Bud Selig Candid On Oakland Coliseum and Rays Attendance
Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig doesn’t speak candidly often. With his term coming to an end though, Selig got candid on the radio recently, opening up about the Oakland A’s stadium situation and Tampa Bay Rays poor attendance.
The Oakland Athletics play at O.co Coliseum, a stadium they share with the Raiders, and a stadium badly in need of being torn down and replaced.
Bud Selig referred to the coliseum as “a pit” before explaining, “It reminds me of old County Stadium and Shea Stadium. We need to deal with that. I’ve had a committee working on it for two or three years, and there’s no question we’re going to have to solve that problem.”
Of course, everyone knows about Selig’s committee and their ineptitude to solve the A’s stadium issue. According to Bud Selig, the situation is, “more complex. Look, you have one team that wants to move and the other team doesn’t want them to move, and it’s a very complicated situation. Before I leave, I’m satisfied we’ll work out something.”
Bud Selig was then asked about the Tampa Bay Rays poor attendance numbers, and he didn’t hold back, “That’s just disgraceful. I don’t know how much blunter I can be than that.”
Selig’s bluntness is appreciated. For years fans have been frustrated by his avoidance of answers to tough questions. It appears Selig is frustrated by skirting around the issues as well.
The new, candid Bud Selig makes sense though. His tenure is coming to an end and he’s thinking about his legacy. He wants to be known as the Commissioner who made things happen. He cleaned up the game from rampant steroid use after all, and hopes no one remembers how he let PEDs run the game for two decades.
Now Bud Selig is attacking the rest of issues he let become issues during his tenure. Does anyone really believe his “special committee” needed three years to determine the Oakland A’s needed a new stadium? Here’s to hoping they actually get one before Selig resigns his post.
[image via Wikimedia Commons]
