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Playing in the Big Leagues --------,A,---,,-Lum n j ornate Alum Jamie McCourt realized every baseball lover's dream when she put her legal mind to work in service of the L.A. Dodgers. BY GARY LIBMAN In U> rowing up as a rabid baseball fan McCourt ('79) also followed the game of Fame-former manager Tommy Lasorda Q; OJ "0 in Baltimore, Jamie McCourt avidly at the University of Maryland School and announcer Yin Scully. o o U> regularly dragged her father to of Law, matriculating as Jamie Luskin, and Sitting recently in her Dodger Stadium OJ G Qi Baltimore Orioles games. Her favorite throughout a twenty-five-year legal and office, overlooking the emerald green left OJ ~c player was shortstop Luis Aparicio, and business career in New York and Boston. field grass, the highest ranking female execu- U> ...Jo she can still tell you the number of Then, in January 2004, she achieved the tive in baseball says that owning a team is OJ -5 almost every starter on the famous 1966 ultimate baseball fantasy: she and her hus- "sensational. I always say I never worked so '0 > team. She was thrilled that season when band, Boston commercial real estate develop- hard and never had so much fun. There are U> OJ t the Orioles defeated the Los Angeles er Frank McCourt, bought the Dodgers. so many different things to work on that you :l o c Dodgers and the great Sandy Koufax in Now she counts Koufax as a friend, along are never, ever bored. It's a 365-day-a-year, U> o the World Series. with two other Dodger members of the Hall 24-hour-a day job." (5 a..s: JD FALL 2005 42 In her first season as an owner, the remembers, "Jamie was a memorable stu- Dodgers won the National League West dent, as well as a delightful one. She ques- division and their first playoff game since tioned everything I said, and she did it 1988. Between the 2004 and 2005 seasons, with an unusual amount of ability and the busy McCourts sought to increase rev- humor. She really helped make the class enue by adding 1,600 high-priced seats work." close to the field. They changed the face of And the curriculum proved invaluable. the mezzanine section by installing a three- "It teaches you to ask the right questions," foot high "ribbon board" to display base- McCourt says. "It puts you in a place where ball information and advertising. As vice you can assimilate a lot of facts and really chairman of the team, Jamie McCourt is in determine what the issues are. It's a great the thick of these and a hundred other skill set to have, and it's a great discipline to ongoing decisions. She oversees all business have, and it makes you listen better." operations, including day-to-day manage- After graduation, McCourt polished ment, strategic planning, and the integra- these skills, specializing in international tion of business and baseball operations. and securities law at a New York law firm. Integrating business and baseball Moving to Boston, she focused on corpo- operations, she says, is important in mak- rate, real estate, and family law in private ing the team "fan friendly": "It's really practice. She also spent four years "of apparent that the best way to do that is to counsel" to a Boston law firm before join- get players into the community and have ing The McCourt Company as vice presi- them sign autographs and meet people. dent and general counsel in 1994. It's important for the players to be mind- Wherever she's been employed, even ful of how much it means to fans to be when she's immersed in her job, McCourt After McCourt and her husband, Frank McCourt, bought the team, she set to work- accessible." has worked hard to create time for her ing on all aspects of operations, including "There's not a single thing we do that family. The McCourts have four sons: stadium and community relations. Now two is not about making our product better Drew, twenty-three; Travis, twenty-two; of her sons are working there as well. for the fans," she says, "and that includes Casey, eighteen; and Gavin, fifteen. stadium renovations, making tickets easi- "You do the best you can," she says, er to purchase, and putting more ATM carefully considering her responses as she bring more women into baseball, includ- machines in here. Our whole sips her coffee. "We're a really close ing providing women with professional business is driven by what's family. We try to have dinner and social networking opportunities. She important to the cus- together every night, and if feels it's "an honor," to be the highest tomer, and the fan is we need to be at the ball ranking female executive in baseball, she our customer." park, the kids are often says, and she relishes the opportunity to "I always envi- here with us." be a role model. sioned that this is "You don't think about "Women in baseball are as qualified as what I would do [with it," she continues. "You go anyone to be working in the sport. They the team], because this through life doing what you provide a different perspective. It's also a is my skill set," the want to do, and have to do, reminder to people that there are a lot of small, slender McCourt the best you can. I try to be the different constituencies and opportuni- says, surrounded by pictures best mother, best wife, and best ties that we should and need to pay atten- of her family and bowls of M&M's. person I know how to be. And I'm lucky tion to." "I've always been a strategic thinker and that I don't need much sleep." "I'm one of those who believe that as a involved with finding solutions." The oldest two sons explored Los woman you can do it all: you just might Attending University of Maryland Angeles before they made the decision to not be able to do it all at once," she says. Law honed those skills and more. move; her oldest, Drew, joined the team a "And I think it's important for people to On her first day in Contracts class, year ago in business development, and embrace that." McCourt's professor saw the name "Jamie recently was promoted to director of Luskin" and directed a question to "Mr. marketing. The other sons also plan to Gary Libman, former L.A. Times reporter Luskin." work for the Dodgers. and Minneapolis Tribune executive sports "My answer was, 'I'm not Mr. "Are you kidding?" Jamie exclaims. 'It's editor, finds time for .freelance writing in Luskin," Jamie Luskin McCourt recalls. a boy's dream, and they're no exception." between teachingjournalism classes at Whit- But professors soon learned who she Since she and her husband bought the tier College and Whitney High School for was. One professor, Bill Reynolds, Dodgers, she's also been exploring ways to Gifted Students in Cerritos, Cal. I 43 I JD FALL 2005.
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