Allan Huber "Bud" Selig, Jr. (born July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is the Commissioner of Major League Baseball and has served in that capacity since 1992, though not formally until 1998. blank">Selig Given 3-Year Contract Extension Selig oversaw baseball through the 1994 strike, the introduction of the wild card, interleague play, and the merging of the National and American leagues under the Office of the Commissioner. He was instrumental in organizing the _World Baseball Classic in 2006. Selig also introduced revenue sharing. x.htm" target="_blank">Selig emerges as the best of all of baseball's bosses He is credited for the financial turnaround of baseball during his tenure with a 400 percent increase in the revenue of MLB and annual record breaking attendance. Selig enjoys a high level of support from baseball owners. Baseball historian _Jerome Holtzman notes Selig as the best commissioner in baseball history.
Selig was also Commissioner of Baseball during the Steroids Era. The Mitchell Report, which was conducted at the request of Commissioner Selig, concluded that the MLB Commissioners, club officials, the Players Association, and the players all share "to some extent in the responsibility for the steroid era." The results of the Mitchell Report have caused some to call for Selig to step down as commissioner. Selig has pledged on numerous occasions to rid baseball of performance enhancing drugs, and has overseen and instituted many rule changes and penalties to that effect.
Selig was previously the team owner and team president of the Milwaukee Brewers. As a Milwaukee native, he is credited for keeping baseball in Milwaukee. In 1970, he purchased the Seattle Pilots and renamed them the Milwaukee Brewers after a minor league team he had watched in his youth. The Brewers went to the 1982 World Series and won seven organization of the year awards during his tenure. Selig remains a resident of Milwaukee.
On January 17, 2008, Selig's contract was extended by the MLB through 2012, at which point he plans to retire. Selig made $14.5 million in the 12-month period ending Oct. 31, 2005.
