Dodgers Ownership

Ted Turner may not have wanted Rupert Murdoch, but in the end nature prevailed. Birds of a feather do (eventually) flock together. MICHAEL A. GLUECK, Newport Beach There is no joy in La La-ville. O'Malley has sold out . . . way too cheap. PAUL ZIMMELMAN, Santa Monica I wonder if Fox's Peter Chernin and Chase Carey know that winning to Fred Claire is having the rookie of the year. BILL STEIN, Arroyo Grande

It's getting down to it now, this ownership change starting to feel more real by the day. The Times' Bill Shaikin reported that developer Alan Casden was rejected by Major League Baseball, dwindling the list of would-be owners down to six. Plus, Blackstone Advisory Partners, the investment bank brokering the sale for McCourt, has asked that final bids be submitted by Friday. These Blackstone deadlines constantly seem a moving target, so I can't imagine putting too much stake in a “final” offer.

SAN DIEGO - It was the day Magic Johnson flew again. "When Dee Gordon ran all the way to third on that dropped fly ball, I was so excited, I swear, I jumped completely out of my seat," he said. It was the day Magic Johnson dished again. "The Dodgers have their Kobe, and his name is Matt Kemp," he said. It was the day Magic Johnson physically planted himself in the middle of the Los Angeles sports scene again, as he grabbed a front-row aisle seat at Petco Park on Thursday to watch his group's newly purchased Dodgers defeat the San Diego Padres, 5-3, in a 2012 season opener.

When Frank McCourt took the Dodgers into bankruptcy last year, Plan A was to retain ownership of the team. Yet Plan B was just as important. If McCourt had to sell the Dodgers, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court would oversee the sale, not Major League Baseball. John Moores might have liked court protection. Moores agreed three years ago to sell the San Diego Padres to a group led by Jeff Moorad, but major league owners subsequently balked at granting Moorad control of the team. Moorad essentially surrendered last week and Moores appears to have one choice: keep the Padres, or put them up for sale once again.

The battle for Los Angeles' storied baseball team hit the courts Tuesday when former Dodgers chief executive Jamie McCourt filed a divorce petition laying claim to half of the team and other assets she valued at more than $1 billion. In the petition, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Jamie McCourt claimed irreconcilable differences and asked for immediate reinstatement to the job from which her husband, Frank, fired her a week ago. Frank McCourt countered with his own filing, asking the court to declare him the sole owner of the team at once, then handle the larger divorce case later.

So much for being only the popular face of a franchise. Magic Johnson attempted to make it clear Wednesday that he is more than a local figurehead for Guggenheim Baseball, the new Dodgers ownership group. During a news conference at Dodger Stadium, Johnson took charge on a stage set up in center field just as he did on court during the Lakers' Showtime era. At one point, he directed controlling owner Mark Walter to leave his seat behind a table and stand at the lectern to answer a question about former owner Frank McCourt.

Frank McCourt's divorce trial so troubled Bud Selig that the commissioner circumvented his own rules and choked off the Dodgers' money supply in a scheme to oust McCourt as the team owner, the Dodgers alleged in a court filing Tuesday. And, as the Dodgers pressed for the television rights sale with which McCourt claims the team could prosper, Fox Sports said such a sale could leave the team liable for damages so "massive" as to threaten the viability of McCourt's strategy to exit bankruptcy as the team's owner.

It's a new day at Dodger Stadium, with Wednesday's news conference featuring the new owners. It may seem overcast, but it somehow seems sunny at the stadium. Vin Scully is the master of ceremonies. Don Newcombe, Maury Wills, Ron Cey, Tommy Davis. Tommy Lasorda and Steve Garvey are in attendance in Dodger jerseys. Eric Karros and Steve Yeager are here in suits. So is Ned Colletti. Peter O'Malley and Fred Claire -- each part of failed bidding groups -- are here. First up to speak, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is wearing a Dodgers jacket.

Broken dreams Re "Denial of TV deal further chokes Dodgers' cash flow," June 21 The ongoing soap opera with Frank and Jamie McCourt is an embarrassment to Los Angeles. A once-proud ballclub is being torn asunder by this roadside show. Don't the McCourts have the decency to relinquish control of this team and place it in the hands of someone who has the best interests of the Dodgers at heart? People don't want to attend ballgames with this farce going on. You used to feel like part of the Dodger family when the O'Malleys were owners.

Sign of the times? Re "Is it having a meltdown?," June 29 "Chain Reaction," the late Paul Conrad's unique and creative 26-foot tall nuclear mushroom cloud sculpture in Santa Monica's Civic Center, is not melting down or falling apart. Yes, it likely needs reinforcement and strengthening, but that can also be said for the anti-nuclear movement in general. Maybe the "Chain Reaction" sculpture issue is both an artistic and political sign that is calling us to take timely strengthening action.