So much for the feel-good stories in recent years of small-market teams like Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays or Minnesota Twins.
Make way for your 2012 Los Angeles Dodgers. Cha-ching.
That is the sound that has been coming out of Southern California for months now, and it is only getting louder. A new ownership group with black holes for pockets has the storied Dodger franchise doing its best New York Yankees impression: spending, spending more and spending again.
The Guggenheim Partners paid US$2.15 billion (Dh 7.89bn) for the Dodgers last spring. They were just getting warmed up. In June, they spent $85m extending outfielder Andre Ethier's contract by seven years and another $42m to sign Cuban outfielder Yasiel Puig.
In July, the Dodgers took on another $42.5m in salary with the additions of shortstop Hanley Ramirez, outfielder Shane Victorino and relievers Brandon League and Randy Choate.
In August, they spent another $3m when they traded for Joe Blanton. The pitcher they really wanted from the Phillies was left-hander Cliff Lee, who was owed some $100m. But even without Lee, the Dodgers had spent $172.5m in less than three months. They weren't through. Not by a few million.
The Dodgers took on another $260m last week when they acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, right-hander Josh Beckett, centre fielder Carl Crawford and utility man Nick Punto in a trade from Boston. It was the first time in baseball history a team traded for two players owed $100m or more (Gonzalez and Crawford) in the same deal.
The Dodgers made no apologies.
"The value of this franchise is represented in the price we paid — that doesn't go up or down with one or two players' salaries," Mark Walter, the Dodgers principal owner and chairman, told reporters.
When asked about concerns over reaching luxury tax thresholds, Dodgers president Stan Kasten said, "[Owners] Mark [Walter] and Magic [Earvin Johnson] don't even ask me about that." Before the trade was finalised, the Dodgers were being labelled the "Yankees of the West." Fine by them.
Manager Don Mattingly, a six-time All-Star with the Yankees, dusted off an old response. "Are you playing within the rules?" Mattingly asked The LA Times. "That's what I always looked at. They used to say that about the Yankees. If you don't like it, change the rules."
Gonzalez hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat as a Dodger in an 8-2 win over Miami. The Dodgers lost five of their next six. Whether they claim a post-season berth, they are looking a whole lot richer for trying.
Hidden killer
Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
THE%C2%A0SPECS
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The biog
Name: Gul Raziq
From: Charsadda, Pakistan
Family: Wife and six children
Favourite holes at Al Ghazal: 15 and 8
Golf Handicap: 6
Childhood sport: cricket
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Company%20profile
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Result
UAE (S. Tagliabue 90 1') 1-2 Uzbekistan (Shokhruz Norkhonov 48', 86')
THE SPECS
Engine: six-litre W12 twin-turbo
Transmission: eight-speed dual clutch auto
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh940,160 (plus VAT)
On sale: Q1 2020
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
