O’Malley Closing a Door to the Past

Peter O’Malley, whose steady guidance strengthened the bond between Los Angeles and the Dodgers while he presided over baseball’s oldest family dynasty, will announce today he is leaving the organization at the end of the year, The Times has learned.

O’Malley, who has served as Dodger chairman of the board since the Fox Group purchased the ballclub in March, informed high-ranking team executives of his decision late Wednesday night at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., sources close to O’Malley said.

He will make his intentions public today while addressing club and farm system officials during the opening of the organizational meetings at Dodgertown. O’Malley, the club’s former president and its strongest remaining link to a bygone era, plans to retire Dec. 31. He served as president for three decades.

O’Malley and team President Bob Graziano, O’Malley’s hand-picked successor, were unavailable for comment Wednesday. Contacted at Vero Beach, Derrick Hall, Dodger media relations director, would not confirm O’Malley’s plans.

But before leaving for the meetings Wednesday, O’Malley confided to friends he planned to announce his retirement today.

Peter Chernin and Chase Carey--co-chief operating officers of Fox Group’s parent company, News Corp.--were expected to speak with O’Malley on Wednesday in an attempt to persuade him to remain with the organization as a consultant. But O’Malley, who agreed to remain with the club at least one year after the sale at the request of Chernin and Carey, won’t change his mind, a confidant of the former Dodger owner said.

Although the staid O’Malley era had ended long before today’s announcement, considering the tumultuous events that marked the Dodgers’ first season under the Fox Group umbrella, O’Malley’s departure officially closes a door.

O’Malley maintained his office at Dodger Stadium during the 1998 season, but he wasn’t actively involved in the day-to-day operation of the club. Neither O’Malley nor his sister, Terry Seidler, sought to influence the long-term plans of Graziano and his Fox Group superiors, preferring to move aside quietly as the Dodgers began preparing for the new millennium without them.

The O’Malleys had controlled the club since their father, the late Walter O’Malley, bought a majority interest in the then-Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950. Walter, who moved the team to Los Angeles in 1958, was among the game’s most powerful and savvy owners. He died in 1979.

Peter succeeded Walter as team president in 1970, holding the job for 28 years. He wasn’t considered the innovator his father was, but his reign as president was marked by success both on and off the field.

The Dodgers won World Series championships in 1981 and ‘88, and also won National League pennants in 1974, ’77 and ’78. Moreover, O’Malley was at the forefront of promoting baseball internationally, and the Dodgers capitalized on his efforts.

They developed many stars at their Campo Las Palmas training facility in the Dominican Republic, and also had great success with players from Mexico and Asia. In 1997, the Dodgers were the only sports franchise chosen as one of the 100 best companies to work for by Fortune magazine.

And the Dodgers have been among the major league leaders in attendance, annually drawing between two million and three million fans to Chavez Ravine.

But O’Malley’s tenure also was marked by the team’s recent failure in the postseason; the Dodgers have not won a playoff game since 1988.

O’Malley chose the organizational meetings to make his announcement because he did not want speculation about his future plans to overshadow the team’s efforts in free agency, sources said. O’Malley approves of the club’s direction under Graziano, his protege, and he strongly endorsed the hiring of new Manager Davey Johnson.

O’Malley wants to spend more time with his wife, Annette, and their three grown children, and he has become increasingly frustrated by major league baseball’s leaders throughout the decade.

His disenchantment with the direction of the game was among the reasons O’Malley sold one of baseball’s most storied clubs to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Group for about $311 million--the most ever paid for a U.S. sports franchise.