Updated: May 3, 2011, 8:16 PM ET
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LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, while taking calls from listeners on the "Mason & Ireland" show on ESPN 710-AM on Tuesday, denied that he took more than $100 million out of the team's coffers to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and his former wife.
Mason & Ireland 
Beleaguered Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt joins Mason & Ireland to talk about the MLB takeover of his team and respond to calls from Dodgers fans.
In answer to a caller identified only as "Ken from Newport," who asked McCourt why he took, in Ken's words, $127 million out of the team's revenues for personal use, McCourt said that wasn't true. Instead, he said he and his estranged wife, Jamie McCourt, have taken a total of $100 million for personal use over the seven years since they bought the team in 2004 and that most of that didn't come from the team.
"It's just not true," McCourt said. "Let me tell you what happened. During the seven years ... approximately $100 million, if you tally it all up, went to me and my wife. Let's talk about it in terms of what it was. It was made up of $5 million per year that went to me ... not from the Dodgers but from my overall business. Another $2 million per year went to my wife while she was president of the Dodgers. That five plus two is $7 million a year ... and if you multiply that by seven years, that comes to half of $100 million roughly, $49 million.
"The other $50 million of the $100 million was a loan taken out on real estate, again not from the team at all, and it was a loan that has to be paid back."
Asked by one of the hosts about the number of houses he and Jamie purchased before their separation, McCourt admitted that he lived "an excessive lifestyle," something he subtly but unmistakeably blamed on his former wife.
"It wasn't sustainable, and it was unhealthy as far as I'm concerned," McCourt said. "I am living in a one-bedroom place [now]. Looking around, I know a lot of people have it a lot worse than I do, but I don't need a lot of houses and I don't need all these things. This [divorce] has been great for me because before I came to L.A., I didn't have all this stuff. I don't need it now, and I don't need it moving forward. I made a lifestyle decision, and it was to not live that way anymore.
"I'm not married anymore either, guys, and that is all I'll say."
McCourt's "one-bedroom place," according to multiple sources, is at the posh Montage resort in Beverly Hills.
McCourt also acknowledged a suggestion by one of the hosts that he would stand to make a considerable profit if he were to sell the team, but said he doesn't intend to do so.
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"There is no question ... we would sell at a lot more money than I paid for it," McCourt said. "It would be a big profit, but I'm not here for a big profit. I am here for the reason I have said I am here since the day I arrived. Did I get moved sideways a little bit? Yes I did. Am I responsible? Yes I am. Am I sorry? Yes I am. I love the game, I love the community, I love the team. It would be an easy decision for me to take the money and run, but I'm not going to make the easy decision. I'm going to fulfill the promises I made to the fans."
McCourt acknowledged that public sentiment has turned largely against him, but he blamed that on the fact that, at the request of his four sons, he has kept his public statements to a minimum during his divorce, preventing him from defending himself against a slew of criticism from the media.
"In this day and age, if you don't defend yourself when people are saying stuff about you, some of it sticks," McCourt said. "It is very clear to me that some of this has stuck because I was silent. Sometimes, people read that silence as not caring or arrogance or maybe that it's true. That is why I now will be speaking regularly and clearing the air."
Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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