By Gregg Hoffmann
For WisBusiness.com
Bud Selig fought a bitter fight to get the financing and legislative approvals for Miller Park in the 1990s.
Now his image stands in bronze outside that stadium, and inside the Brewers benefit from a business standpoint every game.
“That was a disappointing period because of the politics,” said Selig, who served for years as president of the Brewers and now is commissioner of baseball.
“We just did not quit. We had a dream and felt we were headed in the right direction. Now generations of baseball fans can see games in Milwaukee and the state.”
Selig made his comments during a press conference after a bronze statue was unveiled of him outside Miller Park on Tuesday. His statue joins those of Hank Aaron and Robin Yount.
Aaron, Yount and current owner Mark Attanasio said baseball would not be in Milwaukee had it now been for Selig and his willingness to fight it out with the State Senate and Assembly, and local political officials.
“Simply put, there would not be major league baseball in Milwaukee without Allan H. “Bud” Selig,” Attanasio said. “There might not be major league baseball in many smaller cities around the country.”
The Brewers have surpassed 3 million in attendance in Miller Park and have other revenue sources available to them, such as luxury boxes and party rooms and decks, through the stadium. Selig also has championed revenue sharing among teams and management and the players’ union, which has helped small-market franchises.
More than 500 people from the world of sports, entertainment, business and politics attended the unveiling ceremony for the statue. Included were author and political commentator George Will, who writes periodically about baseball and is a friend of Selig.
Most major league team owners as well as Hall of Fame players Frank Robinson, Al Kaline, Ernie Banks and others attended the event.
Selig said the event and the last two to three weeks were “very emotional,” in which “I relived the last 50 years of my life, if not my whole life.”
While baseball is a business, Selig said it is “a social institution with enormous social responsibilities. It has a profound effect on society.” He recognized Rachel Robinson, the wife of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in big league baseball. Mrs. Robinson attended the event.
There was humor during the ceremony. U.S. Senator and owner of the Milwaukee Bucks Herb Kohl, a lifetime friend and roommate at UW of Selig, told a story about a neighborhood baseball game, in which he captained one team and Selig another.
Selig brought in a ringer, Kohl maintained, and the guy pitched a no-hitter. “I’ve told Bud for years it was a tainted win and that I lament that that this is the man who is the protector of the integrity of the game of baseball.”
Bob Uecker, who emceed the event, had the crowd laughing until the end. After Selig finished his speech, Uecker paused for a moment and then said, “Now we have to find a way to pay for this.”
