While it is true that Bud Selig's present public profile stands somewhere between George O'Leary and the woman who hosts "Weakest Link," he can say he got some good news Wednesday.
|  | | Rep. John Conyers has spent the last few days insinuating himself into baseball's politics. |
Namely, that Congressman John Conyers pushed for his resignation as commissioner of baseball.
This is, plainly put, the direct opposite of the dreaded vote of confidence coaches get from owners right before they are fired. Even Selig's most ardent critics (the people in that long line) know one thing -- of all
the people who want him to quit, a congressman is least qualified to express the urge.
Especially a congressman whose command of the issues here can be matched by that of a small blowfish.
Selig's latest transgression against the rules of common sense was to take a loan from a finance company connected to Minnesota owner Carl Pohlad. The loan is six years old. The story is fresh. Selig's public profile is
ripe.
But John Conyers? Please.
Now we don't wish to assess Conyers' career in public service. We've heard largely good things about the fellow, even from Republicans who are normally bound to call a Democrat a weasel in human form.
But on the matter of Selig's resignation, he is barking up the wrong loan officer.
Not because Selig's resignation would necessarily be a bad thing; we take no stand on that, believing that all men are capable of learning eventually.
Selig's resignation wouldn't change anything in a material sense, however, because as commissioner he has reminded us that the commissioner is baseball's equivalent of the grand marshal of the Rose Parade. He rides on
the trunk of the convertible and waves, but he goes where the driver aims the car.
Besides, the present contraction/labor problem/revenue sharing whipsaw is largely a problem of Selig's choosing, and he should have to dig his way out, one way or another.
It's basic parenting, after all. The kid who makes the mess, cleans up the mess.
Beyond that, though, we also understand that government's understanding of baseball's internals largely begins and ends with the President throwing out the first pitch.
Frankly, Conyers' involvement here not only smacks of self-indulgence, but reeks of it. His interest in Selig's future not only misses the point, but is classic political grandstanding. See a problem that is none of your business and evades your areas of expertise, and spout off about it -- God, it's so C-SPAN it makes you bleed out your ears.
Selig's resignation may be an intriguing notion to some, but he is still an employee rather than an emperor. If he is someday to be replaced, it should be not by another guy with a daughter who can run the store while Dad's away, but by someone who is paid by both the owners and players, who has a sufficiently long and lucrative contract and a sizable enough buyout to give him (or her) freedom of action to lead baseball with a clear, understandable, fully beneficial vision.
In other words, a kind of commissioner baseball has never had.
But short of that -- no, based on the job's current limitations, Selig is roughly average. Popular with some owners, endured with a smile by others, ignored by all of them when his desires cross theirs. His history is that of a deal-maker, a schmoozer, a vote-counter -- in short, a baseball politician.
Which makes Conyers' calls for Selig's resignation all the sillier. Whatever happened to professional courtesy?
Perhaps all these issues can be solved, at least in the short term. Maybe contraction will be shelved, as it should be. Maybe the next labor war can be delayed awhile. Maybe the owners can get more serious about revenue sharing than this 50 percent nonsense.
Then, if Selig wants to resign, fine. It's a free country, especially free with golden parachutes to ease the landing.
But only if John Conyers becomes the next commissioner. Then he can see what can be done when an amateur tries to turn pro, and rue the day he ever spoke up in the first place.
Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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