Andre Ethier unable to overtake Shane Victorino in All-Star vote
Beaten out by Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino in a fan vote for the final spot on the National League All-Star team, Andre Ethier smiled and held up a stack of papers that was a few inches thick.
“I think I’m going to have plenty of time over this All-Star break to go over my bankruptcy litigation,” Ethier said. “You can see what we’ve been getting in the mail. It’s fun to be a Dodger.”
Ethier was one of several players to receive documents from the court in Delaware that is handling the Dodgers’ bankruptcy case.
Some players have been notified that they have an opportunity to be part of a committee charged with representing the interests of the Dodgers’ creditors, of which Ethier is one.
Ethier said he didn’t know if he would participate.
“I should have gone to law school,” he said. “I might find myself in the Arizona State law library brushing up on some of my stuff, so I can figure out what this all means. This is definitely something I never thought I would be doing in baseball.”
Manager Don Mattingly said he didn’t care for the presence of court papers in the Dodgers’ clubhouse.
“It’s something else, you know,” Mattingly said.
The final vote
Of how he failed to overtake Victorino in Major League Baseball’s Final Vote competition to determine the final NL All-Star, Ethier joked, “I guess there’s no recount in this thing.”
In a more serious moment, Ethier expressed his gratitude toward the fans who logged onto the league’s website to cast a ballot for him.
“I thank everyone for punching away,” he said.
Ethier could still make the All-Star team as a replacement player, as Victorino has a sprained thumb and Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers has a strained calf.
“I’m not concerned about that,” Ethier said.
Ethier’s partner in a two-team campaign effort, Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox, was the Final Vote winner in the American League. Like Ethier, Konerko grew up in Phoenix, which will host the All-Star game.
A march for change
Using his recently launched blog, social-media platforms and stickers to spread the word, a disgruntled Dodgers fan has organized a protest against owner Frank McCourt on Saturday. The march will take place at Sunset Boulevard and Elysian Park Avenue at noon, an hour before the Dodgers’ nationally televised game against the San Diego Padres.
“We want to let Major League Baseball know, we want to let Bud Selig know, we want to let McCourt know that we’re not going to put up with this anymore,” said rally organizer Roger Arrieta.
Arrieta said 300 fans have registered to take part in the rally at his site, SavetheDodgers.com.
“I’m hoping we can get 500 RSVPs,” Arrieta said. “If we can get up to 1,000, that would be awesome.”
Arrieta, a 39-year-old Web designer from West Covina, said he didn’t have a problem with McCourt when the Dodgers reached the NL Championship Series in 2008. He said he started becoming suspicious of McCourt when the Dodgers announced he and his wife were separating shortly before the 2009 NLCS.
Arrieta said that what pushed him over the edge was the revelation that the McCourts had hired a Russian healer to beam positive energy to the Dodgers from his Boston home.
“I was like ‘What’s wrong with this team?’” Arrieta said.
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