PHILADELPHIA -- Baseball commissioner Bud Selig received a
contract extension through 2009 Thursday as owners praised his
12-year reign, but dissension surfaced among teams in the decision
to launch a World Cup tournament.
Selig, who has presided over revolutionary changes in the most
traditional of major U.S. sports, was given the three-year
extension in a unanimous vote of the 30 teams. If he serves out the
new term, he will have held the job for 17 years -- the
second-longest tenure behind Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who became
the first commissioner in 1920 and held the job until he died in 1944.
The 70-year-old Selig, whose family controls the Milwaukee Brewers, became acting commissioner in 1992 after leading the group
that forced Fay Vincent's resignation. Selig was given a five-year
term in July 1998, and three years later owners extended it through
2006.
"In September 1992, I told my wife when I got off the plane, she asked how long it would be, and I said, 'Two to four months,' " Selig recalled. "It's got to be the longest two to four months in history."
In April 2003, he said his current term would be his last.
"I had a series of owners who asked me after that time not to
close my mind, and they were a little surprised that I had said
that," Selig said. "Once they have articulated that, I believe
that my responsibility and my feeling for the sport is such that I
want to do what they think is in the best interests of the sport.
... I finally felt it was the right thing to do."
Selig could be commissioner-for-life if he wanted to, according
to several owners.
"At this point, yes," the New York Mets' Fred Wilpon said.
"God willing, Bud's health will be good. His own interest may
change. But right now I'd say yes."
Colorado Rockies vice chairman Jerry McMorris said the group
would have extended Selig's term for however long he desired.
"If he had wanted six years, seven years, 10 years, I think he
would have gotten it today," McMorris said.
They also gave their preliminary go-ahead for the launch of a
World Cup tournament, which Selig finally admitted could not begin until 2006.
However, the Chicago White Sox, Detroit and Kansas City voted
against the World Cup and the New York Yankees abstained, one
baseball official said on the condition of anonymity. In addition,
Oakland made its vote for approval conditional, subject to
insurance for players being worked out to its satisfaction.
Under Selig, baseball expanded the playoffs from four to eight
teams in 1995, started interleague play in 1997, vastly increased
revenue sharing among the clubs, got players to agree to a luxury
tax on high-payroll clubs. Two years ago, players agreed to a labor
contract without a work stoppage for the first time since 1970.
"This sport was a dinosaur. It didn't change, and then when you
tried to change it, it obviously had a lot of critics," Selig
said. "But the competition among other forms of entertainment and
other sports will just intensify, and we have to be smart enough to
always stay ahead of that curve."
Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, told owners that
no decision had been made on where to move the Montreal Expos, but
that the relocation committee understood it was under time pressure
to make a decision, one official at the meeting said.
Washington and Northern Virginia remain the leading candidates
to land the franchise for next season, Baseball plans meetings
government officials from both those areas along with Las Vegas and
Norfolk, Va.
Baltimore owner Peter Angelos has objected to having a team in
either downtown Washington, about 40 miles from Camden Yards, or
Loudoun County, near Dulles International Airport, about 60 miles from Baltimore.
"I have a great affection for Peter Angelos, there's no
question about that," Selig said. "In the end, on all subjects,
you do what's in the best interests of the sport."
Several owners have said that without the Orioles issue,
Washington and Northern Virginia are clearly the top choices.
"I would think that's the general view," San Francisco Giants
owner Peter Magowan said. But he also added: "I'm sympathetic, as
I think every other owner is, to any decision that would have a
negative impact on any other owner."
Owners also approved the start of a baseball television network,
which hopes to reach the air in July or October 2005.