Entertainment figures don't always have hits in baseball. TV executive Tom Werner nearly ran the San Diego Padres into the ground. CBS had some lean years owning the Yankees. Under Disney's rule, Anaheim's baseball park has turned into the Unhappiest Place on Earth.
Sometimes, good teams just go bad. Many baseball fans forget that the Yankees recently went 18 years (1978-96) without winning a World Series.
Selective memory is our national pastime. Take Pete Rose's situation this week. He has become baseball's most beloved ex-convict. Fans now discuss Rose's gambling background without even mentioning that he went to prison in August 1990 for two counts of income tax evasion, failing to report $350,000 in earnings. It's as if the worst thing poor Pete ever did was place a bet.
Here's another memory dysfunction: The Dodgers promising (since Al Campanis' mental error) to put more minorities in positions of authority. Funny, two new Dodger general managers since Campanis, four different Dodger field managers since 1996, so many new Fox faces . . . they sure do seem to have a lot of pale complexions.
Well, don't blame Bob Daly.
He just got here.
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Many have been mocked for Dodger woes, including a Fox executive who said upon taking charge that his favorite team was the Yankees. As if only Dodger fans need apply.
It should be noted that Yankee boss George Steinbrenner is originally from Cleveland, that the owner of the Chicago Bulls' six-time NBA champions is from New York, and that Vince Lombardi was not from Wisconsin.
Bob Daly's being a lifelong Dodger fan is irrelevant. Mike Piazza wasn't dumped by men ignorant of Dodger tradition; his own greed was responsible. Piazza rejected a huge Dodger offer. He could have stayed to play for his fans, if they meant so much to him. But no, more money meant more.
What was that baseball movie called: "For Love of the Game?"
Let's see, did Warner Bros. make that one?
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Mike Downey's column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Write to him at Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053. E-mail: mike.downey@latimes.com
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