But the vote was not unanimous. ESPN.com reports that three owners voted against, the New York Yankees abstained and Oakland’s vote was conditional on player insurance issues being resolved.
At yesterday’s meeting commissioner Bud Selig received a contract extension through 2009. Owners praised his 12-year reign, with one suggesting the 70-year-old could have had a 10-year extension if he had wished.
Under Selig, baseball expanded the playoffs from four to eight teams in 1995, started interleague play in 1997, vastly increased revenue sharing among the clubs and got players to agree to a luxury tax on high-payroll clubs. Two years ago, players agreed to a labour contract without a work stoppage for the first time since 1970.
“This sport was a dinosaur. It didn't change, and then when you tried to change it, it obviously had a lot of critics,” Selig said. “But the competition among other forms of entertainment and other sports will just intensify, and we have to be smart enough to always stay ahead of that curve.”
