Sit Down Molly Knight Author Of “The Best Team Money Can Buy”

For Dodgers fans and fans of baseball author Molly Knight has written a book that opens up the behind the scenes of one of Major League Baseball’s premier franchise.  

The Best Team Money Can Buy is Molly’s in depth look of how the Los Angeles Dodgers were rescued from bankruptcy and Frank McCourt, bought by Guggenheim and rocketed back to the top of baseball’s upper echelon of teams.

Molly Knight is a former writer for ESPN the Magazine and is also well known for her reporting of the McCourt divorce proceedings that directly led to the sale of the Dodgers to the Guggenheim Group and local Lakers Legend Magic Johnson.

I was able to get in contact with Molly Knight and ask some questions about her journey from reporting to authoring this book.

LASH: You dedicated the book to pioneer women who had to fight to get into the locker room? Where you hesitant about your presence in this particular locker room?

MK: I was nervous when I first walked into locker rooms nine years ago but not anymore. I’ve gotten more confident as a reporter, and times have changed. I mean, gay marriage is legal in Alabama now! Most athletes I encounter have been very respectful. But the women who came before me put up with so much crap, and I’m so grateful. This book happened because of all the time I spent in the locker room. There would not have been a book without their fight to make sure future generations of women were allowed in.

LASH: Who were your influences in the area of sports journalism?

MK: Buster Olney’s Yankee book was hugely influential. I also devour the longform stuff from Jane Leavy, Peter Gammons, Gay Talese, and David Halberstam.

LASH: What was the hardest part of writing the book?

MK: Sitting down and doing it. You have to sit on your own for hours a day for months on end. It can get very lonely.

LASH: Was it difficult being a fan and separating that from your writing?

MK: Not really. I’m a fan of baseball and I grew up rooting for the Dodgers, but I’m not such a homer that I can’t recognize and talk about poor play and bad behavior.

LASH: Who was worse for the Dodgers Frank McCourt or Fox?

MK: McCourt and it isn’t close.

LASH: How were you able to convince ownership to write the book?

MK: I didn’t have to convince anyone. I just started reporting it, and as people realized I was talking to everybody they wanted to talk to me too, to get their side of the story across. Well, most people.

LASH: Do you think Clayton Kershaw’s regimented pitching style hurts him?

MK: No. I think he is who he is because of how hard he works. I do wish he would go a little easier on himself though. Sometimes it looks like he’s putting so much pressure on himself to be perfect that it’s hard for him to enjoy what he’s doing. I have empathy for that. Definitely been there.

LASH: Former GM Ned Colletti sort of comes off as a sympathetic? Having lost a lot of power after McCourt and then eventually his job…Would you agree?

MK: Would I agree that Ned is sympathetic? I mean, I think we all are sympathetic characters in some way. Everyone has their struggles to deal with. But I don’t feel sorry for him. He’s doing alright.

LASH: What were your thoughts on Don Matingly? Is he under appreciated as a manager?

MK: I get why fans have been frustrated with his in-game decisions, and I have been too, at times. But what he’s done behind closed doors to keep these guys from killing each other has been phenomenal.

LASH: Is there a racial/ cultural element to criticism of Yasiel Puig

MK: Of course there’s always undertones with “playing the game the right way”– especially when it comes to people who criticize benign transgressions like bat flips. But as I wrote in my book, the reporter who hurt him and his reputation the most was not white, but Cuban American.

And his Latin teammates are just as frustrated with his being the last one to the ballpark as his white teammates are.

I’m sensitive to the way young men of color are covered by certain parts of the media, but that doesn’t give him a pass to piss off his teammates.

Having grown up in Southern California I also asked Molly about some of her own Dodgers fandom.

LASH: Who was your favorite Dodgers player growing up?

MK: Mike Piazza

LASH: How do you like your Dodger Dog?

MK: Ketchup only. Don’t kill me for this.

LASH: Do you curse at the TV when something bad happens?

MK: Yes and sometimes I throw things.

LASH: Jackie Robinson is getting a statue, who should be next?

MK: Koufax. Then Fernando because of what he meant to the community.

I highly recommend Dodgers fans and baseball fans to pick up this book, it’s highly entertaining and well worth a purchase.