What? Seriously? Selig to get statue?
Yes, you read that right. The Milwaukee Brewers plan to unveil a statue of Bud Selig outside of Miller Park on August 24th.
When I think great Milwaukee baseball icons, I think Hank Aaron and Robin Yount – not Bud Selig. Yes, Bud Selig brought baseball back to Milwaukee after the Braves left for Atlanta. Bud also did two other great things for Milwaukee baseball – he volunteered to have the Brewers move from the AL to the NL (which given the weakness of the NL Central and the AL East dominance of the Wild Card not a bad move at all) and he managed to never discuss his own Brewers when the discussion of which teams to contract came around – that’s it.
Bud Selig was the “acting” MLB comissioner from 1992 – 1998 while still being the owner of the Brewers at the same time. He didn’t give up full ownership of the Brewers until 1998 when he became the full-time MLB Comissioner (and if you think he truly relinquished control of the Brewers I’ve got a bridge in New York City you can buy cheap). So, what happened in baseball between 1992 and 1998 – when he was both comissioner and Brewers’ owner? The Good – divisional realignment resulting in Wild Card (and imagine how that benefitted his Brewers being in the weaker NL); that’s about all. The Bad – Steroids ran rampant and there was a strike which caused the end of a season and the playoffs/World Series to be missed.
I’m betting, this will be Selig’s pose – after all, it’s what he was best at:
Huh? I have no idea what to do!
Statues should only be reserved for the great players or icons of baseball – Clemente, Ruth, Williams, Musial, Ruppert, Steinbrenner, Branch Rickey, Connie Mack, Walter O’Malley (owners that actually did something for the game as a whole). When I think of players or owners that deserve a statue, Selig’s name is no where near the list. What’s next? Selig for the Hall of Fame? Come on people of Milwaukee, put down the beer and brats and come to your senses!
13 Comments
You've got to be freaking kidding me.
and what's really sad, is I'm sure that's exactly how the conversation went
Guess they already have ones of Aaron and Yount.
If they really wanted to do another statue, Bob Uecker should have been next.
He's more of an icon of Milwaukee Brewers baseball than Selig
Other suggestions for Selig's pose:
his eyes shut while a person in front of him has a needle in his butt
I thought it was a joke at first…
what’s it say about the Brewers franchise that Selig is even in the discussion of getting a statue?
Can you imagine the talk:
rich guy #1: okay, we need to put a statue up outside Miller Park because all the teams are doing it. So who can we honor?
rich guy #2: how about Hank Aaron?
rich guy #1: No, he was really a Brave, never a Brewer.
rich guy #2: how about robin yount?
selig’s daughter: forget robin, what about my dad?
rich guys #1 and #2: YES! that’s it!
Why does Hank Aaron have a statue in Milwaukee? Just because he played for the braves? that would be like the Mets erecting a statue of Willie Mays because their interlocking NY logo is close to what the New York Giants had when Mays played there.
sorry Steve, but to me, 222 games as a Brewer isn't enough of a reason for the Brewers to retire his number – should the Mets retire Willie Mays' number too?
the statue outside the stadium for what he did in Milwaukee as a Brave is one thing…
Selig did manage to own a very successful team throughout the late 70's, the 80's and then again in the early 90's. The Brewers were one game from winning the WS in 82. He had two HOF players on his rosters for over 10 years each, and managed to run a very successful small market organization. He'd been the only owner of the ballclub prior to Attanasio, and as such deserves to be recognized for his committment to keep baseball in Milwaukee.
He successfully got a new stadium built in Milwaukee- which is an extremely great accomplishment- look at all the teams that have been unable to secure new stadiums in pro sports over the past 10-15 years who've had to move.
I don't see many people who love their cities so much that they are trying to buy up professional sports franchises to bring them to their city- which is exactly what Bud did. He gets alot of flack for what he's done as MLB Commissioner- maybe for good reason, but that's a different conversation.
What we're talking about here is his merits in Milwaukee, a community that would be VASTLY different without him. Comparing the Mets to the Brewers is comparing apples to oranges. The Mets have a much stronger past and play in a noncomparable market where infinite other entertainment options and teams are plentiful. Retiring Aaron's number and erecting a statue to him outside of Miller Park shows respect for a man who was, and in some circles remains, the city's hero.
The new Shea (or whatever it's called now) is just one of many places of gathering and community in New York. There are many other people and places that are important in NY. But imagine if Willie Mays was one of the only greats who ever came through the city, if he'd spent more time there, if the Giants were more popular (which they really weren't until right before they left the city) and if the city was much smaller? I'd imagine he might have a statue there as well…
Miller Park is a gathering point for Milwaukee- over 3 million fans in consecutive years? That's impressive, and that's Selig's legacy.
Like I said, bash him all you want for his body of work as Commissioner (though I might take some exceptions to that as well), but I don't see how you could have a problem with him getting a statue outside of Miller Park, a stadium that wouldn't be there without him in a city where baseball wouldn't be without him.
-and yes, I was refering to his final homerun, not his record breaking homerun (which I admit was not the way the post sounded)
…and to say "besides bringing baseball to Milwaukee" is to trivialize a HUGE deal. That's like saying, "besides being the only reason we have the United States, what did George Washington ever do for us?"
Aaron has a statue outside Miller Park because he broke the home run record as a Milwaukee Brewer, finished his career as a Milwaukee Brewer, and played in Milwaukee for the majority of his career.
Also, Bud Selig is an icon in Milwaukee sports for what he did to get that stadium built. He brought baseball to Milwaukee and kept it there, and has done more for the game in Milwaukee than anyone else.
Why do some people just need to rip on anything? It’s an honor for a man who bleeds baseball and helped make Milwaukee what it is today- a baseball town. Who could have a problem with that?
I’d suggest doing some basic homework about Hank Aaron before making stupid statements about him “just…playing for the Braves.”
and Steve – Aaron broke the record as an Atlanta Brave (not a Brewer), his final 755th was as a Brewer
besides bringing baseball from Seattle to Milwaukee, what else did Selig really do as an owner besides being the puppet commissioner for the other owners?
The points many of you make are valid to a point but why the hate for Selig? As much as he may have done "against" the game of baseball he has also done for baseball. Without Selig in power I am not sure that MLB comes even close to rivaling the NFL as the top money making sport in the USA. Yeah, Selig was part and parcel to the obfuscation of steriods in baseball but then who wasn't?
Selig is not as bad as everyone makes him out to be. Selig is a capitlistic money grubbing used to be used car salesman who was out of place as a small town MLB team owner but found his niche in baseball as the comissioner and fulfilled it quite well. He did for baseball what it needed most when it needed it and that was he made it into a money making propostiion for concerned so that it could sustain itself as it bounded forth into the the modern era. He created or spurheaded baseball as a multimultimedia business that took advantage and is still taking advantge of all that is out there to sell itself to the the masees and after all isn't that what he as the comissioner is/was supposed to do first and foremost?
Unfortuanbtely I do think baseball has over commercialized itself and needs to now unsell itslef to a point and some of its soul back and get back to being more of the game I grew up with but like it or not baseball is not as sucessful as it is today if not for Selig in my opinion.
Does he deserve a statue in Milwaukee? Sure why not? Because arguably MLB does not even exist in Milwaukee if it were not for Selig in one form or another.