A McCourt Fortune

Without a doubt, the drama that surrounds the Dodgers and Frank McCourt is worthy of ridicule, but it's even better for the lulz.

Check out this editorial cartoon put together by freelance graphic designer Gary Finkler at his new blog called 7th Inning Sketch.

(Cartoon from 7th Inning Sketch)

Bankruptcy Round Up

Here is a brief round up of bankruptcy related news:

• Bill Shaikin passes along a list of creditors that primarily include ballplayers- Manny Ramirez being the largest creditor the Dodgers have.
• Read the entire BK filing here, at the LA Times.
• Sons of Steve Garvey has a run-down; including some tweets. One of which says Jamie McCourt just wants the team sold.
• Here's the McCourt press release regarding todays' BK filing.

  "The Dodgers have delivered time and again since I became owner, and that's been good for baseball," McCourt said. "We turned the team around financially after years of annual losses before I purchased the team. We invested $150 million in the stadium. We've had excellent on-field performance, including playoff appearances four times in seven years. And we brought the Commissioner a media rights deal that would have solved the cash flow challenge I presented to him a year ago, when his leadership team called us a 'model franchise.' Yet he's turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves in today. I simply cannot allow the Commissioner to knowingly and intentionally be in a position to expose the Dodgers to financial risk any longer. It is my hope that the Chapter 11 process will create a fair and constructive environment to get done what we couldn't achieve with the Commissioner directly."

• The best pic of the day belongs to DodgerDivorce, via twitter, a great reader submitted photo.

Jackie Drinks White Rock

Here is another edition of Vintage Dodger Spokesman. Along with Yogi Berra and Bobby Thompson, Jackie Robinson pitched a refreshing sparkling soda drink to the masses in 1953. It was something called White Rock, which apparently still exist today. Here is what Jackie had to say.

"My favorite is White Rock orange beverage because of the true fruit flavor. And it tastes even better when mixed with ice cream. Try it, kids, for a real enjoyable treat."

Mmmmm... that does sound good.

Daily Conlon: 82 through 90

Here are the Daily Conlon cards numbered 82 through 90.

Billy Southworth, located on the bottom row at the center, is a Hall of Fame manager who went on to lead two St. Louis Cardinals clubs to World Series championships. He was noted for his strict adherence to the fundamentals of Baseball. Billy played small ball, he bunted, moved players over, and platooned. Southworth also had incredible instincts for the game.

"Watch this guy. He will do things you won’t believe and they will work for him," said Clint Conaster. For instance, he would take a guy off the bench hitting about .150 like Bob Sturgeon [whose ’48 batting average was .218] and he would deliver a clutch base hit. He just had a gut feeling about the right thing to do in that situation. The moves he would make would work for him--all the time, not occasionally. Leo Durocher was the same way. I don’t know what it is. It’s like some guys can pick horses out of nowhere. Southworth was a genius like that on the diamond."

Bankruptcy!

This week is starting out great. The Dodgers filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy this morning in hopes of thwarting MLB's eventual takeover of the team. Per the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. McCourt will ask the bankruptcy court to approve a new long-term media rights deal that he says will save his team from its liquidity crisis. The Dodgers' assets still outweigh their liabilities, but the team doesn't have enough cash to meet the June 30 payroll.

And here's the kicker- something we found out just a few days ago.

Fox, a unit of News Corp., hasn't commented on Mr. Selig's decision, but it is unlikely the media company will keep its offer on the table during the bankruptcy standoff, two people familiar with the matter said.

That's right. This whole process it ultimately an exercise in futility. How can the court approve a media contract that does not exist- if only verbal. After all, a media contract is more than just dollars and cents. There are details that I doubt have been hammered out in any meaningful way. Besides, what if Fox says to the court, as has already been intimated, that there is no contract; therefore, no deal to approve?

Folks, we are heading into probably the end, and most painful part of this entire process. Like McCourt's divorce the legal separation between the Dodgers/ MLB and the McCourt's will air out all of the dirty laundry and it ain't going to be pretty.

UPDATE:

We've got an answer to the above question. Apparently, McCourt has asked the court to create an open bidding process for a new media contract- thereby telling Fox to go "F" off.

eBay: a World Series Megaphone

The fluorescent yellow looks very out of place in the 60's. This is a souvenir 1965 World Series megaphone featuring the Dodgers versus the Twins. I can imagine hoards of fans sitting in the stands with this held up to their mouths. They scream taunts and jabs to get the opposition off their game. Unfortunately for Minnesota, it would do no good. The Dodgers were the team of destiny then as they won the series in 7 games.

(eBay Auction Link)