NEW YORK: The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig for rejecting a television deal that would have given the financially strapped baseball team a quick injection of cash. Monday's filing marks a dramatic attempt by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to keep the league from seizing the storied team, which he has owned since 2004. McCourt has been struggling to meet payroll and other financial commitments, having been heavily in debt and locked in a bitter divorce battle with his estranged wife Jamie. On June 20, the league vetoed a proposed $3 billion, 17-year television contract with News Corp's Fox Network, saying it would not be in the best interests of the Dodgers, the game and fans. The contract included a $385 million upfront payment that McCourt has said was crucial to the Dodgers' financial health. “We brought the commissioner a media rights deal that would have solved the cash flow challenge I presented to him a year ago,” McCourt said in a statement. “Yet he's turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves in today.” Patrick Courtney, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, had no immediate comment.
