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For the Good of the Game: The Inside Story of the Surprising and Dramatic Transformation of Major League Baseball
A New York Times bestseller
The longtime Commissioner of Major League Baseball provides an unprecedented look inside professional baseball today, focusing on how he helped bring the game into the modern age and revealing his interactions with players, managers, fellow owners, and fans nationwide.
More than a century old, the game of baseball is resistant to change—owners, managers, players, and fans all hate it. Yet, now more than ever, baseball needs to evolve—to compete with other professional sports, stay relevant, and remain America’s Pastime it must adapt. Perhaps no one knows this better than Bud Selig who, as the head of MLB for more than twenty years, ushered in some of the most important, and controversial, changes in the game’s history—modernizing a sport that had remained unchanged since the 1960s.
In this enlightening and surprising book, Selig goes inside the most difficult decisions and moments of his career, looking at how he worked to balance baseball’s storied history with the pressures of the twenty-first century to ensure its future. Part baseball story, part business saga, and part memoir, For the Good of the Game chronicles Selig’s career, takes fans inside locker rooms and board rooms, and offers an intimate, fascinating account of the frequently messy process involved in transforming an American institution. Featuring an all-star lineup of the biggest names from the last forty years of baseball, Selig recalls the vital games, private moments, and tense conversations he’s shared with Hall of Fame players and managers and the contentious calls he’s made. He also speaks candidly about hot-button issues the steroid scandal that threatened to destroy the game, telling his side of the story in full and for the first time.
As he looks back and forward, Selig outlines the stakes for baseball’s continued transformation—and why the changes he helped usher in must only be the beginning.
Illustrated with sixteen pages of photographs.
The longtime Commissioner of Major League Baseball provides an unprecedented look inside professional baseball today, focusing on how he helped bring the game into the modern age and revealing his interactions with players, managers, fellow owners, and fans nationwide.
More than a century old, the game of baseball is resistant to change—owners, managers, players, and fans all hate it. Yet, now more than ever, baseball needs to evolve—to compete with other professional sports, stay relevant, and remain America’s Pastime it must adapt. Perhaps no one knows this better than Bud Selig who, as the head of MLB for more than twenty years, ushered in some of the most important, and controversial, changes in the game’s history—modernizing a sport that had remained unchanged since the 1960s.
In this enlightening and surprising book, Selig goes inside the most difficult decisions and moments of his career, looking at how he worked to balance baseball’s storied history with the pressures of the twenty-first century to ensure its future. Part baseball story, part business saga, and part memoir, For the Good of the Game chronicles Selig’s career, takes fans inside locker rooms and board rooms, and offers an intimate, fascinating account of the frequently messy process involved in transforming an American institution. Featuring an all-star lineup of the biggest names from the last forty years of baseball, Selig recalls the vital games, private moments, and tense conversations he’s shared with Hall of Fame players and managers and the contentious calls he’s made. He also speaks candidly about hot-button issues the steroid scandal that threatened to destroy the game, telling his side of the story in full and for the first time.
As he looks back and forward, Selig outlines the stakes for baseball’s continued transformation—and why the changes he helped usher in must only be the beginning.
Illustrated with sixteen pages of photographs.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 9, 2019
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629 people want to read
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August 4, 2019
From working for his dad as a used car salesman “for only one year” to becoming the ninth commissioner of baseball, Bud Selig lived a charmed life, capped off by being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. His work in baseball, first as an owner of the Milwaukee Brewers (and being the key person to bringing the bankrupt Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee) and then as commissioner is remembered by Selig in this memoir.
Anyone who is familiar with the game knows that Selig was commissioner during two of the game’s most trying times – the 1994-95 strike that resulted in cancellation of the World Series and the era in the 1990’s and early 2000’s in which many players took performance enhancing drugs (PED’s) in order to gain a competitive edge and as a result, broke many of the sport’s most revered records. While Selig covers those topics thoroughly, there is much more to the book that does reveal the joy that baseball brings to him and the passion he has specifically for Milwaukee baseball.
This is evident in the very first chapter, as Selig talks about his anguish about having to be present at the ballpark when Barry Bonds would break Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. He didn’t spend much time criticizing Bonds, but instead was talking about how much of a friend Aaron was to him, going back to Aaron’s time in Milwaukee, both early in his career with the Milwaukee Braves and the end of career with the Brewers. This line about Bonds’ breaking of the record with the controversy of PED’s and Bonds’ surly personality speaks volumes about Selig’s view on the record – “We didn’t get the genie back in the bottle in time to protect Aaron’s legacy.”
Selig writes that he started addressing the PED issue back in 1997, before the great home run chase between two other players caught up in the scandal ,Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa. He states that while he cared, he may not have been forceful enough between the language in that memo and subsequent actions. Selig compared his memo to the one his predecessor, Fay Vincent, sent in 1991 as “well intentioned but lacking teeth.” This is how he addresses his critics who say that he ignored the issue while fans flocked to the ballpark watching Sosa and McGuire. He also placed a lot of blame at the feet of the players union, stating that they were always more concerned about the privacy of the players instead of allowing drug testing. He also used the 2005 Congressional hearings in which Sosa, McGuire, Rafael Palmeiro appeared as one to blame the union, stating in the book that “there were only so many times that I could say ‘We would have a much tougher program if the union would agree.’”
This is an interesting passage in the scope of labor relations, a topic Selig addresses frequently in the book. Along those lines, he does note that in reality, the commissioner does work for the owners as they appoint him to the job. He admits that the owners had not been united and did not have great leadership for labor relations for 30 years, resulting in the strikes in 1981, 1985 and 1994. He called the negotiations as a “one-sided nature” for those 30 years, yet fails to also mention that for decades before that, it was strongly one-sided the other way with the reserve clause. These are a few examples in which it appears Selig is either contradicting himself (such as his praise for Marvin Miller) or trying to appease everyone with his actions on these two matters.
What was also noteworthy to me was his lack of mention of some other topics during his reign that caused some controversy. One of these was the proposal to contract the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos – he briefly mentions this when talking about the struggles the Expos had to get a new stadium built with public funds. He didn’t even mention the Twins were one of the clubs on the chopping block. He has always avoided this topic, even when some give him credit for forcing the issue of a new stadium in Minnesota resulting in the building of Target Field.
That is surprising, considering how much of the book was self-congratulatory in nature. Some of that is expected as there were some good accomplishments during Selig’s time as commissioner, such as the wild card inclusion in postseason play, use of instant replay to determine close calls when challenged by a manager and yes, drug testing. While that kind of dialogue will be present in any memoir, it was a continuous theme throughout this book.
So with all of this seemingly negative critique, why is the book a solid four stars? Because it is compelling – I enjoyed reading this. I spent an entire afternoon choosing to read this book instead of watching a Yankees-Red Sox game. If a book can capture my attention away from a great rivalry game, that means the book is very interesting and entertaining. One doesn’t have to be a fan of the Brewers or Selig to enjoy this – heaven knows I was never a fan of him and even after reading this book, I am still not – but readers who are at all interested in this era of the sport, no matter how they felt about him, should take a look at the book
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Anyone who is familiar with the game knows that Selig was commissioner during two of the game’s most trying times – the 1994-95 strike that resulted in cancellation of the World Series and the era in the 1990’s and early 2000’s in which many players took performance enhancing drugs (PED’s) in order to gain a competitive edge and as a result, broke many of the sport’s most revered records. While Selig covers those topics thoroughly, there is much more to the book that does reveal the joy that baseball brings to him and the passion he has specifically for Milwaukee baseball.
This is evident in the very first chapter, as Selig talks about his anguish about having to be present at the ballpark when Barry Bonds would break Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. He didn’t spend much time criticizing Bonds, but instead was talking about how much of a friend Aaron was to him, going back to Aaron’s time in Milwaukee, both early in his career with the Milwaukee Braves and the end of career with the Brewers. This line about Bonds’ breaking of the record with the controversy of PED’s and Bonds’ surly personality speaks volumes about Selig’s view on the record – “We didn’t get the genie back in the bottle in time to protect Aaron’s legacy.”
Selig writes that he started addressing the PED issue back in 1997, before the great home run chase between two other players caught up in the scandal ,Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa. He states that while he cared, he may not have been forceful enough between the language in that memo and subsequent actions. Selig compared his memo to the one his predecessor, Fay Vincent, sent in 1991 as “well intentioned but lacking teeth.” This is how he addresses his critics who say that he ignored the issue while fans flocked to the ballpark watching Sosa and McGuire. He also placed a lot of blame at the feet of the players union, stating that they were always more concerned about the privacy of the players instead of allowing drug testing. He also used the 2005 Congressional hearings in which Sosa, McGuire, Rafael Palmeiro appeared as one to blame the union, stating in the book that “there were only so many times that I could say ‘We would have a much tougher program if the union would agree.’”
This is an interesting passage in the scope of labor relations, a topic Selig addresses frequently in the book. Along those lines, he does note that in reality, the commissioner does work for the owners as they appoint him to the job. He admits that the owners had not been united and did not have great leadership for labor relations for 30 years, resulting in the strikes in 1981, 1985 and 1994. He called the negotiations as a “one-sided nature” for those 30 years, yet fails to also mention that for decades before that, it was strongly one-sided the other way with the reserve clause. These are a few examples in which it appears Selig is either contradicting himself (such as his praise for Marvin Miller) or trying to appease everyone with his actions on these two matters.
What was also noteworthy to me was his lack of mention of some other topics during his reign that caused some controversy. One of these was the proposal to contract the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos – he briefly mentions this when talking about the struggles the Expos had to get a new stadium built with public funds. He didn’t even mention the Twins were one of the clubs on the chopping block. He has always avoided this topic, even when some give him credit for forcing the issue of a new stadium in Minnesota resulting in the building of Target Field.
That is surprising, considering how much of the book was self-congratulatory in nature. Some of that is expected as there were some good accomplishments during Selig’s time as commissioner, such as the wild card inclusion in postseason play, use of instant replay to determine close calls when challenged by a manager and yes, drug testing. While that kind of dialogue will be present in any memoir, it was a continuous theme throughout this book.
So with all of this seemingly negative critique, why is the book a solid four stars? Because it is compelling – I enjoyed reading this. I spent an entire afternoon choosing to read this book instead of watching a Yankees-Red Sox game. If a book can capture my attention away from a great rivalry game, that means the book is very interesting and entertaining. One doesn’t have to be a fan of the Brewers or Selig to enjoy this – heaven knows I was never a fan of him and even after reading this book, I am still not – but readers who are at all interested in this era of the sport, no matter how they felt about him, should take a look at the book
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
August 3, 2019
I went to a talk by Bud Selig and as part of the admission, you received a copy of this book, signed by Selig himself. The talk was basically a summary of the book, and he told all of the interesting parts at his lecture. Basically, Selig states that when he took over as acting and later on as baseball commissioner, the sport was in dire straits. Many of the small and medium market teams were in danger of closing up shop. This may or may not be true, but it definitely worked on forcing the cities to pony up the money for new stadiums to hold on to their respective teams including Selig's Milwaukee Brewers. Selig praises the Wisconsin state rep who was the deciding vote to tax Milwaukee area citizens to build Selig a new stadium, Miller Park in Milwaukee. That state rep was later unceremoniously voted out of office. But why should regular citizens pay for a stadium for owners? When Selig sold the Brewers, I am pretty certain that he did not share his profits with the state rep or the community. For some reason, he sees baseball as such a civic good that citizens should be forced to pay taxes for it. I, obviously, do not agree.
Selig also spends a lot of time excusing his lack of acton on the steroid crisis. He blames the players union and his and the owners lack of knowledge on the subject. This may be true, but how could no one notice when Mark McGuire and Barry Bonds grew to twice their normal size.
This book is only for true baseball fans who want to hear a one sided argument on the past and the future of the sport.
Selig also spends a lot of time excusing his lack of acton on the steroid crisis. He blames the players union and his and the owners lack of knowledge on the subject. This may be true, but how could no one notice when Mark McGuire and Barry Bonds grew to twice their normal size.
This book is only for true baseball fans who want to hear a one sided argument on the past and the future of the sport.
August 7, 2019
Very interesting autobiography from the ninth commissioner of baseball. Bud Selig grew up in Milwaukee with a love of baseball that was passed on by his mother. After graduating college, he joined his dad’s very successful car business. That changed when the Milwaukee Braves left town. He was heartbroken. He started a group to bring baseball back to Milwaukee. He succeeded in 1971 when he moved the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee to become the Brewers.
After owning the team for twenty years, he took over as the ninth commissioner in baseball after Fay Vincent resigned. He led baseball for over twenty years through some very interesting and turbulent times. At the end no one could argue that baseball went from chaos to a very strong entity with record revenues.
The biggest thing I took from this book is that Bud Selig seems like a nice thoughtful man. He is maybe slightly arrogant. His view of how things went down is slightly bias, but it is his view and book so I would expect that.
The best part about this book was the inside view you got of everything in the baseball world. One story that sticks out was the time Mr. Selig and his wife went to visit George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner’s secretary comes out of office crying because Steinbrenner fired her because she ordered the wrong sandwich. Selig’s wife admonishes Steinbrenner and makes him go out and rehire her. You also got an inside view to the labor agreements as well as an look at Mr. Selig’s friendship with George W. Bush. This includes how baseball handled 9/11 and President Bush’s appearance at that years World Series.
I found the sections around the labor piece of baseball fascinating. The 1994 strike and cancelled World Series was interesting with President Clinton to try to mediate. How in Mr. Selig’s eyes President Clinton and especially Vice President Gore backed away from their word was captivating. I remember being devastated as a teenager by that strike and to hear one of the major players in the whole saga say after the fact looking back on it the whole strike wasn’t worth it and didn’t accomplish most of what was needed to be done was disappointing.
The only other disappointing thing in this book was that Mr. Selig only briefly mentioned Contraction during the early 2000’s. It was only a sentence or two and he didn’t go into any detail. Being s fan of a team that was possible going to be contracted, The Minnesota Twins, I really wanted to know more. Was it a negotiation ploy or was it really something that was given serious consideration?
Overall this is a very good book. If you love baseball or just want to get an insiders view of labor negotiations in sports, this is the book for you.
After owning the team for twenty years, he took over as the ninth commissioner in baseball after Fay Vincent resigned. He led baseball for over twenty years through some very interesting and turbulent times. At the end no one could argue that baseball went from chaos to a very strong entity with record revenues.
The biggest thing I took from this book is that Bud Selig seems like a nice thoughtful man. He is maybe slightly arrogant. His view of how things went down is slightly bias, but it is his view and book so I would expect that.
The best part about this book was the inside view you got of everything in the baseball world. One story that sticks out was the time Mr. Selig and his wife went to visit George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner’s secretary comes out of office crying because Steinbrenner fired her because she ordered the wrong sandwich. Selig’s wife admonishes Steinbrenner and makes him go out and rehire her. You also got an inside view to the labor agreements as well as an look at Mr. Selig’s friendship with George W. Bush. This includes how baseball handled 9/11 and President Bush’s appearance at that years World Series.
I found the sections around the labor piece of baseball fascinating. The 1994 strike and cancelled World Series was interesting with President Clinton to try to mediate. How in Mr. Selig’s eyes President Clinton and especially Vice President Gore backed away from their word was captivating. I remember being devastated as a teenager by that strike and to hear one of the major players in the whole saga say after the fact looking back on it the whole strike wasn’t worth it and didn’t accomplish most of what was needed to be done was disappointing.
The only other disappointing thing in this book was that Mr. Selig only briefly mentioned Contraction during the early 2000’s. It was only a sentence or two and he didn’t go into any detail. Being s fan of a team that was possible going to be contracted, The Minnesota Twins, I really wanted to know more. Was it a negotiation ploy or was it really something that was given serious consideration?
Overall this is a very good book. If you love baseball or just want to get an insiders view of labor negotiations in sports, this is the book for you.
June 20, 2025
I went into this book with low expectations. I grew up with Bud Selig heavily involved in Major League Baseball, and for much of my life, he has been the villain. The strike that took place in 1994… Selig. Steroids in baseball… Selig. Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s record while on performance enhancing drugs… Selig. But this book put a new perspective on Selig and his role throughout the main events in baseball that have surrounded my life. Part of the book is an origin story of a man that was a child of first generation immigrants. Part of the book is a historical reference of baseball in general, and specifically in Milwaukee. And lastly, it’s a biography of a man that rose to prominence and did what he thought was best to protect America’s pastime while also modernizing the game to move it forward for new generations. This book really surprised me, and I now have a new appreciation for Bud Selig.
November 27, 2023
Bud Selig is a hero of mine. Sorry Bud, it took me much too long to read this book. It had some good moments and information, but didn’t keep me interested.
January 1, 2020
As a reader and a Milwaukee Brewers fan, I picked up this memoir with high expectations and set it down with renewed regard for Frank Deford. The late Sports Illustrated writer profiled Selig in 2002 ("Suicide Squeeze: Bud Selig Has Put His Legacy on the Line by Tightening the Screws on the Players' Union. If There's a Strike This Season, He'll Be the One Who Takes the Fall," July 8). Selig mentions the profile only once -- "When the story came out, I was almost afraid to read it," he writes on page 227 -- but its influence must have been great. As soon as I saw the reference, I stopped reading and read the profile. When I returned to the book, I saw it for what it is.
It's not really history, as there are no footnotes or endnotes and, worse, no index. It's not the inside story of the Milwaukee Brewers (which I would have loved). The sale of the Brewers is mentioned only in passing. Wendy Selig-Prieb, the commissioner's own daughter and from 1990 to 2004 the Brewers' general counsel, president and CEO, and chair, and Mark Attanasio, the team's new owner, get just a few vapid paragraphs. And as you might expect, it's nowhere close to a kiss-and-tell. Both of Selig's wives figure in the narrative, but the failure of his first marriage isn't described; Sue, his second wife, simply appears.
No, what this book is is Selig's reply to Deford. I wanted detail, nuance, history (and, admittedly, the Brewers). Instead, over and over, I read, See, Frank? I was right all along!
It's not really history, as there are no footnotes or endnotes and, worse, no index. It's not the inside story of the Milwaukee Brewers (which I would have loved). The sale of the Brewers is mentioned only in passing. Wendy Selig-Prieb, the commissioner's own daughter and from 1990 to 2004 the Brewers' general counsel, president and CEO, and chair, and Mark Attanasio, the team's new owner, get just a few vapid paragraphs. And as you might expect, it's nowhere close to a kiss-and-tell. Both of Selig's wives figure in the narrative, but the failure of his first marriage isn't described; Sue, his second wife, simply appears.
No, what this book is is Selig's reply to Deford. I wanted detail, nuance, history (and, admittedly, the Brewers). Instead, over and over, I read, See, Frank? I was right all along!
February 11, 2024
Bud Selig loves two things, baseball and Bud Selig.
I liked this book walked through pivotal moments in recent baseball history, but like many autobiographies, it felt self indulgent at times.
I liked this book walked through pivotal moments in recent baseball history, but like many autobiographies, it felt self indulgent at times.
August 6, 2019
The first half covers Selig's early years, which made for dull reading. The second half, when we finally get to his time as commissioner is better, but Selig doesn't give us nearly enough detail. I would really like to read a book dealing with the 1994-1995 baseball strike, as well as the steroids scandal, as I think that both of these unfortunate events have an impact on the baseball we see today. I consider myself to be a supporter of Selig's, I think his changes were necessary and have worked, and I agree with his election to the Hall of Fame. But this comes across as a vanity project.
August 8, 2019
Admittedly, I didn’t like Bud Selig before reading the book. Now I like him even less. As the 9th commissioner of Major League Baseball, he definitely had an important and influential tenure. If you want a more objective and better written account of that tenure, read “The Game” by John Pessah.
This book is more or less the somewhat disorganized ramblings of Bud Selig, but if you want to know what he thinks about various issues in baseball, he’ll tell you in this book. There are lots of people he doesn’t like, but one thing’s for sure - Bud Selig loves him some Bud Selig.
This book is more or less the somewhat disorganized ramblings of Bud Selig, but if you want to know what he thinks about various issues in baseball, he’ll tell you in this book. There are lots of people he doesn’t like, but one thing’s for sure - Bud Selig loves him some Bud Selig.
October 31, 2021
Briefly: The story you’re expecting
Bug Selig’s autobiography is what one would expect from a former commissioner, particularly one with as complicated a legacy as Selig. It presents no shortage of self-congratulatory remarks, while being critical of Selig’s adversaries in sanitized terms, leaving no doubt as to where he stands—and his deep antipathy toward Donald Fehr, former head of the MLB Player’s Association, in particular. Much of the book presents a defense of Selig’s record on steroids, the darkest mark on his record, seeking to shift blame onto the Player’s Association wherever possible. The book also makes a case for the need for a better financial deal for team owners that manifested under Selig in the form of strong-arming of the Player’s Association as well as pursuing lucrative public stadium deals. This case is short on financial details and long on phrases like “Believe me” and “The current system wasn’t working. It just wasn’t.”
For the Good of the Game is worthwhile if you’re looking for Selig’s take on his own legacy, but for a better, deeper, less one-sided account of the business and labor relations of baseball during his tenure, turn to Jon Pessah’s The Game.
Bug Selig’s autobiography is what one would expect from a former commissioner, particularly one with as complicated a legacy as Selig. It presents no shortage of self-congratulatory remarks, while being critical of Selig’s adversaries in sanitized terms, leaving no doubt as to where he stands—and his deep antipathy toward Donald Fehr, former head of the MLB Player’s Association, in particular. Much of the book presents a defense of Selig’s record on steroids, the darkest mark on his record, seeking to shift blame onto the Player’s Association wherever possible. The book also makes a case for the need for a better financial deal for team owners that manifested under Selig in the form of strong-arming of the Player’s Association as well as pursuing lucrative public stadium deals. This case is short on financial details and long on phrases like “Believe me” and “The current system wasn’t working. It just wasn’t.”
For the Good of the Game is worthwhile if you’re looking for Selig’s take on his own legacy, but for a better, deeper, less one-sided account of the business and labor relations of baseball during his tenure, turn to Jon Pessah’s The Game.
November 22, 2019
Pretty interesting read of inside baseball by the former commissioner. But my god, this guy is pompous, prone to Trumpisms such as "Nobody likes/ cares about/ did more... than me" on multiple issues. He even claims to have invented the Rooney Rule for interviewing minority candidates, renaming it the Selig Rule. Still, learned a lot about the inner workings of baseball.
March 23, 2023
It's a home run! While I was expecting a recap of the events and decisions Selig made during his time as MLB Commissioner, I enjoyed his emotional response and thoughts behind those key moments.
October 5, 2019
I'm always wary of autobiographies or memoirs. Unless a subject is a solid writer with great internal perspective, they can come off as many different things other than "good". That's exactly what happens here in Bud Selig's "For The Good Of The Game".
Because Selig was the commissioner of Major League Baseball for a long time, he is going to have stories to share and be able to convey a sense of historical context/gravitas. He does both of those things pretty well in this book. When the text is just him reflecting on his legacy within the game, the book is perfectly acceptable.
The problem, however, is that so much of the experience comes off as Selig defending himself. Whether it is blaming the Players Union for the 1994 strike or blaming anyone else for the Steroid Era, Selig does a lot of defense-work, to the point where that almost seems like the point of this tome rather than a strict memoir.
In a certain sense, I get it. Selig knows he was much-maligned as a commissioner and wants to "set the record straight". But in all honesty, I think the passage of history will (and already has, to a certain extent) look at him more fondly (as happens to, say, many Presidents). Instead of coming off as so defensive, Selig could have taken a much more reflective or academic tone here and probably been the better for it.
As it stands, "For The Good Of The Game" is just an okay read for all of the above reasons. Some great stories/history, but enough character defense that it'll have you rolling your eyes quite a bit as well.
Because Selig was the commissioner of Major League Baseball for a long time, he is going to have stories to share and be able to convey a sense of historical context/gravitas. He does both of those things pretty well in this book. When the text is just him reflecting on his legacy within the game, the book is perfectly acceptable.
The problem, however, is that so much of the experience comes off as Selig defending himself. Whether it is blaming the Players Union for the 1994 strike or blaming anyone else for the Steroid Era, Selig does a lot of defense-work, to the point where that almost seems like the point of this tome rather than a strict memoir.
In a certain sense, I get it. Selig knows he was much-maligned as a commissioner and wants to "set the record straight". But in all honesty, I think the passage of history will (and already has, to a certain extent) look at him more fondly (as happens to, say, many Presidents). Instead of coming off as so defensive, Selig could have taken a much more reflective or academic tone here and probably been the better for it.
As it stands, "For The Good Of The Game" is just an okay read for all of the above reasons. Some great stories/history, but enough character defense that it'll have you rolling your eyes quite a bit as well.
October 2, 2019
An interesting read on baseball especially on Selig's time as commissioner. It is good to have his view and to place it in context of all of the other stories about the era. The steroid period is still controversial and it is interesting to have Selig's view. The editing could have been a little tighter (several repeats of events and ideas) and more details would have made it more interesting. Definitely a must read for any baseball fan.
July 19, 2019
(I received a free review copy of this book from Edeweiss in exchange for an honest review.)
The longtime Commissioner of Major League Baseball provides an unprecedented look inside professional baseball today, focusing on how he helped bring the game into the modern age and revealing his interactions with players, managers, fellow owners, and fans nationwide.
More than a century old, the game of baseball is resistant to change—owners, managers, players, and fans all hate it. Yet, now more than ever, baseball needs to evolve—to compete with other professional sports, stay relevant, and remain America’s Pastime it must adapt. Perhaps no one knows this better than Bud Selig who, as the head of MLB for more than twenty years, ushered in some of the most important, and controversial, changes in the game’s history—modernizing a sport that had remained unchanged since the 1960s.
If there is one thing I really do like, it is a good memoir. Even more so when it is a sporting memoir. And, as a recent convert to baseball, and with the sport starting to grow here in Australia, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to read something by a man who has spent his entire life in the game.
I knew nothing about the man who wrote this book (he had stepped down as MLB commissioner the same year I got interested in the sport) but by the end, I got the feeling that I had known him a very long time. His story from being a young boy and his love affair with baseball, to becoming the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, to then taking over as MLB commissioner is a wonderful story. His easy-going storytelling was a pleasure to read, he made it very easy to get the entire picture of what was going on at the time, and - to his credit - he pulled no punches. Too often, biographies usually gloss over the bad stuff and only worry about the positives. But in this book we learned about players, coaches, union officials and others who were both good - and very bad - for the game. We get the low down on numerous battles between the owners and the players union over changes to rules, profit sharing, PED's and drug-testing, and All-Star games. We get the agonising stories of cancelling the World Series in 1994 due to player strike action; we get the hard decisions of banning players for drug taking. But we get the wonderful stories of the Hall-of-Fame players and other superstars that made this game such an endearing sport.
And all of it in a really simple, down-to-earth style. I really did enjoy this immensely.
The only downside, for me as a reader, was that at times it was quite repetitive. Lots of stuff got repeated in later chapters, especially about the players union and their refusal for change. But, really, this was but a small detail.
Paul
ARH
The longtime Commissioner of Major League Baseball provides an unprecedented look inside professional baseball today, focusing on how he helped bring the game into the modern age and revealing his interactions with players, managers, fellow owners, and fans nationwide.
More than a century old, the game of baseball is resistant to change—owners, managers, players, and fans all hate it. Yet, now more than ever, baseball needs to evolve—to compete with other professional sports, stay relevant, and remain America’s Pastime it must adapt. Perhaps no one knows this better than Bud Selig who, as the head of MLB for more than twenty years, ushered in some of the most important, and controversial, changes in the game’s history—modernizing a sport that had remained unchanged since the 1960s.
If there is one thing I really do like, it is a good memoir. Even more so when it is a sporting memoir. And, as a recent convert to baseball, and with the sport starting to grow here in Australia, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to read something by a man who has spent his entire life in the game.
I knew nothing about the man who wrote this book (he had stepped down as MLB commissioner the same year I got interested in the sport) but by the end, I got the feeling that I had known him a very long time. His story from being a young boy and his love affair with baseball, to becoming the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, to then taking over as MLB commissioner is a wonderful story. His easy-going storytelling was a pleasure to read, he made it very easy to get the entire picture of what was going on at the time, and - to his credit - he pulled no punches. Too often, biographies usually gloss over the bad stuff and only worry about the positives. But in this book we learned about players, coaches, union officials and others who were both good - and very bad - for the game. We get the low down on numerous battles between the owners and the players union over changes to rules, profit sharing, PED's and drug-testing, and All-Star games. We get the agonising stories of cancelling the World Series in 1994 due to player strike action; we get the hard decisions of banning players for drug taking. But we get the wonderful stories of the Hall-of-Fame players and other superstars that made this game such an endearing sport.
And all of it in a really simple, down-to-earth style. I really did enjoy this immensely.
The only downside, for me as a reader, was that at times it was quite repetitive. Lots of stuff got repeated in later chapters, especially about the players union and their refusal for change. But, really, this was but a small detail.
Paul
ARH
April 7, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: I WAS SHOCKED… HOW GOOD THIS WAS… NO HOLDS BARRED… FROM THE HEART… NOT THE MILD MANNERED BUD SELIG… I THOUGHT I KNEW!
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If you’re a long standing baseball fan… and thought you knew Bud Selig… I guarantee you… you don’t… until you read this book. Sure he was Commissioner of Baseball from 1992-2015 (the first seven years in an acting capacity)… and before that… owner of the Milwaukee Brewers… and if you go back to his childhood… you will find that he loved baseball.. like the most passionate among us. The son of Jewish immigrants… his Father born in Romania and his Mother born in Russian Ukraine… they were a first generation baseball loving family… who settled in Milwaukee. Young Bud… lived and breathed baseball… and believe it or not… his Mother Marie… was as big a fan as her son. They went to minor league games together before there was any Major League team in the area. And of course they felt they were blessed from heaven… when the Milwaukee Braves moved to town from Boston. When the Braves left for Atlanta Selig was crushed. This not only led him to becoming an owner… but forever weighed deeply in his heart when making decisions years later as the Commissioner of Baseball. How baseball crazy was Bud’s Mother?? For his fifteenth birthday she took him to New York to see the New York Giants play at the Polo Grounds… the Brooklyn Dodgers… play at Ebbets Field… ad the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium. They also went to Boston to see a game at Fenway Park… but it was sold out and they couldn’t get a ticket. Years later… and a lifetime of experience… Selig took his Mother to a game at Fenway… as the owner of the team playing the Red Sox that day… the Milwaukee Brewers. Talk about a dream coming true… how sweet is that storybook chapter??!!
Along with that fairy-tale come true life story… the baseball fan reader will be mesmerized… when seemingly mild-mannered public figure Selig… swings for the fences… with the unvarnished truth… about the steroid era that truly stained baseball… and is still darkened by the incredulity of the non-human statistics that were falsely attained. Also… what should be the most celebrated date of each baseball year… the announcement of the new Hall of Fame recipients… is totally marred… and disgraced… devalued… and literally leaves old-school fans holding their breath… and crossing their fingers… that one of these deceitful cheats don’t get elected. To Bud Selig’s undying credit… he doesn’t hide the fact that he doesn’t like Barry Bonds… the person… or the player. One of the most important facts that any reader should take away from this book… (along with thinking more highly of Mr. Selig)… is that besides the individual weak… cheating… lying… players… that demeaned the history of baseball… by taking P.E.D.’s… is the fact that the PLAYERS UNION fought… and fought… and fought… to not allow drug testing of the players. Bud Selig and the owners fought this for years and years. The simplest of questions is… if you have nothing to hide… what are you afraid of? The union for years hid behind civil liberties claims. The congressional hearings made a joke out of the likes of McGwire… (“I don’t want to talk about the past.”)… Sosa (who all of a sudden couldn’t speak or understand English)… Clemens (must have “misremembered”)… Palmeiro (wagging his finger… and saying he never cheated.)… and all the while Selig was fighting the union to have drug testing.
Then of course we have the multiple cheating… lies… mea culpa’s of drug cheat Alex Rodriguez… who in addition to his repetitive lies… sued everyone in sight… from Major League Baseball… to incredibly… the Players Association… who protected him for so many years. Selig’s involvement in giving the go ahead to the Mitchell Investigation/Report… showed he wanted to get the truth to the public. Then there was the Balco scandal… the Biogenesis Scandal.. and more. The first hand scandals that hit even closer to home for Selig with Brewer’s icons Paul Molitor and Ryan Braun… and Braun’s cheating was magnified by his bold outright lies when first caught… and then he got busted again.
While drug abuse rocked the baseball world and landed firmly on Selig’s shoulders… he continued to build baseball to record growths… despite drugs… strikes… and scandals… (a little different than sex… drugs… and rock and roll). He knew how important new stadiums were to the health and growth of baseball… and record numbers of new stadiums were built during his tenure. The value of teams skyrocketed. An example is when the O’Malley’s sold the Dodgers in 1998 for $311 Million… and in 2012 McCourt sold the Dodger for $2.15 BILLION! This book is enlightening… and surprising… did you know that Major League Baseball had an opportunity to buy controlling interest in ESPN in the early eighties… but then commissioner Bowie Kuhn turned it down? And see if you don’t change your pre-conditioned view of mild-mannered Bud Selig after this story:
In 1995 during a dispute between MLB and the Players Association after previous strikes and threats by the union bosses… President Clinton got involved and made promises regarding mediation… when Clinton reneged on a promise Selig said: “Mr. President sir, you gave me your word on October 14, I said. I have twenty-eight clubs. You know this. You talked to David Glass. This is not what we agreed on. What if I had been the one who didn’t agree?”
“The door opened and Gore, Stephanopoulos, Panetta and Reich walked in. Clinton had to be relieved to have reinforcements, because he wasn’t doing well in this conversation. Clinton said he knew he’d given me his word. I told him I’d been raised in a world where when a man gives you his word, that’s it. He went quiet.
But Gore jumped in, nasty form the start. “I’m tired of the little guys,” he said, and I knew he meant the small-market clubs. “All these demands. Complaining about everything.” Well, that explained a lot. He was uttering the union’s talking points.
“IT WAS THE WRONG THING TO SAY TO ME. RAGE CAME POURING OUT OF ME. I EXPLODED IN HIS FACE. “WHAT DID YOU JUST F**** SAY TO ME?” I SNAPPED AT THE VP, YOU’RE TIRED? YOU’RE TIRED? YOU GUYS GAVE ME YOUR WORD! YOU’RE TIRED? BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T LIKE THIS?” “
I was just getting started,”
“Well, there are a thousand F*** newspaper guys out there, and I’m going to go and tell them that, by G-d, this thing got worse because we agreed to this process and you backed out, “ I said. “NOW WHAT THE F*** DO SAY?
“Gore turned red. And Mute.”
Definitely not the meek… mild mannered… Bud Selig you and I have envisioned all these years. You will learn in this book… that his lifetime unfettered love for baseball… his rise to owner… to commissioner… and his non-stop fight for revenue sharing to protect the small markets… his uphill battle against the unions… his vision of new ballparks… increased teams in the playoffs… his acceptance and utilization of high tech methods… that he himself never touched… added billions to the game he so truly loves.
How does Bud himself sum up his life… and if you read this book… you will have no doubt… that it couldn’t be summed up any better…
** WHAT YOU’VE SEEN IN MY CAREER IS THE STORY OF A LITTLE BOY’S DREAMS THAT CAME TRUE!”
AMEN! I COULDN’T AGREE MORE!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you’re a long standing baseball fan… and thought you knew Bud Selig… I guarantee you… you don’t… until you read this book. Sure he was Commissioner of Baseball from 1992-2015 (the first seven years in an acting capacity)… and before that… owner of the Milwaukee Brewers… and if you go back to his childhood… you will find that he loved baseball.. like the most passionate among us. The son of Jewish immigrants… his Father born in Romania and his Mother born in Russian Ukraine… they were a first generation baseball loving family… who settled in Milwaukee. Young Bud… lived and breathed baseball… and believe it or not… his Mother Marie… was as big a fan as her son. They went to minor league games together before there was any Major League team in the area. And of course they felt they were blessed from heaven… when the Milwaukee Braves moved to town from Boston. When the Braves left for Atlanta Selig was crushed. This not only led him to becoming an owner… but forever weighed deeply in his heart when making decisions years later as the Commissioner of Baseball. How baseball crazy was Bud’s Mother?? For his fifteenth birthday she took him to New York to see the New York Giants play at the Polo Grounds… the Brooklyn Dodgers… play at Ebbets Field… ad the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium. They also went to Boston to see a game at Fenway Park… but it was sold out and they couldn’t get a ticket. Years later… and a lifetime of experience… Selig took his Mother to a game at Fenway… as the owner of the team playing the Red Sox that day… the Milwaukee Brewers. Talk about a dream coming true… how sweet is that storybook chapter??!!
Along with that fairy-tale come true life story… the baseball fan reader will be mesmerized… when seemingly mild-mannered public figure Selig… swings for the fences… with the unvarnished truth… about the steroid era that truly stained baseball… and is still darkened by the incredulity of the non-human statistics that were falsely attained. Also… what should be the most celebrated date of each baseball year… the announcement of the new Hall of Fame recipients… is totally marred… and disgraced… devalued… and literally leaves old-school fans holding their breath… and crossing their fingers… that one of these deceitful cheats don’t get elected. To Bud Selig’s undying credit… he doesn’t hide the fact that he doesn’t like Barry Bonds… the person… or the player. One of the most important facts that any reader should take away from this book… (along with thinking more highly of Mr. Selig)… is that besides the individual weak… cheating… lying… players… that demeaned the history of baseball… by taking P.E.D.’s… is the fact that the PLAYERS UNION fought… and fought… and fought… to not allow drug testing of the players. Bud Selig and the owners fought this for years and years. The simplest of questions is… if you have nothing to hide… what are you afraid of? The union for years hid behind civil liberties claims. The congressional hearings made a joke out of the likes of McGwire… (“I don’t want to talk about the past.”)… Sosa (who all of a sudden couldn’t speak or understand English)… Clemens (must have “misremembered”)… Palmeiro (wagging his finger… and saying he never cheated.)… and all the while Selig was fighting the union to have drug testing.
Then of course we have the multiple cheating… lies… mea culpa’s of drug cheat Alex Rodriguez… who in addition to his repetitive lies… sued everyone in sight… from Major League Baseball… to incredibly… the Players Association… who protected him for so many years. Selig’s involvement in giving the go ahead to the Mitchell Investigation/Report… showed he wanted to get the truth to the public. Then there was the Balco scandal… the Biogenesis Scandal.. and more. The first hand scandals that hit even closer to home for Selig with Brewer’s icons Paul Molitor and Ryan Braun… and Braun’s cheating was magnified by his bold outright lies when first caught… and then he got busted again.
While drug abuse rocked the baseball world and landed firmly on Selig’s shoulders… he continued to build baseball to record growths… despite drugs… strikes… and scandals… (a little different than sex… drugs… and rock and roll). He knew how important new stadiums were to the health and growth of baseball… and record numbers of new stadiums were built during his tenure. The value of teams skyrocketed. An example is when the O’Malley’s sold the Dodgers in 1998 for $311 Million… and in 2012 McCourt sold the Dodger for $2.15 BILLION! This book is enlightening… and surprising… did you know that Major League Baseball had an opportunity to buy controlling interest in ESPN in the early eighties… but then commissioner Bowie Kuhn turned it down? And see if you don’t change your pre-conditioned view of mild-mannered Bud Selig after this story:
In 1995 during a dispute between MLB and the Players Association after previous strikes and threats by the union bosses… President Clinton got involved and made promises regarding mediation… when Clinton reneged on a promise Selig said: “Mr. President sir, you gave me your word on October 14, I said. I have twenty-eight clubs. You know this. You talked to David Glass. This is not what we agreed on. What if I had been the one who didn’t agree?”
“The door opened and Gore, Stephanopoulos, Panetta and Reich walked in. Clinton had to be relieved to have reinforcements, because he wasn’t doing well in this conversation. Clinton said he knew he’d given me his word. I told him I’d been raised in a world where when a man gives you his word, that’s it. He went quiet.
But Gore jumped in, nasty form the start. “I’m tired of the little guys,” he said, and I knew he meant the small-market clubs. “All these demands. Complaining about everything.” Well, that explained a lot. He was uttering the union’s talking points.
“IT WAS THE WRONG THING TO SAY TO ME. RAGE CAME POURING OUT OF ME. I EXPLODED IN HIS FACE. “WHAT DID YOU JUST F**** SAY TO ME?” I SNAPPED AT THE VP, YOU’RE TIRED? YOU’RE TIRED? YOU GUYS GAVE ME YOUR WORD! YOU’RE TIRED? BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T LIKE THIS?” “
I was just getting started,”
“Well, there are a thousand F*** newspaper guys out there, and I’m going to go and tell them that, by G-d, this thing got worse because we agreed to this process and you backed out, “ I said. “NOW WHAT THE F*** DO SAY?
“Gore turned red. And Mute.”
Definitely not the meek… mild mannered… Bud Selig you and I have envisioned all these years. You will learn in this book… that his lifetime unfettered love for baseball… his rise to owner… to commissioner… and his non-stop fight for revenue sharing to protect the small markets… his uphill battle against the unions… his vision of new ballparks… increased teams in the playoffs… his acceptance and utilization of high tech methods… that he himself never touched… added billions to the game he so truly loves.
How does Bud himself sum up his life… and if you read this book… you will have no doubt… that it couldn’t be summed up any better…
** WHAT YOU’VE SEEN IN MY CAREER IS THE STORY OF A LITTLE BOY’S DREAMS THAT CAME TRUE!”
AMEN! I COULDN’T AGREE MORE!
April 10, 2022
Overall an underwhelming read. Selig repeatedly mentions his pride at the changes brought to the game under his watch as commissioner. Unfortunately he provides only anecdotal evidence to support his claims. The issues presented in the book are redundant to a nearly exhausting degree. Additionally, the number of times Selig randomly lists tens of players, owners, or others whom he considers to be good “baseball people” borders on the ridiculous. Not well written, not well crafted. This is equivalent to listening to your aging grandfather stumble confusedly from one memory to another.
May 28, 2025
Based on this memoir Bud Selig is a great example of a borderline megalomaniac living a fully unexamined life. The book opens with a searing indictment of Barry Bonds, making Bonds personally responsible for every bad thing that ever happened in baseball, then contrasts him with Hank Aaron, evidently a paragon of godlike purity. It may be true about Aaron, but Bonds is a much more complex character. In any case, Bud is not a reliable narrator. He regales us with the story of how baseball was saved by his savvy relationships with the owners, players, sponsors, and anyone else exposed to Bud’s magic touch. The glory and purity of baseball preserved by multi-billion dollar valuations, massive contracts and $15 beers. It was inevitable, he says, he was just the humble agent of change. Now I’m a fan, and perhaps the transformation of baseball into a set of elite, massively valuable, profit-making corporations protected by an anti-trust exemption truly was the only way to ‘save’ it. And maybe Bud was the right man for the right job at the right time, as he tries assiduously to persuade us here. And maybe everyone does like him (I’d like to hear from his first wife on that score). But I didn’t end this book liking him very much. In fact, in an act very rare for me, I didn’t make it to the end. An interesting story, to be sure, but an unappealing storyteller.
September 6, 2019
I really enjoyed this book—it gave me a better appreciation for the business of baseball, and who better to tell the story than the guy who oversaw it for about two decades, during which there was scandal, drama, and hard times? The book is an interesting read, and I plan on buying my grandpa, who played semi-professional ball in the 1940s, a copy of it.
July 28, 2019
I finished this book and came full circle in landing with admiration and respect for Bud Selig, his story, his love for the game and the results he facilitated during some pretty tumultuous and at times ugly times in baseball. I now wish that I had stopped him at the WBC inaugural championship game in San Diego when we walked by each other and thanked him for his service to the game.
August 12, 2019
All real baseball fans (especially those in Milwaukee and the rest of the State of Wisconsin) should read this book. It provides tremendous insight into the business of baseball going back to the late 1950’s.
December 8, 2019
SELIG'S BOOK IS A GREAT READ FOR BASEBALL FANS, THOUGH IT OCCASIONALLY FALLS VICTIM TO THE EGOTISM OF MANY AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
Baseball fans will enjoy this book as I did. Bud Selig, the baseball czar for 23 years, had a major impact on many pivotal issues that baseball dealt with during his regime and his description of those ordeals translates to entertaining reading.
The major issues he dealt with during his regime would have caused mere mortals to shriek with horror: Resolving the terrible scandal over the players’ use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, dealing with the divisive and polarizing head of the players union, the lack of unity among the owners, the Pete Rose disqualification case, expanding the number of playoff teams, putting life back into the all-star game, implementing a replay system to resolve questionable umpire calls, dealing with the lack of profits from several major league teams and even taking over the management of an endangered team, the Montreal Expos, for a few years.
“Herding cats” is a term used to describe the impossibility of trying to train cats, who are notoriously independent-minded and virtually untrainable. In a broader sense, herding cats refers to the often-futile attempts of leaders trying to manage unmanageable people because the latter are self-absorbed, independent-minded, reeking with self-confidence, powerful, used to always getting their way and perhaps most important, not accountable for their behavior and conduct.
Selig hints at the difficulty of herding the 32 baseball team owners, all characterized by the adjectives describing cats above.
Like many autobiographies, there is too much self-aggrandizement, even though what he describes may be accurate. It makes Selig at times seem to be a braggart, and no one likes boasters.
Also, as with many autobiographies (recent books by Michele Obama and Hillary Clinton come to mind), it’s clear that Selig has focused almost entirely on the “good stuff” and left out the realities of everyday life with our jobs, friends and families - the setbacks, mistakes, the failures and loss of temper that all of us experience and must endure. He paints a picture of himself being lily-white and being a near-perfect commissioner, which of course, lacks a certain amount of honesty. The nature of being a leader of any major entity – even the most revered leaders – is fraught with making many mistakes, both in decision-making and judgment. But what the heck, when famous people write their own autobiographies, I guess it’s their privilege to gloss over the negative stuff. Selig engages in this sin, like so many others before him. As a readers, we just have to suck it in.
One of my major take-aways from the book was his repeated references to the #1 factor in determining his success and indeed, a major element of Selig’s personality and leadership style – his interpersonal skills. He describes hundreds of people as being his friends and how he always got along with key people, including difficult ones. He describes spending a large percentage of his work in meetings with key baseball people and being constantly on the telephone with key influencers. He was never a dictator and always sought the counsel of key people in a controversy before making important decisions. This aspect of Selig’s character enabled him to gain the owners’ confidence and establish a high level of credibility in their eyes. This style is a common characteristic of highly successful leaders.
Baseball fans will enjoy this book as I did. Bud Selig, the baseball czar for 23 years, had a major impact on many pivotal issues that baseball dealt with during his regime and his description of those ordeals translates to entertaining reading.
The major issues he dealt with during his regime would have caused mere mortals to shriek with horror: Resolving the terrible scandal over the players’ use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, dealing with the divisive and polarizing head of the players union, the lack of unity among the owners, the Pete Rose disqualification case, expanding the number of playoff teams, putting life back into the all-star game, implementing a replay system to resolve questionable umpire calls, dealing with the lack of profits from several major league teams and even taking over the management of an endangered team, the Montreal Expos, for a few years.
“Herding cats” is a term used to describe the impossibility of trying to train cats, who are notoriously independent-minded and virtually untrainable. In a broader sense, herding cats refers to the often-futile attempts of leaders trying to manage unmanageable people because the latter are self-absorbed, independent-minded, reeking with self-confidence, powerful, used to always getting their way and perhaps most important, not accountable for their behavior and conduct.
Selig hints at the difficulty of herding the 32 baseball team owners, all characterized by the adjectives describing cats above.
Like many autobiographies, there is too much self-aggrandizement, even though what he describes may be accurate. It makes Selig at times seem to be a braggart, and no one likes boasters.
Also, as with many autobiographies (recent books by Michele Obama and Hillary Clinton come to mind), it’s clear that Selig has focused almost entirely on the “good stuff” and left out the realities of everyday life with our jobs, friends and families - the setbacks, mistakes, the failures and loss of temper that all of us experience and must endure. He paints a picture of himself being lily-white and being a near-perfect commissioner, which of course, lacks a certain amount of honesty. The nature of being a leader of any major entity – even the most revered leaders – is fraught with making many mistakes, both in decision-making and judgment. But what the heck, when famous people write their own autobiographies, I guess it’s their privilege to gloss over the negative stuff. Selig engages in this sin, like so many others before him. As a readers, we just have to suck it in.
One of my major take-aways from the book was his repeated references to the #1 factor in determining his success and indeed, a major element of Selig’s personality and leadership style – his interpersonal skills. He describes hundreds of people as being his friends and how he always got along with key people, including difficult ones. He describes spending a large percentage of his work in meetings with key baseball people and being constantly on the telephone with key influencers. He was never a dictator and always sought the counsel of key people in a controversy before making important decisions. This aspect of Selig’s character enabled him to gain the owners’ confidence and establish a high level of credibility in their eyes. This style is a common characteristic of highly successful leaders.
December 10, 2021
Baseball has been a staple throughout American history for more than a century. Through good times, bad times, and even worse times, baseball has always been played. Because of this, the culture of baseball history has been rich which has in turn provided us with a plethora of baseball books, movies, and stories. One book that has received positive recognition is For the Good of the Game: The Inside Story of the Surprising and Dramatic Transformation of Major League Baseball, written by none other than Bud Selig, the former MLB Commissioner for more than 20 years. This 2019 New York Times best seller intended to show how everyone involved in baseball is resistant to change. However, Selig insists that baseball needs to adapt in order to compete with other professional sports and stay relevant.
Selig was commissioner of baseball from 1992-2015. During his tenure, he was the instrumental part of many changes as well as many controversies in the MLB community. He led the MLB through the 1994 strike and the steroid era, but he also introduced the wild card for playoffs, interleague play (merging of both the American and National Leagues), and also allowed Major League Baseball to have a 400% increase in revenue as well as record breaking attendance during his tenure.
This purpose of this book is for Bud Selig to share his first-hand account of the most difficult and challenging decisions and moment of his career. Selig accomplishes this purpose by taking readers inside locker rooms, board rooms, and meetings. This emulates the fact that all of the situations he was a part of and all the decisions he had to make were presented to the reader as factual and accurate. Selig even recalls specific conversations and moments he experienced throughout his tenure and gives his honest reaction. The most prominent controversies that Selig had to deal with as commissioner of baseball were the steroid era and the 1994 strike, and he goes into depth about these issues in the book. He recalls how people publicly called for him to step down as commissioner unless he resolved the issue, and in 2005 he put forth a strict performance enhancing drug testing regime that changed the league for the better.
I firmly believe that For the Good of the Game: The Inside Story of the Surprising and Dramatic Transformation of Major League Baseball is an extremely interesting book that had my attention and kept me hooked throughout. While I understood all the moments and things that Selig wrote about throughout this book, I acknowledge that I have some bias given that I have been and still am a very active member of the baseball community. Personally, I think that the reason that this book is special is because it is basically a biography of Bud Selig’s life as commissioner of baseball. First-hand accounts of any moments in history are more reliable and defiantly more interesting than secondhand accounts. I recommend this book to anybody who is a part of the baseball community and enjoys learning about the history of the game, as well as anyone who is trying to become a member of the baseball community. My biggest takeaway from this book was that I realized truly how difficult and stressful it is to be the face of any multi-billion-dollar sports industry, let alone the MLB. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and would read it again, and hopefully they can transform this book into a motion picture. I think that would be a great movie. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and highly recommend it to any baseball enthusiasts.
Selig was commissioner of baseball from 1992-2015. During his tenure, he was the instrumental part of many changes as well as many controversies in the MLB community. He led the MLB through the 1994 strike and the steroid era, but he also introduced the wild card for playoffs, interleague play (merging of both the American and National Leagues), and also allowed Major League Baseball to have a 400% increase in revenue as well as record breaking attendance during his tenure.
This purpose of this book is for Bud Selig to share his first-hand account of the most difficult and challenging decisions and moment of his career. Selig accomplishes this purpose by taking readers inside locker rooms, board rooms, and meetings. This emulates the fact that all of the situations he was a part of and all the decisions he had to make were presented to the reader as factual and accurate. Selig even recalls specific conversations and moments he experienced throughout his tenure and gives his honest reaction. The most prominent controversies that Selig had to deal with as commissioner of baseball were the steroid era and the 1994 strike, and he goes into depth about these issues in the book. He recalls how people publicly called for him to step down as commissioner unless he resolved the issue, and in 2005 he put forth a strict performance enhancing drug testing regime that changed the league for the better.
I firmly believe that For the Good of the Game: The Inside Story of the Surprising and Dramatic Transformation of Major League Baseball is an extremely interesting book that had my attention and kept me hooked throughout. While I understood all the moments and things that Selig wrote about throughout this book, I acknowledge that I have some bias given that I have been and still am a very active member of the baseball community. Personally, I think that the reason that this book is special is because it is basically a biography of Bud Selig’s life as commissioner of baseball. First-hand accounts of any moments in history are more reliable and defiantly more interesting than secondhand accounts. I recommend this book to anybody who is a part of the baseball community and enjoys learning about the history of the game, as well as anyone who is trying to become a member of the baseball community. My biggest takeaway from this book was that I realized truly how difficult and stressful it is to be the face of any multi-billion-dollar sports industry, let alone the MLB. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and would read it again, and hopefully they can transform this book into a motion picture. I think that would be a great movie. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and highly recommend it to any baseball enthusiasts.
July 5, 2022
I had mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I learned a lot that I didn't know about baseball in Milwaukee. As a life long fan of the game, I knew about the Braves coming and going and the Pilots becoming the Brewers but I didn't know about the fight behind the scenes to get a new team. I had no idea that Selig was the organizer of the local business group that purchased the team. He obviously has a talent for rallying people to fight for a common goal, as he also demonstrated during his time as commissioner. Here is where the book left me wanting. Most of his discussions about his time as commissioner focused on trying to absolve himself of the steroids debacle. While steroids are a complicated issue, Selig's constant hammering the point that it was the union that stopped him from doing anything got really old. While it is undisputable that the union was an obstacle, it seems to me that baseball prioritized other business related items over drug testing in labor negotiations. The owners simply weren't willing to go to war to fight for testing as they were enjoying the benefits of increased revenue from the home run races. So I find it really disingenuous to shift blame solely to the union for the steroid era. I also disliked Selig's, and, quite frankly, baseball's, disparate treatment of the cocaine era of the 80's and the steroid era of the 90's. While Selig express concern over the player's health in both instances, it seemed that players who took steroids were vilified and those who were on cocaine were treated like victims of an addiction. The different approach is striking when looking at the players of the cocaine era who are granted entry into the Hall of Fame vs those of the steroid era. A simple case in point is Molitor, of the cocaine era, and Bonds, of the steroid era. I am not defending steroid use but I do think that the commissioner of the game needs to have a wider view of the issues that he helped to create. Selig likes to tout throughout the book how much he embraces diversity and has long been a supporter of the black baseball players and yet his actions tell a different story. He was quick to forgive Molitor for his confirmed cocaine use and quick to vilify Bonds for his suspected steroid use, even going so far as to include an unflattering story about how Bonds asked him for introduction to Aaron, since Selig was such close friends with him, and Selig refused because the commissioner has to be seen as a neutral party. Huh? Some might argue that Selig was simply biased because Molitor was a Brewer but I will just point out that one is white and one is black. One was his former draft pick and the other was chasing down his friend's home run record. I think that those incidents show his struggle, and failure, to remain impartial. I would have liked to read more about some of his other efforts, such as centralizing umpiring, which gets only a very brief mention in passing . Finally, I was left with a bit of a bad taste with Selig's constant assertion that his decisions were the right ones, even in the face of compelling arguments from his opponents. I am all for standing by your decisions but it came off as flippant and arrogant, at times. It is clear that baseball thrived during his time as commissioner and that he was able to foster a long period of relative labor peace, which is more than I can say for his replacement. So there is no question that he was good for the game, but his book came off as too defensive and arrogant for my tastes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2021
Bud Selig, in his autobiography “For the Good of the Game”, writes about his formative years, his role in the family business of selling cars, his efforts to keep baseball in Milwaukee, his ownership of the Milwaukee Brewers and his stewardship as commissioner of Major League Baseball.
It was interesting to read about his efforts to keep baseball in Milwaukee. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season. The people of Milwaukee were frustrated by the Braves’ decision to leave their city. Selig put together an ownership group to try and bring baseball back to Milwaukee. They were able to buy the Seattle Pilots and being them back to Milwaukee. The team was named the Milwaukee Brewers because that was the name of the minor league team from years ago.
Selig did a good job of writing about his friendships with the other owners of Major League Baseball. After Fay Vincent resigned as baseball commissioner, Selig was in charge of a search committee to find the next commissioner. He had no intention of taking the job. However, the other owners felt that he was right for the job. So, the other owners asked him to be interim commissioner, which was a position that he held for over four years. Eventually, he became the commissioner of Major League Baseball.
As commissioner, he did his best to convince the owners of large market teams to share their revenue with the small market teams. He wrote effectively about how challenging it was to convince the owners of large market teams to share revenue with the smaller market teams. Sharing revenue was in the best interests of the game of baseball. Selig did his best to convince the owners to act in the best interest of the game.
Selig also addressed the other issues that baseball faced during his time as commissioner. He wrote about how the new stadiums helped the game financially, how the league tried to deal with performance enhancing drugs and how the league tried to market the game. He also wrote about how difficult it has been for small market teams to sign top notch free agents.
A decent part of the book is spent on Major League Baseball’s attempt to deal with the problem of steroids. Selig did the best that he could to remove steroids from baseball. Selig, and the owners, did not know how big of a problem that steroids were. Articles were written by sports writers as early as 1988 contending that Major League Baseball players were using steroids. However, the league and the owners were slow to realize how big of a problem that it had become. Selig wrote a memo to all of the teams in 1997 prohibiting steroids and illegal drugs. He emphasized that steroids and illegal drugs were prohibited by Major League Baseball. However, the players union refused to accept drug testing. So, the memo had minimal effect on the teams.
Eventually, the players realized that steroids were hurting the game and the players. So, the union eventually accepted drug testing. This is when Major League Baseball was finally able to deal with the problem of performance enhancing drugs. Selig’s leadership helped Major League Baseball resolve the problem of steroids.
I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in Major League Baseball.
It was interesting to read about his efforts to keep baseball in Milwaukee. The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season. The people of Milwaukee were frustrated by the Braves’ decision to leave their city. Selig put together an ownership group to try and bring baseball back to Milwaukee. They were able to buy the Seattle Pilots and being them back to Milwaukee. The team was named the Milwaukee Brewers because that was the name of the minor league team from years ago.
Selig did a good job of writing about his friendships with the other owners of Major League Baseball. After Fay Vincent resigned as baseball commissioner, Selig was in charge of a search committee to find the next commissioner. He had no intention of taking the job. However, the other owners felt that he was right for the job. So, the other owners asked him to be interim commissioner, which was a position that he held for over four years. Eventually, he became the commissioner of Major League Baseball.
As commissioner, he did his best to convince the owners of large market teams to share their revenue with the small market teams. He wrote effectively about how challenging it was to convince the owners of large market teams to share revenue with the smaller market teams. Sharing revenue was in the best interests of the game of baseball. Selig did his best to convince the owners to act in the best interest of the game.
Selig also addressed the other issues that baseball faced during his time as commissioner. He wrote about how the new stadiums helped the game financially, how the league tried to deal with performance enhancing drugs and how the league tried to market the game. He also wrote about how difficult it has been for small market teams to sign top notch free agents.
A decent part of the book is spent on Major League Baseball’s attempt to deal with the problem of steroids. Selig did the best that he could to remove steroids from baseball. Selig, and the owners, did not know how big of a problem that steroids were. Articles were written by sports writers as early as 1988 contending that Major League Baseball players were using steroids. However, the league and the owners were slow to realize how big of a problem that it had become. Selig wrote a memo to all of the teams in 1997 prohibiting steroids and illegal drugs. He emphasized that steroids and illegal drugs were prohibited by Major League Baseball. However, the players union refused to accept drug testing. So, the memo had minimal effect on the teams.
Eventually, the players realized that steroids were hurting the game and the players. So, the union eventually accepted drug testing. This is when Major League Baseball was finally able to deal with the problem of performance enhancing drugs. Selig’s leadership helped Major League Baseball resolve the problem of steroids.
I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in Major League Baseball.
January 17, 2020
I never really was a Bud Selig fan after he tried to move the Minnesota Twins either to Montreal or to Charlotte, N.C., for "the good of the game." Never mind that his daughter owned the Milwaukee Brewers at the time and competed for the television and fan market. Getting rid of the Twins would boost revenue for Milwaukee. ( I grew up in Minnesota and love the Twins, hence the bias.)
Also, the 1994 strike. I was in St. Louis trying to get friends to go to the last Cardinals' home game before the strike hit. Cancelling the World Series was a tragedy and, although there are two sides and the player's union can take credit as well, Selig's dour countenance didn't help matters. And, there's the debacle of the tied All-Star game, the tradition-bending interleague play, wild cards and, of course, steroids. It was a perilous time in baseball and Selig just happened to be at the helm, directing the sport through rough times.
But reviews are not supposed to be about the person, but rather the book. I found "For the Good of the Game" to have its moments of good. I liked the history of his early years in Milwaukee and trying to keep the old Braves from moving to Atlanta. And later, his efforts to get a team back. Of course, he had to ravage the sinking Seattle Pilots to get one.
Selig was repetitive in that he referred to George W. Bush as his "good friend" at least six or seven times. He is also friends with scores of other name-makers and makes sure we know that.
I also felt that, although it consumed several pages, he didn't really explain why it took so long for baseball to check into the claims of steroids. Sure, he blamed the union for delaying it and opposing testing, but he oft pointed the finger of blame at others and didn't seem to take the responsibility on himself. He often referred to his mantra "what's good for baseball..."
It was interesting to see his take on the Barry Bonds' home run race. Selig admitted that he hated going to see the games in which Bonds could break Henry Aaron's record, but he did it anyway. It was a contrast of Bowie Kuhn's actions in 1974 when Aaron set the record. I also found interesting Selig's conversation with Pete Rose and the idea that Rose could be reinstated into baseball and be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Not a chance under Selig.
Overall, the book isn't bad. It tends to ramble on a bit and loops around. But it's a decent read for baseball fans who remember the events that Selig presided over for the past 25 years.
Also, the 1994 strike. I was in St. Louis trying to get friends to go to the last Cardinals' home game before the strike hit. Cancelling the World Series was a tragedy and, although there are two sides and the player's union can take credit as well, Selig's dour countenance didn't help matters. And, there's the debacle of the tied All-Star game, the tradition-bending interleague play, wild cards and, of course, steroids. It was a perilous time in baseball and Selig just happened to be at the helm, directing the sport through rough times.
But reviews are not supposed to be about the person, but rather the book. I found "For the Good of the Game" to have its moments of good. I liked the history of his early years in Milwaukee and trying to keep the old Braves from moving to Atlanta. And later, his efforts to get a team back. Of course, he had to ravage the sinking Seattle Pilots to get one.
Selig was repetitive in that he referred to George W. Bush as his "good friend" at least six or seven times. He is also friends with scores of other name-makers and makes sure we know that.
I also felt that, although it consumed several pages, he didn't really explain why it took so long for baseball to check into the claims of steroids. Sure, he blamed the union for delaying it and opposing testing, but he oft pointed the finger of blame at others and didn't seem to take the responsibility on himself. He often referred to his mantra "what's good for baseball..."
It was interesting to see his take on the Barry Bonds' home run race. Selig admitted that he hated going to see the games in which Bonds could break Henry Aaron's record, but he did it anyway. It was a contrast of Bowie Kuhn's actions in 1974 when Aaron set the record. I also found interesting Selig's conversation with Pete Rose and the idea that Rose could be reinstated into baseball and be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Not a chance under Selig.
Overall, the book isn't bad. It tends to ramble on a bit and loops around. But it's a decent read for baseball fans who remember the events that Selig presided over for the past 25 years.
January 16, 2020
First lets start with the obvious: Anybody who thinks they matter enough to the public to write a memoir, even a brief one like this, has perhaps an oversized ego. If you read a memoir and expect it to be balanced with the other side of an issue you care about, you're just setting yourself up to hate the book.
Memoirs are vanity projects generally. If you read them as part of a historical record, and understand they are probably not going to admit EVERYTHING the ever did wrong, or say they completely stunk at A, B and C, you'll be fine.
Second I am a Milwaukee Brewers fan since I was a kid; someone has to be. I remember the day they had to play Baltimore on the final Sunday(??) of the 1982 season. I had homework I was behind on, both my parents were surprised that I didn't do my homework before the game, instead of during it, so I could watch the game. I was so convinced they had blown the season. I ended up catching Yount's (meaningless to the outcome) triple late in the game.
I have always been one of the people who (stupidly) laid the steroid scandal at Selig's feet primarily.
So the most interesting thing for me in this book, was the reminder that the players union was super intransigent about steroid testing, which is a thing I completely forgot. It took Don Fehr looking like a moron in front of Congress a couple of times before the union leadership finally pitched in on the issue of steroids.
The other interest tidbit in book is the original plan to honor Jackie Robinson was only the Dodgers would wear 42. Selig tells how Ken Griffey, Jr. called him and said he wanted to wear 42, so why not open the tribute to all the teams.
In the last few years, I also read Bowie Kuhn's memoir, Hardball. The major contrast is that Selig seemed to have a working relationship with all the owners, while Kuhn struggled with a few. It also worth remembering Kuhn was also commissioner in the era of some flamboyant owners. Bill Veeck, Ted Turner, Charles Finley, Gussie Busch, the heyday of George Steinbrenner being maximum George Steinbrenner. So there is more personality clashes in Kuhn's competently written memoir.
This memoir is more warmly written, but lacks that sort of personality conflict. Selig is so diplomatic about people he seems to not get along with - the players who infamously testified before Congress about steroids, Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, Don Fehr that the memoir lacks fireworks.
Memoirs are vanity projects generally. If you read them as part of a historical record, and understand they are probably not going to admit EVERYTHING the ever did wrong, or say they completely stunk at A, B and C, you'll be fine.
Second I am a Milwaukee Brewers fan since I was a kid; someone has to be. I remember the day they had to play Baltimore on the final Sunday(??) of the 1982 season. I had homework I was behind on, both my parents were surprised that I didn't do my homework before the game, instead of during it, so I could watch the game. I was so convinced they had blown the season. I ended up catching Yount's (meaningless to the outcome) triple late in the game.
I have always been one of the people who (stupidly) laid the steroid scandal at Selig's feet primarily.
So the most interesting thing for me in this book, was the reminder that the players union was super intransigent about steroid testing, which is a thing I completely forgot. It took Don Fehr looking like a moron in front of Congress a couple of times before the union leadership finally pitched in on the issue of steroids.
The other interest tidbit in book is the original plan to honor Jackie Robinson was only the Dodgers would wear 42. Selig tells how Ken Griffey, Jr. called him and said he wanted to wear 42, so why not open the tribute to all the teams.
In the last few years, I also read Bowie Kuhn's memoir, Hardball. The major contrast is that Selig seemed to have a working relationship with all the owners, while Kuhn struggled with a few. It also worth remembering Kuhn was also commissioner in the era of some flamboyant owners. Bill Veeck, Ted Turner, Charles Finley, Gussie Busch, the heyday of George Steinbrenner being maximum George Steinbrenner. So there is more personality clashes in Kuhn's competently written memoir.
This memoir is more warmly written, but lacks that sort of personality conflict. Selig is so diplomatic about people he seems to not get along with - the players who infamously testified before Congress about steroids, Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, Don Fehr that the memoir lacks fireworks.
April 22, 2020
I didn't especially like Bud Selig all these years. I considered him a bit stuffy and lacking in emotion. Growing up near Cincinnati, I also thought he failed to give Pete Rose a fair shot at reinstatement. I also wondered how he could be objective as commissioner while owning one of the teams himself.
Well, after reading this book, I've changed my mind about Bud Selig. This guy truly has been passionate about baseball for more than six decades. He strived to keep baseball in Milwaukee when the Braves moved to Atlanta and was the main force in bringing baseball back to Milwaukee in the form of the Brewers. He didn't seek out the job of commissioner; he was basically coaxed into the job by his fellow owners.
Now Selig comes across to me as an honest, humble man in this book. He takes the blame for himself and fellow owners in their failures in labor negotiations that spanned decades. He lets the reader inside the negotiations and the challenges first with Marvin Miller and later Donal Fehr. He is candid about a variety of topics ranging from his dislike for Barry Bonds to the early drug problems of one of his own players, Paul Molitor. I had not realized how obstructionist the union was in stonewalling drug testing for many, many years.
And I learned that Selig actually was progressive on many aspects, first and foremost revenue sharing. He lives up to the title of this book in that as commissioner he did what was best for the game of baseball, even when it made him look unpopular. This is a relatively quick read because it is captivating to anyone who loves baseball.
Well, after reading this book, I've changed my mind about Bud Selig. This guy truly has been passionate about baseball for more than six decades. He strived to keep baseball in Milwaukee when the Braves moved to Atlanta and was the main force in bringing baseball back to Milwaukee in the form of the Brewers. He didn't seek out the job of commissioner; he was basically coaxed into the job by his fellow owners.
Now Selig comes across to me as an honest, humble man in this book. He takes the blame for himself and fellow owners in their failures in labor negotiations that spanned decades. He lets the reader inside the negotiations and the challenges first with Marvin Miller and later Donal Fehr. He is candid about a variety of topics ranging from his dislike for Barry Bonds to the early drug problems of one of his own players, Paul Molitor. I had not realized how obstructionist the union was in stonewalling drug testing for many, many years.
And I learned that Selig actually was progressive on many aspects, first and foremost revenue sharing. He lives up to the title of this book in that as commissioner he did what was best for the game of baseball, even when it made him look unpopular. This is a relatively quick read because it is captivating to anyone who loves baseball.
September 28, 2019
Not a bad read, and perhaps a perfect summation of a man I've always believed motivated by little more than money, self-congratulatory and short-sighted. The argument that "baseball was on the brink of collapse" is spurious. True, many of the problems (labor, and drug testing) were inherited, but the solutions, such was they were, were inevitable. I have long considered Selig a man with the particular talent to be in the right place at the right time. This book did little to persuade me otherwise.
Baseball was dealing with labor difficulties, and the gap between large and small market teams was an issue that need to be addressed....but the solutions arrived at were the likeliest and often arrived at upon the paths of least resistance. The changes in media structure (and the centralization of the online MLB entity) were coming. They're to be praised for adapting quickly, there, but the end solution is still not correct....baseball online has to acquiesce to archaic, outdated broadcast media area rules that Selig refused to end or even modify.
Still, the book is not a bad read. I truly believe Selig loved baseball, and did what he thought was right during his tenure. The overall tone looking to cast him as some sort of savior is irksome, and not correct.
Baseball was dealing with labor difficulties, and the gap between large and small market teams was an issue that need to be addressed....but the solutions arrived at were the likeliest and often arrived at upon the paths of least resistance. The changes in media structure (and the centralization of the online MLB entity) were coming. They're to be praised for adapting quickly, there, but the end solution is still not correct....baseball online has to acquiesce to archaic, outdated broadcast media area rules that Selig refused to end or even modify.
Still, the book is not a bad read. I truly believe Selig loved baseball, and did what he thought was right during his tenure. The overall tone looking to cast him as some sort of savior is irksome, and not correct.
February 8, 2021
If you're a baseball fan who cares about the state of the game and how we got to where we are, then Selig's memoir provides good context in a succinct format. The major themes that he covers are: labor negotiations (and associated tensions), revenue sharing, racial progress, and steroids and drug testing. Selig does not hold back his opinion of certain players and their impact of the game (ie, his dislike and dis-approval of Barry Bonds). His personalized stories and well articulated memories make the book an enjoyable read that remind you baseball is, at its core, a game involving people - and not just a business.
If, on the other hand, you care more about modern trends and how to revive/sustain the quality of play, then I suggest you keep this book on the shelf. My biggest disappointment with the book is the complete absence of discussion regrading analytics and it's impact on the game recently, now, or into the future. Analytics has arguably been one of the largest influences on baseball in the last 15 years (after "moving on" from drug testing) and Selig doesn't mention it. There might be a read through there... but this is a review of Selig's book... not Selig's time as commissioner.
If, on the other hand, you care more about modern trends and how to revive/sustain the quality of play, then I suggest you keep this book on the shelf. My biggest disappointment with the book is the complete absence of discussion regrading analytics and it's impact on the game recently, now, or into the future. Analytics has arguably been one of the largest influences on baseball in the last 15 years (after "moving on" from drug testing) and Selig doesn't mention it. There might be a read through there... but this is a review of Selig's book... not Selig's time as commissioner.
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