Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio said that he "spent about 20 hours" preparing for his presentation to the committee searching for the successor to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. Attanasio: "Not only looking at the macroeconomic drivers of baseball but a whole host of issues that concern the game. One of the things going into this interview did was give me an even greater appreciation for what Commissioner Selig has been able to achieve. You realize how broad based this job is and how many facets it touches. Not to mention being steward of the national pastime, which in itself is an enormous burden" (JSONLINE.com, 8/23).
CHOP 'TIL YOU DROP: Braves President Chair & CEO Terry McGuirk said of signing players to big contracts, "You just can't make a lot of mistakes. The big guys like the Red Sox, the Dodgers, the Angels, the Yankees, they can afford to make big mistakes. We don't have that luxury. [Former Braves 2B Dan Uggla] was one of my favorite guys on the team. It just killed me that whatever happened, but it just didn't work anymore. We took that hit" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 8/23). Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Jeff Schultz noted McGuirk is the "name at the top of the organizational chart." McGuirk "meets with the team's owner, Liberty Media, once a year and that's about the extent of the corporation's contact with the team" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 8/23).
SEATTLE SLEW: In Seattle, Ryan Divish noted the Mariners yesterday "announced a multi-year contract extension" for Exec VP & GM of Baseball Operations Jack Zduriencik. The announcement is "somewhat of a surprise since the Mariners refused to make public the one-year extension that Zduriencik had received before last season." But the Mariners are "in the midst of a playoff run, so that policy can obviously be amended" (SEATTLETIMES.com, 8/26). Mariners President Kevin Mather said that the logistics of Zduriencik's extension "came together" yesterday. Mather: "It was as simple as I had lunch scheduled with him, we were talking about 2015. It literally was that simple" (AP, 8/26).
RING MY LIBERTY BELL: In Philadelphia, Matt Gelb noted the Phillies entering last weekend "were averaging 3 hours and 11 minutes a game, the fourth-longest" in the NL. The average time between pitches this season "is 23 seconds." The time between pitches has "increased a full second" since '12. It does "not seem significant, but the math does not lie" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/24).
TEXAS BACK-STEP: In Dallas, Gerry Fraley noted the Rangers' average attendance through last weekend was down 4,009 from last season, the "second-largest decline in the majors" behind the Phillies at 7,846. At this rate, the Rangers "would finish with an attendance decrease of about 325,000," which translates into about $10M "less in revenue" (DALLASNEWS.com, 8/24).
