Team Looks Into Malone Incident

SAN FRANCISCO —  The Dodgers said Monday they are investigating an incident between General Manager Kevin Malone and a fan at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

Jim Esterbrooks, a Padre season-ticket holder, said that Malone initiated a verbal confrontation with him Saturday in the first inning of the Padres’ 5-4 victory.

Esterbrooks and others seated in a section behind home plate said Malone challenged him to a fight in defense of Gary Sheffield, who Esterbrooks had derided because of the left fielder’s comments about his contract in spring training.

Malone did not dispute Esterbrooks’ account--including that he challenged him to a fight--or suggest that the fan used profanity.

However, Esterbrooks was the aggressor in Malone’s interpretation.

“I can’t comment on what he felt I was doing,” said Malone, who plans to attend tonight’s game against the San Francisco Giants at Pacific Bell Park.

“I hear an individual fan speaking inappropriately about one of our players, the organization and me. He was loud, belligerent, obnoxious and rude. He knew who I was, and I didn’t know that at the time.”

Malone realized Esterbrooks recognized him when he made a comment about “Dodger Boy,” a nickname Malone gave himself in a radio interview.

Although Malone said he wanted to be known as Dodger Boy, he said Esterbrooks was out of line.

“The guy was being obnoxious and getting on one of our players, getting on the Dodgers and just being rude to me,” Malone said. “I don’t believe that my family [Malone’s son attended Saturday’s game] or the families of our players should suffer the indignities of some fan who wants to act like that.”

Chairman Bob Daly declined to comment.

Derrick Hall, senior vice president, said: “This is the first we have learned of this incident. We will certainly follow up and discuss it with Kevin.”

In a recent interview, Daly acknowledged that Malone has in the past put himself and the organization in uncomfortable positions.

“Kevin does say things sometimes that can get people [upset],” said Daly, who otherwise praised Malone’s job performance. “There are . . . times when he sometimes puts his foot in [his mouth].”

Malone, in his third season as the Dodgers’ general manager, is no stranger to controversy.

In November, the Pacific 10 Conference investigated a phone call from Malone to the telephone answering machine of Bruin recruit Jamal Sampson of Santa Ana Mater Dei High.

UCLA basketball Coach Steve Lavin, whom Malone has said he considers a close friend, said he mistakenly gave Sampson’s number to Malone instead of youth coach Pat Barrett’s.

By making the phone call--inadvertently or not--Malone inserted himself into the recruiting process and might have made himself a representative of UCLA’s athletic interests. Sampson signed with California.

The Pac-10 ruled that the call was a secondary recruiting violation.

Malone was criticized within baseball for his seemingly brash comments regarding the Dodgers’ supposed return to prominence under this management regime.

And Malone, shortly after having been hired in September 1998, offended his National League West counterparts with a flippant remark about there being a “new sheriff in town,” and engaged in a public feud with respected Padre General Manager Kevin Towers.

But Malone said this situation is different because he had to defend himself, his son and the club.

“These players are like family to me,” Malone said. “I’m loyal to them. Right or wrong, I’m going to defend our players. I had to protect and defend my son.

“I just don’t think, as a fan, he has the right to abuse the Dodger organization. If I don’t have the right to sit next to the scouting section and evaluate a game with my son . . . that’s just not appropriate behavior.”