A Good Deal. . . : If ’99 Is the Equal of ‘88, It Was Money Well Spent

He’s surly, solitary, doesn’t care about public relations or clubhouse chemistry or anything but winning.

That was Kirk Gibson in 1988.

This will be Kevin Brown in 1999.

He is being paid a ton of money despite already turning 30, he may not physically survive the length of his contract, he has absolutely no ties to our team or town or traditions.

That was Kirk Gibson in 1988.

This will be Kevin Brown in 1999.

The Dodgers swallowed hard nearly 11 years ago when they gave a weird Michigan outfielder the largest contract in club history (three years, $4.5 million) during a time when the club’s reputation and resiliency had been greatly devalued.

You could hear that same gulp coming from Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday, when they signed the same sort of player for 10 times the average salary to address the same sorts of problems.

Kirk Gibson was worth it.

Kevin Brown can be worth it.

Although Brown’s contract extends for seven years, it is really about one.

The one year Gibson gave us.

The one year that saved everything from Dodger jobs to reputations to ticket sales for at least another five years.

That unforgettable 1988 World Series championship.

Kevin Brown was signed to bring us one of those.

He did it in Florida. He nearly did it in San Diego before facing one of the best teams in baseball history.

He smirked and snarled and endeared himself to absolutely nobody, but he did it.

“This guy has proven that the addition of one player can make a good team a championship team,” Dodger General Manager Kevin Malone said. “This guy’s performance, he enhances the performance of teammates, he makes everybody better around him.”

He is not an everyday player who can make everyday contributions to the team’s power and psyche as Gibson did.

But once every five days, Brown makes up for it.

Opponents can’t hit his slider. Teammates can’t help but be inspired by his competitiveness. Fans can’t resist watching the one player who gives their team a chance to beat even the great Atlanta Braves.

This is not a deal, like so many other recent Dodger deals, about promise.

This is not a Todd Hundley-gets-healthy scenario. Or an Ismael Valdes-gets-tougher deal. Or an Adrian Beltre-grows-up sort of thing.

Kevin Brown has already happened. Kevin Brown has been there, done that.

For two consecutive years. The last two years.

The Dodgers are asking that he do it for at least one more.

And if he does, then the deal has been worth it, all $105 million, for everybody.

“If Kevin Brown gets us to the World Series,” Malone said, “he pays for himself.”

Because world championships last far longer than the players who win them, and the money that buys them.

The struggling Minnesota Twins remained popular longer than they should have in this big-market era, all because of their two World Series championships.

The Braves have stayed together despite repeated postseason failures--building a new stadium and huge fan base--because of their 1995 World Series title.

The Yankees have regained their spot as the preeminent franchise in all of professional sports--and even made a hero of George Steinbrenner--with their two recent titles.

With their return to glory, the Dodgers would become something fun again, something to pass along to your children again, the cost of which is priceless.

It would also mean a huge return on Rupert Murdoch’s investment, not only with ticket sales and advertisements, but on the real battleground.

If he wants political help in improving the stadium, maybe winning earns him that help.

If he wants local approval to own an NFL team here--some people still say Fox will ultimately throw its large hat into that small ring--maybe winning earns him that approval.

And if he wants to regain his hold on the sports community from Michael Eisner and Disney, well then, this is exactly how it’s done.

And don’t think that last point is not a major one.

“I certainly think there are more than enough fans to go around,” Dodger President Bob Graziano said. “But do we want to be the dominant organization in the marketplace? Of course we do.”

So the first person you thank for this signing is Disney.

When the Angels acquired Mo Vaughn earlier this winter, they threw the first punch in what had previously only been a war of glares.

Fox versus Disney. Murdoch versus Eisner.

When both companies bought into our sports landscape, we had hoped it would go like this. But initially they had floated aimlessly apart, more concerned with protecting their own smile than knocking out the other guy’s.

Not anymore.

First there was the Vaughn jab, knocking the stunned Dodgers flat.

The Dodgers staggered up and took a big swing with Randy Johnson, but whiffed.

The Angels, going for a knockout blow with Johnson, also whiffed.

The Dodgers saw an opening and finally landed a punch by trading for Hundley. But amid questions about his soundness, it was only a glancing blow.

With the Angels still leading and time running out, the Dodgers have unloaded the roundhouse that is Brown.

Which means only one thing.

Time for the Angels to unveil a brilliant and overpowering strategy for which there could be no response.

Rope-a-Clemens.

No matter who ends up with fewer bruises, the winner in this fight is already clear.

The fans, of course.

This area plays the best baseball in the country at virtually every other level, so why not, finally, the major leagues? Not only with one team, but both teams?

Not until Hundley is proved sound and the Angels find some pitching should anyone talk about a freeway World Series.

But now, finally, on summer nights that freeway will be worth driving. In both directions.

Of course, as in every column written about Dodger moves for the next 10 years, we must not forget to address Mike Piazza.

Some will find it disturbing that the Dodgers can pay $15 million more to an older pitcher than their younger, more popular catcher.

They should not. Brown is a proven winner. Piazza is not. Fox is paying for that proof.

Not that this deal can’t go wrong as quickly as the other one.

Brown succeeded in relative obscurity in Florida and San Diego, playing for teams that advanced to the World Series from the enviable position of underdog.

No more. The Dodgers are now expected to play like champions, and Brown will be chief among those to be held accountable if they do not.

Because he is making $15 million a season, Brown will be under pressure to perform like a $15-million pitcher, pressure no player has ever encountered.

How will he handle it? How will the organization handle it?

Will they cater to him as they have catered to stars in the recent past, a philosophy that led directly to the erosion of the team’s commitment to winning?

If he and Davey Johnson have an argument, who gets the last word? If it is not Johnson, then the Dodgers have just blown their money in two areas.

Nearly 11 years ago, people had the same sorts of questions about Kirk Gibson.

“I may offend some people,” he said at the time. “But the main thing, to me, is winning.”

Like a certain long fly ball on a certain October night, those words live again today.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at his e-mail address: bill.plaschke@latimes.com.