Dodgers file for bankruptcy protection

One of baseball's proudest franchises is in tatters, its future to be decided not on the field but in the courtroom.

The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled franchise afloat.

McCourt, upset that commissioner Bud Selig rejected the proposed TV deal last week, hopes a federal judge will approve $150 million in financing to be used for daily operations, which would give him more time to seek a more favorable media contract. A hearing is set for Tuesday in Wilmington, Del.

"The action taken today by Mr. McCourt does nothing but inflict further harm to this historic franchise," Selig said in a statement.

Former Dodgers players are owed millions and even beloved Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully is owed more than $150,000 as part of his contract, court documents show.

The filing by a cash-starved McCourt comes just days before he was expected to miss a team payroll Thursday and possibly be confronted with an MLB takeover. Legal observers expect MLB to contest McCourt's request for filing bankruptcy, arguing the dispute should remain within the confines of baseball. Baseball's constitution allows Selig to take control of a team that seeks Chapter 11 protection.

"For somebody who grew up as a Dodger fan since he was 6 in Brooklyn, this makes me very, very sad," said Bob Daley, the Dodgers' managing partner when Rupert Murdoch's Fox Entertainment Group Inc. sold the team to McCourt in 2004.

Real estate developer McCourt bought the team in a highly leveraged $430-million deal that was the second-highest for a baseball team at the time. He became only the fourth owner in franchise history, and the sale marked the return of the team to family ownership -- although the McCourt clan has been nothing like the O'Malleys, who owned the Dodgers or a stake in them for more than 50 years.

Daley said he rues the day the team was sold to McCourt. "Fox, myself, and MLB made a horrible mistake in not doing the proper due diligence on Frank McCourt," he said. "I helped get him approved, and for my piece, I feel very bad about it."

Daley said of McCourt, "He's been an embarrassment to this franchise. The sooner he gets the hell out of town, the better off we'll all be as Dodger fans."