Bud Selig says he’s proud of what baseball has accomplished with regards to steroids and testing, and says that he shouldn’t get any of the blame for this tarnished era.

Selig told Newsday that Major League Baseball accomplished more than anyone thought was possible. Really? That’s your official view on this?

“The reason I’m so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we’ve come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible,” he told Newsday. “I honestly don’t know how anyone could have done more than we’ve already done.”

To compare Selig’s words with reality, I’ll step aside and let The Big Lead give you four examples of much bigger projects that were accomplished in less time than it took for Bud Selig to put real steroid rules into MLB:

Landing on the Moon: On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy challenged NASA to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth.  The Apollo Space Program began in 1963 and landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon in July 20, 1969.  NASA did not need to be called before Congress to explain themselves.

Winning the Second World War: Whether you date from the beginning of the Second Sino-Japenese War on July 7, 1937, Hitler’s invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939 or the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the Allied victory in World War II took less time than the steroid policy.  (Nazi Germany + Imperial Japan > Donald Fehr and Gene Orza)

Paradise Lost: John Milton began Paradise Lost in 1658.  His epic was published in 1667.  Blind by this point, Milton dictated the entire ten-book, blank verse poem to his daughters and assistants.  This took less time than it took baseball to implement a steroid policy.

Sistene Chapel Ceiling: Between 1508 and 1512, legendary artist Michaelangelo painted over 300 figures on 12,000 square feet of ceiling in the Sistene Chapel.  One of mankind’s greatest artistic endeavors in scale and in skill, it took less than half as long as the steroid policy.

Selig continued by saying, “I’m not sure I would have done anything differently.” Really? Nothing different? Huh.

“A lot of people say we should have done this or that, and I understand that,” he also told Newsday. “They ask me, ‘How could you not know?’ and I guess in the retrospect of history, that’s not an unfair question. But we learned and we’ve done something about it. When I look back at where we were in ‘98 and where we are today, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made.”

So in 11 years, you had an entire era take place that will forever be known as the “Steroid Era,” and all of it happened on Selig’s watch — and he’s proud of his accomplishments. In fact, for the first few years, he couldn’t celebrate the accomplishments of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire enough. It wasn’t until a guy like Barry Bonds came alone, who Selig clearly despises, that he was driven to do something, anything to tarnish Bonds’ name.

That is the story of how we got steroid testing in baseball. Selig tried his hardest to not make it happen. If it weren’t for the BALCO scandal and the government’s Bonds witch hunt, we’d never have seen any progress. Nobody was calling for steroid testing when McGwire was King of the Long Ball. Nobody questioned when Roger Clemens‘ career was magically revived after being left for dead in Toronto. But when Bonds hit 73 and set his sights on Ruth, then people wanted to fix the problem.

If there were no Barry Bonds, there’d still be no steroid testing. Fact.

Selig also says he tried to put steroid testing in in 1995, but the union fought him on it, so he didn’t do it. See Bud, that’s why you are going to be remembered as the commissioner who ruined baseball. A real commissioner would have been willing to fight the union on this — or anything for that matter. Selig essentially let the inmates run the asylum. Baseball for the last 15 years has been run by the Player’s Association, and that alone is one of Selig’s biggest failures. The steroid era is just a product of Selig’s refusal to put his foot down with the union.

It’s the same reason that there is no salary cap, despite there being a clear need for it. Selig is afraid of the most powerful union in the world. And that’s okay to admit, as long as you know it’s true and try to remedy that problem. But to use your fear of the union as a scapegoat excuse for your own personal failures is unacceptable. Selig has allowed himself to be pushed around by the players, and that is the reason that salaries are what they are today, steroids tarnished a generation, and families can’t afford to go watch the game he ruined.

Go ahead and be proud, Mr. Selig. It fits right in with your other misguided failures.

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