I hope everyone enjoys their evening and wakes up tomorrow with a minimal hangover.
For 2014 let’s hope the Dodgers solidify their infield and win the West again this year, and then go further and get to the World Series for the first time in 26 years. If you’d told me in 1988 that the team wouldn’t get into a Series again until at least 2014 I’d never have believed you.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and this year his name was Guggenheim Partners.
If you want to read the whole story behind Virginia’s letter to the New York Sun, I’ve posted it at my place in the past.
Update: Mark Saxon at ESPN LA has a good if brief timeline of the Dodgers’ 2012, from McCourt’s agreement to sell to the latest off-season move.
I hope you’re all enjoying your turkey/ham/prime rib dinner and giving appropriate thanks for the blessings of the year just past, not least of which was the sale of our favorite team to owners far more committed to winning championships than the previous group was.
Update: Here’s MSTI on the prospective TV deal Fox may be about to offer the Dodgers. Suffice to say (and you should read the whole thing) it could pay off the purchase price of the team several times over. Here’s Mike:
In six months, the Guggenheim group would have turned a $2.15 billion investment into a cash cow which pays three times that over the next twenty years – without selling a single ticket, parking spot, beer, or replica jersey.
That is startling, at least to me. We all knew the potential for that deal was big, given the size of the Southern California market and its value to a TV network, but still. “Between $6 billion and $7 billion over 25 years?” Wowsers.
Update: The Dodgers announced several front office personnel moves, mostly promotions from within. Here’s the paragraph that struck me, though:
Josh Bard, previously announced as a new special assistant for player development, joins Aaron Sele, Jose Vizcaino and Juan Castro in that role.
Do you supppose that position is now the entry-level front office position for newly-retired major leaguers who earned reputations as good guys during long careers?