Wednesday, August 07, 2002
Reds will get help, Selig says
Q&A with baseball commissioner
By John Erardi jerardi@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MILWAUKEE - The Cincinnati Reds would be a beneficiary if owners get their way in restructuring Major League Baseball's economic system, baseball commissioner Bud Selig told the Enquirer on Tuesday.
Mr. Selig and the owners want to increase revenue sharing and the luxury tax so that richer teams, such as the New York Yankees, can help subsidize poorer teams, such as the Reds.
Because the players' union contends that the amount of the revenue sharing and luxury tax being proposed would effectively act like a salary cap, the issue is on the negotiating table. Major League Baseball could be headed for its ninth work stoppage in the last three decades.
Under Mr. Selig's plan, he contends, Cincinnati will no longer be a have-not, though it still won't be the equal of such big-revenue, big-market clubs as the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves.
“I think that's right and that's good,” Mr. Selig said. “Cincinnati is a great baseball town. There's no question about that. It's one of the great baseball towns in this country with an unbelievably rich tradition ...”
“They're going into a new ballpark with a great ownership. If we can change the system, there is no reason why the Cincinnati Reds can't be a very competitive franchise - and I believe very strongly that they will.”
Selig took time to address a number of issues, ranging from the possible work stoppage that could hit baseball this summer, to the effects it could have on Cincinnati, to the status of all-time hits leader Pete Rose. Following are excerpts from that interview:
Q. How will a restructured baseball economy with significantly increased revenue-sharing benefit the Reds?
Selig: As you know, coming from Cincinnati, there are things that have to be dealt with. And everybody knows them today.... I keep saying this is a fight for the Cincinnatis, the Pittsburghs, the Kansas Cities, the Minneapolises, the Milwaukees, the San Diegos, the Detroits and the Houstons of the world. And I know owners like Carl Lindner get hit (in the media) in markets like that, and it's unfair. The thing that has really changed everything is the explosion of local media revenues - which is a product of number of households. There isn't anything you can do in Cincinnati, or Milwaukee or Kansas City. If clubs have an inherent advantage, it makes (competing) difficult.
I give (the NFL leaders of the 1960s and 1970s) a lot of credit. They understood it way back when. They showed a lot of vision and a lot of foresight.... There are a myriad of solutions that are going to be needed to fix this problem. The disparity has grown that much, both in gross revenue and in payroll. The Cincinnati club has a terrific job 1/2ndash 3/4 John Allen, Jim Bowden, Carl Lindner. They've done all they can do, including getting a new ballpark. But we need systemic change, and if we don't get it, (baseball can't flourish).
Q. You were the person responsible for instituting interleague play, but all the interleague rivals played one another this year, except the Reds and Indians. Can't that be brought back? It was a huge success in Cincinnati.
Selig: Yes, I know, that should be brought back. That's a great rivalry. Pittsburgh wants to play Cleveland; Cincinnati wants to play Cleveland. But, yes, we need to do that. Those are the kinds of rivalries that we need. Absolutely. No question.... In 1973, with Frank Dale of the Cincinnati club, we had a deal done that we were going to have six (interleague games) just before the All-Star break, but some National League guys, particularly (then-Dodgers owner) Walter O'Malley, didn't want it, but then we got it done (a few years ago).
Q. Do you sense fans are siding more with owners this time, and can you leverage that to help restructure the economics of the game, so well-run operations, no matter what the market size, have real chances to win a world championship?
Selig: I do sense (public support), but it doesn't matter (because some fans are staying away from games in protest of players making too much money). ... What we need to do, what I need to do, is to reduce the anger, to try to have a system where we don't have to go through this. You can see clubs really straining the last four or five years (to bring their fan base to where it was) 1/2ndash 3/4 Cincinnati is one 1/2ndash 3/4 and that's not fair. We need to do what the game has never done before. We didn't address our problems ... and, unfortunately, a lot of them have fallen into my lap. I'm saddened by it, but I have great resolution to solve these problems.
Q. Does the success of the have-nots - teams such as the Twins and Reds - undercut your position that smaller-revenue teams can't compete?
Selig: The Cincinnati club will be the first one to tell you, "How are we going to keep our players; how are we going to continue to be competitive?' In the meantime, every other division has the top payroll clubs (on top), so these (Minnesota and the Reds) are just an aberration. You'll always have maybe one aberration. ... When you look at the Yankees winning, and the Red Sox doing well, and Atlanta, Arizona and the Dodgers doing well, I think there's enough evidence.
Q. There are reports out of New York about Yankees owner George Steinbrenner being upset that teams such as the Reds are doing the equivalent of putting money earned in present revenue-sharing toward their financial contribution to the new ballpark instead of toward increasing payroll to help compete for a world championship. How do you square that with the smaller-revenue owners' argument that they need a greater share of the revenue pie to compete for a title?
Selig: Money has to be put in the way a club feels it should. If you put money in a new ballpark, that helps to generate revenue so you can spend more money. It should be spent to make the club's operations the best. That will help in the end, and it will mean enhanced payroll.
Q. What was your immediate reaction when you heard Jim Bowden's comments encouraging the union to be symbolic if they are going to strike, and go out on Sept.11, and that they should “let Donald Fehr drive the plane right into the building if that's what they want to do”?
Selig: I don't want to comment, because, as you know, I've already taken action (a fine). They (the comments) were very unfortunate. That's all I'm going to say.
Q. Bart Giamatti said that if Pete Rose were to reconfigure his life, he would be eligible for reinstatement. Do you agree with that, and what could constitute reconfiguration?
Selig: It's been a very unfortunate and sad situation. Pete was a great player. And it's one of those situations in life that I inherited that one wishes I hadn't. ... It's something where I've made all the appropriate public comment that I should. I don't think there's anything I can add to all that's been said.
Q. That said, and knowing your were a close friend of Giamatti's and shared his love for the game, how do you honor his words that if Rose reconfigured his life, he would be eligible for reinstatement. One would think you would want to know what Bart meant by those words and try to apply Bart's standard.
Selig: I think I know what Bart meant, and I just don't want to comment further. I understand the sensitivity of all this.
Q. Johnny Bench has said he'd like Pete Rose to be able to come back for these player reunions at Cinergy Field because the reunions aren't about Pete Rose, but are about honoring the teams and what they meant to the fans and the city. Is there any way an exception can be made so that Rose would be allowed back for the Sunday, Sept.22, game that is the last Reds game at Cinergy Field unless they make the playoffs?
Selig: I don't want to comment. This is the first I've heard of it. I've had no request from the Cincinnati club.
(Reds chief operating officer John Allen told the Enquirer before this season that he had asked Major League Baseball for permission and was told no. “We've had the conversation,” Allen said at the time. Allen was unavailable for comment Tuesday.)
Q. If the Reds put forth a request, would you consider it?
A. I don't want to even comment.
Reds Stories
Dorsch gets new kicking orders
Bengals Notebook: Dugans catches break
NFL Notebook: Run-it-up Redskins irk 49ers
Chang, Sampras provide Masters Tennis highlights
Masters Tennis Results & Schedule
Seething Hewitt blasts Tour
Chang surprises No. 3 Haas
Roddick revs for title drive
Title-hungry Henman ousts Kuerten
Tennis Notebook: Nieminen is in with Finns
Unser to return for Belterra 300
Nets get Mutombo for Van Horn, MacCulloch
• Return to Reds front page...
Reds will get help, Selig says
