Baseball takes control of Dodgers

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

Owner Frank McCourt vowed on Wednesday that no one will take the Los Angeles Dodgers away from him, while the man appointed by Major League Baseball to oversee the team’s daily operations arrived in town to begin his duties.

“Sending someone to seize the Dodgers is absolutely wrong,” McCourt said.

Tom Schieffer introduced himself publicly for the first time and said his role is to monitor the Dodgers on behalf of commissioner Bud Selig, whom he made clear is in charge of the team.

Schieffer, however, said Selig doesn’t want to take the Dodgers away from McCourt.

McCourt, meanwhile, was in New York to meet with MLB officials, although Selig was not present.

He said his requests to meet with Selig have been rejected and he accused the commissioner of not returning his phone calls.

McCourt expressed concerns about Schieffer’s appointment and discussed a pending television deal with Fox, the team’s television partner.

“No one handed me the Dodgers and no one is going to take it away from me,” McCourt said.

McCourt has been embroiled in a nasty and costly divorce battle with his former wife and ex-Dodgers’ CEO Jamie McCourt.

McCourt’s defiant tone was in direct contrast to the folksiness of Schieffer, the former Texas Rangers president.

“I look forward to talking to Mr. McCourt and hopefully we can have a nice visit and see what it is he’s concerned about,” said Schieffer, who listened to McCourt’s teleconference before his own news conference at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport.

McCourt said Schieffer’s appointment has created “chaos.”