Selig to reign through 2012

Baseball owners voted unanimously to give Bud Selig an extension through the 2012 season. 

Selig accepted the nomination, despite having previously stated that he would not return after the 2009 season. It’s no surprise that the owners have asked him to stick around, though. Revenues have grown from $1.6 billion to over $6 billion since Selig took control in 1992, and he’s determined to turn Major League Baseball into a global empire.

Fans have long criticized Selig’s initiatives as being strictly revenue driven, maintaining that he has been shortsighted as far as how his choices might impact the quality of the game.

He has expanded the league to include four new teams—the Marlins, Rockies, Devil Rays and Diamondbacks, bringing baseball to new markets while saturating the talent pool and introducing the mind-numbingingly awful potential to have a Tampa vs. Arizona World Series snoozer.

Selig also restructured the divisions, introduced the wild card and interleague play, developed revenue sharing, created the World Baseball Classic, ignored steroid use when it benefited him and villainized it once it didn’t.

But Selig isn’t done yet.

“By the time I leave, you won’t recognize the sport,” he said.

In what way is that a good thing?

Selig speaks

A portion of Bud Selig’s press conference on the Mitchell report: