Frank McCourt - Professional Procrastinator and Penny Pincher

Everyone is probably tired of my complaining about the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mr. Frank McCourt (I know I’m tired of doing it). When he first came to the city, he took all of the names off of the jerseys to be like the New York Yankees. Guess what? This isn’t New York. We don’t want to be New York. This is Los Angeles. We want to be Los Angeles. We love our city and we love our team. He learned his lesson and put the names back on the jerseys.

In addition, he almost immediately put in what I affectionately call the “poser seats”. The Field Box Seats used to be the greatest and closest to the field. The prices were actually within reach for a majority of fans. This was not enough for Mr. Greedy Pants. He had to add more seats on the field so that he could charge a few hundred for them every game.

This season, he ended a long tradition of fan ritual to go to the game early for batting practice. If you had a certain priced seat or higher, you got to watch Dodgers batting practice. If not, you weren’t let into the stadium until every last one of the team was off of the field and the visiting team was practicing. So much for happy childhood memories! Baseball with player interaction is only for the privileged few that can afford it. Also this season, he spent money on redoing the concessions area on the field level and took out some of the food choices but did put more restrooms (there, a compliment).

SO WHY ISN’T MANNY RE-SIGNED?? Yes, he has a high price but at least this would justify all the gouging that has gone on since Mr. McCourt has bought the team. Oh, and don’t blame his agent. If you were Manny Ramirez you would have the shrewdest negotiator in the business. Why wouldn’t you? He has a lot to bring and delivered from the time he came here. Other teams that have a reputation for big spending are starting to take a look at him.

So I’ll ask you nicely one more time, Mr. McCourt – please, please re-sign Manny Ramirez. Please also keep Rafael Furcal and the rest of the stars on the team.

Please!?