We are not fans of Bud Selig here at Beacon of Speech.
Not.
At.
All.
From Beacon of Speech in 2017: "Today Bud Selig is being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. A historical farce that besmirches the Hall on a number of levels. Selig is a symbol of the owner's greed and has been rewarded with what owners care about most: Ca$h. In 2007 Selig's salary was $18 million and was making around $25 million a year when he left the position in 2015. He should not be celebrated for hijacking the office of the commissioner for 2 decades."
So that's my angle. It hasn't really altered much in the last few years.
If you held a knife to my side and said "say something nice about Bud Selig or else you're getting stabbed."
My response would probably be, "at least he kept baseball in Milwaukee. Selig got that stadium built."
Imagine my surprise when I was innocently scrolling through the Daily Mail: Milwaukee Brewers said to 'Begin Exploring Relocation' as it seeks $448 million for Stadium Renovations.
That headline sent me from zero to furious in 2 seconds. That stadium is brand new!
Editor's Note: It's not. The author is old.
According to ThisGreatGame.com: "The Brewers’ lease with the re-titled American Family Field runs through 2030, but it’s hard to believe that the team will split for something better beyond that. That’s because it’s hard to imagine anything better. There was more pain and anguish to go around in the approval and building of the ballpark than any other in recent major league history, but Miller Park/American Family Field has not only proved that this great game can flourish in a small market, but that the Brewers are definitely in Milwaukee to stay."
2030!?!?!?! There's SIX more years on that lease. That ball park is only 22 years old.
I am going back to that Daily Mail article: "While relocation is not the go-to move, it appears that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is pressuring Wisconsin state officials to provide funds by indicating the team could look to move as early as this fall."
Listen closely Major League Baseball, I am not one to advocate violence, I do not want to be banned from the internet. But you better make Mark Attanasio sell before you start threatening to move the team. If the Brewers move this fall with a half a dozen years left on their lease, the citizens of Milwaukee need to get out their torches and pitchforks and march to American Family Field and burn it down.
Editor's Note II: When it is empty, of course.
It is ABSURD that this conversation is taking place considering the lease and the age of the park.
And Bud Selig? That fucker is still alive.
Let's briefly hop in the way-back machine, back to 2005: "The sale of the Brewers means baseball fans in Milwaukee don't have to worry about losing another team, Commissioner Selig said. 'Now they don't have to go through what people went through in '64 and '65, when the Braves were leaving Milwaukee,' Selig said. 'There is no question about it. So whatever the controversy was about the ballpark or anything else, the Brewers are there. They're secure, and they're a marvelous asset.' Attanasio said there was never any interest in moving the team.
'The community, the passionate commitment of the fans and the fact there was a state-of-the-art ballpark were all positives,' he said. 'I wasn't interested in going to look for a team that needed to be moved.'"
If Attanasio moves the team, you make Selig watch as his bust is ripped from Cooperstown for choosing the wrong caretaker for the Brewers...
If you're reading this and asking "Fred, why are you so angry?"
I want to know why you're not. The field cost half a billion dollars, now Attanasio wants another half a billion in upgrades? At some point, cities cannot be perpetually held hostage by owners.
