Major League Baseball takes over Dodgers
Major League Baseball is taking the extraordinary step of assuming control of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team increasingly paralyzed by its owners’ bitter divorce.
Once among baseball’s glamour franchises, the Dodgers have been consumed by infighting since Jamie McCourt filed for divorce after 30 years of marriage in October 2009, one week after her husband fired her as the team’s chief executive.
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig told Frank McCourt on Wednesday he will appoint a MLB representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the club. At the same time, Frank McCourt was preparing to sue MLB, a baseball executive familiar with the situation told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the club,” Selig said.
A person familiar with Selig’s thinking said the commissioner may choose to force a sale. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because Selig’s statement did not mention that.
“It’s hard to imagine it would happen somewhere like the Dodgers, but there’s crazy stuff going on everywhere,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.
Baseball officials could not recall another instance in modern times when the commissioner seized control of a team from its owner. Before Tom Hicks sold the Texas Rangers last year, Selig had the Rangers monitored but technically left Hicks in charge of the franchise while McHale worked behind the scenes.
Even when suspending George Steinbrenner from the Yankees in 1990 and forcing Marge Schott to sell her controlling interest in the Cincinnati Reds in 1999, the commissioner’s office allowed the owners to choose their successors as the controlling executive.
Tomko back in majors
Right-hander Brett Tomko is back in the major leagues for the first time since 2009.
The Texas Rangers purchas- ed Tomko’s contract from Triple-A Round Rock and plan to use him as a long reliever.
Dykstra posts bond
Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra has posted $150,000 bond in a federal case in Los Angeles where he’s accused of embezzling money from a bankruptcy estate.
A disheveled and handcuffed Dykstra, 48, is set to return to court May 16, when he is expected to enter a not guilty plea. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.