Lucky Hall Of Famer Number 44 - Bud Selig (And a Word On Commissioners In the Hall Of Fame)

    Bud Selig was MLB's commissioner from 1992 through 2014. Perhaps the most controversial commissioner in history, a lot of people loved his changes and a lot of people hated them. I, for one, am not a fan of his policies, but that is not the main reason why I object to his induction. The commissioner has historically had an easy spot in Cooperstown. It doesn't matter if he did what was in the best interests for fans and players; if you sit in the commissioner's seat for ten years, you're almost an automatic Hall of Famer. While a couple of them may deserve to be enshrined, very few if any actually should. 

    Selig, in particular, did a terrible job as commissioner, in my opinion. During his tenure, he made some ruinous changes to the game, such as interleague play (making the distinction between AL and NL teams essentially pointless) and the addition of wild cards and division series (making league and division championships much less meaningful). He also drew much criticism for his handling of the steroid issue in the early 2000's, his part in the sale of the Montreal Expos, and the 1994 strike. He almost caused another strike in 2002 during the negotiations for the Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

    Bud Selig made the Hall of Fame because he made so many changes to baseball, but almost every one was horrible. However, since he held the job for 23 seasons, he earned a spot in Cooperstown almost right away. I fear that if we give commissioners so much praise for making moves, then they will keep making bad decisions. Right now, commissioner Rob Manfred is already competing for Selig's title of worst commissioner ever, and I fear that he may one day be inducted just for holding the job. 

My Opinion: Commissioners really have no business being in Cooperstown. We may stretch to induct a few great ones, but commissioners such as Selig and Manfred should never be inducted.