Back in the 45-page complaint filed in 2002, the plaintiffs alleged a litany of claims against the three, including that they had broken laws under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which the government originally intended for mobsters. Loria, Samson and Selig were just that to Montreal, according to the complaint: They systematically devised plans to kill baseball in the city, all so they could move the franchise and profit accordingly.
Selig, the complaint stated, "had secretly determined that major league baseball in Montreal should be eliminated" and went along with Loria's plan to stop televising games and broadcasting them on radio in English. Samson ended complimentary tickets for sponsors. And through a variety of cash calls, on which the minority owners refused to act because they disagreed with the franchise's direction, Loria nearly quadrupled his stake in the franchise, allowing him to pull off the deal that eventually netted him the Marlins.
MLB bought the Expos for $120 million and gave Loria a $38.5 million interest-free loan. Loria, in turn, purchased the Marlins for $158.5 million. And the Marlins' owner, John Henry, led a consortium to obtain the Boston Red Sox. It was good-ol'-boys glad-handing at its finest, and the consequences for the Expos were dire.
While Loria inherited a Marlins team that would win the 2003 World Series, MLB was sabotaging the Expos worse than the lawsuit imagined. The league sent the Expos to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for 22 "home" games. Nonetheless, they were tied for the wild-card lead on Aug. 28. MLB then refused to allow the Expos any September call-ups, leaving them wildly short-handed compared to their opponents and exacerbating their fade.
In November 2004, an arbitration panel ruled in favor of Loria, Samson and Selig, saying the plaintiffs' "sense of betrayal, even if justified, doesn't amount to fraud." That, of course, did nothing to allay their greatest fear coming true six weeks earlier.
On the final day of the 2004 season, Selig announced the Expos would move to Washington, D.C.
The job of a commissioner in professional sports is, ostensibly, to look out for the sport's welfare. In ousting Frank McCourt from owning the Los Angeles Dodgers, the perception was that Selig did just that. McCourt took a proud Dodgers franchise and turned it into a chop shop. Never mind that Selig himself blessed McCourt's ownership; at least he understood that charlatans like McCourt were bad for baseball.
Commissioner Bud Selig proved again he is not focused on protecting baseball. (AP) The truth is more like this: Selig saw in McCourt someone dangerous and reckless with baseball's most prized possession, local television rights. McCourt was willing to pawn them off for an under-market price to help cover his debts. Selig refused to let the Dodgers set the market low, fought like hell to make sure that didn't happen, won that fight, watched the Dodgers sell for $2.15 billion and is watching them turn into the West Coast Yankees.
