Major League Baseball

Report: Dodgers seek to blame Selig

Published Jul. 5, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Attorneys for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt asked a judge Tuesday to order Major League Baseball to submit documents they claim will prove the league has treated the debt-ridden franchise more harshly than other teams.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the filing on behalf of the embattled owner, who filed for protection under Chapter 11, hopes to paint commissioner Bud Selig as someone who wanted the Dodgers to run out of money.

"Contrasting the treatment of the Dodgers to the velvet-glove treatment enjoyed by other teams with financial questions will help this court and the debtors to evaluate the full extent of MLB's conflict and animus toward the Dodgers," McCourt's attorneys wrote in the filing.

The filing requested documents pertaining to the league's handling of the New York Mets' current financial woes, including the "contributions or loans from Bernard Madoff" and an explanation for "the commissioner's decision not to appoint a monitor to oversee the club or conduct an investigation of the club."

Selig appointed former Texas Rangers president Tom Schieffer in April as the trustee to oversee the Dodgers' day-to-day finances.

McCourt's attorneys are also seeking evidence proving Selig's assertion that the Dodgers "would require additional liquidity as early as 2013" even if he had approved the proposed 17-year, $2.7 billion television rights deal with FOX.

The legal team also requested MLB's records pertaining to approved television contracts for other teams.

The filing also asked the judge to order the handover of documents comparing Selig's "investigation into security at [Dodger] stadium" following the savage beating of Giants fan Bryan Stow and "the post-game fight resulting in the death of a fan at Anaheim Angels stadium in April 2009."

McCourt filed for bankruptcy last week in an apparent last-ditch effort to keep Selig from seizing the cash-strapped ballclub and putting it up for sale.

Both sides agreed last week to allow McCourt to use a short-term cash infusion to help meet the club's immediate payroll. The $150 million interim-financing deal came with an interest rate near 10 percent and a $4.5 million fee, according to the Times.

FOX is owned by News Corp., which also owns NewsCore.

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