L.A. mayoral candidate and State Sen. Tom Hayden blamed
Mayor Richard Riordan for the decision by Peter O'Malley to
put the Dodgers up for sale, according to Jodi Wilgoren of
the L.A. TIMES. Hayden: "The Mayor's key error was asking
Peter O'Malley to lead the charge for an NFL team and then
... changing positions and dropping O'Malley from the
starting lineup." In '95, Riordan "encouraged" O'Malley to
look into building an NFL stadium on Dodger property in
Chavez Ravine. After the idea was met with "massive
criticism" at City Hall and in the neighborhood, Riordan
joined other city leaders in endorsing the L.A. Memorial
Coliseum as the No. 1 choice for bringing in a team.
O'Malley later signed on to the Coliseum effort, but,
Wilgoren notes, "some believe that his frustration over the
city's about-face ... contributed to his decision to sell
the team" (L.A. TIMES, 1/10). In Washington, columnist Tom
Boswell wonders what the proposed sale by O'Malley "tells us
about baseball." Boswell: "O'Malley has given baseball's
owners a sword. Every time the union gets on its soapbox,
the owners can say, 'Your salaries are so high that even
O'Malley sold'" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/10).
