Aug. 2, 2001: After Major League Baseball's trade deadline passed five years ago, dealmakers turned their attention to the auction of two American League favorites: the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A's. However, only one team, the Sox, was officially on the auction block. The big news that day was the interest of Boston real estate dealmaker Frank McCourt in his hometown team. Unfortunately, McCourt would later lose the auction, which when it closed after the 2002 season went to commodities trader John Henry, who at the time was a partial owner of the Florida Marlins. Henry eventually brought the team its first World Series in 86 years in 2004. Meanwhile, McCourt would acquire the Los Angeles Dodgers from News Corp. in 2004. Interestingly, today's Red Sox have a number of former Marlins players in the lineup and the Dodgers currently have a number of former Red Sox players. —Matthew Wurtzel
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