Former Brewers owner Bud Selig reflects on bringing baseball back to Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Few people have a connection to Milwaukee baseball quite like Bud Selig.
The former Brewers owner and MLB commissioner helped bring Major League Baseball back to Milwaukee more than five decades ago. Now, he's watching the franchise he helped establish return to the World Series.
When Jackson Chourio made the catch that clinched the National League pennant, Selig said the significance of the moment took some time to sink in.
"It took me a while to digest what had happened," Selig said. "And I finally said, 'Oh my, we just won the pennant.'"
Selig's downtown Milwaukee office is filled with reminders of a lifetime in baseball, including a ticket from the Brewers' first game.
Before any of that was possible, however, Selig spent years trying to return Major League Baseball to Milwaukee after the Braves left for Atlanta following the 1965 season.
"Five and a half years, we waited to get a team," Selig said. "And got turned down by the leagues and by everybody, but I never gave up. Somehow, Lance, I always believed that Milwaukee was not only a major league city, but it would be a good one."
Selig's group eventually purchased the Seattle Pilots, relocating the franchise to Milwaukee ahead of the 1970 season and creating the Brewers.
More than five decades later, Selig still considers bringing baseball back to Milwaukee the greatest achievement of his career.
"I've had a lot of great things happen to me," Selig said. "Becoming the commissioner for 23 years. Doing all the things that happened to me. It's really remarkable. But above all the things that have happened? Bringing a team back will always be my greatest accomplishment."
Selig has since watched generations of Brewers teams take the field, including Milwaukee's 1982 American League championship team.
Now, with the Brewers back in the World Series, the former owner has one message for the franchise he helped bring to Milwaukee.
"Go Brewers, and we got one step to go," Selig said with a chuckle. "Let's finish them off."