. Allowed Braves, Browns, Athletics, Giants, Dodgers and Senators to move to new cities.

WILLIAM D. “SPIKE” ECKERT

Elected Nov. 17, 1965.

Resigned Nov. 20, 1968.

Retired Air Force lieutenant general. Considered by many to be the worst commissioner ever. Dubbed the “Unknown Soldier” for his inaction in office. Came under public fire when he refused to cancel games after the deaths of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

BOWIE KUHN

Elected Feb. 4, 1969.

Fired Sept. 30, 1984.

Member of New York law firm. Mediated a settlement that saved 1969 season from player strike. Returned All-Star voting to the fans. Banned Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle from associating with the sport because they worked for casinos. Moved World Series to night. Fell into heavy disfavor with owners after 1981 strike. Voted out of office by owners, but stayed until new commissioner was found.

PETER UEBERROTH

Elected Oct. 1, 1984.

Resigned Sept. 30, 1988.

Head of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. Upped limits of fines from $5,000 to $250,000. Reinstated Mays and Mantle. Significantly improved finances for the owners by negotiating enormous TV contracts with CBS and ESPN. Persuaded corporations to pay more money for the “privilege” of endorsing the game.

A. BARTLETT GIAMATTI

Elected April 1, 1989.

Died in office Sept. 1, 1989.

National League president. Banned Pete Rose from baseball for “conduct unbecoming” to the game. Died of a heart attack while in office.

FRANCIS “FAY” VINCENT

Elected Sept. 13, 1989.

Resigned Sept. 7, 1992.

Deputy commissioner. Helped negotiate settlement of 1990 lockout. Banned George Steinbrenner from running Yankees because Steinbrenner paid $40,000 to a known gambler to provide information on Dave Winfield. Fell into heavy disfavor with owners after trying to realign the divisions.