Been a baseball fan since the 50s and every commissioner I have read about, save for maybe Bart Giamatti who sadly died of a heart attack after only 154 days as commissioner has been disliked by the average fan. Goes with the Territory I guess.
Giamatti was commissioner on August 24, 1989 when Pete Rose voluntarily agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball. As reflected in the agreement with Pete Rose, Giamatti was determined to maintain the integrity of the game during his brief commissioner-ship.
Jay Vincent who inherited the job under difficult circumstances when Giamatti suddenly passed was never liked by the owners. He was forced out of his five year term early due to his relationship with baseball's owners. The relationship was always tenuous at best; he resigned in 1992 after the owners gave him an 18–9 no confidence vote. The owners were still angry at Vincent over his intervention during the 1990 lockout among other matters such as the TV revenue in both leagues decreasing at the time. Vincent was against the DH and determined to keep Pete Rose out of the HOF.
Selig being part of the family the owns the Milwaukee Brewers will never live that down. Selig oversaw baseball through the 1994 strike, the introduction of the wild card, interleague play, and the merging of the National and American leagues under the Office of the Commissioner. He was instrumental in organizing the World Baseball Classic in 2006.
He also introduced revenue sharing. He is credited for the financial turnaround of baseball during his tenure with a 400 percent increase in the revenue of MLB and annual record breaking attendance.
Selig enjoys a high level of support from baseball owners, which in the public's eye is a bad thing. He has been widely decried by both the MLB Players' Union for his policies and by the general public for presiding over the game during one of its most contentious periods (The steroid controversy).
Jerome Holtzman, Major League Baseball's official historian from 1999 until his passing in 2008, believed that Selig was the best commissioner in baseball history.
INO - How can he be bad for baseball - when he devoted his life to the game. Baseball is no different than the other major sports in the US. Name me a popular commissioner in any of the 4 major sports. Fans simply do not like The Commish no matter who he is.
wil.