James Gammon, the actor who played Manager Lou Brown in Major League died yesterday of cancer at the age of 70.  I don't know about you, but Major League is one of my all time favorite movies, and Gammon was a big contributor to that.  The scene of him peeing on Dorn's contract is classic cinema. And his "I'll have to get back to you; I've got a guy on the other line wanting to buy some white walls" line was replayed over and over during my family reunion last week.

 More information can be found here. 

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

In case any of you TBLA'ers don't know it, today is Eric's 34th birthday. 

I was in my sophomore year of high school when I found out my mom was pregnant.  Holy crap!  I already had two older sisters and a punching bag (my other brother Greg) who was 5 years younger than me, so what in the hell did I need w/another brother?  It didn't help that my mom was, um, advancing in years, either.  She got through the pregnancy and Eric was born a bit prematurely on March 28, 1976, just a few days before my 15th birthday.  (Immediate first strike: Eric's birthday right before mine so he gets all the attention and birthday dollars!) 

It was kind of weird having a little rug rat around when I was in high school, but I managed to tolerate him.  He came with some benefits: all the cool baby toys had advanced a lot since I was a baby.  When he was 2 he got a Big Wheel, and I can remember me and my friends riding it down the stairs when my parents were out of town one weekend.  ("Mom, I have no idea how that thing broke; come on...what would me and my friends want to do with a Big Wheel?!?!?!")

Well, as time went by it turned out that Eric was a pretty good kid after all.  He and my other brother became very good friends.  They were good to have around when my dad passed away when Eric was nine, and again when my mom passed away two years ago.  I've shared a lot of fun times w/Big E, and I can proudly say he's one of the smartest guys I know (my kids call him "Uncle Google" and got him a shirt pronouncing that a few years ago for Christmas because he knows everything!  He's really great with my kids and my nieces and nephews.).  He is also blessed with one a keen sense of humor and he's fun to be around. 

And now with this gig at TBLA it has come full circle:  I am extremely proud of what Eric does here.  And quite a bit jealous of him getting to spend quality time at Mecca on the field, in the clubhouse, and in the Vin Scully Press Box. Dude, I am your biggest fan.

Happy birthday, Eric.  Have a great day today!

Indulge me if you will…

I have zero experience running a pro sports franchise (making me glaringly similar to the McCourts before they bought the Dodgers, but that's not the point of this post), but I do have a bit of experience with divorce. 

Like the McCourts, my parents divorced after over 24 years of marriage (25 in their situation).  You would hope that a couple of 40-something adults (in the McCourt's case, 50-somethings) would be able to act as civil human beings and keep in mind the feelings of the other family members also affected by this traumatic event.  In my parents' situation, this simply didn't factor into anything.  My four siblings and I were casualties in the nastiness that went on between my parents, and while we were somewhat spared in the aftermath because we didn't "choose sides", I was truly amazed how some of my uncles (my mom's brothers) were ostracized because they actually acted civilly to my dad; someone whom they had known and come to love for almost 30 years. 

My point in this post is not for sympathy, but to hopefully help all of you here at TBLA understand that we have not even begun to see how bad it is going to get.  It is embarrassing now; it will turn to ugly before we know it. 

For all the crap Frank McCourt has taken among some of the local media (hello, TJ Simers), I believe that he has done an awesome job in his tenure owning the Dodgers.  He has invested in a baseball shrine, Dodger Stadium, that was, quite frankly, growing somewhat under disrepair under previous owners (including Peter O’Malley).  He re-did parking  and got hammered for it but, other than sellouts, it’s actually easier to get in and out of Dodger Stadium than it has been in the past.  He improved bathrooms (which were getting scary) and replaced 56,000 seats.  The team has improved dramatically under his ownership.  He brought in a HOF Manager.  I don’t know about you, but before the divorce crap hit the news I was feeling extremely better about the Dodgers and their potential than I was before he got here.

The above paragraph is not a pro-Frank, anti-Jamie statement.  My point is we’re in the middle of what I think is a Dodger re-awakening.  And I am, or was, damn excited about it. 

But today I sit here and wonder what the hell is really going to happen with this team.  My beloved Dodgers are on the edge of jumping into the upper tier of baseball, and have the potential to be there for awhile.  Unfortunately, given the crap of the past few weeks all that has the potential to crumble before our very eyes. 

So what do I see?  A few options:

1.       Dodgers declared community property and they are forced to sell the team.  Pray for Mark Cuban in this scenario.  No, he hasn’t won in Dallas but who the hell were the Mavericks before he showed up?  Also pray for no Daniel Snyder wannabe. 

2.       Frank keeps them, but loses his ass in the divorce and has to sell a stake.  Peter O’Malley, anybody?  Or how about Philip Anschutz?  I’m fine with both.

3.       Jamie gets them in an upset.  Gulp.   Sorry, but I don’t see the positive here.  I’ve never heard her really say anything that screamed “leader”.  Frank may piss me off and come off very whiney sometimes, but he’s a big step up from her. 

I’m sure there are other options, but even the ones above spell trouble for my team.  We’re 3 months away from pitchers and catchers reporting.  And my upgraded optimism about the team of my youth is getting worn down each and every day.