That is what is being threatened if McCourt is allowed to continue to hold the reigns of leadership and seek a TV deal without their approval. In what I consider a stunning development, MLB in yesterday’ court filing to the Bankruptcy judge in the McCourt case stated the following:
"No one will pay the [Dodgers] to broadcast Dodgers games if the club is not part of Major League Baseball...Consequently, the [Dodgers'] path in this case is a dead end or worse."
So MLB proposes to go on without the Dodgers. Are you kidding me? The most storied franchise in the National League would be removed? The franchise that broke the color barrier, that was the pioneer in expansion West, that made the primary efforts in bringing Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese players into the game, that served as am ambassador to the game internationally in several fronts would be ousted from the game? The organization that has set virtually every attendance record that exists in the game would be cast out?
Well it has been done before in other sports, but with a built in mechanism to keep the clubs competitive. I’m talking about soccer, where teams in the highest levels are relegated to lower levels if their performance is not up to par.
The latest was Club Atletico River Plate in Argentina. River Plate is one of two most prestigious teams in the Argentine Premier League. They have won the Premier League title a record 33 times and additionally have taken Liberator Cups and even an Intercontinental cup (the one that represents the top club team in the world). They have had such greats as Enzo Francescoli, Mario Kempes, Ubaldo Fillol, Leopoldo Luque, Daniel Passarella and Claudio Cannigia star for them.
They own the most famous Stadium in the country, El Monumental, with the largest seating capacity. Where the World Cup Final has taken place and the Argentine National Team hosts World Cup Qualifying matches.
Yet, this year, after their worst season ever, they have been relegated to “B” level status and were ousted from the Premier League. It would be like the Dodgers being moved to the Pacific Coast League in AAA and continuing to play their home games in Dodger Stadium against the Reno Aces and the Round Rock Express.
This relegation has not been received well with rioting in the stands and streets, (so uncommon for soccer, right?). Take a look at this River Plate fan in his living room reacting to his teams loss in which the result forced their descent to the “B” league. The original YouTube video, with literally over a million hits, is about 8 minutes long and is laden with the most offensive profanity, (beware if you’re a Spanish speaker). I found a shortened version showing the guy screaming after his team is trailing 2-0 and he realizes that they will be relegated to the B League. He yells, “Noooooo, we’re in the B (League) we’re in the B (League)!” The original unedited video is probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen on YouTube.
Getting back to the Dodgers. I can’t imagine MLB being serious with this veiled threat in the court filing, but it shows the lengths to which they are willing to go to oust Frank McCourt. Ironically, MLB Commissioner Selig is the person that fast tracked McCourt's ownership approval acceptance through, bypassing MLB's own rules with regard to debt ratios. And now MLB would punish Dodger fans after forcing this ownership on us? Very stupid. I’m surprised that there isn’t more outrage at MLB's statement from yesterday.
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Thirty seven homers and counting. I didn’t think 40-40 was possible for Kemp, but it’s really happening. He’s finishing up like he did last year, in an absolute “zone.” I think the MVP award is his, whether he wins the Triple Crown or not.
A Cy Young and MVP award from this year's team. Amazing!
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