Ashen faced - when all the blood drains from your face when you have come to the conclusion that the optimism was mis-placed and the negative nellies were probably right all along.
Color me ashen faced.
Back in 2004 Rob McMillin of the excellent blog 6-4-2 blog linked to a story that should have sent chills down the spine of every Dodger fan. I hadn't started reading blogs back then but if I had I'm sure I would have shrugged it off as just another blogger with an axe to grind. I welcomed the McCourts because by then they had hired DePodesta and I was feeling optimistic about the future and I wasn't interested in the cries of doom and gloom.
In the beginning everything was probably going even better then they planned with the value of the team increasing in value enough for them to keep adding debt even without increasing cash flow. I didn't become skeptical of the McCourts until the summer of 2008 when they started making decisions that openly made me question if they had the cash to run the Dodger franchise properly. Dave Young asked me on Tuesday Night why no one was talking about the financial situation until this year. I didn't want to tell Dave that I and many other bloggers have been questioning the McCourts for over 15 months and some like 6-4-2 for every year of their ownership. Of course no one was reading this blog back then so I'm sure my concerns were not read by more then a handful of Dodger fans. Since I wrote that column not one Dodger financial decision has been made that has made anyone feel like the Dodgers don't have financial constraints.
The divorce simply complicates a situation that already existed. I have no idea what is going on with the Dodgers financially, and I hope like hell that Dennis Mannion can clean up whatever mess the McCourts have created. Dodger fans should think about suing Bud Selig for even letting the McCourts buy the team; if a blogger in 2004 can dig up a story like the fish market fiasco it is obvious that Selig did not do his due diligence when allowing the McCourts to own the team.
I'll admit that for a few years they were good stewards of this franchise and the success on the field has been impressive for most of their tenure. I'll give them that. I'll give them the fact they were able to buy one of most recognized sports franchises in baseball with little money of their own. How they got away with it is something we as Dodger fans will always wonder about but it is impressive to me that they got it done. I'll give them the fact they borrowed capital to improve the grand old lady of Los Angeles. I'll give the fact they created Think Cure and have tried to make the Dodgers more community conscious. Over the five years they have owned the team they have done good things.
I'll take it all back if they destroy this franchise and little by little that is what they have been doing since July 31st, 2008, the day the music died at Dodger Stadium even as they played deep into the playoffs. It is hard to tell if we are teetering on the brink of disaster as what happened in Baltimore, or if this is simply a short term problem that will eventually sort itself out. I'm not feeling very optimistic tonight. Are you?