Frank Mccourt

Way, way down in the depths of Thursday's Major League Baseball draft is a name that resonates close to home. Gavin McCourt. The son of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is a 5-foot-9, 160-pound outfielder from North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake High. He was taken by the Boston Red Sox in the 39th round, the 1,188th player selected overall. "I'm shocked," McCourt told The Times' Eric Sondheimer. "I didn't see that coming."

Stop it, both of you. Put down those egos. Unclench that pride. Get up off the arrogance. Stop it, now, or both of you will lose, and the price of this defeat will be far higher than anything being negotiated. After a winter of slings and arrows, one thing has become outrageously unfortunate. The biggest obstacles to Manny Ramirez's being a Dodger are the two guys trying to make him a Dodger.

Because he said so. That was more or less the reason Dodgers owner Frank McCourt gave Sunday morning for refusing to consider a proposal made to him by Manny Ramirez's agent, which differed from an offer the Ramirez camp made last week only in the timing of the payments.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said he would like to see Manny Ramirez play in the All-Star game if fans vote him into the National League's starting lineup. Ramirez, who is serving a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy, was fourth among NL outfielders in the first round of balloting. The top three will start in the game, which will be played July 14 in St. Louis. "Do I want to see him?" McCourt said. "Sure, if he gets voted in. It'd be a great honor."

When I didn't see the Parking Lot Attendant sitting beside the Dodgers' dugout Wednesday as he was a night earlier, I was worried maybe he couldn't afford a hotel room here. But then who figured Frank McCourt would be smarter than any of us? Not me. But apparently he knew better than to hang around for this mess -- although he did miss the Dodgers' hit. For all we know McCourt comes out the big winner, none of the games sold out in Dodger Stadium this weekend and now a pretty good reason for folks to turn out. Too soon to say if the Dodgers will show up. They already have their ticket to the playoffs, so there is no danger of this farce turning into anything all that tragic, but I'm not sure Manny Ramirez was joking when he said, "We're saving the champagne for New Year's."

Kendry Morales and the free-swinging, still-breathing Angels obviously haven't got their fill of autumn in New York. . . . Why does it seem so inviting? . . . The New York Yankees can still be had, especially if the Angels can take the bat out of Alex Rodriguez's hands and avoid having to rely too heavily on suddenly shaky Brian Fuentes . . . . John Lackey was given a quicker hook in Game 5 than the clown climbing the rocks beyond the outfield wall. . . . Just like the fan, Mike Scioscia's move was all wet. . . . When the resilient Angels later rallied, saving their manager from another long winter of soul-sucking second-guessing, nobody looked more relieved than Scioscia.

Jamie McCourt argued in a motion Monday that the Dodgers should not be a party in a divorce hearing, asking the court to throw out papers filed in the team's name that "unnecessarily and gratuitously attack" her. The motion is expected to be considered Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court as part of a hearing to determine the validity of McCourt's demand for immediate reinstatement as the Dodgers' chief executive. Frank McCourt, her estranged husband, fired her two weeks ago. After she filed for divorce last week, he responded in a filing that her reinstatement would be "akin to throwing a bomb into a crowded room."

The Dodgers are negotiating a long-term contract extension with General Manager Ned Colletti , a high-ranking club official said. The Dodgers have reached the postseason three times in four years under the Colletti, whose current deal includes a mutual option for 2010. It is uncertain whether the extension will be finalized or announced before the Dodgers complete play this year. The official was granted anonymity because owner Frank McCourt has asked that off-the-field business not take public precedence over the team's quest to reach the World Series for the first time since 1988.

You own the Dodgers, a Los Angeles treasure, as good as it gets while seated in the owner's box and looking out at the adoring fans filling the outfield seats. You relish the attention, champagne poured over Frank McCourt's head, USA Today doing a full-length profile on Jamie McCourt -- proud to say, Size O. The Mayor is a regular visitor, Kobe during the playoffs, the Boston Parking Lot Attendant a whole lot more in L.A., and Frank's Old Lady almost always introduced as the highest-ranking woman in baseball.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has fired his estranged wife Jamie from her position as the team's chief executive, triggering what her attorney said would be an imminent legal response. "Jamie is disappointed and saddened by her termination," attorney Dennis Wasser said this afternoon. "As co-owner of the Dodgers, she will address this and all other issues in the courtroom." Wasser would not say whether Jamie McCourt would continue to occupy her office at Dodger Stadium. He said that would depend on the outcome of legal proceedings he expected to initiate "in the next couple weeks."