A Turn for the Worth

It was outrageous, it was unthinkable and it couldn’t be allowed to happen.

The Dodgers knew they wouldn’t be back in the postseason picture without the kind of pitching they had come to expect, but would they really agree to an annual six-figure contract?

The baseball world might have been stunned by an annual salary well into eight figures that the Dodgers gave right-hander Kevin Brown on Saturday, part of a seven-year, $105-million contract, but 32 years ago Dodger owner Walter O’Malley couldn’t accept paying $100,000 to a pair of holdout pitchers--future Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

The argument hasn’t changed in three decades. Should a player who performs only once every four or five days get such a huge salary?

“I always thought Koufax was worth it,” said Buzzy Bavasi, who was the Dodger general manager at the time, “because we figured he brought in 10,000 extra fans every time he pitched. Walter didn’t think he was worth it because it was Walter’s money.”

The Brown contract has also left plenty of doubters.

Mel Didier, a former special-assignment scout for the Dodgers who is in the Arizona Diamondback front office, was asked if he would have signed Brown to such a deal.

“No,” Didier said, “the guy would have to be Nolan Ryan and guys like him are freaks. Think about all those games, innings, pitches. You’d have to be a freak [to last seven years].”

John Schuerholz, the Atlanta Braves’ general manager, has long overseen baseball’s best pitching staff. But even Greg Maddux, considered by many the best pitcher in the game, has only a five-year deal. Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, two other previous Cy Young Award winners on the Braves’ roster, have four-year contracts.

“I don’t think anyone can reasonably expect a pitcher to hold up seven years,” Schuerholz said.

Koufax and Drysdale weren’t looking for long-term deals in 1966, merely salaries over $100,000. Koufax was coming off a season in which he was 26-8 with a 2.04 earned-run average and 382 strikeouts. Drysdale was 23-12 in a year in which the Dodgers won the World Series.

O’Malley held firm through most of spring training while there was talk of a movie career or other supposed options for the pair.

“Without them, we don’t win,” Bavasi told O’Malley. “With them, we win. We have to sign them.”

Finally, O’Malley reluctantly gave in, telling Bavasi he could pay the pair a total of $225,000. Bavasi decided to offer Koufax $125,000 and Drysdale the remaining $100,000.

“Then I realized it wasn’t fair,” Bavasi said. “So I gave Don $110,000.

“I was $10,000 over budget and I heard about it from Walter for 10 years afterward.

“Even then, Walter was talking about the need to put a spending restraint into the game. He was not about to give away money if he didn’t have to.”

O’Malley, who died in 1979, was once asked what he would have had to pay Koufax in the era of free agency.

Replied O’Malley: “Sandy and I would have been partners.”

Bavasi, like those running the game today, shakes his head at the financial numbers he sees.

“The thing that would bother me more than anything else with a pitcher,” he said of the Brown contract, “is, what if all of a sudden, he has a bad arm? Seven years is not a contract. It’s an annuity.

“I know times have changed, but what is this world coming to? This doesn’t make sense. I don’t mind paying a youngster who brings people into the park, but you’ve got the 24th and 25th man on the roster making three or four million.”

Of course, Bavasi doesn’t have to go far to question today’s astronomical salaries. His son, Bill, the Angels’ general manager, recently signed first baseman Mo Vaughn to a six-year, $80-million deal.

“When I heard that,” the senior Bavasi said, “I thought we brought the wrong youngster home from the hospital.”

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Staff writer Ross Newhan contributed to this story.

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Kings of the Hill

A look at how Kevin Brown compares to other elite pitchers over the last three seasons: *--*

Pitcher IP H/9IP BB 9/IP SO 9/IP Wins Win% ERA Kevin Brown 727 1/3 7.75 1.83 7.68 51 .662 2.33 Roger Clemens 741 1/3 7.15 3.18 9.96 51 .662 2.76 David Cone 474 2/3 7.41 3.39 9.52 39 .722 3.15 Tom Glavine 704 2/3 7.93 3.04 6.26 49 .681 2.81 Randy Johnson 518 2/3 6.91 3.26 12.23 44 .746 2.92 Greg Maddux 728 2/3 7.73 1.15 6.83 52 .684 2.38 Pedro Martinez 691 2/3 6.96 2.65 10.12 49 .662 2.80 Mike Mussina 674 1/3 8.67 2.19 7.97 47 .618 3.87 Denny Neagle 665 8.47 2.12 6.58 52 .675 3.33 Curt Schilling 706 1/3 7.56 2.15 10.21 41 .539 3.13 David Wells 656 2/3 9.34 1.71 6.15 45 .616 4.29

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