Selig's tactics threat to union

If he keeps this up, we'll have to start referring to Bud Selig as "Doctor Bud."
As in, Doctor of Spinology, i.e., the art of public relations.
Surely facing a contemptuous few months across the negotiating table from the Major League Players Association and their battle-tested leader, Donald Fehr, Selig pronounced earlier this week that the owners of the 30 major-league ball clubs agreed that they would not impose a lock out of the players through the World Series.
At first glance, this would seem to be good news for fans, who were subjected to no postseason back in 1994, the first time in 90 years that the World Series wasn't played.
But, what precipitated the '94 strike was a threat by owners to unilaterally impose new work rules in the off-season. The players felt they had no alternative but to strike.
In December of '94, the owners implemented a salary cap, which was immediately challenged by the union before the National Labor Relations Board. In March of '95, a federal judge ordered the owners to re-establish the old work rules and the players returned to the field. The regular season was delayed about three weeks.
Cape Fehr: If you believe Fehr, the announcement by Selig earlier this week is nothing more than another veiled attempt to impose new work rules -- again, a salary cap among them -- during the off-season.
There's little reason to doubt Fehr's claim. After all, part of Selig's announcement this week dealt with "competitive balance" and the issue of unbridled free agency.
The only feasible way to achieve either is to level the payrolls of the clubs, i.e., a salary cap. OK, there is one other way, but contracting all 30 major-league clubs, I don't think, is an option that would be serious considered.
And, let's face it, Selig is about the most "un-commissioner" ever seen in professional sports. He is after, a former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, a franchise now controlled by his daughter.
As a team owner, he was the point man for the movement to oust former commissioner Fay Vincent.
Remember when he moved the Brewers to the National League during the last expansion? Like Art Modell during the NFL-AFL merger, Selig didn't order the move out of any fondness for the game. The franchise received a substantial financial windfall. For the cash-starved Brewers, in the midst of building of a new stadium, the money for switching leagues came at a most opportune time.
Cap'n Bud: The job description for most pro sports commissioners is to serve as an intermediary between the owners and players. They enter contract negotiations only when there's an impasse. Their work is usually done behind the scenes.
Selig, meanwhile, serves as the spokesman for the owners. He doesn't ever seem to make a decision without first considering their interests.
Not that the players union shouldn't be watched carefully in this whole process, however.
There's no guarantee they won't strike again, as in '94, if they believe the owners will attempt to impose a different set of rules in the off-season.
There's no guarantee the season will be completed. Or that the postseason will be played.
Fehr, for instance, doesn't believe there is a "competitive imbalance." He will tell you that George Steinbrenner is simply more money-savvy than his counterparts in, say, Pittsburgh or Minnesota.
Those of us who purchase tickets to major-league baseball games know that some sort of salary cap and revenue sharing is going to be needed in the near future, to ensure the future of the game.
It's a shame that the people who run the sport can't agree on a way to get it done.
XRob Todor is sports editor of The Vindicator. Write to him at todor@vindy.com.