Baines falls short in bid for Hall; Selig gets voted in

Bud Selig, who evolved from a young, avid fan to founding owner of the Milwaukee Brewers to consensus-building commissioner during a life devoted to baseball, reached the pinnacle of the game Sunday night.

Also elected was John Schuerholz, the first general manager to win World Series in the American League (Kansas City Royals) and National League (Atlanta Braves).

Selig was elected for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., by the newly created Today’s Game Era Committee on the eve of the annual winter meetings.

Major League Baseball’s ninth commissioner was one of 10 greats on the ballot under consideration Sunday by the 16-person Today’s Game Era Committee — the latest iteration of the Veterans Committee format.

Selig will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 30, 2017, along with any former players elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America, to be announced on Jan. 18.

Baines was among the players who were getting a second look by the committee.

Selig, 82, was elected in his first time on the ballot of the new Today’s Game Era Committee, one of four electoral groups formed out of the dissolved Veterans Committee. Candidates from 1988 through the present included former executives, players, managers and umpires with at least 10 years in the game.

The committee figured to be favorable to Selig because it included current and former team owners such as Bill DeWitt (Cardinals), David Glass (Royals), Andy MacPhail (Phillies), Kevin Towers (Reds) and Paul Beeston (Blue Jays), a former executive in the commissioner’s office, as well as retired executive Pat Gillick and Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox.The group also included six Hall of Fame players, including Don Sutton, who pitched for Selig’s 1982 World Series club in Milwaukee, as well as veteran media members Bill Center, Steve Hirdt and Tim Kurkjian, all of whom understood the importance of Selig’s stewardship as commissioner.

Upon retiring in January 2015, Selig became the game’s first commissioner emeritus with an announced five-year contract. That role allowed him to be eligible for the Hall of Fame immediately rather than having to wait the requisite five years.

Schuerholz, who becomes the sixth Hall of Fame electee whose primary job function was team building (among non-owners), laid the groundwork for the Royals 1985 World Series championship team as farm director and general manager, then moved to the Braves. As general manager, and later president and vice chairman in Atlanta, Schuerholz built a club that qualified for 14 consecutive postseasons, advanced to five World Series and won the crown in 1995. He was the first general manager to lead teams to World Series titles in both the American and National Leagues, and in 25 of his 26 seasons as a GM Schuerholz’s teams finished in third place or better.

John Schuerholz (16 votes, 100%); Bud Selig (15 votes, 93.8%); Lou Piniella (7 votes, 43.8%); Baines, Albert Belle, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser, Davey Johnson, Mark McGwire and George Steinbrenner each received fewer than five votes.