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As you could guess, people are generally thrilled that Frank McCourt has agreed to put the Dodgers up for sale. The excitement is tempered by the realization that last time around, nobody better than McCourt was willing to buy into baseball's little private cabal — and, perhaps worse, Fox Sports may be interested. When Frank and Jamie McCourt bought the Dodgers, they were viewed as an upgrade from Fox and News Corp., whose executives traded Mike Piazza at his peak and made other boneheaded moves while in residence at Dodger Stadium.
McCourt email to employees: "I have made this decision because I believe it is in the best interests of our organization, our loyal fans and the community at large."
Mayor Villaraigosa: "As a Dodgers fan and an Angeleno, obviously the team has had a very tough season. We collectively felt the pain and anguish that resulted from the beating of Bryan Stow. It looks like we're going to open a new chapter with the team. And I look forward to local ownership. Whoever buys the team needs to live here. It absolutely has to be someone from L.A. The Dodgers aren't just a team, they are a collective community asset."
Steve Lopez: "This is a swell day for Los Angeles....Even a minor league businessman like McCourt had to eventually realize he'd dug himself in so deep, there was no other way out than selling the team."
Supervisor Mike Antonovich: "McCourt's pathetic legacy from shirking responsibility in the Bryan Stow beating case was further soiled by the inference that Bryan had culpability in his own severe beating."
Councilman Ed Reyes: "On the one hand I feel relief for the McCourts because they're ending a chapter, a period of their life that has been very difficult. ... They are a family, when all is said and done, that is going through a major, major crisis, and that's ending...[But] it's exciting to see that there's a sense of rebirth, a sense of new beginning, and the possibility of winning a championship."
Jon Weisman, Dodger Thoughts: "We have worried, we have raged, we have sulked, we have sworn, we have screamed, we have sighed, we have yearned, we have cried. Outside we have tried to fight, and inside, more than a little, we have died. But now, deliverance. Deliverance to what, we don't know. But deliverance nonetheless."
LA Observed photo: Judy Graeme