Marked Men

The kid in the front row, the one wearing a goofy grin and a Dodger cap two sizes too big, stood up as tall as he could. He had something to say to Dodger General Manager Kevin Malone, whom he politely called “Mr. Malone.� “Thank you for getting Kevin Brown,� said David Rosenthal, 5, of Encino. “I’ll see you at the World Series.�

From out of the mouths of babes, a little love for the hometown team. The Dodgers opened winter workouts Monday at Dodger Stadium, the most hated team in baseball basking in the glory of January sunshine and the adulation of its most loyal fans.

The Dodger uniforms do not include flak jackets, but maybe they should. One month after Malone signed Brown to an unprecedented $105-million contract to pitch the Dodgers into the World Series, the venom spews unabated toward the pitcher, the general manager, the team and the Fox corporate dollars that made the deal possible.

“Kevin Brown and the other moves we’ve made have brought the Dodger haters out of the closet,� Malone said. “To me, it’s just sour grapes. Everyone is jealous of the Dodgers.�

Success and tradition inspire jealousy, yes, but the Dodgers haven’t won a playoff game in 11 years. Spending millions inspires jealousy among financially-challenged teams, sure, but who’s ripping the Mets for spending $91 million on Mike Piazza or the Angels for spending $80 million on Mo Vaughn?

Let the Dodgers break the $100-million mark on Brown, though, and all hell breaks loose.

“It’s because he’s the highest-paid player,� first baseman Eric Karros said. “It’s funny. The Mets this winter committed close to $160 million [$164 million, actually, to Piazza, Al Leiter, Robin Ventura, Rickey Henderson and Dennis Cook], and they talk about us.�

“With the Dodgers, it’s always been that way, and now there’s Fox. You throw those two together, and you either love us or you hate us. The camps are growing on either side.�

In England, politicians cry for legislation to stop Fox chief Rupert Murdoch from buying the venerable Manchester United soccer club for $1 billion, so a few angry baseball owners are as much of a nuisance to Murdoch as a couple of flies buzzing around his head.

The volume is loud in the baseball world, however, with Padre owner John Moores accusing the Dodgers of acting so “it looks like they’re only interested in their own self-interest� and major league baseball executive vice president Sandy Alderson branding Malone’s statements about concern for payroll disparity and economic responsibility “an affront and an insult to the commissioner of baseball.�

Said Brown: “If they don’t like it because you’re trying to win, too bad. You’re not here to try to be nice to the other team. You’re trying to do everything you can to beat them.�

Suddenly, Brown has found himself portrayed as the poster boy for all that is wrong with two sports. When the NBA reached agreement with its union last week on a labor deal that limits annual salaries to $14 million, several league officials pointed out future NBA free agents could not receive the contract Brown signed with the Dodgers.

“If the NBA was going through a year ago what it was going through this year, the name that would have been brought up would have been Pedro Martinez,� Dodger President Bob Graziano said.

“You can’t look at one player’s salary and say that’s the cause of the economic problems of the game. The economic problems are a result of the economic structure. You can’t correct that individually. It needs to be corrected through bargaining.�

Until the rules change, the Dodgers vow to maximize their corporate financial advantage. If the Dodgers decide Brown can pitch them deep into October, and if they can afford to pay him $105 million, Malone wins games first and wins friends later, if at all.

“We are the team people love to hate. That’s all right,� Malone said.

“I came here to do a job for Fox and the Dodgers, to return us to the Fall Classic. People aren’t going to like that.�

Merely returning to the Fall Classic will not be enough for new Manager Davey Johnson.

“My goal is to get to the World Series and win it,� Johnson said. “Anything short of that will not be good enough.�

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The outfield mural of Dodger highlights and Hall of Famers is gone now, with a new one scheduled to debut in April. In trying to generate additional revenue to support the exploding player payroll, Graziano said the Dodgers might also include ads along the outfield wall this year.

“We’re trying to tastefully increase the level of sponsorship in the stadium,� he said.

The Dodgers invited season-ticket holders to Monday’s workout. Fans filled out surveys asking in part about other ways for the Dodgers to make money at their stadium. Among them: valet parking, formal restaurants, youth baseball camps and a Dodger museum.

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Malone said he would be willing to open the season with an extra shortstop and an extra starting pitcher on his roster if he cannot find a better offer for Mark Grudzielanek or Jose Vizcaino and for the surplus arm, presumably that of Ismael Valdes or Dave Mlicki.

The Dodgers officially announced two earlier deals Monday, signing infielder Dave Hansen to a one-year contract and signing Taiwanese outfielder Chin-Feng Chen to a minor league contract for a $600,000 bonus.