Frank McCourt should have the right to screw up his own business if he wants to.
He bought and paid for the Los Angeles Dodgers and it is ridiculous to see Major League Baseball try and take it off him.
I'm glad to see he is fighting back and will fight to keep his team.
I know Frank's brother, David McCourt well,a great businessman,and like Frank a proud Irish American.
I'm sure Frank will not take the nonsense that is being dished out by Bud Selig.
It is not like the Dodgers have underperformed under his ownership.
They were unlucky not to reach a world series under Joe Torre.
Attendance has kept up and McCourt has done his best to keep his private battles with his wife over the divorce well away from the team itself.
Sure he has problems, but look around Major League Baseball owners and show me one who does not.
Here in New York, the late and now revered George Steinbrener ended up in court on many occasions, Fred Wilpon of the Mets got folks to invest with Bernie Madoff.
And so it goes.
Frank McCourt is a buccaneer, a larger than life businessman who has made his mistakes.
And now nanny-like MLB comes to take his team off him.
They need to grow up and let McCourt sort out his own problems and let his team get back to winning.
6 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.ochshane | Apr 23, 2011, 12:28 PM EDT
Who cares.
bigloumal | Apr 22, 2011, 01:43 PM EDT
I think Mr. O'Shea should do his homework before he writes such a misinformed article. The rules of American Major League Baseball give the Commissioner, Bud Selig, the absolute and unchallengeable authority to take whatever action he deems necessary for the "good of the game". Selig felt that the manner in which McCourt was running the Dodgers was detrimental to the game, so he booted McCourt. Selig will appoint a Trustee to run the team until a buyer is found to buy the team. As a native of Los Angeles and long time season ticket holder, I could not agree more with Selig's decision. McCourt has ruined a once proud team and Dodger stadium has become a hang out for hoodlum gangs and attendance has plummeted in the last few years. One of the many reasons Selig acted when he did is that McCourt was in serious discussions with Fox Sports TV to enter into a long term contract worth up to a billion dollars. Selig was concerned that based upon McCourt's prior raping of Dodger revenue for his lavish personal life style, the front end payment from this new contract would not have benefitted the team, but McCourt. Thank God for for Selig's decision and good riddance to the Boston "parking lot attendant".
blairdavid | Apr 22, 2011, 12:28 PM EDT
seems the team made the playoffs more under franks ownership than any other ....4 in first 6 years ...why break his chops i agree
Liamkeyes | Apr 22, 2011, 11:22 AM EDT
I just don't know enough about it. There is anough of a population around Los Angeles to support all their pro sport franchises. One thing about pro sports that blew my mind happened to Real Madrid and David Beckham. In the first feqw weeks that he played there, they sold over a million Beckham shirts. Do the math, Beckham gets at least 5 bucks a shirt.
OShaughnessy31 | Apr 22, 2011, 10:47 AM EDT
OCONNELL is right. It may be his business, but MLB has done similar things in the past, and McCourt has done everything but keep his divorce private. McCourt has the potential to bankrupt his team and rob LA of the Dodgers, thus justifying action by MLB. It's a shame when people defend others just because they share the same ethnicity.
OCONNELL | Apr 22, 2011, 09:46 AM EDT
While Mr. O'Shea is certainly entitled to his opinion, this is one of these silly "if-he/she/it is Irish then he/she/it can do no wrong" pieces that occasionally appear on Irish Central. The McCourts (Mr Mrs) own an MLB "franchise" and, like the players, there are rules associated with it. Their inane, money-grubbing and arrogant behavour has had a detrimental effect on the franchise and its fans [contrary to Mr O'Shea's assertion attendance is down 11%] and thus on MLB and Selig is totally within his rights as MLB commissioner to act. I'm sure Mr. McCourt is a "proud Irish-American" - millions of you are, but that does not provide him with any special status in business or anything else.