Selig honored with diversity award

11/18/2005
WASHINGTON -- Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was honored with the CEO Leadership Award at the 2005 Diversity and Women Leadership Summit & Gala on Thursday.
The award recognizes leaders in business and government who've been successful advocates of creating different types of diversity and was given to a total of eight people.
Selig flew into Washington from Milwaukee, where he'd been earlier in the day at the owners' meetings.
"It means a great deal to me," Selig said. "I'm very flattered and was very proud to be here. I think we've come a long way in the past decade, and we'll continue to [go] a long way in [upcoming years]."
However, Selig also faced a number of questions about the Nationals and their future. He said that Major League Baseball won't set any more timetables for finding a new owner for the team, but definitely wants to get the deal finished.
"We want to move as expeditiously as possible," Selig said. "I'm very sensitive about all these issues. We have a good front office here. We need to select an owner. We need to get a lease done. We just need to move ahead."
Selig said he's constantly reviewing data from the eight possible ownership groups. He's interviewed five of them and will be soon meeting with the other three and shot down reports that there's a leader of the pack.
"These groups are very good," Selig said. "In my mind right now, you've got eight groups that are very qualified. It really makes for a very, very tough decision."
Selig said he knew that baseball fans in the District want to get an owner in place -- especially a group with a local flavor -- but he stressed several times that he wants to take his time and pick the right group. Selig also said that baseball also wants to make sure there's a lease deal in place before picking an owner.
"We need to get an owner, and we need to get the stadium lease done," Selig said.
The lease part of the deal has been moving somewhat slowly, but Selig said several times that asking to have a lease in place isn't anything unusual.
The Commissioner said that getting an ownership group in place will be nice, but that the lease is very important. However, Selig said he's confident everything is going to come together -- saying simply that everyone needs to give it time.
In addition, Selig said not having an owner shouldn't hurt the Nationals much during the winter free agent market and emphasized this is not a team with no leadership at the top.
"They have an owner; they have the same owner they've had," Selig said. "We'll get this done as soon as possible."
Selig also said he understood the city's concerns about the possibility the Nationals could try and leave after a stadium gets built, but brushed that off as nothing to worry about.
"We're going to sign a long-term lease here," Selig said. "This team's going to be here for the next two generations. There's no concerns about that."

Source: http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/