Before he became commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig owned the Milwaukee Brewers and spent summers watching his team be ignited by the thick-eyebrowed kid from St. Paul.

While watching Paul Molitor become a star and a Brewers legend, it became clear to Selig that Molitor would one day lead a team.

"I will tell you this. I always thought he would be a major league manager," Selig said by phone from his office in Milwaukee on Monday. "Articulate, extremely smart, knows the game, great instincts. He'll be great with people. I'm really pleased for [General Manager] Terry Ryan and [owner] Jim Pohlad and everyone there. I think it is a great choice."

Molitor will be introduced Tuesday as the 13th manager in Twins history, replacing Ron Gardenhire, who was fired Sept. 29. It ends a five-week search in which eight candidates were interviewed and at least three were interviewed a second time.

Molitor batted .303 and was named to five All-Star teams over 15 seasons with the Brewers. Molitor, along with fellow Hall of Famer Robin Yount, helped the Brewers reach the 1982 World Series, losing in seven games to the Cardinals. Selig marveled at how Molitor — the No. 3 overall pick in the 1977 draft following an All-America senior season with the Gophers — became a force in Milwaukee after playing only one year in the minors.

The two remain close to this day. A year ago, Molitor decided to take his son to a World Series game and contacted the league office for tickets. When Selig got wind of Molitor's call, he immediately had Molitor and his son in his box at Fenway Park when the Red Sox faced the Cardinals.

"It's a wonderful story," said Selig, who is retiring in January after 23 seasons. "He's from there, he closed out his career there and he got his 3,000th hit there. I have real fond memories of Paul on and off the field."

Selig also was close with the late Carl Pohlad, Jim Pohlad's father. So did the commissioner put in a good word for his former infielder with the Twins?

"I normally don't do that," Selig said. "I leave that to everyone else. But let's just say they knew how I felt about Paul."