Dodgers Found Way to Steal Angels’ Thunder

George Steinbrenner would have been proud. With the Angels poised to steal the hearts of Southern California baseball fans, the Dodgers stole the headlines as the teams opened their cross-town interleague series Monday.

As the Angels stormed into first place, the Dodgers stumbled below .500 and threatened to sink toward summer oblivion. What better way to keep people talking about Fox’s Dodgers, not Disney’s Angels, than to fire a manager and general manager?

“Isn’t it interesting when the move was made, just before they played the Angels?” former Angel president Richard Brown asked.

“Would the Dodgers have made the same move if the Angels were mired in last place? Maybe they would have, but I don’t think the timing would be now. Usually, you see a change like that around the All-Star break.”

Dodger President Bob Graziano said he, not Fox executives, made the decision Sunday to fire manager Bill Russell and executive vice president Fred Claire after weeks of evaluation.

“Once I made that decision, it did not make any sense to wait until the end of the season or wait two or three more days,” Graziano said.

Steinbrenner, the Yankee owner, is the master of manipulating news for greatest effect. When the Mets grabbed the New York spotlight by trading for Mike Piazza, Steinbrenner’s Yankees responded by promoting pitcher Orlando Hernandez, the Cuban refugee who sailed to freedom and free agency.

Tony Tavares, the president of Disney’s Anaheim Sports division, declined to discuss how the firings might reflect a Fox-Disney rivalry.

The Dodgers have long owned the hearts of most Southern California baseball fans, usually outnumbering Angel fans at Freeway Series games in Anaheim. But never before, Brown noted, have the Dodgers had to contend with a successful Angel team marketed by a Disney machine that spent $5 million on off-season publicity.

“If I were the Dodgers, I would view this Angel team as a team that’s going to make the playoffs,” Brown said. “Seattle has self-destructed. Oakland is probably two years away from being a contender. Texas has no pitching.

“The Dodgers are going to have to put a competitive team together.”