We are going to take a look back at all the former owners of the Dodgers. Not in depth, but just a glimpse at the evolvement of the team. Most of them, you know at least something about; others, not so much.
Ferdinand Abell and Charles Byrne were the two main owners that formed the 1883 team that would one day become the Dodgers. Abell was a casino owner, putting up the bulk of the cash to form the team. Abell also supplied most of the money to build Washington Park, the team’s home. Bryne was a New York City realtor. He graduated from St. Francis Xavier College, and after graduation, he worked as a reporter for a newspaper. The team at first was simply called The Brooklyn’s. It cost $30,000 dollars to build Washington Park. In 1883, they were a member of the Inter-State Association of Professional Baseball Clubs. They won the Championship, so with the increased interest, they moved the team to the American Association in 1884. The team would move to the NL in 1890 and begin their journey as the Bridegrooms. Abell was also a huge part of merging the Baltimore team with Brooklyn in 1898.
Byrne died in 1898, and his shares were purchased by Abell and Charles Ebbets. Abell continued to be part of ownership until he was bought out by Ebbets in 1907. He died in 1913.
Ebbets was born in NYC in 1859. His father was actually misidentified by Ken Burns in his Baseball documentary as Daniel Ebbets. His actual father was John B. Ebbets, a tavern owner in Manhattan. His family had started in the colonies in 1700 when a bricklayer from England, Daniel Ebbets, arrived in New York. His mother, who was of Dutch descent, had her family roots back even further since her family came to what was then New Amsterdam in 1640. Ebbets worked his way up through the Dodger organization from selling peanuts, scorecards, and tickets, to begin with. By 1890, he had saved enough money to invest in the team. By 1898 he owned 80% of the stock. When Byrne died, Ebbets was named team president.
Charles realized that Washington Park was not the venue for the type of team he envisioned, so he started looking for another place to build one. He settled on a place in Flatbush known as Pig Town… so-called because of all the squatters that lived there. One of the attractions was the fact that nine separate trolley car lines crossed that area. Charlie had realized you had to get fans to the game. He quietly began buying up lots, and by 1911, he had acquired 5 1/2 acres of land for the bargain price of $100,000. In 1912 he sold half of his shares in the Superbas to raise the $700,000 to build a new park.
The new park, Ebbets Field, was completed in 1913 and opened with an exhibition game against the Yankees on April 5th. The Phillies beat Brooklyn 1-0 on opening day in front of a packed house of 25,000. In addition to his running his baseball team, Charlie was active in politics. He held office in various Brooklyn districts, but after being defeated by 777 votes for New York State Senator in 1901, his political aspirations were over. Charlie was married twice. After he and his first wife divorced in 1922, he remarried, and they bought a house in Clearwater in 1924. He moved the Robins there for spring training. in April of 1925 when he returned to New York he moved into the Waldorf-Astoria hotel where he would stay when the team was in town. He felt unwell and stayed in the hotel for two weeks. On the morning of April 18h, he fell into a deep sleep, only awakening a couple of times briefly. He died that afternoon of heart failure, and his funeral was on the 21st. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. That day all games in the National League were canceled and the flags flew at half-staff in his honor.
Charles was a hands-on owner who brought many ideas to the game. Some are still in use today. Lady’s Day was one of his ideas, along with expanding the schedule from 140 to 154 based on the travel teams made. He brought in separate locker rooms and separate batting and fielding practices. Before that, both teams would practice on the field before the game. He brought in the rain check and was the first to propose that the players wear numbers. Truly he was a baseball pioneer.
When Ebbets died, Ed and Stephen McKeever became the principal owners of the team. Ed became president. But Ed caught a cold at Ebbets funeral and died on April 29th. So Stephen became acting president. Wilbert Robinson was elected president of the team for a while, but in October of 1932, he was elected president of the team by the shareholders. Partial ownership at this time was shared by the Brooklyn Trust Company. McKeever would stay president of the team until his death in 1938.
In 1938, the ownership of the team was split between the Brooklyn Trust Company, Jim and Dearie Mulvey, Grace Slade Ebbets, Charlie’s first wife, and Joseph Gillieaudeau. When McKeever died, the Mulveys had inherited his shares. One of the members of the Brooklyn Trust was Walter O’Malley, who was a lawyer with the firm. He was assigned as the Dodger’s lawyer in 1942 when Larry McPhail resigned as GM to join the war effort. He slowly began buying shares, and in 1945, he became, along with several others, a minority owner in the team, along with Branch Rickey, the Mulvey’s, and James Lawrence Smith.
Smith died and left his shares to his wife in 1950. O’Malley bought Branch Rickey’s 25% of the team in 1950 and became the principal owner. Most of us know the history of the team from the beginning of his tenure. He was not a huge Jackie Robinson fan. He went to war basically with Robert Moses over the building of a new park in Brooklyn, which led directly to the Dodger’s move to Los Angeles. He actually, for a time, abolished the use of the title of GM, not wanting anyone to step into Rickey’s shoes. Director of Player Personnel was the title for a while. Mrs. Smith sold her shares to the Mulveys and O’Malley when the team made their move to Los Angeles. Seeing Milwaukee’s attendance jump when the Braves moved there from Boston had to be part of the reason O’Malley made the move. He was, after all, a very smart businessman, and more attendance meant more money.
In 1975, he bought out the Mulvey’s and became the sole owner of the Dodger franchise. If the Mulvey name sounds familiar, the Dodgers would give the Dearie Mulvey award to their best performing Rookie in spring each year. Although it felt like he was the sole owner for ages, simply because he was pretty heavy-handed running the team, he was in that position only from 75-79. When he died in 79, ownership passed to his son Peter and daughter, Terry Seidler.
Peter O’Malley would run the Dodgers from 1979 until 1997. To me, this period was one of the best for Dodger fans. The team would win two World Series, 1981 and 1988. They would produce several Rookies of the Year, including five straight, Karros, Piazza, Mondesi, Nomo, and Hollandsworth. They were very competitive throughout that time. Dodger Stadiums’ ticket prices stayed family-friendly for many years. The team had a family atmosphere. Only one manager was at the helm, Lasorda. But his kids were not really into running a baseball team, so when he did decide to sell, he ended up selling the team to a corporation, and the friendly prices and family feeling became a memory.
O’Malley sold the Dodgers to the Fox Entertainment Group, which was owned by Ruppert Murdock, a newspaper magnate, in 1998. Fox, as its own entity, owned the team until 1999, when Robert Daly became a minority owner and stepped in to run the team. One of their first orders of business was to break most Dodger fans’ hearts and ship Mike Piazza out of town in an ill-advised trade over the head of the GM, Fred Claire, in 1998. Piazza was traded simply because FOX felt his contract demands as a free agent were way too high. By today’s standards, it would be a steal. During the period 1998 to 2003, the team was not very successful, failing to advance to the playoffs at all. In 2004 Fox News Corp, the controlling company in Murdock’s empire, sold the team to Frank McCourt, a parking lot mogul, and got $430 million.
McCourt’s ownership tenure, 2004 to 2012, was tumultuous, to say the least. To cover his costs, he raised ticket and concession prices almost every year. He was going to develop a project which would have built a football stadium, and an adjacent retail project was shelved after a story leaked about the plans. He made many improvements to the stadium, and those investments raised the team’s value to well over $700 million according to Forbes. His first team in 2004 made the playoffs. His GM choice, was Paul DePodesta. One of his trades sent the Dodgers starting catcher, Paul LoDuca, and two other players to Miami for He Sop Choi, Brad Penny, and a minor leaguer. He then traded three rookies to the D-Backs for Steve Finley. Choi was a total bust hitting .161 with no homers in LA. Finley hit 13 homers in LA. None bigger than his division-clinching Grand Slam against the Giants on the last day of the year. They were beaten 3-1 in the NLDS by the Cardinals. Choi did nothing, LA catchers, were 3-10 in the series, and Penny did not appear in the series.
After the season, DePodesta decided against re-signing free agent 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre, which was a huge blunder. Beltre signed with the Mariners for 5 years/$64 mil. Instead, he spent 5 years/$55 Million on JD Drew, Derek Lowe, 4 years/$36, Million and he also signed Jeff Kent. The Dodgers had their second worst season in LA at 71-91. Manager Jim Tracy was fired, and a month later, DePodesta was out the door too. Ned Colletti was hired as his replacement, and Grady Little was brought in to manage. Colletti signed free agents Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Bill Mueller, and Kenny Lofton. LA was the wild card that year and lost to the Mets in the NLDS, so Colletti signed Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, and Luis Gonzalez. The 2007 team barely finished above .500, 82-80, Little resigned, and Joe Torre came in as the new manager.
Colletti again signed free agents Andruw Jones, Hiroki Kuroda, and Chan Ho Park. Jones and Schmidt were complete busts, Schmidt getting six wins in his three seasons, and Jones, overweight and totally out of shape, had a dismal season. But a trade at the deadline brought Manny Ramirez and instant excitement to Dodger Stadium and sparked an area in Left Field known as Mannywood. They would make it to the NLCS before losing to the Phillies. In 2009 Ramirez was suspended for PED but they still managed to win the division. Once again, they made the NLCS only to lose to the Phils again.
Trouble was brewing behind the scenes as McCourt and his wife were having some serious domestic problems. The money drain forced Colletti to become very creative in his free agent signings and trades. He even traded for Greg Maddux twice. By 2009 with the marriage falling apart, McCourt got involved in a messy divorce. The judge sided with McCourt as to ownership of the team, and a settlement with his wife was contingent on the Dodgers closing a TV deal with Fox. When MLB disapproved of the deal, the settlement fell apart. By 2011, MLB was concerned enough with the finances of the Dodgers that they appointed Tom Schieffer to oversee the team. On June 27th of that year, the Dodgers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Negotiations between McCourt and MLB were pretty contentious, and finally, McCourt agreed to sell the team. On March 27, 2012, he sold the Dodgers to the Guggenheim Partners for a record 2-billion-dollar price tag. McCourt still has several businesses and now resides back in Massachusetts with his second wife. When he left, Dodger fans rejoiced.
Since Guggenheim took over, the Dodgers have had the most successful period in their history. They have made it to the playoffs ten straight seasons; they had never done it more than twice before. They have 9 division titles, two rookies of the year, numerous memorable moments, and a World Series title; their first in 32 years in 2020. They have flourished, remodeled Dodger Stadium into a cathedral of baseball, rejuvenated a disgruntled fan base, and had more 100-win seasons in the last ten years than they had in all their time in Brooklyn and LA up to this point. They have a strong farm system that keeps producing MLB-level players. The attendance at this point is the highest in the league, and the only team averaging 40 thousand plus a game. In short, Guggenheim has kept their promise to the fans to make the Dodgers back into winners and to be competitive every single year. Here’s hoping it lasts a long, long time. In my mind, they have kept Magic Johnson’s promise to make sure the team is competitive every year. The only other close call for the division was in 2018 when they had to play a 163rd game to win the division from the Rockies. The smallest margin other than that was four games.
Bear –
Holy mackerel….great article! What a history lesson; please tell me there won’t be a surprise quiz later today!
Go Dodgers…..
No quiz, but what a great idea for an article. Dodger Trivia Quiz
Great article.
Running thru some of the owner bios I came across news that Murdoch and Jerry Hall are divorcing.
That Jerry Hall.
Holy moly life is strange.
I know Finley gets a lot of memories for that grand slam. Buts as I remember, the score was tied and less than 2 outs. So if that ball caught on the warning track, its a sacrifice fly and they win the game. Not so sexy. But anyway it was a great moment. Better than two guys tagged out at home plate on one play.
Great article as usual
All that matters is that it landed in the seats. And that is what it did.
You could also say if on a catch made early last season by Michael Tauchman when he was with the Giants. Would have been a walk off homer by Pujols. They would have tied the Giants for the title.
I think there were three or four close/surprising plays in Dodgers-Giants games that year that tilted the pennant to the Giants.
Another was Neuse’s failure to stretch to the throw on a late force play at 2nd, enabling the runner to be safe. In the postgame interviews Roberts had his usual self-control demeanor when he mentioned the play but you could tell he was seething. Another was Bellinger, playing 1B, inexplicably airmailing a throw to 3rd base. Not sure, but I think it went into the stands.
Giants had a magical season, but the Dodgers helped them at times.
At least Trauchman made a good play!
Yes he did. The ball would have barely cleared the wall. But you can say the same thing about 202 and some of the plays made by Dodger outfielders, especially in the playoffs and Series. Bellis robbing Tatis of a homer in the playoff with the Padres, Mookie’s two great catches against the wall vs the Braves. WHEN YOU WIN, great plays are almost always involved.
My baseball wish for this week is for the Dodgers to sweep the Padres and for the Brewers to go on a winning streak….knocking them out of the playoffs would be great!
I think we all agree
My wish is we stay healthy…..
WEll, that wish comes probably too late.#
Dodgers are banged up pretty bad already in the pitching department.
Especially the starting rotation looks to be right were it was last season.
Almonte gave up 2 hits and 2 runs yesterday at AAA in his one inning.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!
Not too late at all……
He gave up two hits on two runs without a homer while also collecting two outs. So, how did the run(s) score? Could it be that Keone Kela allowed any of those runs? Do you know?
NEXT YEAR’S ROTATION:
Julio Urias is the Ace.
Clayton has a spot … if he wants.
Mike Grove and Andre Jackson looked great yesterday, but Gavin Stone has a better shot at joining the rotation next year.
I think the Dodgers will give Tyler Anderson the QO and that Heaney will walk.
Buehler does not factor in until 2024.
Bobby Miller and Ryan Pepiot need more time. Both may end up as relievers.
If Tony Gonsolin doesn’t need TJ, he will be in the rotation.
Dustin May will be another year removed from TJ.
So, this might be it:
1. Urias
2. Kershaw
3. Gonsolin
4. May
5. Anderson
6. Stone
Stone and Vargas could both be the Top Rookies in the NL. I am exceedingly high on both players.
lol – Is Bauer going to opt out?
There are so many possibilities that I did not include him. It could be in Federal Court by then.
Fully agree. And I suspect that both the Dodgers and Julio realize that it’s in their mutual best interest that he remain in LA for many years to come. He’s not just a Dodger, but now the Numero Uno Doyer!
Seattle just signed Luis Castillo for a 5-year, $100-mill-plus contract. Julio could be in that range. (I wanted AF to get Castillo but Seattle made a big offer to get him. DiPoto made Castillo a priority and this deal affirms that he’s their ace for years to come.)
I think JC is a year early on her Vargas-Cartaya prediction. Or at lease the Cartaya part. Smith and Barnes will be back in 2023–the best tandem in baseball– but it will be fun if Cartaya gets called up to take on some of the workload. Perhaps we’ll also see Smith at 3B at bit–but aren’t we also hoping the Vargas locks down that job role?
I liked Bauer’s channel. He’s a punk but does know his way around the mound.
Bring back the Koenigsegg freak.
IMHO both Miller and Pepiot are ready to step into the rotation at any time.
Most pitchers need to learn on the job in the big leagues. But our rotation is deep enough for them to get their experience at the Nr. 4 or 5 spots. same for Stone.
Jackson pitched very well yesterday. If he continues like that he might be making a late push to be on the postseasn rostser.
And great job Bear on the Dodgers ownership blog.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In 1998, a skinny 19-year-old 3B came up and had 195 ABs for the Dodgers. He hit .215 with a .278 OB%. After the season was over, most fans pronounced him a bum! I said he would be a Hall-of-Famer, for which I was roundly criticized. He had a few up-and-down years, but next year, he will be the first ballet Hall-of-Famer!
I will stop short of saying Vargas will be in the Hall, but I will say that he will be a very good player. He is two years older than Adrian Beltre was when he started.
Beltre had great hands. He was automatic at third, best I’ve seen. Letting him go still stands as one Big F’up. We learn from those mistakes.
You know I’m high on Vargas as well. Not just because of his bat to ball skills (which are elite) but because I think he can not only handle playing in LA but will thrive in that environment. His father is baseball royalty in Cuba. He understands the spotlight. And his personality has LA written all over it.
Beltre is the best third baseman in my lifetime. And should have retired a Dodger. But he was thrown into the LA environment at a very young age, which isn’t easy. And he still performed very well. Vargas may not be the next Beltre, but he has advantages that Beltre didn’t have coming into Chavez Ravine.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. By 2023, Vargas and Cartaya will be the face of LA baseball.
I don’t know JC. With Betts, Freeman, and possibly Trey Turner, I think the face of the team for next year is up in the air right now, but it won’t be either of those two. And that’s not a knock on them, I’m just looking at what we already have.. cheers
LOL – There is no way Cartaya is the face of LA next year. He’s close, but not that close.
What to say about Lux? That kid’s a DH right now. His 2 error mess yesterday really makes me wonder how we can trust him to make big pressure plays. Not liking where this is going with him.
It’s funny that there’s always several to jump up quickly to bash Lux on a throwing error and crickets when Trea throws one away. It may surprise you to learn that Lux still has a better fielding percentage than Trea. If Lux is a DH, where are you going to play Max and JT? You want Hanser or CT3 to man the keystone instead?
BTW – The box score says 1 error.
I’ll take Trea’s range & arm over Lux any day. Lux needs to learn when to eat it & forget the off balance toss – he doesn’t have a Machado- like cannon.
Sit him down when it’s close, late innings. Not real high on him.
I like Lux’s bat at the bottom of the order. I still have a concern over the swing and miss potential with Gallo, CT3, Trayce and Bellinger at the bottom of the order. Lux brings a little contact to the party.
It says one error but it was really two, or even three.
Error one (not counted): Bobbling the ball he should have gloved. In scorekeeper’s judgement the runner would have beaten the throw. Maybe, maybe not. So batter credited with a hit. But if Lux made a clean play, there’s a good chance he have out.
Error two (not counted): Deciding to make an off-balance desperation throw after the bobble.
Error three (counted): The terrible throw.
We criticize Lux more than Trea for the obvious reason that Lux deserves more criticism. Trea is not a great fielder, but he’s a step up from Seager, and his offense makes up for some of his mistakes. Lux has been having a nice season but these recent errors and a mini-slump are taking off some of the luster.
Now that I’ve criticized him (again) I fully expect he’ll be a hero the rest of the way.
A few months ago I chided Freddie for what I called his “subpar” offense–and it certainly was by his standards and by what fans should expect.
Now Freddie leads the league in hitting!
So you’re welcome.
I find it a little remarkable that Andre Jackson was so bad in the first half that they had to send to the “Development List” after starting off with a 6.34 ERA and only throwing 56% of his pitches for strikes.
He came back to the tune of a 3.62 ERA and solid 62% strike rate at AAA. Once promoted, he’s pitched in just 3 games, but hasn’t allowed a run so far and has a 68% strike rate with the big club.
Against Yaddy last night, he threw all change-ups except for a single slider mixed in. Not a single fastball and he ended up with another K. An impressive 3 inning save like the ones we used to see decades ago when a reliever was expected to finish the game regardless of when he came into it.
Gavin Stone was remarkable this year. 157 Ks in 115 innings. Unfortunately, that also came with 44 BBs in 115 innings. He pitched at 3 different levels and dominated at each of them. The Dodgers have a ton of options for starting pitchers next year. They stuck with Grove and it paid off. Pepiot is still a stud, he just needs to throw some darts in the strike zone and stop nibbling so much. Andre Jackson is still an option and Bobby Miller has the most upside of anyone.
What sets Stone apart from the rest of the pack and provided him with such a big jump in his performance this year is the increased velocity on his fastball. Last year, he sat 93-95 and was solid, but unspectacular. This year, his velo shot up to 96-98 and he’s been unhittable. Like Andre Jackson, Stone’s mix is Fastball/Changeup/Slider with the Changeup being his best pitch, just like Andre and Pepiot. Stone is about a half year older than Miller and about 2.5 years younger than Andre.
As far as Heaney and Anderson go. It seems to me that Anderson is in a prime position to land a multi-year contract with someone, whereas Heaney still has something to prove. I think it’s possible that the Dodgers offer Anderson a QO, kind of a no brainer. But, I don’t think it would be wise for Anderson to accept it. He was once a top pitching prospect with Colorado, but the thin air did him in. Now, he’s reestablished his market value, so it’s time for him to cash in. Heaney, on the other hand did not reestablish his value and mind find it financially viable to take a sweetheart deal with the team that fixed him and try to get those homers and health under control so he can get a payday similar to Anderson.
The bottom line is that there’s no need for either of them. The Dodgers love depth, so Anderson has a chance. But, Danny Duffy could be next year’s Anderson and he’s under team control already. Next year’s rotation will most likely be…
1. Urias
2. Kershaw
3. Bauer
4. Gonsolin
5. May
6. Duffy
Kershaw is the only one that isn’t under team control.
Sadly, the following year will see some big changes. Kershaw may not be back, Urias may not be back, Duffy will most likely be gone and Bauer will have finished off all contractual obligations. That year will begin with Buehler, May and Gonsolin, a very nice start, but conspicuously lacking in the left handed department.
Lets hope they sign Julio to a new contract.
a lot of money will come off the books afteer this year and next year. there should be enough money to keep in the fold.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree. He’s the one pitcher on the staff that I would like to see extended to a multi-year deal.
If Julio has another really good year I think the Dodgers would be crazy not to do everything they can to sign him. He could be the next Fernando for the Dodgers.
I’ll buy you a Big Green Egg (if we can find a way to keep anonymity) if that’s the rotation next year.
Nice! I really want one, but don’t want to blow all that cache. I smoked a tri-tip yesterday and it was unbelievable. I pulled it at 130, let it rest for 15 minutes, then reverse seared it. It came out close to perfect. I think I want to pull it at 125 next time, just to see if its a little more tender that way.
Made tomahawks and bratwurst yesterday!
With grilled corn, bok choy and pineapple.
Was just lovely.
How goes your course?
Another outstanding article Bear. It was interesting to find out who the original owners of the team were and how the ownership developed up until O’Malley maneuvered into the picture and ended up the majority owner. Walter O’Malley was a smart, ruthless, and insightful owner. It was a sad time when Fox bought the team. To trade away Piazza for salary demands and then turn around and sign Kevin Brown the next year for $100M+ was confusing.
And then, to put a cherry on top of the ownership situation, Frank McCourt and his lovely wife got custody of the team. I had a bad feeling about them right from the get go. A parking lot owner from Boston with no ties to the Dodgers. They put none of their own money into the deal. What could go wrong? Little did we know they were secretly robbing the team of it’s cash to buy multiple houses and stuff to go inside of them. Jamie (called the big meanie by LA Times’ TJ Simers) actually had bought a house next door where she was living just to store furniture. Meanwhile, Colletti, had to pursue deals that wouldn’t increase the payroll with trying to improve the team. Yet, previously, Colletti had wasted tens of millions on horrible free agent signings that Bear mentioned above. It was a bad situation at the end of the McCourt ownership. The fans rightly responded by not going to the games. With all that McCourt ended up paying his ex-wife $130M to gain control of the Dodgers and then turns around and sells it to Guggenheim for $2B+ and the new owners amazingly agreeing to assume $600M+ in debt and allow McCourt to retain 50% of the parking lot revenue and ownership. Talk about total incompetence being rewarded to the max! How can a scumbag like Frank McCourt turn that pile of chicken shit into chicken salad? Unbelievable!
On a more positive note, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the Dodger playoff roster takes shape. I’m sure that it will change as the postseason progresses. A lot of posters here seem to be concerned about the BP and especially who the closer(s) might be. If the Dodger offense continues to roll along the closer issue may not be as critical as some here think. Same can be said of the feared Mets aces DeGrom, Scherzer, and Diaz. The first two may not be physically 100% and if they are not then Diaz’s appearances may not be in a closer role. Right now the Dodger offense is relentless and in most cases will simply wear out many starters they face. The bottom of the order seems to have at least one who can come through with a clutch hit or a productive out. That’s all the fans expect so anything more will be a bonus. I’m still thinking Cody is going to be that guy. Add in his GG defense and speed on the bases who knows what might happen. He seems to be having ABs right now similar to last season’s postseason. After all, many playoff MVP’s are the least expected. Between Lux, Bellinger, and Gallo/Thompson there might be some surprising production that makes a difference in the team’s success.
Carry on.
When Frank McCourt bought the Dodgers with other people’s money, he was my hero. I am a small businessman and felt a certain kinship with him, and I saw how he leveraged the team. All he had to do was sit back and lay low for a few years until the TV deal kicked in, and he would be a billionaire.
Unfortunately, he was a greedy, corrupt, egomaniac, and so was his trainwreck of a wife. I guess it all ended up quite well for him, but he can bathe for 50 years and still stink!
Mark, I can understand your appreciation of McCourt initially. But, unlike most businesses, owning a professional sports team is not something you buy on a handshake and other people’s money and expect to be successful. Look at Mark Davis with the Raiders. The team was inherited by Davis. He is by far the poorest owner in the NFL. How’s that working out for him? Cash flow is the key to any successful business. If you’re stealing the flow then there ain’t no cash available for the business. As McCourt showed that he was not a good businessman and lucked into his billions. Forbes had estimated the value of the Dodgers at about $1B at the time of sale to Guggenheim. Of course, he gets $2B+. I loved the 50 year bath and still stink line! Isn’t that the truth.
McCourt is rolling along with 95% of Olympique Marseille in Ligue 1. Big city, huge fanbase, big stadium,long history. If you watch any flicks about the city that team/stadium inevitably will get some play. It’s a tough town and a very intense, knowledgable fanbase. And there McCourt sits and watches it all grow. Oil money sheik will prolly march in, looking to compete with PSG and, hand Frank a boatload of $$ for the team.
How leveraged he is on the original purchase (2016 IIRC) I have no idea. He should make a bundle nonetheless.
He does know how to shape deals.
Really great post Bear. I really liked the information pre-Ebbets. I had almost no knowledge of the beginnings. Good stuff. Thanks
And tedraymond you always bring good stuff to the table. You and Mark provided the cherry on top of a great history report.
I love the history of baseball.
By the way, I just purchased 3 great hats from Ebbets Field Flannels. A Vintage Kansas City Monarchs replica, a Chicago American Giants Vintage and a San Francisco Seals. I love the vintage caps.
an ex-girlfriend made off with a classic Homestead Grays cap some years ago. I don’t miss her, but I sure miss that cap.
My brother bought a Houston Colt 45’s cap. I loved those things. They were classic. A lot better than the Astro stuff. I had a Chattanooga Lookouts cap for a while and also the Carolina Mudcats. I have a 1938 Brooklyn cap that I love.
Did you all notice Strider is on the IL with an Oblique injury.
Dont like to see guys injured but I wonder what he will have in the playoffs….will he be 100%?
Nobody will be 100% in the playoffs. You play the hand you are dealt.
No excuses. Win or go home!
Yup thats why I like our chances. We are deeper than everyone….
Will take all 25!!!!
Frank McCourt with his wife, Monica Algarra, and a new baby!
Perfect! To think that kid will be a billionaire by their 18th birthday.
We had it bad with MCCourt but look how that turned out.
I’ve got Met fans in my family. They still rant/rave about time lost with Wilpon after the Bernie Madoff scandal blew up.
It’s ironic that Steve A Cohen is now viewed by many Met fans as a ‘savior’. Where we’re they in 2008 when SAC got rung up by the SEC? Lots get burned in big money circles.
I try to keep an owner’s biz seperate from “my team.” It’s a messy world out there.
Astros have 8 games left and if they were to win all 8 games their season would end with 109 wins. Dodgers have 9 games still to play and would have to lose 6 games for Astros to even tie if Astros did win all their coming games. Their ain’t a chance in hell Dodgers will not have the best record in baseball at seasons end.
This season seems like it went quicker than any before. But I guess that’s the way it goes for those of us nearing the tulips and worms. But I could swear time is moving faster and faster even for the young, though there’s no way to prove that either way.
Really. I’m old and coming to grips with ‘dips’ in my baseball memories.
I can give you the starting lineup of the 1961 Yankees including key starters, bullpen and subs. My childhood team.
Don’t ask me about ‘96 Dodger lineup or when we had to live with Jeff Kent.
1996 LA Dodgers starting lineup. C. M Piazza .336/36/105 1B E. Karros .260/34/111 2B. D. DeShields .220/5/41 3B. M. Blowers .265/6/38 SS G. Gagne .255/10/55 LF T. Hollandsworth .291/12/59 CF W. Kirby .271/1/11 RF R. Mondesi .297/24/88. Brett Butler and Roger Cedeno also got some time in CF. By the way, that was Hollandsworth’s ROY season.
Blowers, Kirby…..who?
I must have been asleep lots that year.
Hollandsworth had his 15 mins of fame. Never thought he was all that.
Thx.
Kirby was picked up on waivers that year from the Indians. He played parts of two seasons, 96-97 with the Dodgers. Only played over 100 games twice in his career. Cedeno was 21 at the time. He was supposed to be the CF of the future but ended up going to the Mets in 99 for Todd Hundley. Charles Johnson was also a part of that deal. Butler was 39 and at the end of his career. Two other guys also got time in CF, Chad Curtis, who they got from the Yankees and Dave Hansen. Mike Blowers came to LA from the Mariners in a trade for Miguel Cairo and Willis Otanez. That was Blowers only season in blue. He went back to Seattle as a free agent the next year.
Without dreaming that this or that pitcher will be in the starting rotation next year, who is sure now, besides Julio?
Not Kershaw
Not Buehler
Not Bauer
Not Anderson
Not Heaney
Maybe Stone?
Maybe Pepiot?
May & Gonsolin? 50/50
With this rotation and without the shift it will be difficult to have a season like this again.
DeGrom would change things. I’d throw $100 mill at him for a 2 year.
We got cash, we got options. Not sweating it now.
It’s too much for a future Tommy John!
Yea, but nowadays you get 15 starts out of hardthrowers and you’re good. Crazy how many guys go TJohn now.
Plus, 25-30 starts from DeGrom in two seasons is more value than 95% of pitchers going FA this year. He’s crazy good.
I’m interested to see historical data on # of TJ’s each season and the avg career span of starters after their 50th start.
I am too. When you find historical, scientific data on the number of TJ surgeries each season and the ave career span for starters after 50 starts, please share that. I will add that with my search for scientific correlations between. number of innings, physical size, pitch counts, velocity, and workloads from one season to the next. I’m all ears.
I’ve been seeking this information as to why some guys, even with clean mechanics, breakdown while others don’t, for years. Aroldis Chapman has thrown 105mph and at 34 still hits triple digits. In a 27 year career Nolan Ryan was “the bringer of the big Heat”., until one fateful day in Seattle. And the list is long. Were these guys just freaks? How come others drop like flies. A few years ago, 1/2 of the pitchers at the all-star game were survivors of Tommy John. And while the average MLB fastball has increased 3 mph, workloads and pitch counts continue to drop. There are certainly many factors involved but the bottom line is with all the speculation and theories and now technology, we still don’t WTF we’re doing.
“This year more than ever, it seems an enormous number of pitchers have suffered injuries that required Tommy John surgery. That includes big-leaguers like Matt Moore, Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy, Patrick Corbin, A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker, along with potential first-round picks in Jeff Hoffman and Erick Fedde.” By charliewilmoth | May 10, 2014
A billionaire by 18, which one the wife or the baby ?
Brilliant
No game tonight, so I will be working on another post. Heat wave back in Cali. I cannot wait to get back to my mountains and serenity
Great article Bear
I, like Mark, was optimistic when McCourt took Fox out of the picture. But that didn’t last long.
In the years since, I have had many conversations with a friend who was close to a sports radio legend here in LA (Joe McDonell). I never listened to him much (or any sports talk, radio or TV). But he coined the term McBankrupt from the day McCourt took over the Dodgers. According to Big Joe (as my friend tells it) he knew the whole backstory about how McCourt lost out on the Red Sox for very political reasons and, for lack of a better term, blackmailed MLB into allowing him to buy the Dodgers with zero skin in the game (all debt). He threatened a lawsuit that would open the world to how the Red Sox were sold to John Henry. And it shouldn’t surprise anybody that major sports franchises often change hands for reasons other than a buyers ability to pay. MLB, NFL and NBA franchises are the ultimate country club membership. I don’t remember all the details but how McCourt ended up owning the Dodgers stunk from day one. Living through the McCourt era was the worst period of my life as a sports fan. Makes me all the more appreciative of the owners we have now. Especially being friends with many Angel fans. They have their own McCourt. And nearly two lost decades.
Joe McDonnell & Doug K were a pretty good listen back in the day.
How often Joe hit the mark on his takes will be open to debate but, he always seemed to be coming from deep source on McCourt. Was Tommy his guy? Vassegh? (I can’t remember Vassegh on the show ever.). Joe Mc D was a real savage at times. No one escaped his sights.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/joe-mcdonnell-dead-la-sports-781477/
Momentum. TBauer.
https://watch-momentum.com/pages/about
More TB:
HS pitcher throwing 95 vs D1 softball hitter
https://youtu.be/XiZffQHCaKI
I would much rather read about Gavin Stone’s progress than that Trevor Bauer guy.
And I just read that Stone closed out his 2022 minor league season in terrific style, needing only 58 pitches to finish 6 innings, giving up one run and thus keeping his ERA at 1.56, which reportedly about 1/3 of a run better than the next qualified milb starter.
So tell me again why we haven’t seen Stone in LA yet? He’s outpitched everybody in the minors. Grove and Jackson just did fine, but do we really see them playing a significant role in the playoffs?
There is still time for Stone to be summoned. It would be a nice surprise.
Meanwhile, Outman his 30th HR and finished his minor league season with a .991 OPS, while earning raves for his glove. And of course he hit even better in his brief stay in the majors. While we are all rooting for Gallo and Belli to keep improving, it’s also possible they are blocking a talented player who is ready and hungrier.
BTW, mlb.com just published a piece naming 11 rookies who could make a big impact in the post-season. There are some obvious names, like the Braves’ Spencer Strider and Michael Harris, and the Mariners’ Julio Rodriquez.
I just wish the Dodgers had somebody on that list.
Lists mean nothing. That list shows how deep the Dodgers are because you have to have spots for those prospects.