“Frank’s not here. He’s not a part of the Dodgers anymore" - Magic Johnson wants Los Angeles Dodgers and its fan base to move on from past ownership, Clayton Kershaw believes the team has changed "for the better"
Former NBA star Magic Johnson and the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership seem to be happy with the new era of LA baseball. In 2012, an organization named Guggenheim Baseball Management purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2.15 billion. Sure, it's not what Elon Musk paid for Twitter, but $2.15 billion was enough in 2012 to set a record for the most expensive baseball franchise ever sold.
@DodgersNation Dodger Stadium was a really depressing place the last year of McCourt's ownership. Even when the Dodgers are not having a good year fans have always turned up to have a fun night out. That year people stayed away in droves and if you did go the atmosphere was so downcast.
"Dodger Stadium was a really depressing place the last year of McCourt's ownership. Even when the Dodgers are not having a good year fans have always turned up to have a fun night out. That year people stayed away in droves and if you did go the atmosphere was so downcast." - @ Jason Ko
The franchise had been languishing under its previous owner, Frank McCourt. He underspent on the team. He didn't want to dump too much money into a franchise that hadn't won a World Series in over twenty years. He allegedly stole money from the franchise — possibly as much as $189 million — and was forced to sell the team.
Magic Johnson wants the Los Angeles Dodgers to move on from past ownership
That's when Magic Johnson, the face of Guggenheim Baseball Management, came along. They held a press conference at Dodger Stadium after the purchase. Reporters kept asking questions about Frank McCourt. Johnson got fed up and delivered a perfect response.
“Let’s move forward, please," he said. "Frank’s not here. He’s not a part of the Dodgers anymore. We should be clapping for just that.”
That was the beginning of something great. Stan Kasten became the Los Angeles Dodgers president at the same time and, along with Johnson, he began taking steps to bring alienated fans back to the ballpark. They cut ticket sales, made parking at the stadium more affordable, and spent money to bring star players into the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse. Los Angeles Times reporter Bill Shaikin notes that Kenley Jansen, just a rookie at the time, had high praise for Magic Johnson's involvement with the franchise.
“When you have Magic Johnson’s face on it—and you know what Magic did here—I don’t think Magic would come in and it would be a flop. For Magic to commit like that, you knew this was going to be something where they didn’t mess around.” - Kenley Jansen
Jansen just parted ways with the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason, but the spirit of his words remains in the Los Angeles players. When Shaikin asked future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw about his views on the Dodgers ownership, he had high praise.
“They have a lot of things going," he said, "and they have made a lot of money doing a lot of different things. But, when they are around, they know what is going on, and I know they keep tabs and they send text messages and tell you ‘good job.’ That’s just cool, to have an ownership group like that.”
An ownership that's personal with the players is key for success. When Jerry Hairston Jr. played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 and 2013, Guggenheim Management and Magic Johnson had just taken control of the team. Hairston loved playing for the club so much that he called it "as good as it gets.”
@tipping_pitches Dodgers spend bro. They don’t act like the welfare teams. Dodgers ownership group is the best. They find amazing talented people and let them do their jobs. Every team should wish for owners like this. Not the cry poverty Hal Steinbrenner or Arte Moreno.
"Dodgers spend bro. They don’t act like the welfare teams. Dodgers ownership group is the best. They find amazing talented people and let them do their jobs. Every team should wish for owners like this. Not the cry poverty Hal Steinbrenner or Arte Moreno." - @Ram
And this ownership just keeps on spending. The club's payroll for 2022 is over $290 million. It's the MLB's highest by a wide margin, and it puts the Dodgers $45 million over the MLB's luxury tax threshold.
These owners are paying a lot of money for this club to compete and it's paying off. The Los Angeles Dodgers are 12-6 to start the season. Using Bill James's Pythagorean Win-Loss calculator, the Dodgers record improves to 14-4. This means that two of the club's six losses in April have been due to bad luck scoring runs. This will even out later in the season, but for now it's a good indicator of just how good this club has been.