Of Baseball, Divorce and Lawyers

Major League Baseball's commissioner Bud Selig has announced that MLB will take over day to day control of the Los Angeles Dodgers because the team's owners, Frank and Jamie McCourt, are locked in a nasty divorce where ownership of the team is up for grabs.  Frank McCourt is threatening to sue Bud Selig and MLB for this move that is, to use an overworked word, unprecedented.

Frank McCourt bought the Dodgers in 2004 in a deal that was described as "highly leveraged" (read, McCourt bet the ranch and then some).  The Washington Post referred to McCourt as "McBankrupt" after he shelled out $430 million just so he could sit in the owners' box at Dodger Stadium.  But, hey, the San Gabriel Mountains, Elysian Hills, sunny weather, 80 degrees?  Who could resist?  And the Dodgers have a storied history, going back to the days when they were the Yankees' cross town rivals as the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Beginning with Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, who silenced the Yanks' bats in the '63 World Series, shutting them out 1-0 in Game Four for the sweep, and continuing with Steve Garvey and Ron Cey in the 1970s and 80s, the Dodgers were one of MLB's premier franchises.

But the Dodgers haven't won a series since 1988 and are reported to be in the position of having to borrow money to make payroll.  With ownership on the block, the owners squabbling themselves, and now MLB stepping in, you can bet the ones really licking their chops are the lawyers.  They're going to come out as the only real winners.

Barry Bonds Goes on Trial

The trial of Barry Bonds, major league baseball's home run king, for lying to a grand jury about whether he used steroids during his career, began today. But as Tom Verducci, columnist for Sports Illustrated, points out in his article on SI.com, this trial isn't about Bonds' legacy, which, according to Verducci (and whose opinion I share) is non-existent. The ones who have something at stake are the lawyers on both sides. The prosecutors have to gain a conviction to prove they haven't wasted eight years and countless thousands, if not millions, of taxpayer dollars chasing someone whose conviction or acquittal has little social importance. Society doesn't need protection from Barry Bonds and the Balco steroid shop was shut down years ago, so Bonds' conviction, if it comes, is a ho-hum deal legally. The defense attorneys need an acquittal because in the world of criminal defense, a high profile loss can end a lawyer's career almost as quickly as using steroids can end an athlete's career.

So Barry Bonds is all-time home run king and Mark McGwire, whose image is as tainted as Bonds', is the single season home run king. In a lot of people's eyes, Hank Aaron and Roger Maris are still the kings. And some die-hards even question Maris, because he hit his 61 season homers in 162 games instead of the 154 that Babe Ruth had. That debate will continue like it has for nearly 50 years, but no one ever accused any of those guys of playing juiced.