ATLANTA (AP) Baseball commissioner Bud Selig remained firm on his 20-game suspension of Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers on Thursday, despite complaints from the players' union that Selig should not have handed out the penalty.<br>
<br>
``We have another hearing, so I have to be careful,'' Selig said. ``But I think my statement which articulated my feelings very, very lucidly ... I believed when I meted out the punishment, I believed it then and I believe in it just as intensely today.''<br>
<br>
Selig, in Atlanta for the 2005 Commissioner's Initiative for Kids, imposed the suspension and a $50,000 fine for a June 29 videotaped tirade in which Rogers, a three-time All-Star, shoved two cameramen when he came onto the field for pregame stretching.<br>
<br>
The players' association filed a grievance on July 8, and arbitrator Shyam Das scheduled an Aug. 8 hearing after Selig made his decision Wednesday. Das turned down the union's request to stay the suspension pending the new hearing, saying he didn't think he had the authority, union general counsel Michael Weiner said.<br>
<br>
The union contends that Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, should have made the initial decision, not Selig.<br>
<br>
``Obviously, we don't agree with that,'' Selig said Thursday. ``I am the commissioner and that is the decision that I made. The real question is what happened between the photographers and Kenny Rogers, and not who should or shouldn't hand down the judgment.<br>
<br>
``We all have a job to do,'' Selig added. ``Either you agree or you disagree, but you have a right to do your job. And you have a right to do your job unhindered. That's the way I feel.''<br>
<br>
Rogers began serving the suspension Wednesday.<br>
<br>
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
