Bud Selig: A Real Man of Genius

Manny and his three ring circus will arrive on Friday at which time his suspension for Performance Enhancing Drugs will be lifted, permitting him to reemerge against the Padres.

Well the suspension was already lifted....... since Manny's already played games in Albuquerque and up the road in Lake Elsinore within the last few days. It may seem odd that a player suspended for 50 games is playing right now, but really it's not. It's quite brilliant. It wouldn't be fair for Manny to show up on Friday July 3rd without the proper "fitness regimen" that an eight game minor league stint provides.

It is in the dialogue between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association that these concessions are haggled over and it takes a true Leader to approve of these negotiations. That leader is Bud Selig and he doesn't get paid $17 million a year for doing nothing....

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
-Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey's seminal work, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is required reading amongst the elite performers in the business world of which Bud Selig is no doubt an adherent. Bud Selig, as Commissioner, has MLB's ladder leaning against the right wall. How else could you explain ONLY two players' names being leaked from the confidential PED test administered in 2003 (Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa)? Selig's brilliance is not limited to slow leakage, though.

"Hace calor en Albuquerque.....Yo soy listo para un Isotope frio. Me gustan Isotopes."
(It is hot in Albuquerque...I am ready for a cold isotope. I like isotopes)
Seriously...direct quote...Manny being stupid Manny

It is his silence regarding Manny Ramirez's allowance to play baseball for a Dodger minor league affiliate while on suspension that is the true sign of leadership. To showcase Bud's ability to lead, MLB officials came up with "Rule 9(i) rehab" (from Bill Plaschke of the LA Times):

When negotiating the drug policy three years ago, baseball officials felt they had to allow for minor league rehab assignments in order to get union agreement on a 50-game suspension total. The union was claiming that, otherwise, with the player needing to get back in shape, the suspensions actually would amount to more than 60 games.

Officials were also receiving pressure from their clubs to allow the players to do rehab assignments during the suspensions, instead of later, so the teams did not have to pay the players while they were in the minor leagues.

In the end, the baseball bosses were so desperate for any sort of penalty, they caved in to everybody. And perhaps they hoped that everyone would be so happy the druggies were finally being punished, nobody would notice.

Genius!

Now that's having your ladder leaning against the correct wall. Leadership, people. Leadership.

Bud Selig: A leader for a new time.
Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing. This is the primary difference between a good manager and a good leader. A good leader is passionate about excellence and must therefore strive for continuous improvements and change. In other words, a good leader knows that insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

Friday night's game is sold out....I can only hope that the intrigue is a result of reasonable fans going to the park to boo ManRam and not an impending Dodger fan exodus from LA arriving in SD Friday night. This is San Diego and unfortunately I believe it to be the latter.......