San Francisco Giants: Bud Selig had a Weird, Small Impact on the Impact on the Championship Run

A biography is being written about Bud Selig. Why? Well, no one knows. However, he did have a small impact on the San Francisco Giants championship run.

News broke today that Phil Rogers would be writing a biography about Bud Selig called “For the Good of the Game.” And the impact Selig had on the game, sure had an impact on the San Francisco Giants and their championship run.

I will pause for a moment to give you ample time to laugh at the title. Also, to sit and ponder why a biography is even necessary. There is no way this book will depict an accurate portrayal of Selig.

However, we can speculate about what will be written until it comes out. Luckily, Keith Law has already put together a table of contents:

Now, that would be an interesting book. It should be noted that the actual book will likely only lightly touch on these controversies. Or, if it does go into further detail, it will paint Selig as an innocent bystander.

However, for better or worse, Bud Selig does have a small place in San Francisco Giants history. Back in 2002, Selig watched the All-Star Game end in a tie after all the pitchers had been used.

As a result, Selig decided to award home field advantage to the league that won the All-Star Game beginning in 2003.

This was done to drum up some more interest in baseball in general, and the All-Star Game in particular. This did not have the intended effect as viewership for the All-Star Game continued to decline following 2002.The decision to award the winner of the All-Star Game left many people wondering why?

The San Francisco Giants appeared in the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Due to Selig’s rule, the Giants had home field advantage in 2010 and 2012 as the National League were the winners of the All-Star Game in these years.

Home field advantage is a nice bonus. In a weird way, it was an unfortunate bonus for the Giants. In 2010, the Giants won the World Series against the Texas Rangers in 5 games. The 5th game was held in Texas.

Under normal circumstances, the Giants would have had home field advantage against the Rangers since they had a better regular season record. So, Selig’s rule did not alter where the Giants clinched their 2010 championship.

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In 2012, the Giants swept the Detroit Tigers in 4 games in Detroit. Under normal circumstances, the Giants would have had home field advantage. Additionally, Selig’s rule awarded the Giants home field advantage as the National League won the All-Star Game.

This victory was due in part to Pablo Sandoval and Melky Cabrera, so maybe the San Francisco Giants deserved this one.

As a result, the Giants would have clinched the World Series championship at the away field in 2010 and 2012 regardless of whether Selig’s rule or the normal rule was in effect.

In 2014, things get a little trickier. The American League won the All-Star game, so the Kansas City Royals were awarded home field advantage.

However, there was some controversy. This was Derek Jeter‘s last All-Star Game. And, Adam Wainright suggested he may have grooved a fastball for Jeter to hit. Jeter’s hit was part of a 3-run rally.

The American League took the lead and never looked back. With Wainright’s comments, it became necessary to question the integrity of the award for winning the All-Star Game.

Under normal circumstances, the Royals would have held home field advantage as they had the better regular season record. The Giants eventually won the 2014 World Series in 7 games in Kansas City. And, home field advantage would likely not have altered the results.

Still, had the National League won the All-Star Game in 2014, the Giants may have clinched the World Series at home. This would have made the moment even greater, if possible.

With that being said, the Giants would have been happy to celebrate their victories on the North Pole if that was the only option. Selig tried to add significance to the All-Star game to increase viewership. That backfired.

However, his rule may have had a small impact on where the San Francisco Giants celebrated at least one of their championships.