This morning, it was announced that WTMJ radio will be airing a one-hour show with MLB Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig on Sunday morning at 11:00am CT in which Selig will announce his support for bringing back intercollegiate baseball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The message was broadcasted in the hourly news this morning primarily to promote an audience for the play of the one hour interview we assume he recorded today at the station.
To read all of our posts from this year on UW baseball and its feasibility, please click here.
It has been known that Selig was involved in discussions to bring back baseball in recent years, according to multiple sources. In a letter to UW club baseball coach Jeff Block in December 2014, Selig expressed his support for bringing back a baseball team to Madison. This is the first time he has publicly announced that he supports bringing back the sport that has been gone from campus since 1991. Selig’s support comes after the passing of longtime UW booster Ab Nicholas, who stated to many friends that bringing back baseball was the last thing he wanted to do before he passed away.
All of those who were hoping for a big name to step up and support the cause may have found the best man to do so. Selig, who worked tirelessly to bring the Brewers to Milwaukee, is one of the most driven and determined people to ever work in sports. This by no means will bring the team back, but it surely is a step in the right direction. Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez has said that he cannot see the sport coming back during his tenure.
A 1956 graduate of UW-Madison, Selig will teach his History of Baseball Since World War II class for the third straight semester along with Professor David McDonald this fall.
Photo courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison archives.