Future Baseball Commissioner George W. Bush?

In 2009, Bud Selig is supposedly retiring as commissioner of baseball. I cannot say I am too broken up about that. I have never been a fan of his. And surprisingly, it has little to do with his handling of the All Star game a few years back. But that is not really the point. I bring this up because I was reading an article by Jerry Crasnick at ESPN.com about who could be the next commissioner.

It is like his eyes follow you!

In fairness, I did not actually read the entire article. Frankly, I do not care. Except, I noticed a sidebar in the article suggesting Mr. Thirty Percent himself might be a candidate. I think this is a remote chance. I think it would be a PR nightmare for Major League Baseball. But, as a testament to my hatred of this man, the mere suggestion makes my blood boil.

Here is Crasnick's take:

After eight years of al-Qaida and Osama, Sunnis and Shiites, the Hurricane Katrina mess, declining approval ratings and sparring with the Democrats in Washington, George W. Bush might prefer to go home to Crawford, Texas, and relax rather than pursue an enterprise as taxing as the job of baseball commissioner. But you never know.

The president has a real affinity for baseball, and he reflects fondly on his tenure as owner of the Texas Rangers. Trading Sammy Sosa to the White Sox for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique wasn't such a great thing. But Bush did manage to turn a $600,000 investment into a $15 million windfall when Tom Hicks bought the club in 1998.

Fay Vincent wrote in his book that Bush was interested in becoming commissioner before running for governor of Texas, but that Bud Selig cut him off at the pass. While a Major League Baseball official privately denied the story to ESPN.com, it's not too farfetched to see Bush considering the post again down the road. A former chief executive can spend only so much time on the lecture circuit and serving on corporate boards before he starts looking for a new challenge.

In the first paragraph, Crasnick lists about 4 or 5 major, colossal, monumental failures during Bush's administration: The Al-Qaida/Bin Laden search, Iraq et al., Hurricane Katrina, etc. The guy is one of the worst presidents of the last century. He should be shunned and declared a nonperson like Khrushchev after his ousting. He should not be handed control over one of the most sacred cultural items in America.

In the second paragraph, Crasnick gives Bush credit for taking a $600,000 investment and turning it into $15 million. Fine, he bought a baseball team in the late 80's and sold it in the mid-90's. Two things about that point. One they built a new stadium in that time, which increases value. Two, and more importantly, he sold the team to Tom Hicks. Hicks is notorious for grossly overpaying for things (see Park, Chan Ho and Rodriguez, Alex).

Finally in the third 'graph, there is talk about getting bored with the lecture circuit and needing a new challenge. Before Bush moves on to a new challenge shouldn't he successfully complete at least one of his old challenges?

I think it is obvious without further detail how much of a train wreck this would be. By 2009, Bush will have finished one of the most disgraceful administrations in the history of the United States. While there may be some cachet having a former POTUS as your commissioner, let's wait for a more suitable ex-president.

How about: Commissioner Barack Obama?