July 29, 2002
Bud Booed:
Jayson Stark writes a good column on the fans booing Bud Selig at the Hall of Fame ceremony. Can anyone remember the last time Bud showed up for something where he wasn't booed? At least some people in baseball still have some class:
Even George Grande -- normally the perfect, smiling, apolitical master of ceremonies on these normally joyous occasions -- seemed to sense the message these lovers of the game were sending.
So, during a brief intermission that preceded the induction of Ozzie Smith, Grande looked over his shoulder at Selig, then glanced out into the crowd at union chief Donald Fehr.
"They both care about this game," Grande said. "They both love this game. . . . So remember what Ted Williams told us long ago -- that this game is bigger than any one of us.
"Through compromise," Grande concluded, "Bud and Don -- with your love for this game -- let's get a settlement and let's keep baseball playing."
And with that, 19,000 people clapped as loudly as they clapped all day. Selig and Fehr were among them. Out there on the hillside, fans chanted: "No strike, no strike."
Posted by David Pinto at
07:33 PM
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Baseball