With the Dodgers sitting second in the NL West at 37-34, team Chair Mark Walter "disagreed that this season was shaping into a disaster" when asked about his team's performance, but if he "has one regret, it's that 70% of Los Angeles still can't watch the Dodgers on television," according to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. TIMES. Walter said of the ongoing carriage impasse involving SportsNet LA, "We're frustrated about it, too. I feel really sorry about the fact that we can't get everybody to be able [to] see it. We're working really hard to get it done. I think there's a lot of communication going on. I'm optimistic." Meanwhile, he said of the team's on-field performance, "After last year, I'd feel stupid if I panicked this year. ... Look at where we were last year at this time. We were much, much worse." But he added, "Obviously we're disappointed so far." The Dodgers opened the season with a record $240M payroll, but Walter said, "It's more than money." When asked why the team is not playing better, he responded, "I don't know. If I knew the secret, I'd try to fix it." Walter said that he "was satisfied with the work of Manager Don Mattingly, as well as the baseball operations department" (L.A. TIMES, 6/14).
STOW CASE ENTERS THIRD WEEK: In L.A., Harriet Ryan noted former Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt on Friday testified before a Superior Court jury in the case of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who suffered a "savage beating" at Dodger Stadium in '11. Stow's family is seeking more than $50M in damages. McCourt "adamantly denied slashing the security budget and insisted game security was crucially important to him." He said that he "delegated security planning and budgeting to others and knew little about their operations." McCourt: "I trusted the people I empowered to do the job." He added that he had "never reduced team spending on security and deferred to his head of security in deciding how many guards to hire." The testimony marked the first time McCourt "had appeared at the trial, which is entering its third week" (L.A. TIMES, 6/14).
