Selig: He's Not My Bud!

Do you see that man praying?

He's probably praying to God that the media and Phillies fans will get off his case.

Chalk up another excuse to hate Arlen "Bud" Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

Since Selig became commissioner, first on an interim basis in 1992 and officially in 1998, he has performed some actions that have left pundits and fans alike to scratch their heads.

It was bad enough that a players strike occurred on his watch—cancelling the World Series, and leaving Expos fans to wonder what might have been.

It was terrible when he threatened to contract the Twins so that there could be an even number of teams in each division.

It was awful that he allowed a baseball All-Star Game, full of self- righteous millionaires who make more in a month then many of us will make in a lifetime, to end in a tie—depriving millions of fans the opportunity to see who truly was the best league.

It was downright cruel when he allowed that loser Jeffrey Loria to weasel his way out of the mess he created in Montreal and purchase the Marlins. In effect, he left the Expos in the hands of MLB executives that orchestrated a move to Washington DC, and treated the Expos and their fans like neglected children.

It's sad that he makes every concession to Fox, and allows them to start games at 8:30 at night so they can get their precious ad revenue, thus depriving us people on the East coast the chance to watch the game and get to bed at a decent hour.

But what he did yesterday was really low.

If the Rays come back and win this series, they can thank their pal Bud for allowing the momentum to swing their way.

As far as I know, there is no rule in baseball that prohibits the suspension of a game until it is official.

It starting pouring in Philadelphia around the third inning, but the Phillies were ahead.

It got worse over the next two innings, but the game was now official, and there's no way he'd stop it now because Rays fans will cry foul.

He waited until the Rays came back to tie the game to suspend it.

This now gives a distinct advantage to the Rays because it is unlikely that Cole Hamels will come back to pitch tonight, and the momentum is still clearly on their side. I can live with that.

What I can't live with however is the fact that yesterday, instead of making a decision for resuming the game close to 8 p.m., Selig simply gave up, declared the resumption postponed until today and took a plane to Milwaukee.

He should have at least waited until the late afternoon, and the fact that he left the Philadelphia area and refused to explain himself to the media, irks me further.

He also left the Rays to scramble to find a hotel in Wilmington Delaware—40 miles away—as the one they were staying at was unavailable.

Is this the kind of man you want running a major sports league?

My conclusion is clear, Bud must go!