MAGIC JOHNSON IS NEW DODGERS OWNER
A group headed by basketball legend Magic Johnson has been named to purchase the storied Dodgers franchise in Los Angeles. The group agreed to pay $2 billion to purchase the team from Frank McCourt. More details from the Los Angeles Times.
FROM CHARLEY BYRNE TO MAGIC JOHNSON
SIX THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOWN ABOUT THE FIRST DODGERS OWNERS:
By Ronald G. Shafer, author “When the Dodgers Were Bridegrooms.”
1, Who were the first owners of the Dodgers franchise in Brooklyn?
A. Charles H. Byrne, a New York real estate developer, and George J. Taylor, a former night editor at the New York Herald Tribune. It was Taylor’s idea to start a team in Brooklyn in 1883. Byrne provided financial backing.
2. Who joined Byrne and Taylor as co-owners?
A. As costs of building Washington Park rose to over $30,000, Byrne recruited two casino owners: his brother-in-law Joseph Doyle and Ferdinand “Gus” Abell, who became the team’s chief financial backer. Byrne was club president and the driving force behind the team.
3. When did the team begin playing?
A. In 1883 in the minor league Interstate Association. That same year Charley Byrne hired as his assistant a young Charles Ebbets.
4. When did the team join the Major Leagues?
A. In 1884 in the American Association, then a major league along with the older National League. The team had no nickname and was known simply as the ‘Brooklyns.”
5. Who was the team’s first manager?
A. George Taylor, in 1883 and 1884, before he returned to the newspaper business. Co-owner Charley Byrne also was the manager from mid-1885 to 1887.
6. When did the team become known as the Bridegrooms?
A. In 1888, after several players married just before the season began under new manager Bill “Gunner” McGunnigle.
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