Jackie Autry

Jackie Autry of the Angels was one of eight major league executives appointed Tuesday to a search committee that will recommend a candidate to become baseball's next commissioner. Bud Selig, chairman of the executive council, said it is possible that a commissioner will be selected by the time the season opens in early April, although it is not certain yet what form the commissioner's office will take.

FRED HANEY (1960-68): Haney selected future Angels All-Stars Jim Fregosi and pitcher Dean Chance. DICK WALSH (1968-71): Best known for firing Bill Rigney, at the time, the only manager the Angels had ever had. HARRY DALTON (1971-77): Acquired Nolan Ryan from the New York Mets. BUZZIE BAVASI (1977-84): Led the Angels into free agency, signing a multitude of big names. MIKE PORT (1984-91): Was GM for heartbreaking 1986 ALCS against Red Sox. DAN O'BRIEN (1991-93)

The wife of former cowboy star Gene Autry has withdrawn her offer to build a museum featuring Western memorabilia in Burbank, city officials announced this week. In a letter to outgoing Burbank Mayor Daniel Remy, Jackie Autry, wife of the 77-year-old former actor and owner of the Calfornia Angels, gave no specific reasons for withdrawing her proposal for the $2-million museum.

"Survivor" host Jeff Probst has purchased the Gene Autry estate in Studio City for $5 million. Built in 1949 by the cowboy singer-actor, the forested 3.68-acre property had been donated by Autry's widow, Jacqueline Autry, to the Autry National Center of the American West. The two-story Monterey-style house of about 8,000 square feet has pegged hardwood floors, a family room with a wet bar, a library/media room with vintage walnut paneling, a breakfast room, five bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

The California Angels face unprecedented financial losses that could exceed $8.5 million this year and will force the baseball club to borrow throughout the season, co-owner Jackie Autry said Friday. Autry said escalating salaries were outrunning revenue and that the situation might eventually force a sale of the franchise her husband, Gene, purchased during the American League's expansion in 1961. She added, however, that there were no immediate plans to do so. "Can we stay in there forever?

Jackie Autry, Angel executive vice president and wife of team owner Gene Autry, said that Manager Doug Rader's job is probably safe for the remainder of an 11-game trip that ends Aug. 22. "Right now there's been no decision," she said. "We're giving everybody somewhat the benefit of the doubt. My husband and I tend to be somewhat patient, and really, not everything is Doug's fault." The Angels have lost 11 of their last 13, and 25 of 35.

Jackie Autry watched from the owner's box as her husband, the man they call the Cowboy, moved with tiny, shuffling steps toward home plate for a ceremony on the field at Anaheim Stadium. Always a private person--"even when I was a banker," she says--she is content to remain behind, out of the public eye.

When pitcher John Candelaria returns from a 28-day stay in a rehabilitation program, he will find an unlikely and influential ally who identifies with his recent struggle: Jackie Autry, wife of Angel owner Gene Autry and a recovering alcoholic. On June 2, Autry, 44, completed an addict-alcoholic program at the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, not far from the Angels' spring training site in Palm Springs.

Collusion? Jackie Autry, the wife of Angel owner Gene Autry and a self-described owner in training, supports the party line. "Collusion?" she asked rhetorically. "That's ridiculous. When have you known the 26 owners to agree on anything. If there was collusion it would be an all-time miracle."

Jackie Autry watched from the owner's box as her husband, the man they call the Cowboy, moved with tiny, shuffling steps toward home plate for a ceremony on the field at Anaheim Stadium. Always a private person--"even when I was a banker," she says--she is content to remain out of the public eye.

The Autry National Center of the American West took a step this week that underscores its oft-stated mission to tell the whole story of the West: Marshall McKay, chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation in Northern California will chair its board of trustees for the next two years, the first Native American to hold the top board post in the museum's 22-year history. "It's a double honor to have this bestowed on me," said McKay. "To come into this position is outstanding for a Native American.

The San Francisco Giants wanted to hold onto Juan Uribe ? enough to where they made the infielder a last-minute offer similar to the three-year, $21-million contract he ended up signing with the Dodgers, according to a baseball source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation. Uribe passed a physical Tuesday to finalize his contract, which will pay him $5 million next year, $8 million in 2012 and $7 million in 2013. He will receive the final $1 million in 2014.

The Gene Autry estate, built in 1949 in Studio City by the cowboy singer-actor, has come on the market at $6.9 million. Owned by his widow, Jacqueline Autry, the forested property's 3.5-plus acres center on a two-story Spanish-style house of about 8,000 square feet. The main house has pegged hardwood floors, a family room with a wet bar, a library/media room with vintage walnut paneling, a breakfast room, five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Balconies overlook the acreage, which has winding paths and flower gardens.

Gene Autry, the legendary singing cowboy, actor, broadcast executive and onetime Anaheim Angels owner, was known for many things. Surfing wasn't one of them. Nonetheless, surf -- or at least surf culture -- will be up at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage on Sunday, even if it's approximately 20 miles inland. In conjunction with its exhibit "Ocean View: the Depiction of the Southern California Coastal Lifestyle," which ends its eight-month run July 27, the Autry will host a free "Beach Party."

Jackie Autry, the widow of the Angels' founding owner, thanked Disney for its dedication to the legacy of Gene Autry but said Wednesday she would have preferred the company sell the team to a local buyer. Disney reached agreement in principle Tuesday to sell the Angels to Phoenix businessman Arturo Moreno for $180 million, subject to the approval of major league owners.

Nobody liked her. They slammed her as cheap and mean, a tightwad former banker with a teller's personality, married to the sweet old singing cowboy who would have done anything to see his team win the World Series. That was the rap on Gene Autry's wife, who essentially ran the Angels from 1991 to 1996, when the team was sold to Disney. And as the media turned on her, Jackie Autry, always a private person, simply retreated from the public eye.

Cowboy film legend Gene Autry's name will live on at the University of Southern California, thanks to a $300,000 gift to the School of Cinema-Television from his widow and Major League Baseball. The money will be used to create the Gene Autry Endowed Student Support Fund, which will assist students with tuition and fees in the form of scholarships and fellowships, Dean Elizabeth Daley from USC's school of cinema-television said.

It is a museum prefixed with a single-barreled name, but that one name has colored most expectations of what is inside it--the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Griffith Park, founded and named after Gene Autry, the original singing cowboy of film, television and radio fame.