It Would Be So Different if Murdoch Hadn’t Been Born

Help me, Clarence. If you want to earn your wings, you must give me guidance. As a lifelong Dodger fan, how should I feel now that my Dodgers--for so many years the beloved George Bailey of baseball--have become the hated Mr. Potter? How should I feel now that Chavez Ravine, once the Bedford Falls of the big leagues, has now become Pottersville--hotbed for self-indulgence and excess? How should I feel that the only thing Zuzu peddles from now on will be $10 Dodger Dogs to help pay Kevin Brown’s salary?

What’s that you say, Clarence? Feel what’s in my heart, then say it out loud? OK, go Dodgers! Thank you, Kevin Malone and Fox, for finally giving us a team that wants to win. It’s going to be a wonderful life in ‘99!

SNEAKY SIMS

Los Angeles

*

If the Kevin Brown numbers of seven years and $105 million have a familiar ring to them, it’s because those are exactly the terms Mike Piazza was looking for from the Dodgers last season. Of course, they turned him down and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, instead of a 28-, 29-year-old, Hall of Fame-caliber, everyday player guaranteed to hit .325 with 40-plus homers and 100-plus RBIs, they’ve got a soon-to-be 34-year-old journeyman starting pitcher with a couple of nice years under his belt.

Barring injury, Piazza is certain to play in 145-150 games a year, while Brown will take the hill a maximum of 35 times a season. Assuming Brown can win 20 games a year for seven consecutive seasons--never done before--that’s $750,000 for each victory over the life of the deal.

This is total insanity. Been nice knowing you, Dodger fans.

JIM MALLON

San Luis Obispo

*

Kevin Brown deserves every penny of his $15-million-a-year contract. When you have teams giving $6.5 million to Jose Offerman and $7.2 million to Dean Palmer, then the Dodgers got off easy. Kevin Brown is a proven winner who is not afraid to carry a team on his shoulders. It is definitely a good day to be a Dodger fan.

MARIA CICCONE

Huntington Beach

*

The Mets give Piazza $91 million, the Angels put together a huge deal for Mo Vaughn, the Diamondbacks are out of their economic minds, and now everyone is suddenly outraged with the Dodgers over the Kevin Brown deal?

If baseball had a real commissioner who might actually exert some power, a more equitable way for each team to compete for free agents might be created.

Next October, while Bud Selig is whining over his own ineptitude, the Dodgers might be bringing another title back to Southern California.

JOHN FRASER

Aliso Viejo

*

I was sorry to hear that Kevin Brown sold himself so cheaply to the Dodgers. Congratulations to Roger Clemens for holding out for more.

In addition to $15 million a year, private suites and private jets, I believe Emperors Brown and Clemens should insist that they be carried back and forth on portable thrones to the mound each inning with virgins strewing rose petals in their path.

JERRY MAZENKO

Garden Grove

*

When I negotiate my next $100-million contract, I promise to pay for my own upgrade to a suite for road games.

DAVID ARYE

Los Angeles

*

It wasn’t listed, so I guess Brown turned down the kitchen sink.

BILL STEIN

Arroyo Grande

*

I am getting tired of hearing people complain about athletes’ salaries. It’s all supply and demand. Everybody wants to blame the owners when in fact it is our own fault.

If we stop putting these athletes on such pedestals and making them more than they are, we will stop seeing these high salaries.

MARCUS D’ANNA

Northridge

*

I usually agree with just about everything Bill Plaschke writes about baseball, but he is way off base when he tries to draw parallels between the 1988 Dodgers and the 1999 version, now that they have acquired Kevin Brown. To compare 1988’s endearing group of overachievers, who played as a team and actually appeared to love the game, to this $85-million mishmash of mercenaries is absurd!

Kevin Brown’s $105 million doesn’t even begin to cover the cost of bringing a winner back to Los Angeles, if indeed that happens. The true cost will not be known for several more years. Not until after Dodger Stadium is razed to make way for a new entertainment complex, which just happens to have a baseball diamond. Not until after ticket, parking and concession prices triple. Not until all the fans Fernando helped attract are driven away. (Notice Rene Cardenas just got dumped--can Vinny be far behind?) Not until the middle class is priced out of attending a game. But not to worry, all the games will be televised on Fox!

If anyone thinks the Dodgers’ next championship, when and if it comes, will be anything like it was in 1988 or before, he is dead wrong.

I loved the 1988 Dodgers. I felt like I knew the 1988 Dodgers. I felt like the 1988 Dodgers were friends of mine. Believe me, these are no 1988 Dodgers!

ROBERT HERR

Burbank

*

Less than three months after one of its most spectacular seasons, we have been abruptly reminded that major league baseball is a corporation composed primarily of Machiavellian owners and self-indulgent athletes-turned-mercenaries.

Kevin Brown is “relieved” that his self-solicitation to various ball clubs is over; Mo Vaughn remains indignant toward his erstwhile team for the “disrespect” they showed him for failing to match his outlandish asking price. Eventually, the fans--not the coddled players or improvident owners--will be wearing the noose once again when they’re confronted with both substantial increases in ticket prices and the demise of small-market franchises.

BROCK D. COHEN

Sherman Oaks

*

Hey, John Moores:

If I remember correctly, you gave up almost nothing to get Kevin Brown. The Astros and the Mets gave up little for Moises Alou and Mike Piazza. And so the fire sale of the 1997 World Series champions went, all the teams involved tearing at the carcass. That scenario was just as bad for baseball as the current Brown contract.

Can you spell “hypocrite”?

ERIC MONSON

Temecula

*

Pity those poor Padres. How can they compete with Montreal, Minnesota, Oakland, et al.?

DENNIS REYES

Cypress

*

How sweet it is to open a sports page in December and see the names of Clemens, Johnson, Brown, etc., on the front page. With renewed interest in baseball and the NBA lockout, our youngsters will see which sport is truly our national pastime.

I sincerely wish that in 2020, we will see a very frail David Stern and a 60-year-old Patrick Ewing still announcing that the sides are very far apart.

RICHARD KATZ

Los Angeles

*

Your coverage of the multimillion-dollar signings of Kevin Brown, Mo Vaughn, Mike Piazza and others suffers from a serious omission, namely, whether these contracts provide for payment during the baseball strike of 2002.

BART ROBERTSON

Torrance