At the May 2 press conference, Guggenheim Baseball Management, the new owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced an immediate $5 reduction in the $15 parking price.
It has been widely reported that prior owner Frank McCourt, easily the most hated man in Los Angeles, kept ownership of the parking lots surrounding the stadium after a messy divorce forced him to file bankruptcy and sell the team.
That morning, prior to the press conference, David Kippen, of the Los Angeles Times, wrote that fans were unhappy with McCourt retaining the parking lots, and that they should boycott those parking lots by taking public transportation. In fact, Kippen posited, hatred of McCourt would be the one thing that could get Angelenos out of their cars and onto buses and trains.
However, Magic Johnson, one of the partners, said at the press conference that McCourt only retained an interest in some of the land surrounding the stadium, and that McCourt would not see "a dime from the parking."
Which leads us to ponder. Was Kippen right and if he was, did the Dodgers blow a golden opportunity to get us to finally embrace public transportation? Or was dropping the parking fee intended to draw disgruntled fans back to the stadium with a well-aimed metaphorical thumb in Frank McCourt's eye?
You tell us in the comments below and by answering our poll.
City News Service contributed to the above story.
