The charge of Commissioner, since the creation of the position in 1920, is to protect the best interests of the sport. In the wake of the 1919 Black Sox scandal that meant first and foremost ensuring the integrity of the game. The lifetime ban of Pete Rose some 70 years later served as further proof that integrity was all.
Not so during the reign of baseball's first Owner-Commissioner, who turned a blind eye to baseball's biggest scandal while at the same time stuffing his pockets with the proceeds. Protecting baseball's interests now meant its financial interests--the "its" of course referring to ownership.
Selig would not have gotten my vote, and I worry equally that his induction sets the table for Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, and all other cheats--save Rose--to enter. I can only surmise then that Rose's great sin wasn't so much the gambling but the failure to give ownership a cut.
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