Dodgers owner Frank McCourt rejected a deal that would have brought CC Sabathia, along with Casey Blake and Jason Carroll, to the Dodgers, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News. McCourt denied the report, but McCourt's over-protective stance toward anything resembling a prospect is well known. And so is his willingness to kill deals. He is also said to be upset by disappointing attendance at Dodger Stadium.

This is from Jon Heyman's column in SI today.

Why would McCourt be upset about attendance?

0 - Now, that's a good column. Hear hear!

0 Well said Jon.

I love it when Jon bares his teeth.

I love it even more when it's in Plaschke's direction.

Are gas prices keeping people from driving to the Stadium?

AMEN!!!!
Can we get this faxed, sent, emailed, phoned, text messaged, and flown by pigeons to McCourt, Colletti, and Plaschke? And then repeat the process about 50 thousand times so it might finally sink into their thick, dim-witted skulls.

4 - It's not in any single person's direction.

1 - Well, parking fees and food sales, I suppose. But I would really be surprised if that's his greatest worry, because he's still drawing like gangbusters.

Alright, some fire! You must have been inspired by Andruw Jones hard slide to take out the double play. It has lit up the whole team and the fanbase. That critical moment of gutsy leadership will spin us up to glory!

The Kids, the kids I keep on hearing the "Kids", when the heck are people actually going to name names and finger people who they think aren't pulling their weight? At least when Simers' is attacking each other he name names, he calls out Jones, he calls out Gary Matthew Jr. I'm sick of grouping everyone under 26 'The Kids'. Is Russel Martin the Problem? Andrew Either? Matt Kemp? Chad Billingsly? Just who the heck is the problem among 'The Kids'?

I've never eaten at Carney's. I sense an August 16 trip there is in order.

1 I guess we're only second in the NL...

We could drive up food sales if they actually let us roam the stadium to get what we want like the used to.

0- That's what make's DT the best Dodger web site
perfectly said!

>>Why would McCourt be upset about attendance?

Attendance is slightly down this season. Of course, this has a number of reasons why attendance is down, but this is also the power couple that said that Dodger Stadium can draw 4 million and it was ridiculous that it doesn't.

Beautiful.

Jon I have been very disappointed in your middle child's ability to produce income for you.

He really needs to step up. When I was his age, I brought in $200,000 of revenue for the Timmermann household. And I could recite the entire New Testament in both Greek and Latin.

"McCourt's over-protective stance toward anything resembling a prospect is well known."

Should I take that to mean that McCourt has been preventing Colletti from trading the "kids?"

9 The cocky ones. If you can't tell which ones are cocky, ask a racist.

Hong-Chih Kuo's ERA+ is currently 260. There have been 11 seasons in LA Dodger history in which a pitcher threw 50 IP and had an ERA+ of 200 or higher. Roger Craig's 1959 season kind of jumped out at me. Three of the 11 seasons were from the famed 2003 bullpen.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/y75r

Yatta!

I just don't understand the comments from Frank and Ned about our "problem" players. How are we supposed to trade these guys when you keep trashing them in the press. Aren't these guys all about PR?

Tonight I am planning on taking my wife and son to our first game as a family. He is approaching the 9 week milestone, so if he is feeling good tonight, we will be at the stadium...for as long as he allows us to be.

And to think Plaschke/Simers survived the Times' layoff extravaganza.

I blame Evan Longoria and Ryan Braun for making our kids look bad! This is their fault!

McCourt probably freaks out about attendance all the time since Fox takes all his TV money.

jon bringing the heat

20 Have fun! My dad tried to take me to a Mets game when I was around 12 weeks old, and my mom said she would rather dunk me in a public toilet. I still haven't been to Shea.

Reading that made me feel really good. That and the fact that I just found out I got the promotion I interviewed for the other day!

20
Be sure to take pictures, so you can show your son his Dodger Stadium debut!

20--A nine-week-old should be able to sleep through anything. Enjoy the games now. When he's two, you won't make it to the fourth inning.Trust me. I'm a Parenting Expert!

25
Congrats! Hopefully this promotion allows for more time to post here. :)

25 Congratulations!

25 - Congrats!

28 - Don't they all???

20
Try to put yourself in a camera-friendly spot so Vin can ooh and ahh over your child on the air.

I need to hear more 1950s style description of cute babies. My vocabulary in that area is declining.

Right on!!!
# 8 I don't think is a mistake on anyone's part. The data to support the case that Kuo was underused in key situations early this year couldn't be used and generated at the same time.

27 Tell that to my 4 week old that is currently on my lap right now and hasn't slept since 3am!

Nice work, Jon.

Aside from a couple of pitchers, all of the best-performing players on the team right now are "kids." Ignoring the fact that they're still young and will all improve, they are leading the team RIGHT NOW.

The problem, of course, is that you can't prove that to someone who refuses to look at statistics, and judges instead by (1) body language and (2) willingness to confirm one's own predispositions in interviews.

The best recent example is that everyone, including Torre, thinks that Kemp is struggling since he moved to leadoff. And sure, he's striking out a lot, but his performance has nonetheless been better than Pierre's was. But strikeouts just LOOK worse than 4-3 groundouts that you make close by hustling.

27

That is what I am thinking. Plus, I have a pretty good rocking technique, so I can always walk with him up at the top while watching the game. The bummer is that I will actually pay for parking because the walk will be a little long outside the park if he has a melt down.

26

Are there baby changing stations in the Top Deck? Near the latrine :)

36
It's supposed to be in the bahtrooms near Section 3.

Thank you Jon. Fantastic writing as usual.

Bahtrooms are where they have pay toilets that use Thai currency.

Missing in your top 5 Things That Went Wrong for the Dodgers is Andy LaRoche getting injured in ST. I think that had almost as big an impact on our season as say, the Penny ineffectiveness.

I like Dewitt and root for him, but his one good month has become an anchor on this team now. Torre keeps waiting for him to break out of his slump and LaRoche cannot get any consistent, pressure-free time at 3B.

And Jon, totally agree with you about Andruw Jones. It is inexcusable the things that the Dodgers are willing to let slide compared to the things that they are criticizing the players for.

39 Hee.

anyone else have a mac account? if so, are you having trouble getting on the new mobile me site?

This is the sort of thing I expect from microsoft, not the good guys

42 - never mind, apparently it just takes asking such a question somewhere in the intertubes to get it working.

31 That little "toe head" is "full of beans".

Put that in your Google translater

38 Early one morning the sun was shining, I was just laying in bed.

Love the handle.

On the bright side, Furcal has finally been dethroned as the team VORP leader by Russ.

44
It's actually "towhead."

46 There really is no bright side in that statement this late into the season.

Oh My, as Dick Enberg used to say! Jon, did you ever hit the nail on the head!! I guess the last Plaschke article was the straw that broke the camels back that inspired this brilliance! The clarity and logic that you have in your arguments are in direct contrast to Plaschke's and Simers's drivel. This post really should be brought to managment's attention-at least forward it to Dodgers.com. If it wasn't for "our kids" we might have the same record as the Padres right now. Instead of bashing them, we should be thanking them for at least keeping us upright during this notoriously unlucky first half. An injury deluge to the infield, Penny's sudden ineffectiveness, and the misplaced loyalties in certain unproductive players are the reasons why we aren't better.

48 It's better than Rafael Furcal is still the VORP leader.

50 :) Yeah, that's true. Whether there is any bright side to that is debatable. I'm just mostly kidding though. It is nice to see an active player on top of that list though. Hopefully Kemp, Ethier and Loney are headed there soon too.

I love how Jon wrote that...

We feel you Jon.

51 They've got a ways to go.

I think another problem here is marketing. The PR department isn't telling the fans to embrace any of our young players but Russ. Why can't some guy find Matt Kemp in his toast instead of Kent? Why aren't we telling people about how great Bills is now instead of Ron Cey telling people how great we used to be? The team isn't giving any reason for the casual fan to embrace this team, so the only impression they have of Matt Kemp is that he's a delinquent.

Jones' nonchalance and incompetence this season are just short of disgusting, particularly given his outrageous salary. He is 3 for 43 with runners in scoring position. And we're criticizing KEMP?

heh, I just tried sending plaschke an email asking him who he means by "kids" (I've actually exchanged emails with him before) and I got a mailer deamon that deliver didn't work.

I wonder if that's my webmail or if it speaks of something else

53 - I think that's a good point, though you're conflating the PR and marketing departments.

Leave it to Jon to say it best. My main reaction when I read Plaschke this morning was that this is getting so tiring. If the Dodgers don't want to get their organizational act together, and the local media aren't inclined to responsible reporting, then fine. So be it. I don't have the energy. I'll just watch the games and hope for the best.

Speaking of which I'll be at the game tomorrow, with 2 cute kids in tow (daughter and friend - the baby's got to stay home with a sitter). We should be in prime territory for cute kid shots on the telecast.

And speaking of which, if Frank is indeed disappointed by attendance, maybe its because the tickets have gotten ungodly expensive. If we hadn't called in connection for tomorrow, there's no way I'd bring kids to Dodger Stadium. Its a choice between the bleachers and paying through the nose.

600. Bluebleeder87
Happy Friday everyone, I really hope they [Torre] plays La Roche for a fair amount of time to see what's doin' with him but he won't (exhibit A. Pierre) Torre seems to be a first impression kind of guy or something to that effect.

I hope it isn't the norm for Torre (1st year managing a new team & all...) veremos...

55 - My understanding is that he usually replies if you're the least bit civil.

53--that's why this whole 50th anniversary celebration is so misguided. This team is mired down in its past.

.... I mean how about just a little footnote next time a writer brings up Kemp's Ks that mentions Andruw (who was brought in in part to mentor) is actually fanning at a higher rate.

59 - i'm always civil in email, especially since i have the "Esq." after my name on my standard signature.

but i'm mainly wondering why my email got bounced.

I like it when Ron Cey tells us how great we used to be. It takes my mind off of how not-great we are.

60 - there's nothing wrong with celebrating the past, especially for the Dodgers and the thing they are celebrating (moving west). If it wasn't for Walter O'Malley deciding to move to LA, it would have taken baseball another 20 years to expand beyond the Mississippi River.

What they need to do is tie the history in with the present. I think I mentioned during the off season how the ad campaign should have all the old Dodgers embracing the new Dodgers, passing the torch or what have you.

Bravo Jon!!

64 - They do that on the cover of Dodgers magazine each month this year.

McCourt has every right to be upset about attendance. Every night thousands of season ticket holders do not show up and he's getting very few walk up sales.
On the surface the cash flow from the season ticket holders is nice but he needs butts in those seats and when he doesn't get the butts he should worry.
You would never see the type of promo's that we are seeing today for good seats in the infield reserve unless he is having attendance problems. You might see the seats filled between 1st and 3rd but that is just the foul pole people moving in to the empty season ticket seats. All those foul pole seats are sold from row A to Row F and yet just about every night during the week those seats are empty in the loge. I've only sat in my seat maybe three times all year and those have always been promo nights.

67
But it was a nice affluent, computerized crowd last.

Cory Snyder was featured on DiamondVision and he was at the game. He's just 45 years old and looked about 20 years older. I hope he is not ill.

Marty thought he looked like Nick Nolte.

0 Jon, very well said. Probably your best post of the year. I wish the front office and guys like Plascke would read this.

Maybe he should

--Lower the prices, including for parking.
--Professionalize the food service.
--Get rid of those ridiculous digital add banners at every concession stand.
--Stop treating fans like morons, even if they are.
--Run a sound front office that knows something about baseball.

67 $16 to sit in reserved
$28 to sit in infield reserved
$25 for loge
$50 for field
Walk up? Bump all those prices up by $3 to $10 for day of game prices?

$15 to park
$10 for a beer
?? in gas to get there and back, depending on your Mpg and how far away you live.

If I bring my kids, they're either going to jump around like monkeys, not watch the game, or melt down and have to leave early. Then I'm wondering why I paid $20 a pop or more for their tickets. Alternatively, I could leave them home and spend $75 for a baby sitter.

O.k., that was a long way of saying I think disappointing attendance has about 98% to do with cost, and 2% disappointing team.

53 - Somebody needs to control Eric Karros, too. I really don't understand why it is that every time he talks about Kemp it seems that it's only to run him down.

But then, that's pretty much the MO of this front office. I think there's a lot of frustration that he seems to be taking a step backwards after a promising 2007, but it's just so obvious that the front office is getting close to the ledge that they might do something rash like trading him for a high-average, low-OBP shortstop.

68
Mugshot Nick Nolte or Blue Chips Nick Nolte? Neither is a flattering comparison, but there are degrees.

54
I'm not sure how much more you want A Jones ripped on as the only thing left to do to him is keelhaul him.

10 Carney's is now mostly nostalgia for me. First, it was the place my Dad often took my brother and me for dinner before Dodger Games (I guess that in the 70's, the start time was long after our dinner time).

Then, it was the high-school hangout for off-campus lunch, particularly when lunch fell across two open periods (Jon will know exactly what I'm talking about).

Recently, I ate there once or twice when approaching Burbank airport en route out of town with the kids in the back seat (not old enough yet for that kind of food). I have to say, it lost a lot of luster for me, food-wise. I was never a fan of the chili-dog, so that's probably my problem, given how most Carney's fans rave about them.

Now Apple Pan, that's something I really jones for....

Jon,

Have you considered submitting a version of this to the LA Times? It would be newsworthy given Plaschke's article today, so the Times might actually print it. I'd love to see a response to all this "it's the kids fault" nonsense in the readers' letters section. Just a thought.

0 Amen, Brother Jon.

Now back to what feels like the worst divisional race ever . ..

76
The LA Times has plenty more to deal with than publishing a dissenting opinion to Plaschke.

71 - disagree. I have Angels season tickets and their regularly announced "sellouts" are actually around 70-80% butts-in-seats, and the rest are scalpers or season seat holders who couldn't unload their tickets. From what I've seen of Dodger Stadium in telecasts and actual attendance this year, it's probably more like 60-70%; the reserved level seats near the foul poles are inevitably empty, even during series with division rivals like Arizona. Winning makes a big difference in ticket sales, and the decision whether to show up at the park if you've already committed to season tickets.

McCourt is finally seeing the backlash to his continuously ascending ticket prices. It was fine for a while since we were actually one of the better bargains in the major leagues, but I'd have to assume we're in the top half for average ticket price by now. I've only gone to three games this year, and they've all been on dates!

Plus, people aren't going to get as excited about a sub-.500 team who doesn't score a lot of runs.

80 Making her pay?

81
When I find a woman who wants to buy me a malt, then I will know it is time to get married.

I think with the overall state of the economy, attendance has been down at most major sporting events nationwide. I read a good article about the declining attendance in college sports a few weeks ago, but now I can't find it on the web. It seems outrageously expensive to take a family to a game and owernship needs to realize this and stop hiking up the prices.

82 Obviously. And unless she wants to pay the $15 for parking herself, we're walking from outside the stadium!

84 Should've been 81. I have no interest in a malt.

80 - There's probably something to this. Even as recently as 2006, the Dodgers ranked 26th in Sports Illustrated's Fan Value Index, which attempted to rank teams by best experience for the dollar.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/09/11/fvi.summary/

Nothing like waking up at 11am. Ah, Summer!

I've been a reader of this blog since its inception. Quite literally, I've read every single post Jon has written. I've never read a post quite like this. In the neighborhood, yes (DePo's firing was called "despicable") but this... this is a different level of anger. I don't know if I'd call it anger but I like it.

When someone says the sky is red and you know it's blue but they keep insisting it's red, well, how do you argue with that? Bill Plaschke says the sky is red. Good luck trying to convince him otherwise.

David Wright will replace Alfonso Soriano on the N.L All-Star roster.

0 I'm late to the party, but...bravo!

86 I remember the infield reserve as being $12 as recent as maybe 3 years ago and now they're $26 apiece? That's just plain ridiculous.

87
Summertime.

And the livin' is easy.

Fish are jumpin'

And the cotton is high.

Oh you're DL is rich.

And the kids are good lookin'

So hush little baby

Plaschke's gonna cry ....

87 - Yeah, I've been angrier. I've even been more exasperated.

It actually might be fun to compile my top 10 angriest posts.

71
I don't, if the team is winning people go to the games. Haven't most of the studies done on this issue, shown that cost has little to do with attendance?

I'm not saying it isn't expensive to go to a game, but I'm saying that if the team is winning the season ticket holders either go to the games themselves or they are deluged with offers for their tickets.

So who's ready for this team to add another 50 million dollars in payroll just to ship out all the cheap young talent out of town?

80 I think the top tickets are pre-sold for the most part to season ticket holders.

Attendance is down throughout baseball, even in the best fans in America are showing up a 1000 fans less than last year.

Now, that could be balanced by some teams having small increases (and the Dodgers are still on pace to draw over 3.5 miilion) second to the Mets who have sold a lot of tickets as fans want to say goodbye to Shea).

Anyway, I agree with Jon, and frankly, I don't have a clue of who you would trade for that could improve this team without weakening it somewhere else.

I take it I missed an LAT article? Or what was the inspiration for this piece?

Oh, good ol' Bill.

We need to stop taking Bill so seriously. I doubt he even takes a step out of the press box to see who's listening or not.

93
I'm fairly certain that I ragged on this issue over at True Blue when the 2008 pricing came out and Eric Enders pointed me to many studies that said I was full of hooey when I used the same arguements as