If his sports record is any indication, co-owner Tom Hicks could prove to be a bad omen for Liverpool FC, says Dave Hannigan of The Guardian. Apart from two American League Western Division titles in his first two seasons, Hicks has had little success with MLB’s Texas Rangers, the team he bought from a George W. Bush-led group in 1998. In 2000, he orchestrated a 10-year, $252 million deal to bring Seattle’s Alex Rodriguez, the so-called best player in baseball, to Texas.
The cost was slightly more than he paid for the entire club. It was $100 million more than anyone else was willing to pay for his services. ARod ultimately turned out to be far less than the best player in baseball, and the trade went down in history as one of the worst in modern baseball history. In the end, Hicks had to pay off ARod to get him to leave for the Yankees.
Of course, Hicks and co-owner George Gillett have now promised the people of Liverpool they will make funds available to buy good players. The two may yet turn out to be good pair: Gillett has a reputation for not meddling with his NHL team, the Montreal Canadians. However, given Hicks’ past, Liverpool’s lower management may request that the baseball owner stay far, far away from the club’s day-to-day affairs.