FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME

A former commissioner of baseball rehearses his years and achievements in the game.

After a foreword by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Selig begins with a difficult year for him and baseball—2007, a year dominated by Barry Bonds’ chase for the all-time home run record and steroid scandals—before settling in to a fairly conventional chronological (and sometimes clichéd) summary of his experiences as a fan, owner (Milwaukee Brewers), and commissioner, the job that earned him a Baseball Hall of Fame induction in 2017. Although the author focuses almost entirely on his baseball life, he briefly discusses his marriage, his daughter’s management of the Brewers, and his friendships, especially with Hank Aaron, whose record Bonds broke, and George W. Bush. Selig provides a fairly extensive account of 9/11, how baseball contributed to public healing, and how then-President Bush was, in the author’s view, a hero. He also includes a tribute to the late Sen. John McCain, whom he greatly admired (he offers no comment about Donald Trump, who has publicly denigrated McCain). Baseball fans will appreciate Selig’s coverage of the key issues that arose during his tenure, including the introduction of the “wild card” teams, the Pete Rose gambling case (Selig believes Rose’s banishment from baseball remains just), the rise of the players’ union, the destructive battle about steroids and other drugs, the notion of revenue-sharing among the teams (a concept borrowed from the NFL and its former commissioner Pete Rozelle, whom Selig praises extensively), the financial resurgence of baseball, and the spread of the game around the world. Selig does not express a lot of modesty or offer much in the way of confessions of failure, human or professional; in all, he maintained “clear eyes, an open mind, and a willingness to make personal sacrifices for the good of the game.”

A broken-bat blooper that falls for a double.