MLB Bullets Says This Bud's For You

Seems like someone got a little jealous of all the attention that Mariano Rivera got for retiring. But seriously, if you don't want to read people saying nice things about Bud Selig, flip to another story now.

• He said it before but this time he says he means it. MLB Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig announced that he would retire when his contract runs out in January of 2015.
• As you might expect, everyone is taking a look back at his reign and offering their assessment. A good look at both the good and bad of Selig's administration comes from his home town Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
• Another good summary comes from Jay Jaffe, who, after looking at the record, calls his administration "a messy mix of good and bad."
• Craig Calcaterra offers his take and says also Selig's legacy is mixed. He ends with "For even if you don't like Bud Selig, you cannot deny the mark he made on the game of baseball."
• Jon Heyman says that Selig's simple "hayseed" ways and his unpretentious Milwaukee attitude were one of the secrets of his success.
• Jerry Crasnick admits there are some black marks on his record, but he says Selig's reign as commissioner was undeniably positive.
• Jayson Stark wrote an article about this back in May, but in the wake of Selig's retirement, he once again goes over the candidates to replace him. This time though, he says there are only three real candidates: MLB VP Rob Manfred, MLB VP Tim Brosnan and MLBAM CEO Bob Bowman.
• Jeff Passan also looks at candidates to replace Selig. He lists the same three candidates Stark does, but adds Tigers President Dave Dombrowski, Mets GM Sandy Alderson, Diamondbacks GM Derrick Hall and Steve Greenberg, a TV executive and son of Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg. He also mentions Joe Torre and George W. Bush, although I'm not sure he's serious about either of them.
• David Schoenfield looks at five important issues that Selig will leave for his successor to deal with.
• In a story that is becoming all too common, a man wearing Dodgers gear was stabbed to death by Giants fans a few blocks from AT&T Park. The San Francisco Chronicle has more details on the incident, which happened outside of a bar South of Market after the game. A Lodi man has been arrested (which is a long way from San Francisco, if you don't know California geography) and police are looking for two more accomplices.
• The victim, Jonathan Denver of Fort Bragg (also a long way from San Francisco) wasn't even much of a baseball fan and was just at the game to celebrate his dad's birthday, who is a security guard for the Dodgers.
• Ray Ratto thinks that a culture of violence has descended on the San Francisco sports scene and that drastic measures need to be taken to end it.
• Normally this would be the lead story of the day, but today it gets knocked down to the third spot. Carlos Gomez hit a home run and Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann didn't like the way he acted afterwards. You've probably seen the video already, but if you haven't, take a look and find out what everyone is fighting about. Not just on the field, I'm talking about on the MLB Network too.
• In the end, Gomez and Reed Johnson were suspended for one game and McCann, who seemed to be the instigator of most of this, got off with just a fine somehow. He didn't get ejected in that game, either.
• Gomez apologized for his behavior. No apology from any of the Braves yet.
• Craig Calcaterra says that the "macho orthodoxy" that caused the Braves to react as they did to Gomez's violation of the "unwritten rules" needs to stop. Or at least explain to him how it makes the game better. Had the Braves ignored Gomez's behavior, Gomez would have looked like an ass. Now the Braves look like asses too.
• According to Tim Brown at least, Gomez came out the winner in all of this.
• If you're a believer in karma, Brian McCann left Thursday's game with a right adductor strain. And the Braves start the playoffs in just a few days.
• Mariano Rivera made his final appearance at Yankee Stadium, a tear-filled ninth inning when Joe Girardi sent Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter out to make a pitching change so that Rivera could exit to a standing ovation. It was a touching moment.
• Rivera has one more thing that he wants to do before he retires. He wants to play center field. Joe Girardi sounds like he's going to make it happen in Houston this weekend.
• Former pitcher C.J. Nitkowski writes about what it was like to be Mariano Rivera's teammate.
• But things aren't all rosy for the Yankees, as they were eliminated from the playoffs. Jay Jaffe says it's an end of an era in the Bronx.
• Wallace Matthews says the season has mercifully ended for the Yankees as everything that could go wrong in 2013 did go wrong.
• Joe Girardi told WFAN he loved being the Yankees manager and will talk to GM Brian Cashman about his future with the team. But unlike what the headline says, he doesn't say that he wants to return next season. His words seem to be very carefully chosen.
• The Yankees and Robinson Cano are far, far apart in contract talks, as Cano is looking for a ten year deal worth over $300 million.
• Harvey Araton in the New York Times compares Cano's attitude towards staying with the Yankees with Evan Longoria signing a long-term deal with the Rays. He believes that the days of every player wanting to play for the Yankees is over.
• Curtis Granderson is definitely looking to leave the Yankees. It might not be completely his choice though.
• MLB is trying to get sealed grand jury testimony in an investigation of a doctor who had treated Alex Rodriguez.
• Back to Bud Selig news, he called the O.co Coliseum "a pit" and says he's not happy about the situation.
• Pit or not, Peter Gammons says the Coliseum gives Oakland a strong home-field advantage going into the playoffs.
• Andre Ethier may not be healthy for the Dodgers playoff run.
• Here's a twist on your daily "Mike Trout is awesome" article. He's also really humble about his awesomeness.
• The Marlins re-signed Greg Dobbs for next season. The future in Miami is looking up. Or not.
• Danny Knobler says that the Tigers have become a consistent winner because owner Mike Ilitch made a commitment to do what it takes to be a winner.
• Jayson Stark takes a look at how the Astros went about losing 108 games and counting this season.
• Despite the record losing streak, Tyler Kepner says the Astros have something they didn't used to have: Hope.
• Ron Washington says he's not seeing much joy in Arlington. Is he looking in a mirror?
• Rangers GM Jon Daniels denied that ownership pressured him into trading for Matt Garza.
• Just fire C.B. Bucknor already.
• Finally, Todd Helton is also retiring, so the Colorado Rockies gave him a horse. I'm assuming they're not expecting Helton to use the horse to make this centaur painting become real. I'm hoping.