After being elected as MLB's permanent commissioner
last week, Bud Selig said his first priority was to improve
relations with the players union, and USA TODAY's Hal Bodley
writes that the "quickest way" to do that is "to get the
union more involved. Let the players participate in the
decision-making process in areas that affect them." Bodley:
"It's unlikely a player or union executive will serve on the
Executive Council, but chances are excellent that union reps
will be asked to serve on some committees." Selig "could
start" by inviting MLBPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr to the owners'
meetings and Fehr to "have Selig attend the union's winter
convention" (Hal Bodley, USA TODAY, 7/14).
A SELIG ADMINISTRATION: Bodley adds that Selig's term
will "probably" begin in "about two weeks," and that he
plans "to take longtime executive assistant Lori Keck with
him when his office moves" from County Stadium to downtown
Milwaukee. Selig will "add to his staff" when the move
occurs in late fall (USA TODAY, 7/14)....In Denver, Tracy
Ringolsby writes, "With Bud Selig as commissioner, baseball
knows at least what it's getting. And, truth be told, it's
not all bad" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 7/14). An ORANGE COUNTRY
REGISTER editorial titled, "Baseball's Safe With Selig,"
stated, "[E]xpect Mr. Selig to continue on pretty much a
business-as-usual path as he manages in tandem with the
executive council. If the past year or two is any guide,
baseball leadership might finally have found an effective
combination" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 7/13). In N.Y.,
Murray Chass writes under the header, "Selig's Biggest Task:
End Owners' Sniping." Chass: "Now that he has been elected
commissioner, Selig may find some owners coming to him to
solve a problem for them or to ask him to act on a
controversial matter. If they do, Selig had better tread
carefully around corners and always look over his shoulder
to make sure one of those owners isn't holding a knife
inches from his back" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/14).
