Bud Selig: Uniforms important
Updated: July 20, 2012, 3:46 PM ET
Citing the historic significance of his sport's uniforms, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is in no hurry to follow the NBA's lead in allowing small advertising patches to be placed on uniforms
The NBA Board of Governors approved the use of the patches to help raise revenue, estimating it could produce $100 million.
"You learn never to say never, but you know, with us, uniforms are really important," Selig said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "They're history.
"You can close your eyes, and that Cub uniform, my goodness gracious, I can remember (that from) when I was 10 years old, and that's a long time ago. And there's the Yankee pinstripes, and the Red Sox and so on and so forth, so I've been pretty consistent on that."
Selig also has been consistent on limiting the role of replay, which is being expanded to include trapped balls and balls hit down either foul line. Selig said team managers, front-office personnel and his 14-man committee made up of people such as Tony La Russa and Joe Torre voted unanimously to not expand replay further. Selig also referenced attendance records as proof that fans are happy with the state of the game.
"Baseball is a game of pace," Selig said. "I'm not going to comment on other sports, but I know our sport, I know it well. ... I obviously talk to a lot of people every day. We're going to expand it to -- as I call them -- bullets hit down the right- and left-field line, and trapped balls in the outfield. I must tell you, not only that committee unanimously, but many others have said, 'Commissioner, boy that's enough now.' And I agree with them.
"When I say there's no appetite for further replay, I wasn't kidding. There's none. And there are some people who think I may have done more than they hoped I would do."
When told that many fans would prefer more replay, Selig said: "I'm not sure that's true. We do a lot of polling. I talk to a lot of fans. I get a lot of mail every day and I answer every piece of mail here. And guess what, guys, I get almost no letters, calls or thoughts on instant replay.
"We're setting attendance records. We're having a year this year that's unbelievable. The last five years have been the greatest five years in baseball history -- setting records nobody ever thought possible. That doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to look at this.
"And we'll continue to review all this. ... And instant replay doesn't always solve problems, by the way. Sometimes it creates more, there's more uncertainty. But you can't keep stopping games."