More Than a Ball Team

For Sale, the Dodgers, a baseball club. Stadium and extras included. Prime view. Write Peter O’Malley, Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles.

Oh, my.

In 1958, when the late Walter O’Malley brought the Brooklyn team west, he raised the sign on the hills of this city, the one that says Big League, and he and his son Peter’s administration of the L.A. franchise over nearly 40 years has been an all-star performance.

Monday, when Peter O’Malley announced that the Dodgers were on the block, citing the high financial risk of operating a major sports franchise, more than a single family should bear, jaws dropped. We were assured that the club would remain in Los Angeles. Stay Blue! But without an O’Malley at the helm can we count on the first-class operation that made a day at the ballpark such a memorable outing?

O’Malley says so: “I’m proud of what we accomplished. I want somebody now to not only recognize that but enhance that and take it to a higher level.”

We support that, and names were being tossed around Tuesday over morning coffee in restaurants, factories and executive suites. None of the immediate suggestions seemed to fit the prescription. They all have money, but it takes far more. The Dodgers and Dodger Stadium have always delivered full value for our buck and our support. A spotless ballpark, enthusiastic crowds, first-class teams: four World Series championships.

That fan support--the L.A. Dodgers were the first team to break 3 million attendance in a season and are consistently at or near the top--demands an ownership that will carry on this unifying Southland tradition. No low-budget, quick-shuffle combines need apply, we, and surely the O’Malleys, would insist.