Posts Tagged ‘responsibility’

For the record – this blogger feels Frank McCourt is wrong.  Bud Selig, the Commissioner of the MLB is not Un-American.  A few days ago I wrote a blog on “Baseball Ownership”  In that writing I spoke about what I thought baseball teaches us.  This last week I read in a local paper how Frank McCourt is claiming “foul” and that Bud Selig is “Un-American” because he cares about the game of baseball, its fans, players and owners.

Frank, you are way out of line and I think you need to learn some lessons from this game.  Commitment, for one, is not about you are first and the team and fans are second and third.  No, the team and fans are first.   The owner is always last.  Ownership of  anything is a sacrifice.  It’s “a tough row to hoe.”  But, that is what ownership and commitment are all about.  When I was a kid I worked for a wonderful woman by the name of Daisy Coe and she taught me that the business always comes first; everything else comes second, third and fourth.  The owner comes last.  That is what commitment means.

Every player on any team has struggled, sacrificed and done without in order to be excellent! What you probably are gonna say is the players get paid millions.  Yes, they do today, but, that wasn’t always the case.  In the early days of Baseball a lot of the players struggled.  They just wanted to play ball.  It’s that spirit and work ethic: Practice, Sacrifice, Training, Failure, Humility and Development.  These things make good players and sometimes great human beings.  Owners need to honor them, acknowledge them and share them.  The Owners are the custodians and caretakers of the game.

Ownership is not an entitlement; nor a bragging point – “Oh, I own a baseball team” and it’s not a passive kind of property.  When there is any “doing without” it’s the owner who does without so that the team and the fans can have what they need and want.  If you don’t believe this, I don’t think you should be an owner.  It’s not cut-out for everyone.

Frank and Jaime – it’s tough.  Somewhere along the line you lost the focus and the team became secondary.  Look, the team and the fans are number #1.  That’s your responsibility.  If you are out spending 100 million dollars (for personal uses) and the team is in debt millions,  then you’ve lost sight of what baseball ownership is all about.

Warren Buffet has been in the same house for 40 years.  He’s worth billions but he truly understands his priorities and knows what comes first: his business.  It comes before vacations, petty arguments, divorces, six mansions etc. etc.  I know it’s tough Frank and Jaime, but, at some point you have to learn this.  That’s the ethic.

Baseball is a game.  In this country it’s an institution.  It represents a lot of the original ideals in which this country was founded.  The Commissioner, Bud Selig, is not un-American as Frank says.  Mr. Selig is the master custodian of the game and his sole job is to protect it’s authenticity and heritage.  If dog and pony shows take over, the MLB could go the way of the carnie – dare I say more.

If Mr. Selig feels he needs to take over the LA Dodgers and the franchise I’m sure he’s thought this over.  Has this happened before in baseball history?  It’s a serious decision and I’m sure he doesn’t take it lightly.

Frank McCourt said he is willing to be transparent.  Frank, if you are willing, then be fully transparent on everything.  Don’t  say that something is “not necessary”  Be transparent!

Mr. Selig is in charge with caring for the present while staying true to the past and looking forward to the future.  The McCourts simply need to grow up.  No amount of money can hold them back from doing that.