A few years ago representatives of the National Hockey League Players Association, known hereafter as the hockey union, approached Michael Weiner about becoming its executive director. Weiner at the time was general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association, known hereafter as the baseball union.

Weiner passed on the opportunity, preferring to stay with the baseball union. It was the intelligent decision because last December he became executive director of the best sports union in creation.

The hockey union, however, has not failed in its quest to get a general counsel from the baseball union. That was the position Donald Fehr held before he became executive director of the baseball union in 1983, and now Fehr is on the verge of becoming the hockey union’s executive director.

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In what now seems like ancient history, Major League Baseball clubs were always careful during labor negotiations with the players union to avoid claiming that they were losing money. Had they made that claim, under labor law they would have been required to open their books. Opening their books was the last thing clubs wanted to do.

Last week half a dozen clubs had their books opened for them.

In as remarkable and stunning an exclusive baseball story as I have seen, a Web site, deadspin.com, disclosed the financial reports of half a dozen teams – Marlins, Pirates, Rays, Mariners, Rangers, Angels. Anything financial you might want to know is in those reports, and Deadspin posted them for everyone to read and download.

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Will George Will be the next baseball commissioner? Will there even be a next baseball commissioner? Fay Vincent, whom Selig succeeded as commissioner, wrote a book that carries the title “The Last Commissioner.” But at the rate he is going, Selig may really be the last because he may not let anyone else have the job.

But let me get back to George Will because I didn’t throw his name up there just to have a name.

Will, a nationally known political columnist and seemingly permanent member of Selig’s special committees, was one of three names mentioned the other day by a person in Major League Baseball in connection with the commissioner’s job. The other names were Bob DuPuy and Selig.

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