Dodgers

The Disney name graced the last World Series champion in Southern California. The Disney name could grace the next World Series champion in town too, if Stanley Gold succeeds in his bid to buy the Dodgers. The family of the late Roy Disney has partnered with Gold, entrusting the man who runs the family investment firm to lead the charge for the Dodgers and try to restore prominent local ownership to the team.

When Manny Mota started his coaching career with the Dodgers, Dusty Baker was in left field and Jimmy Carter was in the White House. That was in 1980. The Dodgers have changed managers seven times since then, but Mota always has been the rock on the coaching staff. Until this year, that is. After 33 seasons as a coach - the longest such tenure in club history - the Dodgers quietly moved Mota off the major league coaching staff this season. Mota, 75, now has an expanded role on the Dodgers' Spanish-language television broadcasts.

Jackie Robinson changed baseball and the nation that loves it on April 15, 1947, when he became the first black player to walk onto a major league ball field. He changed Carl Erskine's life in March 1948, when Robinson, by then a Brooklyn Dodgers star, sought out the minor leaguer after watching him pitch and told him, "You're going to be with us real soon!" And so he was - they were teammates through much of he Dodgers' legendary 1950s. The Robinson biopic "42" is mostly about matters that happened before they met, but Erskine knows what happened afterward: He pitched and won the first Dodger game in L.A., retired in 1959 to his hometown in Indiana, and watched the nation gradually understand the life lessons he later wrote about in "What I Learned from Jackie Robinson.

The Dodgers could wait until after the winter meetings to decide whether to sign South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, team President Stan Kasten said Monday. The Dodgers paid $25.7 million for the right to negotiate with Ryu. If they do not sign him by Dec. 10, they get their money back. The Dodgers believe Ryu can step into their major league rotation next season, and it is unlikely they would damage their expanded presence in international baseball by failing to sign him. However, according to Kasten, the Dodgers might not determine whether to sign Ryu until after they see what pitchers they can acquire in trade or free agency by the time the winter meetings end Dec. 6. “That's a decision that doesn't have to be made until after the winter meetings are over,” Kasten said.

Within 48 hours of agreeing to sell the Dodgers, team owner Frank McCourt officially surrendered his claim to what had been his Los Angeles homes. Under a divorce settlement filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Jamie McCourt kept four homes — two in Malibu, one in Holmby Hills and one in Vail, Colo. Frank McCourt kept two homes, both in Massachusetts. The McCourts sold a second Holmby Hills home in August. Representatives for Frank McCourt did not immediately return messages asking whether he intended to move back to Massachusetts, where his family is deeply rooted.

Will these Dodgers ever stop spending? The rags-to-riches franchise's latest expenditure was a posting fee of more than $25.7 million that won them the right to negotiate with a South Korean left-hander who has never set foot on a major league field. The Dodgers might have to spend another $25.7 million to sign seven-time Korean league All-Star Ryu Hyun - jin . They have a 30-day window to negotiate a deal with Ryu, who is represented by agent Scott Boras. If an agreement isn't reached, the Dodgers will be refunded their posting fee. By out-bidding teams such as the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers for the right to persuade Ryu to leave his homeland, the Dodgers made their second significant move in the international market since they were purchased by Guggenheim Baseball.

PHOENIX - Andre Ethier heard the whispers all winter. About how the Dodgers were shopping him. How they could trade him to the Tampa Bay Rays for James Shields . Or sign Michael Bourn and move Matt Kemp to right field, making him expendable. But as these rumors swirled, Ethier said he remained calm. Earlier in the off-season, he had heard directly from General Manager Ned Colletti and Manager Don Mattingly , who both assured him he wasn't being shopped.

Los Angeles is a tough town to lose. It's a huge, sprawling metropolis of aqueducts, actors, avatars, beaches, mountains and freeways. Somehow, incredibly, like a wallet or a set of car keys, the Dodgers lost it. Seriously, it was in their hip pocket a minute ago. "Where was the last place you had it?" is always the dumb question people ask. The maddening fact is the Dodgers had L.A. but now they don't — and you can't blame it on the McCourts. It's a Lakers town now and all other contestants are playing for parting gifts.

Frank McCourt, who agreed this week to sell the Dodgers, also has put the Los Angeles Marathon up for sale. McCourt expects the Dodgers to sell for more than $1.2 billion at auction, according to a person familiar with that sale process. The marathon probably would sell for less than $20 million, according two racing industry executives who declined to be identified. McCourt bought the marathon three years ago, revitalizing the race with a course that starts at Dodger Stadium, runs through Hollywood and Beverly Hills and ends in Santa Monica.

SAN DIEGO - Kenley Jansen should be able to attend his newborn daughter's graduation and wedding ceremonies. No longer does the Dodgers' hard-throwing setup man have to worry that playing baseball could cost him his life. His heart now functions normally. Nearly six months ago, Jansen underwent a cardiac operation that scared him out of his usual laid-back persona. "It's finally fixed," Jansen, 25, said with a smile. Heading into the Dodgers' series opener against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday, Jansen has pitched three times.