Frank Mccourt

One day after the fourth surgery on his right elbow, John Smoltz said he would retire before facing another such procedure. "This will be the final one for me, I can guarantee you that," the Atlanta Braves' righthander said yesterday after returning to his home in Duluth, Ga. Smoltz spent Tuesday night in Birmingham, Ala., where Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery. "If I have to have another surgery, it's time to do something else," Smoltz said. Smoltz said he believes a return to a starting role would be easier on his elbow and would boost the Braves' championship hopes.

Ex-Los Angeles Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt yesterday asked a judge to order the sale of the team, saying her ex-husband has badly mismanaged the franchise since he fired her nearly 2 years ago and brought one of baseball's most storied franchises to the "brink of financial ruin. " The request comes less than a month after Commissioner Bud Selig appointed former Texas Rangers president Tom Schieffer to oversee the Dodgers after questions arose about the team's finances. A resolution in the Dodgers drama that began in late 2009, when Jamie McCourt filed for divorce, may be closer than once believed because of several factors: The resumption of settlement talks between both sides.

Dodgers file for bankruptcy The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a billion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt needed to keep the team afloat. The Chapter 11 financing permits the Dodgers to use $150 million for daily operations and buys time for the team to seek a media deal that would ensure the team's long-term financial stability, the Dodgers said in a news release.

Brad Mills is finally getting his chance to run a big-league team. Mills, 52, was hired by Houston yesterday after six seasons as Terry Francona's bench coach in Boston. He'll manage in the majors for the first time, though he has managed a total of 11 seasons in the minors, with affiliates for the Chicago Cubs (1987-92), Colorado Rockies (1993-96) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2002). "One thing that I'm going to bring in is a freshness, being with a champion and bringing that freshness in," Mills said.

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt yesterday filed papers opposing his wife's demand to be reinstated as the team's chief executive, citing insubordination and an affair she allegedly had with her bodyguard. The documents were submitted 1 day after Jamie McCourt filed divorce papers seeking to regain her $2 million-a-year job. In a filing submitted by the Dodgers that opposes her return to the team, Dodgers attorneys allege that Jamie McCourt took a trip with her bodyguard, Jeff Fuller, in early July to Israel on team business, but then headed to France for 2 1/2 weeks and billed the Dodgers for the trip.

A settlement has been reached between Frank and Jamie McCourt in a costly and nasty feud over control of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press on Monday. The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the deal, said Jamie McCourt would receive about $130 million. The divorce case has been placed on hold until a bankruptcy court in Delaware determines the fate of the team. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and a judge will consider dueling motions over four days starting Oct. 31. The divorce agreement removes Jamie McCourt, who had asked the divorce court to order the Dodgers sold, as an obstacle in Frank McCourt's bid to keep ownership by selling team television rights.

Frank McCourt talks a good game. Time will tell if his team plays enough of them. The $430 million sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers from News Corp. to McCourt was unanimously approved by baseball owners yesterday, more than 3 1/2 months after the sides reached an agreement. "I intend to restore the glory days of Dodger baseball with a team worthy of support from our fans," McCourt said. The Dodgers haven't won a postseason game since 1988. The price is the second-highest for a baseball team, trailing only the $660 million paid for the Boston Red Sox 2 years ago. McCourt, 50, said his wife, Jamie, will be vice chairman of the team, and Corey Busch, who helped negotiate the purchase, will be part of the front office.

If you ever doubted the reputation of the Irish as wonderful storytellers, go see Malachy and Frank McCourt in A Couple of Blaguards. They are unabashedly, indisputably Irish, and their stories are a delight. The brothers, who are presenting their evening of personal and family- oriented tales at the auditorium of St. Thomas of Villanova Church in Rosemont on weekends until Jan. 10, refer to themselves as "blaguards" - a variant of blackguards, which the dictionary defines as scoundrels or rascals.

Major League Baseball is taking the extraordinary step of assuming control of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team increasingly paralyzed by the bitter divorce of owners Frank and Jamie McCourt. Once among baseball's glamour franchises, the Dodgers have been consumed by infighting since Jamie McCourt filed for divorce after 30 years of marriage in October 2009, 1 week after her husband fired her as the team's chief executive. Frank McCourt accused Jamie of having an affair with her bodyguard-driver and performing poorly at work.