Dodger Organization

Steve Soboroff announced his resignation as the Dodgers' vice chairman Saturday, five days before the payroll deadline that could trigger the end of Frank McCourt's ownership of the team. McCourt hired Soboroff two months ago, entrusting the civic leader with making Dodger Stadium a more enjoyable place for fans and revitalizing the team's ties with the community. Commissioner Bud Selig imposed a trustee upon the Dodgers the next day, however, forcing McCourt to focus on saving his ownership and thrusting Soboroff into the awkward position of introducing himself to baseball by attacking Selig.

Frank and Jamie McCourt may have worn out their welcome in Los Angeles with their diamond-crusted lifestyle, their made-for-TMZ divorce, their inability to bring a World Series to Dodger Stadium. It can't be said, however, that everyone was disappointed to hear that Frank McCourt had put the Dodgers up for sale. That would overlook Nicholas Amoroso, a 26-year-old wardrobe stylist who lives next to the stadium in Chavez Ravine and remembers seasons in which sellout games brought near gridlock to his neighborhood.

Remember when the trade winds were blooming with the Dodger organization earlier this season? Bob Welch's name often came up. Thank heaven the exchange never took place. Witness Hurricane Bob! SUE COMPO Alhambra

Manager Don Mattingly said he doesn't want to call this two-month period an audition. Dee Gordon doesn't either. "You know what?" Gordon said. "I don't look at it that way. " But with Rafael Furcal traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, Gordon is the only viable candidate in the Dodgers organization to be the everyday shortstop next season. If the Dodgers don't think the 23-year-old Gordon can handle the responsibility, they will probably have to find a shortstop on the free-agent market.

The Dodgers on Wednesday hired former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to develop what the team called a "security blueprint" for Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lots. The Dodgers retained Bratton amid pressure from civic leaders to upgrade ballpark security because of a parking lot attack last week that left a San Francisco Giants fan critically injured. Bratton will lead a consulting team but will not join the Dodgers as head of security, a position the team has left vacant for four months.

Some of the sentiments around town regarding the release of Fernando Valenzuela are ridiculous. To insinuate that Fernando was used, abused and then cast aside is absurd. I will agree, Fernando's dedication to his profession and to the fans that idolized him has been nothing short of inspirational during the past decade. But one should not forget that the Dodger organization and the game of baseball has taken a youngster from a poverty environment and introduced him and his family to a way of life far beyond their wildest dreams.

Stan Wasiak, the winningest manager in minor league history, has retired after 37 years in the Dodger organization. "No one has been more dedicated and loyal than Stan Wasiak," said Bill Schweppe, the team's vice president in charge of minor league operations. Wasiak, who began his career in 1940, when the Dodgers signed him to a minor league contract as a catcher-second baseman, never made it to the majors.

The ax finally dropped on Kevin Malone, but for the wrong reason. Regrettably, it came after an act of boorishness and unprofessionalism that will come to mark the former general manager's tenure. He deserved to be replaced as Dodger general manager, but for his baseball-related decisions. I hope his tenure and his departure are remembered for his mismanagement of a near-infinite payroll and a questionable desire to overpay mediocre players after good years. Unfortunately, he will be remembered as someone who challenged a loud-mouthed fan to a fight and lost without throwing a punch.

Re "Dodgers Exit the Stage With a Touch of Class," Sports, Oct. 11: The Dodgers probably did more for baseball's image in the first 10 minutes after Game 4 than the rest of the league has done in the entire season. Ross Barrett Los Angeles Like many St. Louis fans, I watched our baseball Cardinals in the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. As I watched the celebration take place after the game, I was surprised to see the Dodger players and staff on the field congratulating the Cardinal players.

Campy, I'm sorry. I had always meant to write a letter to you, to thank you for your many years of positive role modeling, and for your on- and off-the-field service to the Dodger organization. I just never got around to doing it, and now you're gone. As a youngster growing up in the '50s in Brooklyn, it was a real treat to visit Ebbets Field, and to see you and the rest of "The Boys of Summer." Why it was that I idolized you, a man of a wholly different color and ethnicity than myself, and who played catcher, a position I personally despised playing, I'll never know.

Steve Soboroff announced his resignation as the Dodgers' vice chairman Saturday, five days before the payroll deadline that could trigger the end of Frank McCourt's ownership of the team. McCourt hired Soboroff two months ago, entrusting the civic leader with making Dodger Stadium a more enjoyable place for fans and revitalizing the team's ties with the community. Commissioner Bud Selig imposed a trustee upon the Dodgers the next day, however, forcing McCourt to focus on saving his ownership and thrusting Soboroff into the awkward position of introducing himself to baseball by attacking Selig.

For seven years, Frank McCourt has slowly, painfully and unethically pulled the Dodgers away from Los Angeles. On a wonderful spring afternoon, Major League Baseball finally grabbed them back. Since buying the team in 2004 with more smug than money, Frank McCourt kept his hands in his pockets while the stadium became a dump, the fan base become dangerously belligerent, and the team became the Pittsburgh Pirates. On a day that felt like a Gibby fist pump, Major League Baseball reached into those pockets and grabbed the keys.

The Dodgers on Wednesday hired former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to develop what the team called a "security blueprint" for Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lots. The Dodgers retained Bratton amid pressure from civic leaders to upgrade ballpark security because of a parking lot attack last week that left a San Francisco Giants fan critically injured. Bratton will lead a consulting team but will not join the Dodgers as head of security, a position the team has left vacant for four months.

Since buying the Dodgers for $430 million six years ago, Frank McCourt has so heavily leveraged the team — $433 million in debt as of last year — that he has struggled to find additional financing. The debt load has limited how the Dodgers can pay their players and could affect the team's ability to sign talent. McCourt was turned down at least three times — by Citibank, by a Chinese investment group and by a Southern California infomercial king — in trying to secure additional financing last year, according to documents filed in the divorce case between him and his estranged wife, Jamie.

Jamie McCourt considered whether to parlay her high-profile position with the Dodgers into the pursuit of political offices, including president of the United States, according to documents filed by her estranged husband in the couple's divorce proceedings. McCourt declined to comment Monday, after speaking at a luncheon benefiting the Jewish Federation of Orange County. She told the crowd she had no desire to stage a public fight over ownership of the Dodgers but even less desire to walk away from a 30-year marriage on terms dictated by Frank McCourt.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Luchy Guerra [Dec. 27] and how she quietly and selflessly contributes to so many young Dominican ballplayers in the Dodger organization. However, I couldn't help but wonder: Now that The Times has shown Paul DePodesta what an asset she is to the organization, will he trade her to the Yankees for a peanut vendor to be named later? Carolyn Zweber Rancho Santa Margarita I think it's only fitting that the Dodgers change their name to the Anaheim Dodgers, now that they've become a Mickey Mouse organization.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Luchy Guerra [Dec. 27] and how she quietly and selflessly contributes to so many young Dominican ballplayers in the Dodger organization. However, I couldn't help but wonder: Now that The Times has shown Paul DePodesta what an asset she is to the organization, will he trade her to the Yankees for a peanut vendor to be named later? Carolyn Zweber Rancho Santa Margarita I think it's only fitting that the Dodgers change their name to the Anaheim Dodgers, now that they've become a Mickey Mouse organization.

What's wrong with the Dodgers? That's what every fan wants to know. To find out, we asked the man who knows the team best--manager Tommy Lasorda. Q. What's wrong with the Dodgers? A. We've had a lot of injuries. I've never seen a major league team go through what we did. When you lose a player the caliber of Mike Marshall for 60 games, when you have seven players on the disabled list and three others who are too hurt to play all at the same time, you're not going to win. Q.

Re "Dodgers Exit the Stage With a Touch of Class," Sports, Oct. 11: The Dodgers probably did more for baseball's image in the first 10 minutes after Game 4 than the rest of the league has done in the entire season. Ross Barrett Los Angeles Like many St. Louis fans, I watched our baseball Cardinals in the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. As I watched the celebration take place after the game, I was surprised to see the Dodger players and staff on the field congratulating the Cardinal players.

Who knows, says Mike Scioscia, when and where a managerial opportunity is going to arise? There is no "God-given ordainment" that it will happen with this team or that team, Scioscia says, because "that's not the way the system works, and it shouldn't." The way the system works, Mike Scioscia is in the World Series as manager of the Angels and Dusty Baker is in it as manager of the San Francisco Giants.