L.A. Dodgers’ Owner May be in for a $722 Million Divorce

Controversy is swirling around the Los Angeles Dodgers and, oddly, it has nothing to do with their playoff battle with the Philadelphia Phillies or with their dreadlocked slugger Manny Ramirez. Instead, team owner Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie appear to be heading quickly for a messy divorce that could cost the team’s owner as much as $722 million and a stake in his team. The couple were spotted at a recent playoff game, where they both sat in the owner’s box but sat in different rows. Oddly, Mrs. McCourt is the CEO of the team, and has expressed no interest in stepping down from that post, while McCourt himself has expressed no interest in selling the team.

The question now, at least according to the lawyers, is who owns the team and how it may be divided in a divorce. McCourt’s attorney, Marshall Grossman, has indicated that his client possesses documents that indicate that he is the 100-percent owner of the team. Grossman recently told the Los Angeles Times, "Frank McCourt is the owner of the team. He has always been the owner of the team." Equally slimy Dennis Wasser, who is representing Mrs. McCourt, however, begs to differ. Said Wasser, "Everything I’ve seen leads me to believe it’s 50-50, whether there’s a document or not."

Luckily for McCourt, what Wasser has or has not seen means very little, though a judge may potentially agree, no matter how unsavory the source. In addition to the team, the McCourts also have to figure out who will take ownership of two properties in Holmby Hills, California and two other sin Malibu. The four properties have an estimated combined value of $80 million.