A Letter From MLB Commissioner Bud Selig

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A few months ago, I wrote a letter to Bud Selig as part of a class project. Here was the letter I sent:

Dear Mr. Selig:

As part of a class project, we were assigned to write a letter to a person of interest; some wrote to President Barack Obama, others wrote to Former President George W. Bush. I chose to write to you for a variety of reasons.

I am passionate about the sport of baseball and wanted to discuss some of the issues facing the sport today. I would like to applaud you for the many of your implementations over the past few years.

Major League Baseball’s drug testing program is the strongest in sports.  It has definitely leveled the playing field since its installment. Baseball has been hit hard by a number of steroid and performance-enhancing drug allegations, but in my opinion, MLB has handled them well.

I am also a huge proponent of interleague play.

I was only six-years-old when it was instituted, but it has certainly added a whole new dimension to the game. As a Yankee fan, I have seen some great interleague moments at Yankee Stadium, such as in 2002, when the crowd gave a standing ovation to Byung-Hyun Kim when he returned to the Stadium for the first time since the 2001 World Series. The Subway Series, between the Mets and the Yankees, is also a great thrill; every year, there is a huge rivalry, between the Met and Yankee fans, in our school.

However, with all due respect, there are some policies in baseball that I disagree with.

I am against the use of instant replay in baseball for several reasons. As you stated in November 2005, “Human error is part of our sport.” I believe this sets baseball apart from other sports. In football, you can call back a touchdown, but prior to this year in baseball, you could not “call back” a home run. Replay exists in the NFL because the NFL is made for television. Baseball is on television, but it is made to be watched in person, without unnecessary breaks in action.

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