Frank McCourt, who bought the Dodgers with mountains of debt, mismanaged the team into bankruptcy and engaged in financial conduct which led to a federal grand jury investigation, has amnesia. Or suffers from delusions. Something along those lines anyway. I mean, how else can you explain the characterization of his tenure as Dodgers owner he made today:
Those comments came today when it was announced that he has purchased a 50% stake in the Global Champions Tour, an international show jumping series that draws top riders and horses.
“We created value,” he says. Bollocks. He lucked his way into “value” due to fortunate timing that he neither predicted nor did anything himself to help bring about. He wanted to keep the Dodgers, but was forced to sell due to his divorce and his crushing debt load and because he had totally worn out his welcome in Major League Baseball, which is really, really hard for an owner to do. It just so happened that all of that came to a head when the Dodgers’ TV rights deal opened up and the local rights bubble reached what is likely its apex. Yes, a famous Dodgers executive once said that luck is the residue of design, but in McCourt’s case he was only able to take advantage of his great financial luck due to his enormous incompetence.
So good luck, Global Champions Tour. Here’s hoping that, among the many other things Frank McCourt has been wrong about, he is wrong about his desire “to do the same thing here.” Because while the Dodgers withstood it just fine, I wouldn’t count on it happening twice.
(Thanks to Sarah D. for the heads up)