By Robert Whiting (2009)
What does divorce law have to do with Major League Baseball? Well, a lot if you happen to live in California. The Los Angeles Dodgers—present home of Hiroki Kuroda—have been turned upside down as a result of the impending divorce of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife, Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt, and could face dire consequences.
The fireworks started in late October, when McCourt fired his wife of 30 years from the post he had appointed her to a year earlier, following revelations of her infidelity. She responded with a lawsuit claiming that because California is a “community property” state, meaning couples who are divorcing must split all properties 50-50, she must therefore be declared a co-owner and reinstated to her position. The matter has now gone to the courts.
In Los Angeles, the McCourt family drama was bigger news than the Dodgers’ collapse in the playoffs. The failure of Hiroki Kuroda to get anybody out in his only playoff start against Philadelphia and the erratic play and behavior of Manny Ramirez receded in the public’s mind, as fans reveled in the salacious details of the McCourt breakup revealed in court documents and printed in the newspapers. There was Jamie’s romantic relationship with her limousine driver, two decades younger than she, and the two-and-a-half-week trip to France they took together at team expense. There was Frank’s claim that his wife was an absentee executive in addition to being an unfaithful wife—that she spent too much time at the spa, the stylist and the beauty parlor to ever be a good CEO. She retorted that he was a dunce and told the court she could do twice as good a job as he could in half the time.
But the breakup of the McCourts has far-reaching implications that go far beyond the emotional turmoil it has caused. To see how it could seriously and negatively impact the Dodgers, one need only look 120 miles to the south to see what a divorce did to the San Diego Padres. In 2007, the Padres had finished the regular season tied with the Colorado Rockies for first place in the N.L. West. That winter, owner John Moores and his wife Becky divorced. Since California divorce law stipulated that all marital assets must be split in half, and MLB has a rule which states that each team may have only one principal owner, John Moores was forced to sell the Padres. In order to make his franchise more appealing to recession-era buyers, however, he stripped the team of its high-priced stars—including its top two outfielders, Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron, ace reliever Trevor Hoffman, shortstop Khalil Greene and finally ace pitcher Jake Peavy—in a complicated sales transaction that has still not been completed. In 2008, the Padres lost 99 games and finished in last place. In 2009, they wound up 20 games out of first. In the process, the franchise incurred the wrath of the fans and suffered a corresponding drop in attendance.
It is very possible, observers say, that the McCourt family may be forced to sell and follow in the footsteps of the Moores. Even before the court ruling, the McCourts’ financial partners may find the public spectacle of the divorce too distasteful and withdraw their support, thereby forcing a sale. The ensuing chaos could limit the Dodgers’ ability to pay younger stars like Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and James Loney as they begin to command higher salaries. If they depart, the atmosphere at Dodger Stadium could turn toxic very quickly indeed. The Dodgers won 95 games this year to finish in first place in the NL West, but they showed weakness in the playoffs and there is a danger of a downturn similar to that experienced by the Padres.
Of course, Los Angeles is in a better position to deal with this crisis than San Diego was. LA has a bigger TV market, a broader fan base and a deeper minor-league system. But on the other hand, there is a vicious global recession going on. At the very least this means the Dodgers won’t be spending big money this winter on acquiring players from other teams—or from Japan. Moreover, Dodgers ownership may begin unloading the contracts of highly paid, aging stars like Ramirez and Kuroda, whose price tag in 2009 of $1.5 million per win (he finished 8-7 and was paid $12 million) may prove too expensive, especially given Kuroda’s inability to get anybody out in the post-season playoffs.
The entire city of LA awaits breathlessly the outcome of the McCourt divorce trial.
I’m sure Hiroki Kuroda never imagined a divorce court in California would determine his future as a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. But that is just what may happen.
Tokyo Junkie 