Matt Kemp's two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th wasn't the only reason fans were cheering at Thursday's Dodgers game.
Fans at the afternoon game appeared optimistic, despite the uncertainty hanging over the club after Commissioner Bud Selig announced his decision to take over the team in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.
"We've kind of been staying away a little bit with all the stuff that's been going on," said fan Henry Fernandez, who brought his 1-year-old son to his first Dodgers game. "But, I decided I'd bring him out for a day game.
"When we got the news, to be honest, we were giving high fives."
Other fans remain beffudled.
"How could this have happened in a city like Los Angeles?" asked Richard Strober, who saw his first Dodgers game at age 8 at Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field. He said the team has become the "laughingstock of baseball."
Kemp's homer gave the Dodgers a 5-3 win over the Braves Thursday, marking a bright spot on the field during a tumultuous week in the front office. Some fans chanted, "McCourt must go" at the game.
Also contibuting to Thursday's general happiness -- half priced food. It's part of the Dodgers mid-week day game promotion.
Hours after Selig announced that Major League Baseball will take over operation of the Los Angeles Dodgers, McCourt issued a statement late Wednesday night.
"Major League Baseball sets strict financial guidelines which all 30 teams must follow. The Dodgers are in compliance with these guidelines," McCourt said in the statement. "On this basis, it is hard to understand the Commissioner's action."
Newly appointed Dodgers Vice Chairman Steve Soboroff also had words for Selig. He said the decision to take over the team had been "irresponsible." He dismissed Selig's concerns that McCourt is too strapped to operate the team.
Since McCourt bought the team for $430 million in 2004, the team has gone through a series of dramatic ups and downs that include McCourt's divorce.
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The takeover "has to be something good,'' said Venny Saucedo, who was wearing his Dodgers jersey when he arrived at Dodger Stadium with his three children.
"If he can't run it,'' said Saucedo, a Dodgers fan of more than 30 years, "someone has to come in who can.''
