Dodgers News

A brief baseball note this morning.

Now that Bud Selig and MLB has worked out a deal with the courts to get the Dodgers away from Frank McCourt and sold, we can turn a page on a dark chapter in one of the flagship teams in baseball. A chapter so dark that it produced back-to-back NLCS appearances, the presence of Joe Torre, and the emergence of legitimate superstars in Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw.

Maybe it wasn't that dark...but it's over now.

The real question is can we, or rather, true Dodger fans (of which I'm probably not counted (I do like the Dodgers, but my ultimate emotional connection lies elsewhere)) trust Bud Selig to find a suitable ownership group? He rubberstamped the sale from Fox to the McCourts back in 2004, as well as the less-than-productive sale from the O'Malleys to NewsCorp.

People in Los Angeles are excited to hear that Peter O'Malley is interested again in leading the team, reportedly confident that he can put investor's together to make the purchase.

Before O'Malley reappearing the leading candidates--at least to the public--were a group headlined by former players Steve Garvey and Orel Hersheiser, and a group headed by Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban.

Fans want Mark Cuban, but have no real problem with either O'Malley or the Garvey/Hersheiser group. Cuban comes off as passionate, hungry for championships, and willing to spend. Who wouldn't want him as the owner of their team?

Well, the other twenty-nine owners in baseball who have a say and don't want him around will prove the sticking point for Cuban. He's a rushing river to the staid, quiet pond of the baseball owner fraternity.

He's got about as much a chance as the next group I'm writing about: you. And me. And my neighbor and coworker and the cashier at the Vons I went to this morning.

There's a push going on right now to collect voices and people, people willing to spend $500 for a share of the Dodgers, a push to make the team public like the Green Bay Packers. Unlike in the NFL, baseball doesn't have any specific rule against public ownership. The Packers' success, even early on, forced football--an organization run by wealthy men--to end the possibility of ever being ousted as owners by members of the community.

I've signed up. I'd spend $500 to own a piece of the Dodgers. I also think there's not a chance in hell it can work out, which usually means there's probably some chance. Just a bid by a public entity taken seriously would be victory of sorts.

If you're interested in signing up (no cash changing hands yet), here's the site: Own the Dodgers.