While Riordan is too diplomatic to name his top choice, an unscientific survey of passionate Dodgers fans reveals a wide spectrum of favorites. Entertainment attorney Sam Perlmutter, who developed the George Foreman Grill, says former sports agent Dennis Gilbert would be the best choice for fans like him. He dropped his season tickets but would be willing to come back if he liked the new owner.
“The problem is whoever buys it is going to have to think of the inventory — the players — after paying over $1 billion for the team,” Perlmutter says. “It would be great to get an owner who knows about baseball from the inside and has credibility with the other owners, like Dennis Gilbert does.”
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Mike Gray, owner of the Varsity Sports Bar on Wilshire Boulevard, is such a passionate Dodgers fan that he frequently wears a full Dodgers uniform to work. He prefers Mark Cuban, whose Mavericks won their first NBA championship last spring. A self-promoter frequently fined by the league for outspokenness, Cuban competed on Dancing With the Stars last year.
“He did amazing things with Dallas, and he would do the same for the Dodgers,” Gray says. “A guy like him doesn’t need a rich partner and will spend money for the Dodgers to go in the right direction. He’s a billionaire who’s a real fan.”
City Hall watchdog and political blogger Zuma Dogg dismisses Magic Johnson as a front man who doesn’t have the necessary baseball knowledge, instead endorsing the partnership of Joe Torre and Rick Caruso, the nattily dressed developer of the Grove and the Americana at Brand. Caruso is a possible mayoral candidate, setting off a side debate over whether he can both run for mayor and take over the Dodgers.
“People love Joe Torre, and he’s got a lot of inside baseball knowledge,” Dogg says. “Rick is a solid, levelheaded businessman.”
Nearby residents also are determined to have input now that the unpopular McCourt is on his way out.
“When we know who the finalists are, we want to invite some of them out here for a meeting to discuss traffic, parking and security issues,” says Jose Sigala, president of the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood Council, who lives half a mile from Dodger Stadium. “We want someone who will have more community engagement.”
Sigala points out that last year, typical of McCourt’s tin ear toward his adopted city, he opened the Scott Avenue vehicle gate at the back entrance to the stadium — which had been closed for years.
“That decision created a lot more traffic through the residential areas,” Sigala says. “We need someone who is more sensitive to the community, more willing to partner with the community.”
Comedian Robb Fulcher, who has appeared at the Improv, the Comedy Store and other venues, says he has a simple solution for picking the right owner: “Mitt Romney should buy the team and lay everybody off, and then resell the new, leaner, meaner team to Donald Trump, who could cast the contenders in Celebrity Rich-Guy Potential Owner-Apprentice — You’re Fired!”
Reach the writer at PaulTeetor@verizon.net.
