Major League Baseball Commissioner, former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and UW-Madison graduate Bud Selig spoke to a crowd of students Tuesday, mentioning he had spoken with his ""good friend Hank Aaron"" earlier that morning.
Commissioner Selig discussed ""The State of the Game,"" at Hillel, 611 Langdon St., including issues facing Major League baseball today, the future of the sport and his passion for the game.
He studied history and political science, hoping to one day be a history professor at UW-Madison. When asked if he ever imagined becoming commissioner of MLB, Selig said, ""Not in my wildest dreams.""
Many students said they came to the event eager to hear Selig speak on how he feels about steroid usage in the MLB.
Selig has proposed harsher penalties for players caught using steroids and banned usage of amphetamines.
""The steroids controversy is a manifestation of the society we live in,"" Selig said. ""We don't make excuses, and we've done everything we can.""
Selig noted baseball has the toughest steroid testing program in U.S. sports and said he has spent a lot of time with doctors and trainers in order to cut down on steroid usage in the major leagues.
""I think it's very sad, and I think the use of these things is worse than terrible,"" he said.
""We are held to a higher standard, and that's OK,"" Selig said of the more lenient steroid use in the National Football League. ""I'm going to worry about baseball.""
Also brought up was Barry Bonds' breaking of Babe Ruth's record for all-time homeruns, and his coming close to breaking Hank Aaron's record.
Bonds has been convicted of steroid usage, however if Bonds were to break Ruth's record, Selig said the victory would be celebrated.
""We celebrate all victories,"" he said.
But UW-Madison junior Alex Sheridan said, ""Any time someone hits 60 plus homeruns or has a ridiculous season, the question is going to come up, ‘Is he on steroids?'""
""I believe that his numbers would have been significantly lower had he never been on steroids,"" UW-Madison sophomore Jared Steinberg said. ""I'm really concerned with him breaking Hank Aaron's record.""
Many students in the audience were eager to know which team Selig thought would win this year's World Series; however, he remained neutral on that topic.
""I don't make any predictions,"" he said, though he did comment when asked who he thought would win MVP this year.
""It's tough,"" he said, but added, ""Derek Jeter has had an absolutely fantastic year.""
