TOO LEGIT TO QUIT? Studio City resident…
SportsMLBLos Angeles Dodgers
TOO LEGIT TO QUIT? Studio City resident Macciello says he has 2.2 billion reasons why he should be the next Dodgers owner
By Tom Hoffarth | tomhoffarth1@gmail.com | Daily News
February 11, 2012 at 12:00 a.m.
The next owner of the Dodgers slid some of the caprese salad appetizer next to the spicy fried calamari, careful not to interfere with the integrity of Sisley Italian Kitchen's famous Italian quesadilla that was in front him.
It might seem as if Josh Macciello has a lot on his plate at the moment in the Sherman Oaks restaurant. But don't doubt he'll have plenty of appetite left for the main course.
"I want everyone to know that I want the whole enchilada," said Macciello, not afraid to mix his culinary metaphors.
Specifically, that would be the Dodgers' franchise, the stadium and the land that surrounds it.
He's willing to pay $2.2 billion for it. An all-cash deal. And all of it to make Frank McCourt disappear.
"Why would I over-bid?" Macciello continued as he grabbed a fork. "We need closure to start the healing process. No fan wants to hand over $20 to park and think they're giving him any more of their money.
"So I want to give him an offer he can't refuse."
Don't worry. The Brooklyn native and Studio City resident with the pointed black beard and elaborately tattooed right shoulder was just getting warmed up.
Media reports change almost daily in an attempt to nail down who has met certain "deadlines" and "qualified" to move "to the next round" in this unusual process. Magic Johnson, Peter O'Malley, Stan Kroenke and Michael Heisley apparently are in.
Few, if anyone, bother to include the 36-year-old Macciello.
When he made his intentions known with an introductory mini-media blitz last month, some polarizing reaction was predictable. One started up a fansite, JoshForDodgers.com, to monitor his progress, but others stayed skeptical of his net worth and labeled him a publicity seeker.
Add to that the jilted supporters of one of the most storied franchises in sports history who simply are too skittish that he could be McCourt version 2.0 – someone who appears paper-rich but ends up disappointing everyone.
Macciello understands the doubters, but he has no doubt he can win them over.
If needed, he can produce proof he's made his millions in TV and movie development projects. A recent discovery that some property he owns in Arizona turned out to be gold-rich, yet-to-be-mined land has been verified to be worth billions more.
Macciello was so agitated by the failure of acknowledgment from representatives from the New York-based Blackstone Group, hired by McCourt to handle the bankruptcy sale, that he took his case to the sports talk radio airwaves last week. On 710-AM's Steve Mason and John Ireland show, Macciello answered questions from callers and defended himself as a viable option amidst more apprehension.
One caller told him he sounded like some fast-talking used-car salesman. Macciello reminded them that was the first career choice by current baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
Sources close to Macciello's group who did not want to be identified because of nondisclosure agreements produced documents that show Macciello put into escrow a $2.2 billion bid Jan. 18 with the intent to buy the Dodgers and all of its holdings through his company, Armital Sports, Inc.
Macciello would own 51 percent. The other 49 percent would be owned by Eagle Crest LLC, headed up by two of Macciello's financial partners. One of them is South Korean-born businessman Myung-Ho Lee who has, according to more confidential documentation given to the Blackstone Group, $10 billion deposited in the Hong Kong branch of the world's largest bank, HSBC. Lee is in the process of having it transferred to a U.S. branch, and Macciello said he's got access to $3 billion of that, with additional money going toward stadium repairs and roster salary.
The three-man group will combine to pay a $75,000 vetting fee Major League Baseball has requested for this process.
"You think I'd pay that much just for media attention?" Macciello asked. "That's stupid. I'm not looking to be a Kardashian."
Representatives for McCourt or the Blackstone Group did not return requests to comment on Macciello's bid.
As it all turns out, Macciello's window of opportunity to get into the bidding has not closed. He recently has been informed he'll have until March 1 to secure his offer.
The only real set deadline in this whole process is McCourt picks the new owner by April 1. After the transaction is completed, he has until the end of April to pay off his debtors.
If Macciello isn't satisfied with how he's treated, he's prepared to stall the entire sale proceedings by taking whatever legal action is necessary, an ironic twist to how the litigious McCourt has put the Dodgers ownership into this awkward holding pattern in the first place.
"I don't want to sue anybody," Macciello said. "But what other choice might I have?
"Everyone's putting deadlines on everything, but that's all make-believe by the media. The reality is my attorneys feel I have plenty proof of funding here, and all I'm fighting for is a fair chance.
"Once we get past this hurdle, I will win this team. I will stop at nothing."
Call him the wild card in this whole drama, and you won't be far off. He says on a scale of 1 to 10, his chances of owning the Dodgers: "I live every day on a scale of hitting a 10. Realistically, you might think I'm psychotic, but I think I'm going to own the Los Angeles Dodgers and I'm going to bring a World Series by the end of this year.
"That's what's in my head. And there's no doubt in my mind."
Macciello continued to make friends and influence people Saturday. He suited up and participated in a charity softball tournament in West Covina sponsored by Dodgers online bloggers and raised money for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Macciello made a $5,000 donation to the cause on top of it.
What definitely could play into Macciello's favor is once Major League Baseball approves the final pool of buyers, McCourt has the final say in who he sells it to. If he takes Macciello's offer, McCourt – who some predicted would be lucky to break even – stands to clear some $700 million, according to Macciello's calculations.
Likewise, McCourt also could see this as his last opportunity to give Selig and the other owners the equivalent of some neighborhood kids lighting a paper bag on fire and setting it on their porch.
"I'm counting on that as the winning factor," Macciello admitted. "But if he's counting on me to do a worse job (than him), I'm counting on doing the best job.
"Everyone now realizes that McCourt is going to make the most amount of money on a bankruptcy in the history of the world. We just want to get back in that race, meet with him, have him give me a number on a napkin and I'll pay it.
"You know, the one thing that really scares me – what if you're all so scared of getting another Frank McCourt that you're losing the greatest owner you could ever have? That's a possibility. What if I could win six championships like the O'Malley family, but everyone is so scared of me because of what McCourt did, that you pass on me?
"I feel that my ownership of the Dodgers will be more than just a guy fulfilling his dreams. It'll impact this country, which has no guidance right now. People feel lost in this horrible time in America right now, that there's no hope with big business and government and everyone else screwing them over. And then here comes this guy, who's not part of all that, who wins this organization, the underdog."
Macciello, decked out in a flat-billed blue L.A. cap with a Dodgers' No. 23 home jersey that has his name on the back, picked up another piece of calamari and started talking more about his immediate plans.
He's keeping Don Mattingly as Dodgers manager and Ned Colletti as general manager. He'll invest millions into security to make everyone feel safer. If fans aren't crazy about "Don't Stop Believin"' played after the seventh-inning stretch, he'll let them pick the song.
He's confounded why 50 cents worth of beer can be sold for $9. He can imagine when trolley cars bring fans in and out of the stadium as part of a public transportation service.
And, when all's said and done, he'll be just fine moving from the third-base season seats he's shared with some friends since 1999 over to the row of seats that McCourt set aside for himself next to the Dodgers' dugout.
"The way I see it, I'm like Gibson at bat right now," Macciello said. "I'm in that same hole, facing one of the best closers in the game. And it doesn't look like I have a chance. So I'm hoping to perform like he did. That's my inspiration."
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Tom Hoffarth | columnist
Tom Hoffarth is a freelancer. He had been with the Daily News/Southern California News Group since 1992 as a general assignment sports reporter, columnist and specialist in the sports media. He has been honored by the Associated Press for sports columnists and honored by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association for his career work. His favorite sportscaster of all time: Vin Scully, for professional and personal reasons. He considers watching Zenyatta win the Breeders' Cup 2009 Classic to be the most memorable sporting event he has covered in his career. Go figure that.
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