Do Dodgers, Mets Spell Trouble?

Maybe it was just a matter of time before a major sports league was beset by financial problems. After all, why should they be immune from the problems other industries must cope with? But it was shocking to hear today that the Los Angeles Dodgers, an iconic franchise, were being taken over by major league baseball.


Sure, there had been lots of stories about the war of the roses like breakup of the marriage of owners Frank and Jamie McCourt. But to see the Dodgers have its business operations taken over has to be the biggest surprise sine the Boys of Summer  left Brooklyn more than a half century ago.

And that's not the only financial mess baseball is facing. All winter the New York Mets have had to face withering publicity about its connection to Bernard L. Madoff as well as  questions about the financial well-being of the club. Bud Selig, the baseball commissioner, has held meetings with the Mets owners.