This Organization Has Fallen Into State of Disorganization

There was only one statement during Friday’s Dodger news conference that rang absolutely true.

There was one phrase that didn’t make you shake your head in disagreement or disbelief.

It came when Chairman Bob Daly said, “Certainly, it’s a tough day for the Los Angeles Dodgers.”

Sure was. Pathetic, even.

Was that really the general manager begging for forgiveness and asking for another chance?

How many times did Daly say his first year on the job had been a “learning experience” and that he had been “naive” to think the team could decide to fire Manager Davey Johnson and expect that to remain secret for a week?

Are we really supposed to believe that the team doesn’t have a list of candidates to replace Johnson, and doesn’t even have a list of qualities it’s seeking in a manager?

This session started off strange and then took a detour toward bizarre.

The opening statements alone made the trip to Dodger Stadium worthwhile.

Seated at a table were Daly and President Bob Graziano--Showbiz Bob and Corporate Bob--and General Manager Kevin Malone.

Daly confirmed that the conclusion came during a meeting with Johnson and his agent a week earlier, when it became obvious that it would be in the best interests of everyone involved if Johnson didn’t return.

With only three more days left in the season, it would have made sense for the Dodgers to simply hold out until Monday to fire Johnson. Inexplicably, they agreed to let Johnson take a brief vacation before making their move, and by then the word leaked out in a story in Wednesday’s Times.

They let a guy who was about to walk the plank give directions to the guys steering the ship.

Which brings us to the first mate, Corporate Bob, who rattled off the usual company line that “We are positioning the organization for the future. The changes we’re making are really with the intent in mind that we want to create continuity and stability in the organization.”

Why does it feel as if the only constant at Dodger Stadium the past few years has been Graziano showing up at news conferences to discuss another transition?

When Malone’s turn came, he took the opportunity to issue a mea culpa.

“This was a disappointing and trying season and process that we’ve been through,” Malone said. “There were several problems that occurred this year, and I’ve come to realize that I contributed to some of those problems, and I’m sorry for that.

“We as an organization, the Dodgers, look to continue to improve and be the best we can be, and I want to be a part of that process of making this organization the very best.”

If that was hard for Malone to say, imagine how difficult it was for him to sit there while reporters asked Daly why he hadn’t fired Malone yet.

Daly said he is looking in broader terms.

“The only way the Dodgers are going to be able to field a team that will put together a group of people who will be together a long period of time and do it with some reasonable fiscal responsibility is to have our farm system come back to where it was before,” Daly said. “And I think Kevin and his people have done a very good job in the last two years of scouting and signing.”

Daly, the former Warner Bros. CEO, admitted that he had some disappointment in his first year running the Dodgers.

“It was a learning experience for me,” Daly said. “Yes, I would have done things different.

“My desire for the team to do better . . . maybe caused some more tension than needed to be.”

But he was bothered most by the infighting, the most public of which was between Malone and Johnson.

“I cannot live with an organization that does not completely row in the same direction,” Daly said.

“I spent a lot of time this year trying to get that to happen, and I take full responsibility for failing on that note. I think we had a lot of people who had the same desire to win. There’s nobody that was involved in this team--from the manager, the coaches, the general manager--who didn’t have the same desire to win. But sometimes things got a little bit out of hand. I tried and I really couldn’t accomplish bringing everybody together.”

With that in mind, he said that Malone will have “a very large voice” in selecting the new manager.

Friday, that voice said the Dodgers “don’t have a list of qualities [they want in a manager] because we don’t have a list of candidates.”

OK, for protocol purposes we’ll accept that the Dodgers couldn’t say they had candidates in mind before they had officially fired their manager. But to say they haven’t thought of what mold their next manager should fit when they have had a week to ponder it? They’re either putting us on or about to put us through more of the same muddling.

What else can you expect from an organization that just let a goner tell them when he could fire them?

Daly was asked why fans should trust the Dodgers after their recent miscues.

“I think you only can judge us based upon what we do in the future,” Showbiz Bob said.

Asking for belief without a hint of evidence is asking for faith. Blind faith.

Actually, that might not be such a bad idea for the next season. Just follow it with your eyes closed and listen to Vin Scully, who’s just about the only thing with the Dodgers that still feels right.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: ja.adande@latimes.com.