Bud Selig Refuses to Let the Astros Controversy Die

There is one simple rule that every chief executive in history, be it a student council president, the President of the United States, or the commissioner of baseball, needs to follow. You cannot make everyone happy. There are some decisions that need to be made that are not easy and will make some people upset. This is part of the job. Somehow, Bud Selig missed that part of training. After taking a ton of flak from Astros fans and players alike for moving two home games to Milwaukee in Hurricane Ike's wake, Bud apologized today in the Houston Chronicle.

"I recognized the advantage the Cubs would have in playing in such close proximity to Chicago, and had there been a better option, I would have taken it," Selig wrote in the ad on page C16 of the Sports section.

"All of us involved in the decision regret the frustration the Astros and their fans felt about playing two games in Milwaukee."

There wasn't really a choice Selig could've made that would've made everyone happy. Owner Drayton McLane was slow to postpone the games in Houston for fear of losing the gate, while other, closer big league parks were already occupied on the Sunday and Monday the games needed to be played. Playing in Milwaukee wasn't the best option, but it wasn't the worst either. That would've been squeezing three games into two days after the season ended while the Astros fought for a playoff spot against the Iowa Cubs. The Astros had a right to be mad, but they need to move past this. Selig made a decision and needs to stand by it. His pandering to Houston fans with a weak non-apology is only making things worse.