Cheap Seats

Just another pay in the park

The worth of Dodger Stadium amounts to less than what Kevin Brown, one Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, will be paid over the life of his contract.

That’s the conclusion of a Los Angeles County tax assessor who pegged the stadium’s value at $99 million.

The Dodgers are paying Brown $105 million over seven years, baseball’s first $100 million contract.

The county’s valuation consisted of the stadium building itself, said to be worth $41 million; the 273 acres on which it sits, worth $52 million; and the equipment, ranging from restaurant stoves to whirlpool baths, worth $6 million and change.

The appraisal was necessary for the 1998 purchase of the Dodgers by Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox Group, which paid $305 million for the deal.

He’s one cool customer

“I didn’t go in and stomp on a can of hair spray, but we’re excited about winning.”

Buffalo coach Wade Phillips, after his team’s Oct. 10 victory over Miami, in reference to Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson stomping on a box of Flutie Flakes after beating the Bills in a playoff game last season.

One of Bill’s few hangups

Bill Veeck’s wooden leg isn’t hanging out any more.

It will be auctioned in Oak Brook, Ill., next month.

The leg of the late Chicago White Sox owner has been hanging in a Chicago tavern since 1977, when Veeck gave the autographed prosthesis to the owner.

Conference without hope

Skip Bayless in the Chicago Tribune:

“I wouldn’t be shocked if the Bears made the playoffs. That’s because I wouldn’t be shocked if just about anybody made the playoffs in the NFC, which stands for No Future Champion.

“This conference has degenerated into Brett Favre and the 14 dwarfs. Just about every team, top to bottom, looks like a wild card.”

Keep the scoundrels out

Vito Stellino in The Baltimore Sun: “There weren’t too many long faces in Los Angeles when Houston got the (pro football) expansion team. The reaction was that the city should be congratulated for refusing to give taxpayer funds to the NFL for a stadium.

“Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said the NFL is `like a burglar who keeps circling the house, hoping to find an unlocked window.”’

The last word …

“I see where people are saying that a match between a man and a woman in Seattle made boxing look worse than it is. I did not know this was possible.”

- Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Ron Rapoport.