Board of Directors
Allan (Bud) Selig
Major League Baseball, Commissioner Emeritus
Allan H. (Bud) Selig is the Commissioner Emeritus of Major League Baseball. He previously was the ninth Commissioner of MLB, a position in which he made remarkable changes in the baseball industry over the course of 22 years. He is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, having been inducted on July 30, 2017.
In his current role as Commissioner Emeritus, Selig advises the Commissioner and contributes to many special projects. Prior to his work as the Commissioner, Selig served as the chairman of Major League Baseball’s Executive Council.
Selig’s memoir, For The Good Of The Game, was published by HarperCollins in July 2019 and was an instant best-seller amid rave reviews. With co-author Phil Rogers, he provides a detailed and candid view of a lifetime devoted to the National Pastime.
Selig is known for creating more change in the game than all of his predecessors combined, including the introduction of the wild card, three divisions in each league, expanded playoffs and interleague play. Most importantly, he revamped baseball’s economic structure and engineered the historic labor agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association in 2002 that implimented MLB’s drug testing policy. Under his guidance in January 2000, MLB took the unprecedented step of centralizing all of the sport’s Internet rights. Selig also contributed to the staging of the World Baseball Classic, the most important international baseball event ever ventured, in which Major League players competed for their home countries for the first time. Also, during his tenure, season attendance at MLB games reached an all-time high.
Selig has been recognized for his great work in baseball and philanthropy. He has won awards including Jackie Robinson Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Taylor Hooton Foundation’s inaugural Taylor Award, Green Sports Alliance’s Environmental Leadership Award, B’nai B’rith International’s Distinguished Humanitarian Award; Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Chairman’s Award, New York Baseball Writers’ William J. Slocum/Jack Lang Award, and St. Louis Baseball Writers’ “Red Award.”
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled the Allan H. “Bud” Selig Center for the Archives of Major League Baseball Commissioners, a permanent research space within the halls of Cooperstown, dedicated in his honor. In October 2014, he was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.
Bud attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has been honored by having numerous scholarships named after him. In addition, he taught at Marquette University’s Law School. He and his wife, Sue, have three daughters, five grandchildren one great grandson.