Dodgers' new attitude shows

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The Los Angeles Dodgers have new ownership and a new attitude, and it's translated to the hottest start in the majors in 2012.

Manager Don Mattingly said the mood around the 9-1 Dodgers has been more positive this season, as the sale of the team to a group that includes Los Angeles icon Magic Johnson nears completion.

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"I think since the announcement of Magic and the new group, it's just been a lot more positive," Mattingly said Tuesday on "The Scott Van Pelt Show." "You know, for the last couple of years it's been a little bit more of a soap opera of going through a divorce and how (McCourt and his ex-wife, Jamie) spent their money and what they did with the club and the whole thing.

"And now it kind of turns it into a positive with Magic, with the goodwill of the people of L.A., and then our club's playing well."

A bankruptcy court judge in Delaware gave his approval Friday to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's plan to sell the team for $2 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management, a group that includes the former Los Angeles Lakers star.

The Dodgers' start has been buoyed by the performance of center fielder Matt Kemp, who is hitting .487 with six homers in 10 games. All of those games have been against two teams with low expectations -- the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates -- but Mattingly says the wins, not the competition, are what matters.

"At the beginning of the year … everybody feels like they're a good team," Mattingly said, adding, "at the end of the day you're going to have to win 90-something games to win the division, and we've got nine of 'em."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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