He Said/She Said ... The Same Thing

Respected writer Pat Jordan has a spirited profile of Dodger owners Frank and Jamie McCourt in the Times that quickly disintegrates into a wasted opportunity. The piece offers fairly intimate access to the McCourts, encourages them to vent in unguarded fashion, but then just settles for the tired defense of them as misunderstood. There's no doubt that's true to some extent - who among us hasn't been misunderstood? But an unchallenged recounting of the McCourts' past 2 1/2 years performs no service. It's a propaganda piece.

Example:

Prodded to elaborate on those early decisions, Frank says: "Everyone was protecting their own job, their own turf. When they confronted a problem, they didn't want to solve it, they just wanted to position themselves so they wouldn't get blamed. Listen, [prior to my ownership], the franchise hadn't won a postseason game in 16 years, the team was losing $60 million a year, the brand was eroding and everyone's pissed at me [for making changes]! People were entrenched in jobs that paid $500,000 a year and they weren't trying to win, to make money, to do their [expletive] job. . . . I said, 'Let me get this right. The team's losing money, hasn't won, the brand's eroding and you're [expletive] complaining because I'm making changes?'

"So I brought in my own people. If we succeed, what's that got to say about the people who had a chance to make this franchise succeed before us? They're bitter because we embarrassed them. So they sabotaged us [in the press]."

This is the world according to McCourt, and as far as Jordan cares, it's the only world that exists. Apparently, everyone the ownership fired was making half a mil while eating donuts. Ross Porter, Paul DePodesta and Jim Tracy (take your pick), Gary Miereanu, Bill Plaschke's friends in the trenches - everyone. The implication is the same line of thinking that has undermined the McCourts' attempts to win over Los Angeles. They make honest mistakes; everyone else is incompetent.

They can't even follow the Golden Rule. Point me to where any of the executives fired by McCourts have trashed the McCourts the way the McCourts have trashed them.

In Midnight Run, Charles Grodin's martini-dry question for Robert DeNiro is, "Why aren't you popular with the Chicago Police Department?" It's the mystery within a comedy, with great suspense and in the end, a great payoff. At Dodger Stadium, the ongoing question for Frank and Jamie McCourt is, "Why aren't you popular with the city of Los Angeles?" And this is a comedy with no mystery, because the answer is so simple.

As professionals, they will only be as popular as the team is successful. When the team isn't successful, they will only be as sympathetic as they are honest, including being honest with themselves. As long as they go around claiming that everyone else is underperforming but they're just misunderstood, as long as their theme song remains, "Why doesn't everybody like us?", they're not going to get anywhere.

The McCourts have made improvements to Dodger Stadium, have for the most part allowed the rebuilding of the farm system to continue, have presided over a division title. We can see it. They have also made a series of management decisions that flew over the cuckoo's nest. Can they see it?

If they can, Jordan didn't show it. Maybe Jordan thought he was doing us all a favor by writing this defense of the McCourts. They've gotten some rough treatment. But some of it that treatment has been deserved, and ignoring that fact doesn't change it.

* * *

Today's Game

Comments

[Bob Timmermann]

1.  Shameless plug for myself:
http://griddle.baseballtoaster.com/archives/441105.html

[Bob Timmermann]

2.  Won't get a chance to see this game in any fashion I fear. But it's all for the best. Off to say goodbye to my aunt who is moving to Texas and wishing goodbye the last relative from the generation before me who lives out here.

[Bluebleeder87]

3.  how much did you have to dish out for those seats?

[Bluebleeder87]

4.  great article about the McCourts, loved reading it.

[Vishal]

5.  i don't know if anyone has pointed this out recently, but "old friend" and putative depodesta boondoggle jose valentin is OPSing .876 with 11 homers, 15 doubles, and 3 triples in 213 at-bats. meanwhile, we have cesar izturis playing 3rd base.

[regfairfield]

6.  5 You mean DePo didn't acquire Jose Valentin just to destroy the team? My mind is blown.

[regfairfield]

7.  Breaking news: Antonio Perez has finaly got his average into the triple digits. He's hitting .101 after his third inning double.

[Jon Weisman]

8.  5 - http://dodgerthoughts.baseballtoaster.com/archives/397161.html

[Bill Crain]

9.  have for the most part allowed the rebuilding of the farm system to continue

A carefully stated truth, but is it really something to brag about? It's also true they fired the most over-qualified young general manager in the game and hired an anti-intellectual dweeb with a knowing smirk and a Jeff Kent-matching moustache. Why? Who among us believes the front office average IQ went anywhere but in the sewer, unreturned phone calls notwithstanding? I can't help it; I hate 'em.

Or have we covered this previously?

[Vishal]

10.  [5] ah yes, i remember that one now. well, his 100+ plate appearances since havle been even better than those first 100. he'll probably hit about 25 homers and knock in 90 runs before the season is through. it just reaffirms the notion that his signing was another example of a good idea that just didn't pan out because of the dodgers' phenomenal bad luck in the health department last year.

[Blu2]

11.  Has the DT software been acting up today or was it my computer?
At the player's meeting last night, you don't suppose Nomar volunteered to play third base, a position he played only last year, do you? That would allow them to bring up Loney who's hitting what, .380?
Character is a word that gets tossed around a lot, but it should be tossed out. A talented player gets told how great he is all through high school, maybe college, the minors and even in the majors. After all those years of hearing it, he is convinced. Character is completely replaced by ego. To Hell with winning, I got to protect my average...

[Blu2]

12.  I see Martin's hitting in front of Ethier today, right after Drew. I swear I just can't follow Little's thinking at all. It must be those hunches again...

[LAT]

13.  The McCourts are victims alright. Victims of their own greed. Victims of their lack of baseball experience. Victims of their own egos. Victims of their inablity to develop a plan and stick with it.

Point me to where any of the executives fired by McCourts have trashed the McCourts the way the McCourts have trashed them.

This is all anyone really needs to know.

Why would they even give this interview?

[D4P]

14.  Why would they even give this interview?

Because they're very concerned about how they're perceived by the public, due in large part (I would think) to the fact that they want people to keep coming to the games so they can keep making profits.

[Bluebleeder87]

15.  14

it's a business of course they wan't people to go to Dodger Stadium, you can't folt them for that (atleast I'm not)

[StolenMonkey86]

16.  and hired an anti-intellectual dweeb with a knowing smirk and a Jeff Kent-matching moustache

Come on, Colletti's mustache is much bigger than Jeff Kent's. Kent trims his more, while Colletti has that big old bushy thing.

[StolenMonkey86]

17.  Today's lineup from Inside the Dodgers

Furkle
Izzy
Birthday Boy
Drew
Martin
3.5
Cruz
Martinez

[Bluebleeder87]

18.  Man I'm glad I was wrong about J.D.Drew, going on the 15 day DL. would any of you like to see Martin batting 2nd?

[StolenMonkey86]

19.  5 - The middle infield might be a better place for Valentin. He can't lose balls in the chalk there.

[Marty]

20.  I think Tommy Hawkins voiced his opinion of the McCourts.

[Bluebleeder87]

21.  16

Colletti is old school that's why.

[Bill Crain]

22.  When George Steinbrenner axes executives or makes trades, he's called a shrewd baseball owner. . .

When did this happen? Somebody thinks Steinbrenner is shrewd? Must've been some stat geek, like that Bill James character.

[thinkblue0]

23.  Izzy batting second? I might boycott today's game in favor of a movie...

[StolenMonkey86]

24.  18 - I like Martin in the 5 spot.

You know what's really amazing, it's that you could easily win a world series if you had a team entirely made up of the best players that make less than $1 million.

This would be it's starting lineup, if it's an NL team

Jose Reyes
Grady Sizemore
David Wright
Ryan Howard
Nick Swisher
Jason Bay
Robinson Cano
Russell Martin

[StolenMonkey86]

25.  The rotation would be

Liriano
Kazmir
Verlander
Weaver

with the likes of Chien-Ming Wang, Chad Billingsley, Kyle Davies, and Matt Cain competing for the 5th starter job.

[Vishal]

26.  grady sizemore, nick swisher, and robinson cano are in the NL?

and not brian mccann over russ martin?

[StolenMonkey86]

27.  26 - Not all NL players, but an NL lineup, meaning no DH.

Good point on McCann. He is OPSing .959. That team's even better than I thought!

[StolenMonkey86]

28.  It does tell you something that the 4 top young starting pitchers are in the AL though.

[Bluebleeder87]

29.  Frank McCourt "Finally, Frank says: "Other groups who wanted to buy the Dodgers had an agenda, so they assumed we did too. We were gonna build condos on Dodger land, or put an NFL team there. But we just wanted to make the Dodgers work. A lot of rich people here couldn't figure out how to make the Dodgers work. I mean, if Fox and Murdoch couldn't figure out how to make the Dodgers work, how could we, these strangers?"

What he leaves unsaid is his belief that his dreams of Dodger greatness do not conflict with his dreams for the future development of Dodger land. They are both part of his one grand dream for his L.A. enterprise, which is not unlike his grand dream for that 25 acres of Boston land that he never developed while waiting for the perfect moment. Frank McCourt will always be an Irish Romantic, with all that implies, a touch of doomed fatalism.

"I'm willing to fail," he says. "I'd rather go down with the ship than play it safe."

I like that quote from Frank McCourt.

[Bluebleeder87]

30.  Frank McCourt "Finally, Frank says: "Other groups who wanted to buy the Dodgers had an agenda, so they assumed we did too. We were gonna build condos on Dodger land, or put an NFL team there. But we just wanted to make the Dodgers work. A lot of rich people here couldn't figure out how to make the Dodgers work. I mean, if Fox and Murdoch couldn't figure out how to make the Dodgers work, how could we, these strangers?"

What he leaves unsaid is his belief that his dreams of Dodger greatness do not conflict with his dreams for the future development of Dodger land. They are both part of his one grand dream for his L.A. enterprise, which is not unlike his grand dream for that 25 acres of Boston land that he never developed while waiting for the perfect moment. Frank McCourt will always be an Irish Romantic, with all that implies, a touch of doomed fatalism.

"I'm willing to fail," he says. "I'd rather go down with the ship than play it safe."

I like that quote from Frank McCourt.

[Bluebleeder87]

31.  Oops sorry about that.

[Vishal]

32.  just tossing this out there, because there's this thing on mlb.com about "hometown heroes", where you vote for who's your team's greatest player ever.

so: who's the greatest dodger of all time?

[Vishal]

33.  i think we've had this discussion before (how could we not have), but instead of making lists, i think everyone should limit themselves to just one name, and maybe a short explanation of their rationale.

[Vishal]

34.  (my prediction is, jackie r. wins in a landslide)

[Icaros]

35.  32

Brian Bohanon

[D4P]

36.  34
Jackie would be my pick.

[Blu2]

37.  A very good sign this team was jinxed and doomed to failure was Cody Ross. He came off the DL, hit two homeruns and drove in 7 RBIs in one game; less than a week later he was DFAd. We should have known then.

[overkill94]

38.  Kershaw sure is tearing it up in Rookie ball right now; in 16 IP he has 21 K's, 1 BB, and 2 ER allowed. Another couple weeks of this and he may be headed to low-A already.

[Claire Malone-Evans]

39.  I think you get a better sense of the man Frank McCourt by reading Angela's Ashes.

[regfairfield]

40.  The ballot makes a nice topic of conversation for when you go to the game, though some of the nominies are weird (Brian Schnieder makes it for the Nationals but Pedro Martinez doesn't, even though Gary Carter's presence suggests it's means the Montreal-Washington franchise) it is fun to debate on who the thirty nominies should be.

I went for Koufax for L.A.

[Vishal]

41.  [40] where do you see the list of nominees for each team? i didn't find it, though granted i didn't look very hard. i hope you don't have to register first.

[regfairfield]

42.  41 In my case you get one at the game like an All-Star ballot. Sadly, it looks like you have to register to vote online.

[Bill Crain]

43.  39 I hear his brother Malachy McCourt is negotiating to buy the Clippers.

[NPB]

44.  Today's lineup does not fill me with optimism.

[regfairfield]

45.  The Hometown Heroes debates that I thought were the most intriguing:

Baltimore: Cal Ripken Jr. vs. Frank Robinson

Cleveland: Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Bob Feller

Oakland: Reggie Jackson, Rickie Henderson, Lefty Grove

Cincinatti: Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Frank Robinson, Pete Rose

St. Louis: Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith

Houston: Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Nolan Ryan

[scooplew]

46.  Of all the books about baseball I have read, there are very few that are better than "A False Spring," Pat Jordan's deeply personal account of his own minor league baseball career and his life. It was published in 1975.

[overkill94]

47.  44 I keep assuming the Dodgers are gonna turn it around every day, but every day I just end up disappointed.

[Vishal]

48.  my uneducated opinions on those choices:

ripken
feller
rickey
morgan
gibson
bagwell

though, to be honest, i don't know a heck of a lot about nap lajoie and tris speaker.

[trainwreck]

49.  Miles was out!

[dkminnick]

50.  I'm wishing Chad the best today, of course. But that play at first defines the team's current struggles i.e. a little bad luck combined with a failure to perform the fundamentals.

It's getting harder and harder to watch the missed covers and cut-off men, the weak DP grounders on the first pitch, etc. etc.

Sorry to start off on a negative note, but please Dodgers, let's start playing some ball.

[trainwreck]

51.  The McCourts should care less about building a brand and more about building a successful long term team. Once the team is a year in, year out threat, the brand can be built easily. Stop worrying about what others think.

[StolenMonkey86]

52.  Billingsley gets out of runners on first and second with a GIDP. What's his stuff looking like today?

[trainwreck]

53.  Fastball looks good again, off-speed he was trying to throw for balls. Not enough evidence to make a good assessment yet.

[trainwreck]

54.  Why is Drew hitting 4th again? 3rd or 2nd is far more appropriate.

[PlayTwo]

55.  Last year, the Times reported that the naming rights to Dodger Stadium were up for sale by the McCourts. That should have been addressed in the article. Are the McCourts in line for any money from the sale of the Nationals. If so, where will it be spent? Puff pieces are only good for starting campfires.

[trainwreck]

56.  Damn Juan Encarnacion.

[Bluebleeder87]

57.  32

Jackie Robinson for me.

[Bluebleeder87]

58.  56

that's the first thing I saw when I tuned in.

[D4P]

59.  Juan E. now has more HRs than any Dodger player.

[Bluebleeder87]

60.  38

great to know.

[Bluebleeder87]

61.  the toaster is acting up.

[King of the Hobos]

62.  Speaking of Repko's return, he's not starting today. He sat out of Firday's game, so I'm going to guess this isn't a routine day off.

[Bluebleeder87]

63.  any news on why he wasn't playing?(Repko)

[Bluebleeder87]

64.  I'm guessing alot of DT are at the game today, to see Pujols mad hitting skills.

[trainwreck]

65.  Billingsley throwing a little slower today compared to his last start.

[CanuckDodger]

66.  65 -- What's the gun reading on Billingsley's fastball? Aside from the home run, he must be doing something right. Only 61 pitches through 4 innings, so he is continuing last's game's tendency to be more efficient than he had been in the past.

[Bluebleeder87]

67.  66

you gotta love seeing the progess of the rooks.

[trainwreck]

68.  This kid I had classes with won 2 WSOP bracelets.

[Andrew Shimmin]

69.  66- Sitting around 91, the first pitch this inning was 89.

[trainwreck]

70.  Billingsley is throwing 91-93mph.

[trainwreck]

71.  Well that was a busted double play.

[tjshere]

72.  Some, if not all of you will remember that Vin used to constantly refer to Chad Fonville as "Little Chad". So, when we picked up Chad Curtis back in `96 I immediately dubbed him "Medium Chad". Now, thanks to Mr. Billingsley, after all these years we finally have a "Large Chad" to complete the ensemble. He's really a moose, isn't he?

[King of the Hobos]

73.  Weaver was allowed to swing into a DP, but Marquis isn't allowed to swing on a 0-2 count? Does LaRussa realize Marquis is a better hitter than Miles?

[Bluebleeder87]

74.  nice cutter by Bills.

[regfairfield]

75.  Marquis career hitting starts: .229/.247/.327. The concept of Marquis as a good hitter is largely a myth. He's good for a pitcher, but he's not someone who should be willingly used off the bench. By comparison, Jeff Weaver isn't much worse (.221/.240/.264)

[trainwreck]

76.  Furcal you cost us and Chad two runs!!

[LAT]

77.  Because they're very concerned about how they're perceived by the public, due in large part (I would think) to the fact that they want people to keep coming to the games so they can keep making profits.

14. D4P, I completly agree with the first half of your statement. They are indeed very concerned about how they are percieved. That said, they should be more concerned about how the team is percieved than how they are percieved.

However, the second part of your statement I don't really agree with. I don't think anyone is going to continue to come to Dodger Stadium becasue of anything Frank says. With some exceptions, I think fans in general do not like or identify with owners. Usally owners only hurt themselves in the press. Excluding charity work, only two things win the fans admiration. i.e., field a winning team or lower prices. Otherwise there is nothing an owner can say which will keep fans coming out. And this is as it should be. Its about the team not the owner.

[LAT]

78.  Don't like the IBB to Albert

[trainwreck]

79.  He hit that off his shoetops!

[Bluebleeder87]

80.  Rolen finds ways of beating us.

[LAT]

81.  81. Heck, not just Rolen. We find ways of beating ourselves. (Yes Furcal, I'm looking at you.)

[trainwreck]

82.  I hope Neddie realizes that trading away prospects for one hitter, won't make a difference.

Why didn't you do this when you played at Dodger Stadium everyday Encarnacion!

[Bluebleeder87]

83.  that HR my Encarnacion was like geting punched by a pro-boxer.

[Steve]

84.  I think that will just about do it.

[D4P]

85.  Juan E. now has two more HRs than any Dodger player.

[Steve]

86.  But that doesn't mean we won't hear a lot of nonsense about how we're only ___ games back between now and whenever we get there, a la 2005.

[trainwreck]

87.  Aside from Encarnacion, Billingsley really wasn't that bad. His defense totally failed him and the Cardinals hit some crazy pitches.

[regfairfield]

88.  84 Wow, you actually believed we could have scored five runs.

[Andrew Shimmin]

89.  I begged Colletti, and DePo before him, to bring back Encarnacion. I proposed a seven year $84M contract, when he was FA before this year. I was ignored. Now, with this 2HR game, Encarnacion has proved that I'm the smartest DTer of all. I'd just like to say in your face to all of you bums.

[trainwreck]

90.  We don't play the cardinals again this year do we?

[Steve]

91.  88 -- Misinterpretation. That should just about do it for "a lot of nonsense about how we're only ___ games back between now and whenever we get there, a la 2005."

[King of the Hobos]

92.  90 No, but of the 63 games we have left, 35 are against teams currently over .500. And we don't play the Pirates, our previous slump-buster, until the end of September.

[Bluebleeder87]

93.  Is Marquis that good? or are we that bad right now?

[Steve]

94.  Dan Kolb is a closer!

[Bluebleeder87]

95.  I don't like seeing Furcal aim for the fences.

[JoeyP]

96.  Marquis gave up 12 runs in the last game he pitched.

Billingsley really needs to learn how to strikeout batters.

[JoeyP]

97.  lot of nonsense about how we're only ___ games back between now and whenever we get there, a la 2005."

It also might quel the "Cardinals really arent that much better than the Dodgers" attitude.

[D4P]

98.  It also might quell the

"the way to build a winning team is to combine proven veterans who know how to win with speed and athleticism" attitude.

[Steve]

99.  We're only seven games behind the Cardinals.

[regfairfield]

100.  97 Would you be happy if you were a Cardinals fan? They have four really good players surrounded by 21 bad ones.