Diamondbacks Bullpen

[David B]

...in three years

Peter Foley / Reuters

NEW YORK - Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig believes he will be stepping down in three years when his contract ends content that the sport is in good health.

“I plan to retire,” Selig, the former Milwaukee Brewers owner, told Reuters on Thursday.

“Other than Kenesaw Mountain Landis I think I would be the longest serving commissioner,” added Selig, who became “Interim Commissioner” in 1992 and took the job permanently six years later.

“My contract runs for the next three-plus years. I’ll be 75 years of age and ... I want to teach and write a book and do some other things,” he said.

Selig said he was proud of “changing the economic landscape” of the major leagues through revenue sharing and a luxury tax on big-spending clubs and was gratified by revenue growth from $1.2 billion in 1992 to last year’s $5.2 billion.

He also called the labor deal announced at the World Series “amazing,” guaranteeing peace with players through 2011 after decades of rancor between the sides.

Despite calling this “the golden age of baseball,” Selig admitted there were still issues to grapple with, saying he had “a sleepless night last night worrying about a lot of things.”

They include the depth of suspected steroid abuse in the sport which has yet to be determined, and baseball being bounced from the Olympics. This season’s World Series between the St Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers also had the lowest TV ratings ever while MLB drew record attendances and produced record revenues.

Selig said there was no timetable for findings from the independent probe he ordered into use of performance-enhancing drugs which is headed by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell.