Bren

Bob Brenly was angry Monday night in Miami, and not only because Arizona lost for the eighth time in 10 games. The Diamondback manager was incensed that after Florida's Ugueth Urbina walked pinch-hitter Carlos Baerga with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and ran off the mound, the reliever got an inning-ending called strikeout from umpire Mike DiMuro on Danny Bautista. The Marlins held on for a 3-2 victory.

A lawsuit filed last week by a former girlfriend seeking more money for two children of Irvine Co. real estate mogul Donald Bren has thrust the reclusive billionaire smack into the public glare he's avoided for decades. Known as Orange County's Donald Trump for his vast real estate holdings, Bren's public persona is closer to that of Bill Gates. He makes few appearances and guards his privacy, while cultivating his image as a responsible builder of meticulously planned communities.

A Los Angeles woman sued real estate billionaire Donald L. Bren on Tuesday alleging fraud and breach of contract by withdrawing promised emotional and financial support for their two children. Jennifer Gold filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of a daughter, 15, and son, 11. The suit, alleging unspecified damages, contends that Bren acknowledged paternity of the children and promised to support them "in a manner and an amount commensurate with his wealth."

As part of a matching gift to preserve art, music and science education in Irvine public schools, the Donald Bren Foundation gave the school district a $700,000 check Tuesday. The money was presented to trustees even as Irvine Unified School District officials counted ballots Tuesday night from an election on a proposed parcel tax for recreational facilities to aid the financially strapped district. Officials for the Bren-owned Irvine Co.

Donald Bren, a former Marine and current head of the Irvine Co., plans to donate $1 million to endow two academic chairs at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va., school officials said Friday. The positions are to be filled by civilian professors-in-residence, one of whom will focus on ethics and leadership and the other on innovation and transformation, officials said.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have extended the contract of Manager Bob Brenly through the 2004 season. The former catcher and television announcer led the Diamondbacks to the 2001 World Series title, becoming the first manager to win the championship in his first season since Ralph Houk of the New York Yankees in 1961. Arizona repeated as NL West champions in Brenly's second season. Brenly, 49, has a 190-134 record in his two seasons.

The Angels and Minnesota Twins have definitely raised some eyebrows with their gutsy styles in the American League playoffs, but the biggest first-round eye-opener has been the dismal play of the defending World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks. If Arizona loses today at St.

Two days after managing in the biggest All-Star debacle in baseball history, Bob Brenly said he still didn't have any answers. "I don't know what we could have done different," said Brenly, the Arizona Diamondback manager who managed the National League squad in a 7-7 tie that was ended after 11 innings after both teams ran out of players. Some have suggested, why didn't they just hold a home-run derby to decide the winner? "Yeah, I heard about the home-run derby," Brenly said.

Re "Orange County Billionaire With Space to Spare," John Balzar column, May 29: Donald Bren has made a billion dollars by creating urban sprawl. Now Bren is going to pave over the last pristine rural area of the Santa Ana Mountains to make way for 2,000 homes--in the same area that you say he is preserving. What he did was give away land he could not make a buck on, put out some slick brochures and use the Nature Conservancy as a cover. Can't this fellow be happy with the billion he already has?

"Open space is freedom." Who said this? Sierra Club founder John Muir? Or billionaire California land developer Donald Bren? The answer is probably both. I cannot swear that Muir put it exactly that way, even though there is no doubt that's how the old boy felt. I know for a fact that the words were uttered recently by Bren, the Orange County land tycoon. I'm standing on the proof.