Dodgers Brand Slammed

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport on Twitter - The Azul is singing the blues these days as it discovers capitalism isn't always a home run.

Dodger Stadium - Photo: California by Choice

Until a few weeks ago, few institutions in Southern California had a stronger brand than the Los Angeles Dodgers, except perhaps the late legend himself, Vin Scully.

But make no mistake, this emotional embrace of the boys in blue is pure one-sided capitalism.  If the Dodgers could get you to buy oxygen, they would.

San Francisco pitcher Juan Marichal (27) swings a bat at Dodgers catcher John Roseboro as Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, right, tries to break it up on Aug. 22, 1965. (Robert H. Houston / Associated Press)

Yet its brand recently took it on the cabeza like John Roseboro took it from Juan Marichal in '65.

I explain in my latest free column on DanielGuss.Substack.com.   

Mayor Sam's Free "Free Market" Lessons

Free "Free Market" lesson for all the lovely readers of Mayor Sam: In America, you can work hard and earn the money for the home you want to live in. If you want something with lots of space and you're willing to pay for it, it's yours. Unfortunately some of your neighbors may not agree and are throwing around terms like "mansionization" and "McMansions." Now you might just do something really dumb and spend your hard earned money on a really ugly big house, but hey, it's your money.

Free "Free Market" lesson number two for the pueblos: Big bogeymen coming to Los Feliz and Leimert Park upgrading properties and raising rents. In primarily African-American Leimert Park, racism rears it's ugly head because - gasp - upwardly mobile Caucasians and Hispanics are taking the place of middle class blacks who moved to the suburbs. Over in Los Feliz Satanic, I mean "corporate" interests are raising rents on the ever successful businesses there, well, uh, because they can. Why can they? More people are interested in starting businesses in Los Feliz than space is available for.

In the old days, these were good things.