Selig Has Time to Change His Mind

About 24 hours after telling a gathering of sports editors in New York that he would not seek a new term as commissioner when his contract expires at the end of 2006, Bud Selig said from his Milwaukee office he was “shocked so much has been made of it because I assumed everyone knew.”

Selig will be 72 when his five-year contract expires and perhaps there was a sense this would be the final term, but he had never said so publicly. Maybe it got more play than he expected because it’s hard to believe that a man who has spent more than 30 years in or near the heart of the industry’s power structure, who spends his vacations with a phone at his ear and the daily newspaper clips arriving by special delivery, is really going to retire.

Some on his own staff are suspicious, of course.

“I don’t know how set in stone this is,” a New York-based official said. “I think it will depend on the climate at the time. If the owners come to him again and ask him to stay, who knows?”

Selig, after all, kept insisting while serving as acting commissioner after Fay Vincent’s resignation that he had no intention of remaining in the permanent position, and now he is in his second term, having been unable to say no when asked to stay by his fellow owners. It’s sweet, of course, to be wanted and needed, but Selig said, “I was younger then. There are things I want to do, and at 72 it will be time to move on. There’s a lot of tension and pressure in this job.”

Of course, if he takes back the reins of his Milwaukee Brewers he may decide that he had it easier as commissioner.

In the meantime, asked about his goal for these next four years, if, indeed, they are his last, Selig said, “We need to take advantage of the labor peace and keep the game moving in the right direction. Our biggest focus will be on marketing, whether it’s related to scheduling, TV, Internet or anything else.”

Among the marketing and other hot-button items drawing immediate attention is an attendance falloff of 4.7% so far this season, from a year in which it was down 6.3%. Selig, though, cited a siege of cold weather, the distraction of the war in Iraq and the poor economy and said, “It’s too early to draw conclusions. I think we’re going to have some good division races and I generally feel good about where we are.”

If he is also sure of how he will feel in four years, his choice of words seemed to indicate otherwise.

“I want to go, think I’ll go and will be hoping for an orderly transition,” he said.

Handling Hideki

The New York Yankees collected 36 hits and 19 runs while winning two of three games in Anaheim, but the Angels otherwise did a number on Hideki Matsui, restricting him to three hits in 15 at-bats in their first look at the left fielder who leads the Yankees in runs batted in.

“Our guys did a good job pitching to him, but I also think he swung the bat better than three for 15 would indicate,” a diplomatic Mike Scioscia, the Angel manager, told Japanese reporters. “You can see he’s a legitimate hitter the way the ball jumps off his bat. It’s no surprise he had the numbers he did in Japan.”

Relief, Finally

At 28, after seven years in the San Francisco Giants’ farm system, relief pitcher Luis Estrella was recalled the other day and revealed that his memory is even longer than his wait had been.

Estrella attended Santa Ana Saddleback College and Cal State Fullerton, but he grew up rooting for the Dodgers rather than the neighborhood Angels.

Why?

Estrella said he was angry at former Angel third baseman Doug DeCinces, whose son, Tim, pitched against him in Little League.

“DeCinces would tell them how to pitch to us,” Estrella said. “A major league mind against Little League kids? I didn’t think that was fair.”

Change of Heart

Giovanni Carrara couldn’t have been more dejected when released by the Dodgers late in spring training, comparing it to a loss of family. He has found a new family in his adoption by the Seattle Mariners, and had contributed to their strong start, pitching 11 2/3 innings in nine relief appearances before the weekend with a 2.31 earned-run average.

“This is a great team, man,” he said. “They get behind and never give up. I feel so blessed to come here, especially three days before spring training was over. This is a team with a chance to go to the World Series.”

It wasn’t clear if he was saying the Dodgers weren’t.

Security Clearance

There is nothing funny about the spate of alcohol-stained incidents in which fans have run onto the field or thrown objects, and unless the punishment is significantly increased it would seem difficult to totally prevent them, no matter how much security there is or how little beer is served.

Texas Ranger Manager Buck Showalter, however, did find a way to bring a little levity to the incident in which his right fielder, Carl Everett, was struck in the head by a cellular phone thrown from the bleachers in Oakland.

Why would someone throw his cell phone?

“They must have been out of minutes,” Showalter said.

Wishful Thinking?

It may be just that if the Dodgers are hoping the streaking Giants come back to the NL West pack. With two managers and two casts of players, the Giants began the weekend having played 18 consecutive regular-season series since last losing one in August.