One of the most polarizing men in baseball history, former commissioner Bud Selig, is heading to Cooperstown.
Selig and former Royals and Braves GM John Schuerholz were both elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday by the Today’s Game Committee.
Just announced on #MLBTonight – John Schuerholz and Bud Selig have been elected to the #HOF Class of 2017! pic.twitter.com/IA69IfBlUU
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 4, 2016
Selig’s induction was both inevitable and controversial. After buying the Seattle Pilots and moving them to Milwaukee in 1970, Selig owned the Brewers for more than two decades, then served as commissioner of baseball from September 1992 to April 2014. He oversaw loads of change, introducing interleague play, the wild card, MLB Advanced Media and the luxury tax system, among other things. The game exploded economically during his tenure, and after a devastating players strike in 1994, he negotiated two decades of labor peace.
Of course, Selig’s legacy is complicated. He was in charge during the “steroid era,” when negligence on the part of owners and executives contributed to the PED epidemic at least as much as players’ poor intentions. Under Selig, baseball paid little attention to steroids as they helped revitalize a lagging game, then launched a fierce War on Drugs that tarnished the sport’s credibility in the 21st century.
Selig’s fingerprints are all over the modern game, as we saw this week with the new collective bargaining agreement, which further shifted power from large markets to small ones and from players to owners. Whether or not you think propping up poor teams at the expense of rich ones (and thereby deflating player salaries) is a worthwhile goal, Selig accomplished exactly what he set out to do.
Though Selig will get all the headlines, Schuerholz was the true no-brainer on this ballot. He became general manager of the Kansas City Royals in 1981 and by 1985 had built a World Series-winning roster. In 1990, he took over the Braves’ front office and immediately constructed an NL East dynasty. Between 1991 and 2005 (exempting the 1994 strike-shortened season), Schuerholz’s Braves teams won their division every season and also captured five pennants and the 1995 World Series title. Schuerholz was the first GM ever to win the World Series in both the American and National Leagues.
Selig and Schuerholz were two of 10 people on the Today’s Game ballot. A panel of 16 former players and executives voted Sunday, with candidates requiring 12 votes or more to earn induction. Here were the complete results:
John Schuerholz: 16 votes
Bud Selig: 15 votes
Lou Piniela: Seven votes
Harold Baines: Fewer than five votes
Albert Belle: Fewer than five votes
Will Clark: Fewer than five votes
Orel Hershiser: Fewer than five votes
Davey Johnson: Fewer than five votes
Mark McGwire: Fewer than five votes
George Steinbrenner: Fewer than five votes
