Not a lot of budging by Selig

Dan Shaughnessy

July 13, 2011|By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist

Commissioner Bud Selig deflected blame on how Frank McCourt (above) was… (File/Associated Press )

PHOENIX - Old School was on parade late yesterday morning in a conference room on the second floor of the downtown Sheraton here. Seventy-six-year-old Commissioner Bud Selig, on the job almost 20 years, was on hand to answer questions for the Baseball Writers of America and it felt like we were all stuck in the 1950s.

It was a trip back in time as 70 mostly grizzled scribes (68 men and two women) from 29 major league outposts assembled to hear about the state of the game from Uncle Bud.

This was no new-media tweetfest. If lodge members had been better-dressed and better-looking, we could have been on the set of “Mad Men.’’ I blended nicely with my black “at a glance’’ telephone/address book and my clunky BLT-sized tape recorder. Nothing digital about this group. Our idea of social media is the old days of open bars in the press box.

Bud was up to the task. He meets with the writers every year at the All-Star Game.

He started off by telling us how swell everything is going. Bud loves all the pennant races and the comeback sea sons by the Pirates and Indians. He said “all of our economic barometers are very strong.’’ He bragged about attendance numbers, television ratings, gross revenues, MLB.com, and the MLB Network.

“The game’s never been this popular,’’ he said.

Without mentioning that the NFL and the NBA are both in lockouts, Selig said he’s optimistic about the next Basic Agreement, characterizing talks as “constructive.’’

Before taking questions, Selig wanted to clear up yesterday morning’s rumor that Major League Baseball was upset with the Yankees’ Derek Jeter for blowing off the All-Star Game.

“Let’s put the Derek Jeter thing to bed,’’ he started. “There isn’t a player that I’m more proud of in the last 15 years than Derek Jeter. He has played the game like it should be played. He’s even been a better human being off the field, as great as he is on the field, so any concerns that I keep hearing about Derek Jeter …

“I know why Derek Jeter is not here and I respect that and I think I might have made the same decision that Derek Jeter did. Any suggestion that I, or anyone else around here, is not happy with him, is just false.’’

At this juncture, I was compelled to interrupt the good vibe with a question about the ugly situation regarding South Boston’s Frank McCourt and the bankrupt Dodgers. How was this man allowed to buy the Dodgers?