I normally wouldn't feel bad for Dodgers fans. I'm still hurting from the '81 World Series when my Yankees had a 2-0 series lead but lost four straight after playing without an injured Reggie Jackson and playing with Dave Winfield and his impotent bat. Not to mention Aurielio Rodriguez at third instead of Graig Nettles and the unforgettable image of Fernando Valenzuela's eyeballs rolling up to the heavens during each pitch as if to say, "Thank you God for letting me get these guys out with this Mexican League crap."
Anyway, today's a new day. California's a beautiful place, and with former Yankee great Donnie Baseball getting his managerial feet wet, I gotta have at least some sympathy for the Dodger faithful.
This War of the Roses-like courtroom fight over control of the franchise bewteen Frank and Jamie McCourt has strangled the ability of the front office to spend money to improve the team.
Because my own mom royally screwed my dad in an ugly divorce when I was a kid, I usually side with the guy in such matters. But this one's different. He was a cab driver.
I see Frank McCourt as Dennis Kozlowski wearing a Dodgers hat. You know, the former CEO of Tyco, now a convicted thief who "misappropriated" $400 million in company funds, and allegedly had the company pay $30 million for his NYC apartment and spent $1 million for his wife's 40th birthday party on the Italian island of Sardinia.
McCourt has apparently double-talked his way into bleeding this storied franchise dry. And now Jamie is asking a judge to order the sale of the team because her ex-husband has brought the team "to the brink of financial ruin."
Of course she's no angel either. She wants top dollar and a quick sale, probably so she can take her loot and make off with some office intern to her own Italian island. Her lawyers say the Dodgers and its properties could be worth more than $2 billion.
Less than a month ago, baseball commish Bud Selig appointed former Texas Rangers President Tom Schieffer to oversee the team's finances. Baseball officials say McCourt wasn't able to make the May 31st player payroll. He says everything would work out fine if only Selig would let his television deal with Fox, that he says could be worth more than $3 billion, go through.
It looks like MLB didn't do enough due dilligence when deciding whether Frank McCourt would be a financially stable owner. And because of that dark rain clouds will continue to hover over Dodger Stadium.
A $30,000 umbrella stand anyone?
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