The branding of Bud

A strong boss would have Barry Bonds taken out beforehand to avoid this bit of unpleasantness.

 

Or he can just stick with his go-to reaction:



Personally, I think he should be there. While I don't believe Bonds did it clean, Selig has to go one of two ways: Asterisk the achievement, or be there and celebrate it. There's no middle ground. Either Selig actually takes a stand )and says it's tainted, or he shows up to the game. My guess is he shows up.

 

Selig needs to be there, or he needs to charge Bonds with a crime. Bonds either breaks the record or he doesn't--if he does, you do your job and represent baseball regardless of personal feelings. Otherwise find a way to definitively discredit all those home runs. Can't have it both ways.

 

Yeah. He can sit in the same one Bowie Kuhn did when Aaron broke Ruth's record...

 

The fact that we are even "debating" this tells you the importance of this future record.

 

So should Selig follow around Bonds when he gets to 755 until he breaks it?
It could take a while for Bonds to get pitches. Giving up 756 is the last thing any pitcher wants. With the rest of the Giants lineup pretty weak I won't be surprised if it takes him longer because he'll start seeing fewer and fewer pitches.
I remember when Roger Clemens was going for his 300th win, it seemed like it took him a good three weeks between 299 and 300.
This isn't like Cal Ripken's record where you all but knew the date in which it would happen.

 

Doesn't matter if he's there at the precise moment, he still has to do the shake hands thing, even if it's the next night.

 

So when does Bud "need" to make that first appearance?

When Bonds is at 755, because the next one breaks it?

At 754, because Bonds could always hit two in a game and break it?

At 753, because Bonds could always hit three in a game and break it?

And should Bonds go into a home run drought, how long must Bud travel with the show? A week? Two weeks?

That's why I say Bud doesn't have to commit to anything.

A home run is not like Michael Jordan being two points from the all-time scoring record. You know Jordan will get those two points. You don't know when Bonds will hit the HR.

 

I'm not saying independent of the owners, I realize who he works for. I'm saying completely independent of any team. More or less, just someone competent would be nice.

 

Sorry, he should follow him around. He was there in 1998, I'm pretty sure he was there in 2001, he needs to be there this year. He should be there starting at 754. If Bonds hits three in a game to break the record, I think we can all let the Commish slide for missing it. There's virtually no chance a team would give him a chance to break it after he hit two previous homers in the same game.

A big part of Selig's job is represent MLB. It's not like you're asking him to go above and beyond his job duties and no one's asking him to neglect his other duties. There is nothing he does in his offices that he can't do on the road.

This is a no-brainer, no matter how much he or other people don't like Bonds.