Owners Expected To Ok Murdoch Deal
Major League Baseball owners expect to welcome Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch to the club when they meet in Florida this week.
With opposition dwindling, the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers from the O’Malley family to Murdoch’s Fox Group, a division of his News Corp., is all but complete.
On March 12, baseball’s ownership committee gave the Dodgers and Murdoch’s group permission to sign a purchase agreement for sale of the team.
The next and final step is for owners to approve the sale Thursday.
The estimated $310 million to $350 million price includes Dodger Stadium, the Dodgertown spring training complex and minor-league farm club in Vero Beach, Fla., and a training complex in the Dominican Republic.
Murdoch’s transitional management team is already in place. Once the sale is final, Bob Graziano, the Dodgers’ executive vice president, will be promoted to president and chief executive. Peter O’Malley, the team’s longtime president, will serve in an advisory capacity as chairman of the board. His commitment runs through the end of 1998.
Chip may warble
Chip Caray, grandson of the late sportscaster Harry Caray, has offered to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at Chicago Cubs games this season.
The song was a trademark for the elder Caray, who sang it during the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field.
“If it’s a healing thing that makes people think of my grandfather, I’m willing to do it,” said the younger Caray, a broadcaster for the Cubs and Orlando Magic. “I’ve told them I will do whatever they think is right.”
McDowell retires
Veteran relief pitcher Roger McDowell retired from the Chicago White Sox, ending his attempt to return to baseball after shoulder problems.
McDowell, 37, last pitched in the major leagues in August 1996 with the Baltimore Orioles and has undergone two shoulder operations since then.
Astros pitcher out
Houston Astros pitcher Ramon Garcia will likely miss six to eight weeks because of a stretched ligament in his elbow, the team said.
The right-hander came to spring training as a candidate to land a spot in the Astros starting rotation, although the elbow soreness has limited his throwing.
Bosox up Vaughn offer
The relationship between Mo Vaughn and the Red Sox, one that never appeared closer to divorce than last week when the first baseman accused his employers of extortion, will soon take yet another shot at a happy ending.
And this one appears to have a great chance of actually working.
According to club sources, the Red Sox are preparing to make Vaughn a four-year offer in the neighborhood of $50 million, an average salary of $12.5 million that would allow him to match Pedro Martinez as the highest-paid player on the team.
“Dan (Duquette, the general manager) is ready to do what it takes to get this done,” a source said, “and he wants it done before the end of spring training.”