Dodgers history: Former owners paid Russian psychic for boost

In one of the more embarrassing moments in Los Angeles Dodgers history, former owners Frank and Jamie McCourt paid a Russian psychic to boost the franchise.

Every team tries to find any advantage possible to ensure a winning season and to put the best product they can on the diamond. Even rebuilding teams will try to find bargains in free agency, players that could be dealt at the deadline for pieces to a future core. However, Frank and Jamie McCourt took that to another level in one of the more embarrassing moments in Los Angeles Dodgers history.

The former owners were certainly desperate for a winning team. Even as their relationship was falling apart, they were still invested in the team’s success. So much so, that they hired a Russian psychic named Vladimir Shpunt to watch the games and channel his “V Energy” towards the players.

How much did this desire to boost the team’s performance cost? According to the testimony from their divorce proceedings, Shpunt was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars over those years, with the McCourt’s firmly believing in his powers.

And how did they find out about this psychic? Shpunt was introduced through a mutual friend in 2004, and claimed to cure her eye infection through his long distance energy transmissions. Of course he did. In no way was that infection helped by medical care; just the thoughts one of random Russian mystic.

It is not even that original of a story. Rasputin had found his way into the inner circle of the Tsar of Russia, with his long distance prayers healing the presumed heir to the throne, Alexei, of his internal bleeding. These acts brought him considerable power, until his eventual assassination and the overthrow of the monarchy.

At least Shpunt did not take down the McCourt’s. Instead, it was their own messy divorce, and ongoing battles over money, that led to their downfall. That divorce led to the sale of the franchise, which was a positive for any Dodgers fans.

The McCourt’s had their share of embarrassments, but hiring a Russian psychic is certainly the pinnacle. It was definitely one of the strangest moments in Los Angeles Dodgers history.