It rose funding for charlie rose has been provided by co rose additional funding provided by and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and Information Services worldwide. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. Im lucky. One of those rare instances where a little boys dreams came true. Rose bud selig was Major League Baseball nice commissioner. Say he was the most influential. On saturday at the age of 80 he stepped down after 23 years on the job. He grew up in milwaukee where he rooted for the new york yankees. In 1970, at age 35 he bought the seattle pirates in Bankruptcy Court and he then moved the team to milwaukee. He calls this his proudest accomplishment. As commissioner he revolutionized the economics revenue grew to 8 billion. Playoff expansion and interleague play were among the additions he introduced. Also faced a number of challenges. Among some of the games best players continued to cast a wide shadow on the game. On sunday bud selig and i spoke at Yankee Stadium. Here is that conversation. There are a lot of things we could do on sunday morning. But to talk to you about baseball in this setting this stadium with snow on the ground. The Yankee Stadium ever since 1949, old yankees old yankees never been here9 q snow covering the fields. So this is a first. Rose growing up in milwaukee, you were a yankee fan. I was. Very strange. In 1945 the milwaukee brewers, then the triple a team of the American Association had an out fielder by the name of hershel martin. Im the only one left on earth who remembered him. He was my favorite player and they traded him to[during war time period. And i became a yankee fan. Hershel was gone quickly. But joe demaggio came back. Then i was a joe demaggio came. Rose derek jeter in your judgment pretty much coincided with it. You know charlie were lucky because the great icons of the sport for the most part have been really good. You know you go back to demaggio and williams mantle. On and on and on to henry aaron who is a very close friend of mine if the last 57 58 years. . Willie mays, sandy cofax. But derek jeter has really beenms fk4p6cc the face of baseball. I must say ive told him many times ive told his parents. Makes you proud to be the commissioner of a sport that produces a player like that. Rose what does he have that makes him. Remarkable dignity. Greatness on the field. But better off the field. And so you know, sometimes you know, in sports as in life, things happen that sometimes we wish didnt happen. Derrick really just had a remarkable career off the field. On the field we know he won five world champions and played brilliant. Rose baseball began with your mother marie not your father ben. Thats true. Rose from romania. Thats true. Rose what influence. When i was three or four years old, my mother was a school teacher. She was very well disciplined but she loved baseball. Listened to it. As a little kid i remember her listening to the radio back in the 30s. You listen to the old brewer games and then started listening to the white sox and the could you be games particularly. She took me very early age to the old triple a ballpark in milwaukee. And i guess charlie, you know they Say Something gets in your blood. From that time on i was an intense fan. I wasnt just a fan i was an intense fan. Rose did you want to own a team . I dont really, you know, thats interesting. At first when i was 10, 12, 14 15 years old i really thought i was going to be the heir apparent to joe demaggio. Rose by pyn age 14 you realize thats not going to happen. I tell you what happened, by the age of 14 a young man threw me a curve ball and that was it. I knew then rose you were playing a gamek you were not familiar with. Thats right. My career was over at a very very early age. But you know, i went to school and thought i was going to be a history professor wanted to be a history professor. Rose and are in fact today. Thats exactly correct. It took me to age 80 to realize that dream. Rose your dad wanted you to spend a year in the business. He did. When i got out, i was going back to school i got of the service and my dad said just give me a year. Obviously i had a very close relationship with both my parents. In those days when your father asked you to do something you did it and that was it. And the rest is history. Then i became a big braves fan. They were great as you know. Won pennants in 5758 and won the world series in 57. Then they left milwaukee. Thats when my baseball career started, 1964. Shockingly they were leaving for atlanta. 29, 30 year old kid i wound up in the middle of all that. Took us a long time to get a team. Failed. Not failed but passed over. Rose you had that nonleague team. Didnt you have an investment in the milwaukee no, i had investment in milwaukeen braves. They went public. And then left town. Rose when they left town you sold your stock. I did. The i did, oh. Just the name braves in milwaukee is very negative. Rose was the there a Minor League Team called the milwaukeei3eo brewers. Yes before that. Thats the team that existed before the braves came to milwaukee in 1953 from boston. And thats why we renamed the team because not very kind feelings toward it but it took us five andahalf years charlie. Taught me a lot about life patients, tenacity. The American League expanded and i then brought the white sox to milwaukee for two years. Somewhat similar tomammy taking the divers to justy city. But interesting enough, in 1967, now we wereo[ two years without a team. And i managed to convince the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White sox to play an exhibition game. And in fact, the Sports Editorco of the milwaukeey journal at that time told me i ruined baseball forever nobody would come. And i was very nervous. Encouraged by a lot of people. First im two teams played an exhibition game. I was trying to keep baseball alive in milwaukee. Rose a lot of people showed up. 51,544. Stood on the field, jammed all over. It was a wonderful thing. I still remember walking into the press box and saying to the Sports Editor who had been really tough on me in that point i said we sure won baseball in mill worky tonight. Then i got the white sox to come up for two years in 1968 and 69. Rose that did what. They did very well. The allen brothers owned them and we felt we had the white sox bought in 1969. And john decided to buy them. And so we were really almost at the end of the line. My budding career with the seattle club got in trouble. Rose did the commissioner hav a deal. No but i think the commissioner would have vetoed that deal. If we had at least made a deal they would have vetoed it. They did not want to leave can chicago and i understand that. Having been the commissioner now, i would have made the same. Ekjbut the day that deal died, iready about the seattle club in trouble. One year old expansion team. And we went to seattle. Eventually made a deal. But then spent the winter because seattles trying to keep their team and billy again thought he didnt want to move to seattle if he didnt have to. In march of 1970, things finally came together and we bought a team out of Bankruptcy Court. Paid 10. 8 million charlie. That was the highest paid. In fact sitting here at Yankee Stadium brings back the story George Steinbrenner bought the yankees twoa0lx years later. Yp everybody kidded me i bought the yankees for 10 and you got thats what he was telling us. Rose so you have a team finally. Finally. Rose where do you go from there in try to opinion a pennant. Well you do. Expansion was a very tough process in those days. We got a team out of the Bankruptcy Court. And they had spent money on players. So the first few years were really bad. We lost as i was walking down, a fan, we had a big crowd and a fan said to me you know you wanted a team in the worst way and thats what you got. I said well it will get better. We had a lot of years. We struggled through the 70s until 1978 where we really finally hadnr we won 93 games. We hadxd a wonderful team. George who was on my favorite baseball personalities came to manage. And the failed pitching coach of the baltimore orioles. And then we finally won the pennant in 82 and played in the world series. Not that im a poor loser but we lost seven games was raleigh was hurt and im still mad about that and its now 33 years ago rose thank you about being a baseball owner. You go to your first owner meeting and then theres the guy who lives baseball. Here i am april of 1970, we get this team on eight days notice. And about four days later billy calls and says you know we have a meeting i want you to come to new york. Yes. So i got to the meeting in new york, had no idea what it was about. Really excited the thought here i am going to a major league. Phil wrigley the to my left and gusty. Gusty had broken his ankle and he had a cane and it was all good label. It was all about pensions. And it was this tough a meeting. I was sitting in the room thinking what have i got i myself into here. And gussy pounding a cane. That was the symbol what was to happen for the next 25 years. Rose what was. Tell me what you learned about baseball from that meeting in terms of what the conflict was what the sound was what you didnt know about the way baseball is run. I thought i knew a lot of but i realize that day the relationship between the players and the owners was very badly streamed. The union had been formed in 1966. Marvin miller had come on. And the owners particularly the oldf line owners resented the factoeplayers. There was a lot to say about that. It was a painful moment that didnt go away for a long time two andahalf decades. We had eight work stoppages in my career. My mentor was a name from detroit, wonderful man a visionary and did great things. So he really took me under his wing right from the start. And on that day, i had known him a little bit before we got in baseball but he was flying back to new york and i asked him if i could fly with him. We got in the cab and he looked at me and said you dont know what you got yourself into. And i said this is tough and he said yes it is. And he was right. Rose do the commissioners run baseball or duty[owners run the commissioner. Commissionership is not well understood. Through certain traumas, in candace was alive this wouldnt happen. I didnt agree with marvin but he said when i was filing with billy which was a daily occurrence by the way, maybe an hourly occurrence. I represented the player. Commissioner doesnt represent the players. And life evolved like it does in Everything Else. And so look the commissioner, i can never complain about owner interference. In my 23 years, weve done a lot and there are things that i wanted to do. But after all the owners own them3]ur teams and one has to be sensitive to that. Rose what does that mean, sensitive . In the end they can vote you out of office. Well they have. They renewed me four times and then of course i served 23 years but the answer to your question is yes. I would say what ive told people over and over and i would say this to you, support a good job. Theres no question about it that people have said well bud was a politicianvotes because its a manifestation of unity. And i like that but the fact of the matter is after all the owners have to vote of everything of significance and you better convince them and do what you think is in the best interest and what they think is in the best interest. But the commissioner does discipline and does do things. Rose suspensions. Absolutely. I would say that i cant think of a single instance where i did not do something because the owners were objective. Rose they have asked the question when was bud acting in his own interest for his own team rather than the good of baseball. Well, once i took over i was really sensitive about that. I had founded the brewers, i had lived every inning, every pitch. And one of the reasons i had some trepidation about taking the job was because i wanted to be neutral. By the time i took over the commissioners job and even before i knew i could be. For instance let me give you a for instance. In 1997 we needed a team to move leagues. So i said to the owner of the kansas city royals, the Milwaukee Club wanted to move back to the National League. The braifers braves has been there. I liked being in the American League east because i liked beating George Steinbrenners team. I said i cant finish. Why didnt you move into the National League you got great i gave him six weeks american everything wanted but i was so reluctant to move the brewers because people would say there he goes hes doing something to his own interest. David turned me down and everything said you got to move them thats the only possibility. So i think as history chronicles all this, there was never an issue i favored the brewerscanybody could ever find that i favored the brewers. Nor did actually anybody ever say that i did. Rose one thing you did good for the brewers was revenue share. Yes, for the brewers but for baseball. Rose you did it for baseball. In the 90s early to mid 90s the system was broken. The Economic System was broken. I have offer said charlie that the National League was still living on the ground, you and i will understand that. What i meant by that is they havent changed the way they did things economically. Now disparity came in. I remember sitting in a meeting in 1989 when the yankees deal with msg came in. Nobody could believe the numbers. That was the beginning of the change. Well by the 90s we have a lot of unhappy teams. Couldnt compete. And so you had to do something that helped baseball. After all it was not only milwaukee, it was pittsburgh, cincinnati detroit, on and on and minnesota. You had many more small and medium rose was it a hard sale. A very tough sale. Took me a long time. Talk about a political job. But in the end theres no sense denying it took a while. We have a very good, there was never litigation it all went through because in the end it was in the best interest of baseball. What is the proof of that. Sin weve had revenue sharings, revenues have gone to 9 billion. Teams are worth far more than ever and the sport is healthier. So did[ revenue saying help baseball . You bet it did. Rose and what has mld gotten done for baseball. Almost legendary to be frank. January 19 2000 they knew the internet was going to be a factor. And so i got the clubs to authorize its formation in a 300 vote. I had to work on George Steinbrenner a little bit on the end but he finally came on. Now i would like to sit here today and tell you how smart we were. We had no idea. But what mlb. Com has done, huge company it has really taken us to a point where, amongst other things, as i told everyone this week when i went the say goodbye to people. Our relationship with our fans is so close because we have things like that. And mlb. Com and bam has not only become a huge enterprise far greater than anyone ever imagined but its a linkage between the clubs, baseball and their millions and millions of fans. Charlie, when i was growing up, other than the radio, and i could buy all the baseball magazines i did, that was it. Thats what its done. Rose revenue. Huge revenue. And been wonderfully successful. And its another device thats owned by the 30 teams equally. And thatsco really important because look sometimesoe charlie people dont understand. Job of a commissioner and the job of the sport is to create what i call hope and faith. Because we are a social institution no question about it. And the idea to create as much hope and filth faith, charlie as is possible. Laying playing in the world series, people asked me about it, of course it made me happy because it was what we set out to do. Rose to create some parity. Yes, competitive balance i call it. Youre right. Years ago people used to call it parity. I call it competitive balance and thats what weve done. Rose speaking of pete rose and Major League Baseball and nfl in the last two instances chosen the number two person to step forward. And so have. Is that an automatic choice for you. I wanted it to be open but i wanted people to feel they had their choice. But rob manfred in matt particular case char lee had been rrnl for two andahalf decades. Able through all of our labor negotiations, was a very slow labor negotiator and worked very closely. I thought to myself at the time varound, he knows the people. So i think for the same reason david chose adam silver i formed it, i formed a committee and let the Committee Really work independently. And theychoices. They came after reviewing everything to the same conclusion. And that was good. Rose the giants won the world series. Did not have any African American player. You it is says ive been sensitive to race issues back in college in your fraternity as often has been told by friends of yours when you insisted an African American get admitted into the fraternity and shut the doors im not letting you out of here until we figure it out. That was true by the way i didnt let him out of there. Rose lets assume this was something. But does baseball have a huge influx of people by African Americans. They dominate in basketball, significant in football but not baseball. Thats true. We have more diversity today than ever before. Let me go back because that is true. I have often said that the proudest and most important moment in baseball history was april 15th, 1947. No question. Rose jackie robinson. Jackie robinson. Out of that came don nookim and had henry alan and willie mays. For reasons i dont understand, charlie a close friend of mine ive had thousands of conversations about. But heres what weve done. Weve built academies all over. California, houston going up to philadelphia, one up already in washington. Out of that the drafts of the last couple years weve made i think significant progressm on drafting African American players. Now i want to say t