The Futility Infielder

A Baseball Journal by Jay Jaffe I'm a baseball fan living in New York City. In between long tirades about the New York Yankees and the national pastime in general, I'm a graphic designer.

Thursday, September 26, 2002

 

The Chickens Are Rounding Third

San Diego Padres owner John Moores endeared himself to baseball fans in the days prior to the strike deadline with a statement saying he was prepared to shut the game down for a season in order to get a favorable labor deal. Okay, "endeared" isn't actually the proper verb; "made his idiocy known" is a more suitable one. Moores' ultra-hardline stance--one which had no parallel voice even in that season of heated rhetoric--was manipulative and appalling.

It was also a fairly transparent bluff. Moores had already successfully milked the taxpayers of San Diego for roughly $300 million towards a new baseball stadium, set to open in 2004 to replace The Murph. For the Padres, who are covering $153 million of the stadium's cost, leading in with a full year's labor stoppage would have been financial suicide.

Now it looks like Moores could be shut down himself. He's the chairman of a software company, Peregrine Systems, which filed for bankruptcy this past weekend. The company had recently been de-listed by NASDAQ after admitting that it had overstated its revenues by abot $250 million. Since then, it's been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Department of Justice for fraudulent accounting practices. With over 30 class-action lawsuits pending against Peregrine, Moores' share of the Padres could be liquidated if he's found liable.

But hey, what's a little liability when you're Fortune Magazine's 5th Greediest Executive? And what's a few more feds when you've already been the subject of a federal investigation regarding the bribery of a city councilwoman for the ballpark deal--an investigation which brought construction of the park to a halt for over a year? Moores was eventually cleared of wrongdoing: ""It is not a crime to give a gift to a public official."

In a group for whom convicted felon George Steinbrenner (conspiracy to make illegal campaign contributions to the Nixon campaign '72) is the model for success, Moores stands out among baseball owners for his greed, his audacity, and his ability to draw federal heat. It was bound to happen sooner or later: the third base coaches are waving his chickens home to roost.

Comments: Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

Archives

June 2001   July 2001   August 2001   September 2001   October 2001   November 2001   December 2001   January 2002   February 2002   March 2002   April 2002   May 2002   June 2002   July 2002   August 2002   September 2002   October 2002   November 2002   December 2002   January 2003   February 2003   March 2003   April 2003   May 2003   June 2003   July 2003   August 2003   September 2003   October 2003   November 2003   December 2003   January 2004   February 2004   March 2004   April 2004   May 2004   June 2004   July 2004   August 2004   September 2004   October 2004   November 2004   December 2004   January 2005   February 2005   March 2005   April 2005   May 2005   June 2005   July 2005   August 2005   September 2005   October 2005   November 2005   December 2005   January 2006   February 2006   March 2006   April 2006   May 2006   June 2006   July 2006   August 2006   September 2006   October 2006   November 2006   December 2006   January 2007   February 2007   March 2007   April 2007   May 2007   June 2007   July 2007   August 2007   September 2007   October 2007   November 2007   December 2007   January 2008   February 2008   March 2008   April 2008   May 2008   June 2008   July 2008   August 2008   September 2008   October 2008   November 2008   December 2008   January 2009   February 2009   March 2009   April 2009   May 2009   June 2009   July 2009   August 2009   September 2009   October 2009   November 2009   December 2009   January 2010   February 2010   March 2010   April 2010   May 2010  

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]