Brewers to unveil statue of Bud Selig

Without the persistence of Bud Selig, the Milwaukee Brewers might still be the Seattle Pilots.

That same persistence resulted in the building of Miller Park, which guaranteed the franchise would not relocate again.

On those two counts alone, much less his other accomplishments, the Brewers figured Selig deserved to stand - in bronze - with Hank Aaron and Robin Yount outside of the club's retractable-roof facility.

The Brewers announced recently that they will honor baseball's commissioner and the team's former owner with a statue at Miller Park's Home Plate Plaza.

Selig's statue will be unveiled in a ceremony at 1 p.m. Aug. 24.

"We are proud to honor Commissioner Selig for all of his efforts on behalf of the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball," owner Mark Attanasio said in a statement released by the club.

"The Brewers and Miller Park are in this city because of the commissioner's vision and dedicated efforts. Just as importantly, he has remained a prominent and highly philanthropic member of our community while effectively leading Major League Baseball during his tenure as baseball's top executive."

"I'm very honored, grateful and proud," said Selig when reached at his downtown office. "Nobody symbolizes the Brewers more than Robin, and everybody knows how I feel about Hank. It's really hard to express my feelings. I never could have dreamed anything like this."

It was the Allan H. (Bud) Selig Foundation that donated the statues of Aaron and Yount, which were unveiled on April 5, 2001, the first year of Miller Park.

Selig's ownership group sold the club to a group led by Attanasio before the 2005 season. Now, his successors will honor his founding-father status in franchise history with a statue.

"You could never dream of anything like this," said Selig. "I can't really tell you what it means to me."

(story courtesy JSOnline)
(picture courtesy NBCSports)

My Take

Mr. Selig truly deserves this honor. Without this one man, the Milwaukee Brewers as we know them wouldn't be in existence. Summers in the state of Wisconsin would be long and boring without a team to follow. Although his later years of ownership and his tenure as commissioner have been frowned upon, he still is the man to thank for bringing baseball back to the great city of Milwaukee.