By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig was in town Monday to address "Young Presidents," a group of local company presidents. Some of them are also Reds fans, so they wanted Selig's take on the team's demise.

"I talked to them very candidly about it," Selig said. "When a club does what Cincinnati did, it's very controversial. Branch Rickey used to say don't ever look at a trade for three to five years.

"I can tell you this club got a lot of good young talent. They did the things they have to do to become competitive in the coming years."

Selig asked for patience.

"When I come here in two years, we won't have the same conversation," he said.

Selig addressed the other Cincinnati hot-button topic - Pete Rose - but he didn't say anything new.

As to the reports that Reds owner Carl Lindner is interested in bringing Rose back to manage, Selig said:

"You better ask him. The application for re-instatement is under review . . . Since I'm the judge, I don't think it's appropriate that I comment on that. What happens after that, only time will tell."

Selig also said that the issue will not necessarily be resolved in November.

"I keep reading that," he said. "I don't have a timetable."

Selig did not stay for the game. He was off to Puerto Rico to watch the Montreal Expos play. The Expos issue is another Selig has to resolve, but he's pleased with the overall state of the game.

"Ten years ago, I pushed the wild card," he said. "Oh, the abuse I took. The game is being ruined. So we have, on September the 8th, 17 clubs in contention - a lot of them small-market clubs.

"The game's having a wonderful year."

That's not a lot of consolation for Reds fans.

Again, Selig asks for patience.

"The economics are starting to kick in," he said. "Where was the game five, 10 years ago and where is it now?"