Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports outlines what I call the “Selig Doctrine” in his column yesterday with this quote about MLB ownership:

“Bud was consolidating,” one high-ranking baseball official said. “He wanted people who wouldn’t rock the boat – people who owed him and would serve under his throne.”

MLB is trying to wrestle control of the Dodgers away from Frank McCourt, the same owner that Selig did a background investigation in 2004 and said it ““revealed no known problems or any other matter that raises a question as to his qualifications or suitability to own a major league club.”

What Selig didn’t say back then was that McCourt did with completely borrowed funds. The Dodgers insolvency is nothing new as the Cubs, Mets, and Texas Rangers have all had/have issues the last three years. That means nearly 15% of big league franchises have been in financial jeopardy under Selig’s watch.

The facts are indisputable: An ownership crisis blossomed on Selig’s watch, and no matter how his allies try to spin it, ultimately he is responsible for the sport’s well-being. The best leaders are visionaries. Selig is paid upward of $20 million a year to know and to envisage. And when he ignored his own sport’s rules to force through an owner he now admits bought the entire franchise with borrowed money, he lost any claim to hindsight.

Golden Era of the sport, eh?

Leader? Visionary? Neither are adjectives to describe Selig. He gets paid $20 million dollars a year to keep the “status quo.” If you want to take on big issues like whether to determine home field advantage via a coin flip, then Selig will create a committee and be your man. Anything difficult about the sport and you might as well find Bud hiding under his Park Avenue desk. Right now, there are nine teams that currently violate MLB’s debt service rule. Does that sound like the commissioner is leading his sport into a prosperous future?

Oh, and you want to know why Selig approved McCourt? Because he was the favorite of FOX, who owned the Dodgers at the time, and Selig didn’t want to cross his television partner Rupert Murdoch. So he basically fed one of his storied franchises to the wolves.

The best quote in Passan’s piece is from Bob Daly, who was the Dodgers managing partner when they were owned by News Corp (FOX), who said “Fox, myself and MLB made a horrible mistake in not doing the proper due diligence on Frank McCourt. I helped get him approved, and for my piece I feel very bad about it. … He has been an embarrassment to this franchise. The sooner he gets the hell out of town, the better off we’ll all be as Dodger fans”

Glad to know that Daly “feels sorry” for what he’s done to a storied franchise. Another bunch of empty words from a corporate suit. There is a lot of that going around the country these days, so Daly can get in line. Wonder if he got permission from Murdoch to admit FOX culpability.

Also Remember that Mark Cuban can’t get a franchise under the “Selig Doctrine.” His solvency is outweighed by the fact that he is an individual with an open mind that speaks it. He is concerned about the well being of his team and sport. Why would you want someone like that as a member of the MLB country club?

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So Charlie Sheen admitted he did steroids while filming the first Major League in 1989.

He claims his fastball went from 79 to 85mph.

Check out this lengthy piece in Sports Illustrated, which goes behind the scenes about the creation of this classic film. Sheen actually calls the script “crack.” No comment.

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Neil Keefe of WFAN talks about his night listening to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman over at his blog “Keefe to the City.”

Those two are classic

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Great video out of the “time machine” via Bob’s Blitz.

Listen to Mike Francesa do updates for Don Imus in 1988. He talks about the Yankees big series with the Red Sox, Mets magic number to clinch the NL East, and appears to be annoyed by another injury to Bill Walton.

His update starts around the 51 second mark, and ends at 3 minutes.

It doesn’t sound like the same arrogant Francesa we have come to know today

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Bob Daly, Boston Red Sox, Bud Selig, Charlie Sheen, Chicago Cubs, Don Imus, FOX, Frank McCourt, John Sterling, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League, Mark Cuban, Mike Francesa, MLB, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Rupert Murdoch, Suzyn Waldman, Texas Rangers