WI George Bush is named Commissioner of Baseball in 1992

[GeneralHouston]

In 1992, George W. Bush, part-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, was a major candidate for the Baseball Commissioner position which eventualy went to Bud Selig. How different would both the baseball world and the world itself be without BUSH in 2000?

How does Bush handle the bargaining agreement in 1994? Does it lead to a strike?
What about the impact sterroids have made on America's game...how does he handle this?

and how would it have affected Texas and US politics as well. I think Ann Richards would get reelected in 1994, despite the uphill battle that year, and win her pay back into the Governor's Mansion. This might be the start of the first woman president...But I dunno if she can get past Gore. Can she? Does the GOP go with McCain in 2000 or veer right with someone like Gingrich?

Does 9/11 happen? How does the president respond? What is America's standing in the world?

 

[TheSevenLeggedFallyDowner]

Bush might have handled the CBA negotiations differently for one major reason. Selig was technically only interim-commissioner in 1994. He was chosen to be the acting commissioner in 1992 only until a real commissioner could be found. After six years, the owners finally stopped pretending to be looking for a replacement and actually made him the official commissioner in 1998. If Bush had been chosen as commissioner in 1992 or 1993 (and he was the leading candidate) then he would have been the commissioner, not the interim-commissioner. This means that he would have demanded a bit more respect than Selig. Additionally, Selig's tenure as commissioner has been plagued by indecisiveness. You can say what you want about President Bush, but one thing everyone can agree with is that he's not indecisive. The main issue of the strike in 1994 was whether or not baseball should have a salary cap like Football and Basketball. Selig took a hard-line and refused to budge. He held out from August 1994 until March 1995, and then he still didn't get a salary cap due to a court case. Bush may have taken the same hard-line stance, but once he realized that he was going to lose the court case, he could have at least opened up negotiations. Selig just sat there, not wanting to make the wrong decision. So the case went to court and MLB lost. He held out all of that time for nothing. Also, Bush loves the spirit of competition too much to call the All-Star game a tie. He would have taken a harder approach to steroids (probably still too little too late to prevent the huge scandals, but at least it would be reassuring to see that someone was trying).

As for the political side, I can't see Ann Richards as a Presidential candidate in 2000. Gore had the nomination basically locked up. She could be his VP maybe. If he loses she could be a front-runner in 2004. I'm not sure how old she is. McCain would almost definitely get the Republican nomination unless the base managed to unite itself behind someone else. Frankly, the Republicans didn't have a lot of really strong candidates in 2000.

 

[AltSptHst]

Montreal

If Bush was commissioner, maybe the Expos would still have a team since they would have won the WS in 94 since the work stoppage might not have cancelled the rest of the 94 season.

 

[DTF955Baseballfan]

If Bush was commissioner, maybe the Expos would still have a team since they would have won the WS in 94 since the work stoppage might not have cancelled the rest of the 94 season.

Welcome; it looks like we have a visitor from that TL. How many home runs did Matt Williams hit that year?

Seriously, the number of upsets in short playoff seires tell me it was no sure thing. I would say they were odds-on favorites to make the Series, though. Atlanta's offense was down that year, and Smoltz didn't have his best stuff (though Avery had a really good year). Bagwell had just been hurt for Houston, IIRC (or am I thinking of his injury in '93 that knocked him out the rest of the year?), and he was their main offense. Cincinnati stoof a chance if Kevin Mitchell and a couple others got red hot, but I think that only lasts till the NLCS as in OTL's 1995. The Dodgers had the pitching, but not the offense outside Piazza.

However, the Yankees had a slew of good lefty bats, and the Expos' main hurlers, except for Fassero, were righthanded, IIRC. Key and Abbott could have been like Viola and Blyleven in '87. And, the White Sox had a still-dominant rotation, though McDowell wasn't quite as good, and better yet, an even better bullpen.

Given Bush's love of competition, I can see him ordering the World Series to be played between the 2 teams with the best record after a couple months, which would be the Yankees and Expos. Montreal would have had home field advantage, so that would have been a plus. And, by ordering a World Serie sto be played, he could then get the PR boost over the players., saying, "See, I'm doing whatever I can to make some compromises in order to get us a World Series, they're the ones who are stalling."

 

[GeneralHouston]

Welcome; it looks like we have a visitor from that TL. How many home runs did Matt Williams hit that year?

Seriously, the number of upsets in short playoff seires tell me it was no sure thing. I would say they were odds-on favorites to make the Series, though. Atlanta's offense was down that year, and Smoltz didn't have his best stuff (though Avery had a really good year). Bagwell had just been hurt for Houston, IIRC (or am I thinking of his injury in '93 that knocked him out the rest of the year?), and he was their main offense. Cincinnati stoof a chance if Kevin Mitchell and a couple others got red hot, but I think that only lasts till the NLCS as in OTL's 1995. The Dodgers had the pitching, but not the offense outside Piazza.

However, the Yankees had a slew of good lefty bats, and the Expos' main hurlers, except for Fassero, were righthanded, IIRC. Key and Abbott could have been like Viola and Blyleven in '87. And, the White Sox had a still-dominant rotation, though McDowell wasn't quite as good, and better yet, an even better bullpen.

Given Bush's love of competition, I can see him ordering the World Series to be played between the 2 teams with the best record after a couple months, which would be the Yankees and Expos. Montreal would have had home field advantage, so that would have been a plus. And, by ordering a World Serie sto be played, he could then get the PR boost over the players., saying, "See, I'm doing whatever I can to make some compromises in order to get us a World Series, they're the ones who are stalling."

I bet he would have ordered the playoffs to start early if the CBA looked like a strike was inevitable, for one reason: the Texas Rangers were in first in the AL West.

The Rangers had the 4th-worst record in the AL when the strike began, but the three teams behind them were Seattle, Oakland, and the California Angels.

Bush would have wanted to see the Rangers have at least a chance. Imagine if the Rangers had won the Series in 1994, how different a team they might be now. They could probably attract better pitching, and might actually stand a chance down the stretch, something they chronically have problems doing.

I definitely think that a Gore/Richards ticket would have done very well, and without a strong GOP resurgence in Texas (which Bush in OTL played a very big part in) they might have had a good chance at pulling a Democratic victory in the Lone Star State.

 

[Ace Venom]

How does Bush handle the bargaining agreement in 1994? Does it lead to a strike?
What about the impact sterroids have made on America's game...how does he handle this?

We likely would have had a World Series in 1994, but the season would have been shortened. As far as who would win it, people talk about the Expos as the team of destiny, but I'm not sure of that. The Cubs were the team of destiny in 2008 and look what happened to them. I think the best chance the Expos had to win it all was 1981 when they had Dawson, Raines and Rogers. Now I could tell you that the Expos might have gotten a new stadium given their playoff berth and would have remained contenders in the NL East for years.

As far as steroids go, you're looking at a guy who was severely disappointed that they ran rampant in the game. The problem with the lack of testing rested solely with the union. The MLBPA fought tooth and nail against testing until it had gotten completely out of hand. It's certainly not as simple as having an indecisive commissioner, though Selig was interim commissioner until 1998. Tougher testing is a hard sale, but it may have come sooner. If it comes before '98, Sosa with his creatine supplements probably has the single season record and two MVP awards instead of one and likely wouldn't be grouped in with steroid suspicion.

As far as the widespread effects of earlier testing, you're opening Pandora's box with all the possibilities. It was widespread in the 1990's and the lack of it would probably shift the balance of power in the majors considerably. But this is all assuming Bush could push for testing against the powerful MLBPA.

One point not considered is the fate of the Kansas City Royals. The Milwaukee Brewers moved to the NL after being an AL franchise since 1969 (as the Seattle Pilots). The Royals were the other team considered for a move to the NL for the 1998 season. Without Selig to push the Brewers, would Milwaukee still be an AL town? Or could Bush push Texas into the NL to promote a more intense intrastate rivalry between the Rangers and Astros?

 

[Berra]

He dicides to open up baseball, allowing teams to try qalifying trough a system of series. Wealthy baseball club owners and players have him assasinated, however he become a martyr and baseball gets it's open series where a local amature team could (teoreticly) qualify into the highest professional series.

Given his dad and brothers political career, he become something of a staple in alternate history and multiple TLs are made, including "Another President Bush, banner of guns, universaliser of healthcare."