Selig overwhelmed by visit, future enshrinement

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Bud Selig has been to the BaseballHall of Famemore times than he can remember. Still limping as he recovers from a stress fracture in his right leg, the 82-year-old former commissionerwon’tsoonforget his latest visit — a tour to prepare for his induction this summer.

“Amazing. Amazing. It’s almost hard to conceive,” he said Thursday, sitting just a few feet fromthewall where his plaque will hang after his induction in July. “I didn’t think anything could overwhelm me. This is overwhelming.”

Selig and longtime Atlanta Braves general manager John Schuerholzwere elected in December by a veterans committee. Schuerholz was a unanimous pick and Selig appeared on all but one of the 16 ballots. During his more than two decades as MLB’s leader, Selig was instrumental in the approval of interleague play, the expansion of the playoffs, dividing each league into three divisions with wild cards, instituting video review and revenue sharing in an era that saw 20 new ballparks get constructed. He also oversaw the game when it went through the Steroids Era and canceled the1994World Series inthe midst of a players’ strike.

“Given everything there are things that happenedthat are very sad— in the end I know what I set out to do and we pretty much accomplished it,” said Selig, who teaches history at three colleges in his spare time. “Yeah, there are things that happened that I think we reacted well to and got done what you had to get done. ...”

Selig was a car dealer when he headed the group that purchased the Seattle Pilots in bankruptcy court in1970 andmoved the team to Milwaukee.

“I remember as a kid walking the streets trying to get a team for Milwaukee, 30 years old, having no idea how this was all going to work out,” Selig said. “Didn’t even know if we were going to get a team. Then you look at the next 52-53 years. This is a great day inmy life.”