Monday, April 25, 2011

Hail To The Schieffer

Bud Selig unveiled the new overseer of the Dodgers today, and according to Ken Gurnick's MLB.com article, he comes with some hefty public service credentials (which he'll probably need, to get to the bottom of this circus):

MIAMI -- J. Thomas Schieffer, former president of the Texas Rangers, has been selected to monitor the Dodgers franchise, Commissioner Bud Selig announced Monday.

Schieffer will be Selig's representative in oversight of the day-to-day operations, business and finances of the club and all related entities. The team's finances have come into question since the divorce of Dodgers owner and chairman Frank McCourt from Jamie McCourt, his wife of 29 years, who also served as CEO of the club until 2009.

"We are very fortunate to have someone of Tom Schieffer's stature monitor the operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers on behalf of Major League Baseball," Selig said in a release. "Tom is a distinguished public servant who has represented the nation with excellence and has demonstrated extraordinary leadership throughout his career. The many years that he spent managing the operations of a successful franchise will benefit the Dodgers and Major League Baseball as a whole. I am grateful for Tom's acceptance of this role."

Schieffer was an investor in the ownership group headed by George W. Bush and Rusty Rose that purchased the Rangers in 1989. He was club president from 1991-99 and general partner from 1994-98. He also was in charge of development of The Ballpark in Arlington.

Schieffer, 63, is an attorney specializing in oil and gas matters and investment management. He served three terms as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives, was the U.S. Ambassador to Australia from 2001-05 and was the U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 2005-09. He was honored by the Department of Defense with its Distinguished Public Service Medal, the military's highest civilian award.

As Jon Weisman points out, Schieffer isn't a local product. But I don't know if that makes him any more or less suited to bring discipline and decorum back to the Dodgers franchise. We'll see how this goes.

photo: AP

5 comments:

Kyle Baker said...

I don't at all see his not being a local product to be a problem. May even help in that he'd be free of some local baggage that others may come with. Besides, it's in the capacity of a monitor. If we were talking potential new owner, I would have a different take on necessity of local understanding.

spank said...

To tell you the truth,I trust Selig less than I do McCourt.

#skepticalMOFO

Kyle Baker said...

Trust no one, Spank.

(puffs cigarette, slips back into the dark alley)

Neeebs (The Original) said...

Trust me, Spank, but no others.

Delino DeShields, Sr said...

I Want to Believe...
that this is an answer.

Suddenly, blogger night's future is looking oh so cloudy