Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas

Who would have thought when November first began that Dodger fans would have so much to be thankful for?  It all began on November 2nd, when Frank McCourt agreed to sell the Dodgers.  On Nove,ber 17, Clayton Kershaw won the National League Cy Young Award.  Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Matt Kemp signed an eight year, $160 milion deal on November 18. Really, can it get much better than that that?  Absolutely.  Tomorrow the National league MVP Award will be given out, and if Dodger fans had their way, it would go to Matt Kemp.

That would be 20 days of baseball euphoria in Los Angeles.  I honestly am having a hard time finding something to compare it to.  Here we have a down-on-it’s-luck franchise, getting the ultimate gift when a despised owner agrees to sell the city’s beloved franchise, followed quickly by it’s young phenom pitcher receiving the highest award possible, followed by their charismatic and unbelievably talented young outfielder signing a lucrative extension and proclaiming his desire to be a Dodger for life.  It kind of makes you think Matt Kemp is due the MVP doesn’t it?

I so want Matt Kemp to be the MVP.  I want it for him because he had one of best all-around seasons for any baseball player in decades.  I want it for him because he played hard everyday on an average team.  I want it for him because he played the game the way it’s meant to be played: with hard work, class and a fantastic attitude.  But mostly, I want it for Dodger fans…for their support, passion and believe in this club.

But whether or not Matt wins the MVP, I’m thankful.  Thankful that the Dodger organization has turned a corner and that hope is once again on the horizon.  A new owner will soon be in place and we’ll have the opportunity to see Kershaw, Kemp and the others for years to come.

As a baseball fan, you really can’t ask for much more than that.

KeMVP, baby.

Photo credit: Jon SooHoo / 2011 LA Dodgers

As a blogger, I’m ecstatic.  I didn’t start this blog four years ago to write about the Dodger owners, but rather, the game, the players, the deals and the rumors. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find myself sitting in LA Superior Court watching the McCourt divorce trial. But you know what? I learned a lot, and I discovered some great writers along the way (Josh Fisher and Molly Knight, to name two).

Given the pace of the legal proceedings over the past two years (to say nothing of Frank’s ongoing insistance that he would never, ever sell), I certainly wasn’t expecting such a decisive decision quite so quickly. But there it was: the Dodgers would have a new owner – and soon.

I won’t waste such a joyous moment as this to recount the McCourt Era in Los Angeles. Instead, this is a time to do what baseball fans do best: spend the off-season speculating about how best to improve their favorite team. Dodger fans will do one better: weighing the pros and cons of who the best owner will be, whether it’s Marc Cuban, Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser, Dennis Gilbert or even Peter O’Malley.  The options are plentiful (hey, what about Vin Scully? I kid, I kid…), but you know Bud Selig is going to do right by Dodger fans this time around.

Rejoice Dodger fans – you’ve earned it.

Here are a few links to some of our favorite coverage over the past 24 hours:

- The great Bill Shaikin at the LA Times breaks the news Peter O’Malley is throwing his hat in to the bidders’ ring

- Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness looks at Ownerpalooza in LA

- Ramona Shelbourne at ESPNLA breaks down the odds of the current contenders

- The New York Times discusses the revived hopes and dreams of Dodger fans

Here was the lead-in, which isn’t on the audio file:

Could Frank McCourt finally be on his way out of Dodgerville?

As a fellow PR guy, I’m really bummed to see Josh go. Always professional, Josh never said no a media request from us, always helped find answers, and helped facilitate some of our favorite stories over the years, including our profiles of team photographer Jon SooHoo and organist Nancy Bea Hefley.  Ona personal level, Josh is just a great guy, and it’s always sad to see an organization like the Dodgers lose a character guy – either on or off the field.

Josh was also a huge advocate of social media, creating and hosting the annual “Blogger Nights” at the beginning of the past four seasons, arranging tours of Camelback Ranch in its inaugural year, coordinating off the record group interviews with Ned Colletti, and even credentialing bloggers for the press box at Spring Training and regular season games.

As he told us back in May 2009, how fans consumer information and show their support for their favorite team is changing. “As we all know, [the] world of information consumption is changing dramatically and as an organization, we recognize that many of you who are dedicated fans also have the ability to speak to other fans around the world,” said Rawitch.  “We want you to be as informed as possible and the best way to do that, as the mainstream media has known for centuries, is with access to those who make news and make decisions.”

We caught up with Josh earlier today and, on the eve of his last Dodgers game, he shared a few thoughts with us on the Dodgers, social media and his favorite memory over the past 17 years with the club:

Having spent 17 years working for the Dodgers, what’s changed the most and what’s stayed the same?

“First and foremost, what’s stayed the same is that it’s a ‘people’ industry. The volume and types of media have changed and the speed at which news is delivered has probably been the greatest change, creating the 24-hours news cycle we now live in. But when it’s all said and done, whether you’re talking to the lead columnist at the main newspaper in town or the local blogger with a tiny following, it’s all about relationships and always has been.“ 

In the social media era, are fans more demanding now?

“I don’t think fans are necessarily more demanding, but their voice has been amplified. Back in the day, they would write letters to the editor or call in to sports talk radio and hope they were heard. Now, they can speak directly to the team and get responses in a matter of seconds, which is hard to fathom. Fans should demand a lot from their teams and we should deliver on what they expect. It’s a basic rule of customer service.”

The Dodgers have certainly had one of the most progressive social media policies in MLB. Will the organization continue these policies next season? And will you look to develop a similar program with the Diamondbacks?

“I’d hate to speak for whoever fills my role going forward, so I can’t really answer that question. And while I hate to avoid the second question, too, I’d prefer to wait until I get a sense of how things operate in Arizona before making any silly declarations. But I can say that it has been a very successful program here in Los Angeles and I have yet to really see the drawbacks to the program.”

Note: I think Arizona bloggers can expect to see a little love, if Rawitch’s past statements are any indication.  In May 2009 he stated, ““…there’s a very exciting buzz online about extending our reach into the world of social media.  As long as our fans are informed and talking about the Dodgers and sharing their passion for the team – the highs and lows – it has the chance to be a really good thing.  In addition, it connects the Dodger brand to fans around the globe (and those who aren’t even fans yet), which is important to us organizationally.” 

I once asked you what MLB thought of you credentialing bloggers for the press box and Pat Courtney responded, “Good for you. Let us know how it goes.” In the 2+ years since then, how has  MLB embraced social media, if at all?

“I think the whole world has embraced social media over the last several years and MLB has absolutely done so as well. In fact, you could argue that Major League Baseball saw all of this coming long before the rest of us because they created MLB Advanced Media back in 2000 and have invested tons of resources into engaging fans online. Then again, the Dodgers were one of the first teams with a website and were winning awards back when I was in college for their online efforts, so I think that this is just a natural progression of the Internet.”

What’s the one memory that you will cherish the most from your time with the club?

“It’s impossible to take almost 17 seasons and pick one memory, but if I had to, it would be the night that we beat the Cubs in 2008 to advance to the NLCS for the first time in 20 years. After the game, nearly the entire front office went to a local bar called the Rustic and took over the place and celebrated together. There aren’t too many workplaces that can spray champagne on one another and feel that sort of camaraderie and that evening will always stand out in my mind. But more than anything, it’s just being a part of the Dodger franchise that I will cherish because this team means so much to so many people and our ability to actually affect people’s lives is something we don’t take lightly. It’s been my favorite part of the job over the years.”

As we turn the page on this season and look ahead to 2012, it will be interesting to see if the new Communications VP continues to build upon the foundation Rawitch has established, or moves in another direction.  Either way, I know I speak for other Dodger bloggers when I say thanks for everything, Josh…you will be missed!

Since then, I checked in with Dodgers VP of Communications Josh Rawitch and asked about the possibility of the Dodgers officially requesting that the September 7th rain-out with the Washington Nationals be made up at  the end of the regular season, if Kemp was close to either record. Rawitch informed me that he confirmed with Major League Baseball that ”this isn’t really a game that would be made up if the only thing to be determined was an individual player’s statistics.” Rawitch went on to state that he did not think that the Dodgers would make such a request, given the large number of other players from both teams that would be impacted.  So that’s that!

Many of us, including myself, have been watching from the sidelines this season for various reasons. For me, after several years of blogging about the Dodgers, I’ve been more hands off this season. A move to Seattle and a new job have left me with less time to blog, but I’ve been watching and listening. It’s good to be back.

With just five games to go in the 2011 season, there’s a huge reason for all Dodger fans on the sidelines, to jump back in. No matter what your reasons for staying away, consider coming back. The reason?  Matt Kemp.

As Dodger fans know, “Beast Mode” is in full effect with the quest for a 40/40 season remaining alive and an even rarer shot at a Triple Crown also within reach. Check out Kemp’s current numbers:

37 HR. Three away from 40, and currently tied as the league leader with one Albert Pujols.

119 RBI. Six more than Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder.

.326 AVG. That’s .003 behind Jose Reyes and Ryan Braun.

Dodger fans, it’s time. At this moment I’m not concerned about your reasons for staying away. Turn on your your radio or television, fire up that iPad, or better yet, get to San Diego or Arizona and root Matt Kemp on. Not only is he playing great baseball, he’s having fun again. Always with a smile on his face, Matt’s even been using Twitter to stay connected with the fans at a level he never has before.

Do you realize how rare a Triple Crown is? The last major leaguer to accomplish such a rare feat was Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. To find the last National Leaguer to win the award, you have to go back another thirty years to Joe Medwick in 1937.

What’s even more incredible is that most players never even get within striking distance of the Triple Crown. From Jason Stark:

So how often has any player had this realistic a shot at a Triple Crown this late in any of those 44 seasons since the Yaz Triple Crown? We asked the Elias Sports Bureau to take a look. You know what they concluded?

Never. That’s what.

According to Elias, not ONCE in all these seasons since 1967 has any player been:

• Leading the league in batting average or been within five
points.

• Leading the league in homers or been within one.

• Leading the league in RBIs or been within one.

And that’s not just in the final week of the season. That’s in the final 15 days of any of those seasons.

So in nearly half a century of waiting around for another Triple Crown winner, we’ve never had a bid like this to follow in the final days of any season. Again, that’s never. Ever. So if you weren’t taking this
drama seriously before, here’s our advice:

It’s time to start. Right … now.

Dodger blogger Jonathan Garza from Dodgers Nation brings up another great point when looking at Kemp’s charge at the Triple Crown. If Kemp were to accomplish the feat, he would do is in a 161 game season, due to a rainout in Washington, DC against the Nationals on September 7.

The question Garza asks is, if the game mattered to the Triple Crown race or Kemp’s quest for 40 HRs, would Major League Baseball schedule a make-up game for the two clubs? The potential positive PR for MLB would be tremendous and could be a shot in the arm for a Dodger franchise desperately in need of a little good news heading into another long offseason.

In the meantime, it’s time to get off your seats, Dodger fans and root The Real Matt Kemp on. At the core, we all bleed Dodger Blue, and we may never see such an impressive individual all-around season for such a good guy ever again. It’s time to celebrate a fantastic season and show Matt Kemp the love.

KEMvP.

Photo Credit: Chris Volk, dodgerfan.net

Jim Peltz from The Los Angeles Times gives the noticeable drop in attendance at Dodger Stadium this year some focus: attendance is down 7,902 per game, resulting in $27 million in reduced ticket sales, parking and concession revenues, and approximately a 9.4% drop in annual revenue.

Woah.  Now only the Dodgers can tell us what the $27 million actually means for the financial operations of the club (although I think it’s safe to say it doesn’t mean the Dodgers will be a leading candidate to sign Prince Fielder this off-season).  That said, people are staying away.  When the nightly attendance figures are announced for every home game, it’s practically a joke, with writers and fans frequently tweeting about the released number and smaller crowds in the stands.

And yeah, that 7,902 figire represnts the largest drop across Major League Baseball.  In his must-read article for Dodger fans, Peltz notes that the next-biggest attendance drop is the Seattle Mariners, with an average drop of 4,213 per game.

In my opinion, the attendance decline is tied directly to utter disgust with the McCourt ownership group, the Opening Day beating of Bryan Stowe and a lack of financial commitment to fielding a competitive team worthy of the #2 media market in the country.  Put all three of those things together and you have one pissed off fan base that appears to have had it.

The scary thing is, Frank McCourt’s history is to fight to the bitter end, and for Dodger fans, that’s a prospect that should make everyone very, very nervous.

Photo Credit: Kirby Lee / US Presswire

Frankly, it sickens me to see a proud and historic franchise like the Dodgers dragged further into the mud.  Fans are clearly staying away from Chavez Ravine, and Frank has to be aware that the actions of the fans amounts to nothing less than a silent boycott of his ownership, right?

In the end, I just don’t see how McCourt wins (if there can even be a winner in such matters).  But regardless of who owns the team or how bad the baseball is on the field, I’ll always love coming to Chavez Ravine as long as the likes of Vin Scully and Tommy Lasorda still walk the halls, reminding all of us of happier days and the promise of the future. 

But it could get worse.  My greatest nightmare is that these proceedings are so distasteful to the stately Scully that he silently walks away at the end of the season.  The fans need him more than ever to return for the 2011-12 season, ideally with a new owner in tow.  Vin Scully retiring now would deprive Dodger fans not only of one of the greatest treasures this franchise has ever had, and also an element of hope.  A light to see them through the darkness.  Scully leaving would send this silent fan revolt to a level we haven’t imagined.

I have no reason to think this will indeed take place (and certainly don’t believe Vin would ever discuss his personal feelings on the subject), but in my opinion, that would be the saddest day in Dodger history.  And Frank McCourt’s greatest crime of all.

How does bankruptcy help McCourt and the Dodgers fend off what many are calling inevitable – the sale of the team?

Attorney Chris Ward told the Wall Street Journal that McCourt’s filing may eventually pave the way for a bankruptcy court to approve the Fox Sports deal previously rejected by MLB:

Given that Major League Baseball didn’t approve the TV contract, without that revenue they’re not going to be able to operate. They may have some more leverage to get the Fox TV transaction approved in bankruptcy court over the objections of Major League Baseball. That’s what really precipitated the bankruptcy filing.

McCourt will likely be able to stay in an ownership position while all of this plays out despite the fact that the MLB consitution gives Selig the right to strip McCourt of ownership should he file bankruptcy. That’s because, according to the Los Angeles Times, bankruptcy courts can overrule MLB rules while the actual bankruptcy proceedings play out. So while MLB will likely get its way in the end, McCourt has played the one card he had left after the rejection of the Fox deal and has graced the Dodger community with more antics as the ownership saga continues to unfold.

Attorney Chris Ward also agrees that the move was really the best one McCourt could make at this point:

Deal Journal: What do you think of what the Dodgers are trying to do?

Ward: It gives them an upper hand that they didn’t have before. Strategically it was probably the right move to make.

DodgerDivorce.com was kind enough to post the filing so you can read the details. Manny Ramirez is the largest creditor with over $20 million due (no surprise there) but lots of other current, former, and minor league players are on that list as well. Poor Vin Scully is stilll owed over $100k on his contract (here’s hoping he gets all of it) and the team apparently also has over $300k in unsecured credit card debt with Bank of America according to the filing.

Video summary courtesy of ESPN