Magic Johnson group buys the LA Dodgers
posted at 10:25 am on March 28, 2012 by Ed Morrissey
Life has been tough for Dodger fans since, oh … 1988, Orel Hershiser, and Kirk Gibson. It’s been that long since the boys in blue made it to a World Series, but that’s hardly been the worst of it. After the O’Malley family sold the team, ownership has gone from disinterested to downright embarrassing, culminating in the takeover by Major League Baseball last season when the divorce proceedings of then-owner Frank McCourt left the team unable to meet its payroll.
Dodger fans needed hope. They needed a hero. They needed … magic. And Magic is exactly what they got last night:
Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has announced an agreement Tuesday night to sell the bankrupt team for $2 billion to a group that includes former Lakers star Magic Johnson and former Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals President Stan Kasten.
The agreement, revealed about five hours after Major League Baseball owners approved three finalists for the auction, is to lead to a transfer of the team by the end of April. It is subject to approval in federal bankruptcy court.
LA Times columnist Steve Dilbeck is delighted to have a genuine Los Angeles hero as part of the rescue team:
This is the part where I try not to act all gleeful, and fail miserably. Fail happily.
Magic Johnson’s group has won the Dodgers.
Can you paint a monster grin in a blog? Is there an app for that? Who knew failing could be so completely wondrous.
One Los Angeles icon merges with another. Really, it’s so terrific that right now I can’t even be bothered that Frank McCourt is miraculously going to walk away from this with a cool billion.
We have someone who knows, understands and appreciates Los Angeles. Someone worthy of being the face of a local cultural treasure.
So Magic doesn’t know baseball. So what? You know what he does know? How to win. How to connect with the fans. How to build something from almost nothing. And he’s smart enough to recognize what he doesn’t know.
Johnson won’t run the ownership group. The functional ownership position will go to Mark Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, the player with the largest stake in the deal, and Kasten is expected to run the team. But while Walter may sit in the owner’s box and make the behind-the-scenes decisions, Johnson will make the Dodgers the hot ticket in town again. Angelenos have admired Magic ever since he first came to town as a Laker and won championships for LA, and helped make basketball cool and hip in the famously laid-back city. Heck, I’ve never liked basketball, but I loved watching Magic play the game.
Earvin Johnson has brought magic with him wherever he goes. The Dodgers couldn’t have done better than to get some Magic in the front office after almost a quarter-century of futility. What a great day for sports fans in Los Angeles, and a great day for Major League Baseball.
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Is there a substitute for the real thing? I barely trust Republicans spouting the lower tax mantra, I’d have to call instant B.S. on a Democrat.
Cindy Munford on March 6, 2013 at 11:24 AM
Former Russian President Medvedev is still available.
Mr. Arrogant on March 6, 2013 at 11:25 AM
another sign, that a 3rd party will arise.
renalin on March 6, 2013 at 11:26 AM
Isn’t this the city that spent nearly 1 billion dollars on a high school…built an underground transit system across a fault line?
I don’t have much hope for that city, maybe a bit more than S.F…but not much.
right2bright on March 6, 2013 at 11:32 AM
I hope the Democrat light will be successful we need to stop the blue bleeding into the red states.
ChunkyLover on March 6, 2013 at 11:35 AM
It’s not half-cent tax increase, Ed. It’s half-percent. Please adjust the article.
Archivarix on March 6, 2013 at 11:40 AM
Interesting. I wonder if the “top two” primary system will have the effect of moderating some of the irredeemably Democrat city governments.
Count to 10 on March 6, 2013 at 11:43 AM
…16%?…they need more ‘illegals’ to vote!…oh?…maybe, that is who turned out!
KOOLAID2 on March 6, 2013 at 11:49 AM
L. A. is irretrievably lost. The next mayor will preside over its bankruptcy filing which Villagaigosa was able to avoid by kicking the fiscal can down the road. Just another city the public employee unions have managed to destroy.
The piper will be paid.
skeneogden on March 6, 2013 at 12:01 PM
With the GOP looking more and more like Democrat Lites, one can only hope.
hawkeye54 on March 6, 2013 at 12:04 PM
I am actually quite upset in this election result because this is one where some work could have swung this for the Republicans. Democrats outnumber Republicans 2:1 in LA County but voter turnout for this election was under 20%. In elections with very thin turnout, even a modest effort to get people to the polls can flip an election. It didn’t even have to be a high profile effort, it could have been a “stealth” effort. And you would figure with the California Republican Convention having just been held in the region last weekend, there would have been plenty of manpower around to help. It appears to me there wasn’t really much of an effort on the part of the state and LA County committees to actually get people to the polls on this.
It is exactly this kind of odd, off year election that we need to start concentrating on to get these Democrats pulled out of office at the local level. We need to start paying more attention to these local city and county elections. Maybe part of the problem was the Republican, Kevin James, was an openly gay candidate, I don’t know, but there doesn’t appear to have been any effort to get Republicans to the polls in an election where Democrats would not be voting heavily.
crosspatch on March 6, 2013 at 12:06 PM
Those are essentially the same thing. For exapmle, most California counties have what is known as a “half-cent sales tax” for the purpose of funding transportation projects, which means a tax of $0.005 for every $1.00 spent.
steebo77 on March 6, 2013 at 12:20 PM
I hate the idea of a separate, conservative party for minorities, but given their deep hatred of the GOP, I wonder if it’s not a possible solution for ending the Democrats’ dominance over this voting bloc. Single party rule serves no one, and minority-controlled cities, states, and districts suffer corruption for their self-imposed lack of choices. Someone wrote last week about how the CBC is the most corrupt caucus in Congress, and it’s because voters in black districts refuse to vote Republican. Furthermore, there are plenty of latinos, Asians, and blacks who want smaller government, but simply will not support the GOP brand. I don’t think that will change for at least a generation, so a new party may be their best chance at good governance, and our best chance at confounding the Democrats’ plan at dominating politics.
EricW on March 6, 2013 at 12:28 PM
Don’t ever listen to what a democrat candidate says, watch what they do when elected. It is always the same, tax more, spend more, corrupt more.
jukin3 on March 6, 2013 at 1:10 PM
“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”
Khun Joe on March 6, 2013 at 1:43 PM
“..both of whom have their hands on the toilet handle, poised to flush upon their respective ascendency.”
The War Planner on March 6, 2013 at 1:48 PM
They are both liberal hacks. The unions have won again. I would guess they were largely the people who voted.
In other CA news, Jerry Brown has taken a page from Obama: Jerryphones to the Homeless!, cuz we are rich and the homeless and poor need to coordinate their social activies.
PattyJ on March 6, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Public employee union shills. Both of them.
nico on March 6, 2013 at 2:00 PM
as a resident of Texas, i hope they fix things well enough to keep their liberals from relocating here
burserker on March 6, 2013 at 4:46 PM
How can Eric and Wendy bring about any meaningful reform when they are captives of the very forces that have driven L.A. into the mess it currently faces:
The Public Employee Unions, and the Entitlement Movement and its Apparatchiks?
Bankruptcy is in the City’s future, and everyone knows it.
Will Jerry Brown have to appoint an administrator when the City files for Bankruptcy, and what Republican would take that job, and is any Democrat suicidal enough to consider it?
Another Drew on March 6, 2013 at 6:00 PM