J.R. Tidwell, Sports, Sports Columnists
 By  J.R. Tidwell Published 
5:59 am Saturday, January 14, 2012

Selig does a good job in MLB

Selig has signed a contract extension through 2014. He has been claiming since 2006 that he would retire, but most people never believed this.

His wife Sue said he would not walk away from baseball when his contract was up this December.

She was right.

Selig took over as commissioner after Fay Vincent was canned in 1992.

29 out of the 30 MLB team owners voted to give him the extension.

Who was the one who voted no?

The AP was told by a source that wished to remain anonymous that it was San Diego Padres owner John Moores. He voted no in response to Selig’s deferment of a vote to sell the Padres to Jeff Moorad.

Selig said he deferred the vote because he needed some clarification on some financial information concerning the deal.

Apparently Moores didn’t take to kindly to this.

The other team owners basically started a movement to keep Selig.

His popularity most likely stems from the labor peace the MLB has had over the past 17 years.

There has not been a dispute since 1995, and Selig helped settle the labor arguments after the last of eight work stoppages occurred that year.

Selig helped get an agreement signed between the player’s union and owners in 2011 that guarantees no labor disputes through 2015.

This means the MLB will have had a 20-year run of labor peace under his tutelage.

In case you’re still wondering, Selig is my favorite commissioner of any major professional American sport. Roger Goodell and David Stern both just stared down strikes and major labor disputes. Stern — the worst of the bunch — saw half his 2012 season go up in smoke because he couldn’t get everyone to agree on a deal for so long.

Stern, who has been the center of several controversies during his tenure as the NBA commish, proved late last year by vetoing a trade that he can and will overstep his boundaries to try to appease the small-market teams who don’t want big and rich teams to stack up talent.

Sucks to be them. Either find a way to make more money, better the players you have or decide that losing is alright for you, NBA small-markets. Don’t hide behind Stern while begging him to keep the Lakers from getting better.

Also on Franklin County Times
Cameras give law enforcement a leg up
Main, News, Russellville, ...
Kevin Taylor For the FCT 
March 25, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE – olice Chief Chris Hargett was at a conference in 2020 and while passing by some of the vendors there, he noticed one promoting a camera...
Defense project has public, vets ‘excited’
Main, News, Z - News Main
By Brady Petree and Addi Broadfoot 
March 25, 2026
BARTON— The queue of people clamoring to get into the Hadrian facility on Friday was lined down the sidewalk as members of the public and military vet...
Flanagan enjoys romance book cover modeling
Main, News, Phil Campbell, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
March 25, 2026
PHIL CAMPBELL — What started as a few comedy videos on TikTok has grown into a career that has taken Andrew Flanagan from a welding job to romance nov...
Still waiting for rural ambulance answers
Columnists, Opinion
March 25, 2026
Rural Alabama has been waiting decades for access to affordable health services — and despite the empty promises of a bill funneling millions of dolla...
GFWC focuses on Alzheimer’s
Columnists, Opinion
HERE AND NOW
March 25, 2026
The GFWC Book Lovers Study Club focused on Alzheimer’s awareness during its March meeting at Russellville First Baptist Church. Alzheimer’s disease gr...
Pitching is key focus for Patriots
College Sports, Sports
By Brady Petree For the FCT 
March 25, 2026
The 2024-25 collegiate baseball season was a solid one for the Northwest Shoals Community College Patriots and head coach David Langston knows what it...
Patriots build on strengths for fourth season
College Sports, Sports
By Addi Broadfoot For the FCT 
March 25, 2026
The softball program at Northwest-Shoals Community College continues to grow as it enters its fourth season since being relaunched. Head coach Angel B...
RHS boys soccer aiming for state run
B: Spring Sports, High School Sports, Russellville Golden Tigers, ...
By Addi Broadfoot For the FCT 
March 25, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — The boys soccer team is off to a strong start this season and is aiming for a deep playoff run. Coach Larsen Plyler said the team has t...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *