A baseball tragedy

Saturday, July 2, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Professional sports leagues in this country are anchored by storied franchises such as the New York Yankees, Boston Celtics and Pittsburgh Steelers that have maintained standards of excellence for decades, won multiple championships, played in many memorable games and produced a long list of Hall of Famers. Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers franchise, which gained fame in Brooklyn before moving West, hasn’t won a World Series since 1988 but historically ranks among baseball’s most successful franchises.

The Dodgers evolved from being tagged with playful nicknames such as “Dem Bums” in the early 20th century to becoming one of the most feared franchises in the sport. The Dodgers signed the first black ballplayer in the majors, Jackie Robinson, created one of baseball’s premier minor league farm systems to cultivate young talent, and built a stadium in Chavez Ravine near downtown Los Angeles that exuded class. The luminaries, from Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale to Tommy Lasorda and Orel Hershiser, made it a source of pride for Southern Californians to wear Dodger Blue, while famed broadcaster Vin Scully provided the on-air poetry the team’s fans craved.

The stadium remains, and so too does Scully, but the Dodgers of today are a mere skeleton of the proud franchise that once stood among baseball’s titans. On Monday the Dodgers hit rock bottom by filing for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code, the culmination of a nasty divorce involving owner Frank McCourt and ex-wife Jamie that drained the team’s finances. A good deal of the blame also rests squarely with the league, which stood passively on the sidelines as the team was run into the ground.

The long list of creditors includes current and former players and Scully, who is owed $152,778. For all he has done for the franchise over the decades, that alone is a crime.

It must be painful for Dodger fans, including the Southern California transplants who live in Las Vegas, to see their cherished team in tatters. The franchise, which used to be affiliated with the Las Vegas 51s minor league team and in March played a spring training game at Cashman Field, is one of the last teams one would have expected to land on skid row.

Now that the team is at the mercy of Bankruptcy Court, one would hope the outcome is to put the franchise on a path that can help it restore the glory days when Maury Wills became the first player to steal 100 bases in a season, Fernando Valenzuela’s dazzling pitching spawned Fernandomania, and a hobbled Kirk Gibson hit a memorable game-winning World Series home run that is still replayed on televised highlights.

VIN SCULLY IS MY HOMEBOY: Limited Edition Vin Scully Autographed ...

Vin Scully Is My Homeboy will not use or sell any personal information used on this site. We make every effort to preserve user privacy, however we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with an appropriate law enforcement investigation, current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.

Scully

Dominion, the power of man, the suffering of animals, and the call to mercy

Modern architecture and other essays

Quantum optics

Early French Cookery, Sources, History, Original Recipes and Modern Adaptations