Frank McCourt Addresses Dodgers Payroll

KTLA anchors Michaela Pereira and Frank Buckley delivered a must-see fifteen-minute interview with embattled Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. They pressed McCourt to clarify that without the "media transaction" (an almost $300 million loan upfront from Fox), the Dodgers have only enough money to keep going for another three to five weeks. He also admits that "I think I was a very very good owner of the Dodgers -- up until last year... Last year was just a bad year, both personally and in a lot of other ways."

McCourt also apologizes for seeming aloof in general, and especially in the wake of the Bryan Stow beating on opening day, saying "my silence was a huge mistake." To defend himself, McCourt calls out MLB commissioner Bud Selig for skipping the investigatory part of a takeover process, saying, "it's not the other way around. You don't have a conclusion first and then say, oh now we're going to start an investigation." He also said, "The Dodgers do not have a financial crisis. The problem I have is with Bud Selig" for rejecting the Fox loan.

The interview was almost a simple airing of grievances on behalf of Dodgers fans everywhere, with some of the anchors' questions simply ending in declarative statements. Pereira perhaps summed up fans' frustrations best with this gem: "If you had been more accessible to the press years ago as an owner, there might be more sympathy for you now."