Contract that!
by Dirty Niner
With the success of the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round, my intentions were to write about why I hate Bud Selig. As a life-long Twins fan, this piece was supposed to focus primarily on how Good ‘Ol Bud tried eliminating the nearest small market competitor through contraction. No more than 13 seconds into my research, I came upon this:
“Selig and his family served a supportive role on the Advisory Board of the Israel Baseball League during its inaugural season in 2007. In response to issues with the league’s financial management, after the season, the Selig family requested that their names be removed from the list of board members.”
Israeli Baseball League? No way! Never before have I heard of such a thing. All my tingling spider senses were telling me this had to be some yet to be edited out Wikipedia prank. Sometimes, my friends, truth can be stranger than fiction. Take three minutes of your time and watch this:
After viewing the trailer, don’t you just get the general feeling of “this has zero chance?” Kind of like scary movies, when you know walking alone by the lake at night is a surefire way to get killed. Still, the gorgeous blonde with lovely 36 D’s goes for a stroll to clear her head and… We all know how these stories end. Much like the IBL. Personally, I think Dan Duquette (yes you read that correctly) would have been better off using this to advertise (f-bomb and sh-bomb alert, careful at work):
Review time, so in 2001-2002 Bud Selig was THIIIIIIS CLOOOOOSE to contracting a franchise (Twins) that had won two World Series trophies within the previous 15 years. Thank God the courts ordered the Twins to fulfill the final year on their Metrodome lease, or I may never have gotten the chance to take my children to Target Field. Ironically, a mere five years later, he and his family fully supported the expansion of baseball into a war-ravaged country that had very little interest in the sport. Check out this quote from Aaron Pribble, who led the league in era, “Our tie games were settled by home run derby. There was also a near strike and fears of a terrorist attack on opening day.” Tie game home run derby? Terrorist attacks? Labor strife? That doesn’t sound real sustainable to me.
Maybe they were playing on the Jewish descent angle. Sandy Koufax was actually drafted and rostered for the Modi’in Miracle, one of the six IBL teams. Hank Greenberg was an all-time great. Lou Boudreau is another old timer with talent. Ian Kinsler, Ryan Braun and Kevin Youkilis are all great modern day players, but I would wager none of them has even been to Israel. Ironically, the league lost it’s Israeli television contract and folded due to financial irregularities. Shortly after this, Bud and family withdrew their names from the list of board members. To quote Doc Holliday, “I hate him.”
I realize that Good ‘Ol Bud no longer has a controlling interest in the Brewers, yet I cannot seem to separate my hatred for the commissioner of baseball and the team he formerly owned. No matter how much I enjoy watching Ryan Braun, Cory Hart, Prince, Rickie, Nyjer and company play the game, they will be forever connected to Bud Selig’s attempt at contracting the baseball team I have always loved. In the absence of my Minnesota Twins, let’s go St. Louis Cardinals! Fortunately, even with the brutal season and effort the Twins put forth in 2011, they have proven to be more entertaining and sustainable than the Israel Baseball League Good ‘Ol Bud supported. For that, let us all break bread… Toda raba!
Tidbits::Extra, extra read all about it… worth the few minutes of your time
For more fun and educational reading, please check out the FAQ section of the Israeli Baseball League website: http://www.israelbaseballleague.com/about/faq/
Or maybe you just want to read the rules of baseball in Hebrew:
http://www.israelbaseballleague.com/baseballinisrael/rules/
My favorite link of all time- proving conclusively that God loves baseball:
http://www.israelbaseballleague.com/baseballinisrael/biblical/
tossingdeuces 