Dodger Owners Have Lot to Learn

VERO BEACH, Fla. —  New Dodger co-owners Frank and Jamie McCourt moved Tuesday to allay concerns of employees and clarify their recent comments about the state of the organization.

The Boston couple affirmed their belief in the club’s workforce a day after Jamie McCourt, the vice chairman, made strong comments about demanding more of the Dodgers, saying she intended to encourage, not criticize.

Frank McCourt, the chairman, said he plans to soon address the Dodger Stadium staff in a conference call, hoping to take the focus off the recent spate of front-office resignations and put it back on the field.

The McCourts acknowledged they’re learning on the job, but they want it known they have good intentions for the Dodgers and their fans.

“There’s a tremendous amount to learn, there’s just absolutely no question about it, and we’re learning as we go here,” Frank McCourt said. “Having said that, I hope that whether it be the employees and the fans, or anybody else involved in the organization, they understand that we care a tremendous amount about this franchise.

“We really care about getting the Dodgers back on the top of the heap here and having the best organization in baseball both on and off the field. There’s incredible potential here and there are tremendous people here working in this organization.”

Many within the organization, and throughout baseball, were alarmed by Jamie McCourt’s comments in Tuesday’s editions of The Times in response to questions about the resignations of Bob Graziano, team president; Kris Rone, executive vice president of business; and Derrick Hall, senior vice president of communications.

She appeared to lash out at the former regime, stressing the need to “try to change the culture of the Dodgers” while seemingly taking jabs at the club’s marketing efforts and charitable unit, the Dream Foundation.

Moreover, Jamie McCourt pushed the bar higher for the Dodgers, saying it was “crazy” for the team to miss the playoffs the last seven seasons, adding, “They should have been drawing 4 million fans, not 3 million fans.”

High-level baseball officials expressed concern about the comments and front-office turnover, saying they plan to speak with the McCourts.

“It serves no purpose ripping former owners and former employees,” a top official said. “They need people with experience in the community and in baseball. They’ve lost some very good people in a short amount of time and that concerns us.”

The McCourts said they expect a lot of themselves and the Dodgers.

“I really believe that if you don’t set the bar higher you won’t be able to get higher,” Jamie McCourt said. “You have to aspire to greater things than where you already are.

“What I was trying to say, and what I really do mean to say and believe in is that this team has drawn 3 million fans notwithstanding that it hasn’t won a playoff [game] since 1988. It has drawn 3 million notwithstanding the position it is on other levels.

“Yet the demographics in L.A. have changed, and there’s no reason to think that if you put the appropriate product on the field you can’t draw 4 million fans. It’s a huge population and L.A. loves its Dodgers. They should all come to the park.”

The Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays are the only clubs to have drawn at least 4 million in a season. The Dodgers were fourth in the major leagues (second in the National League) in attendance last season at 3,138,626.

Jamie McCourt said that only 11 of the stadium’s “30-odd suites” were sold, citing the need for better performance in producing revenue.

The Dodgers in 2003 actually averaged 24.7 suites occupied per game and ranked among the majors’ top four clubs in premium suite revenue, according to figures obtained from baseball sources.

As for the Dream Foundation, the McCourts said they’re pleased with it and want to do more in the community.

“We think it’s a great foundation,” Jamie McCourt said. “We hope that we can contribute more money and more energy.

“Why not use it as a vehicle to do more community stuff? It just makes total sense to do that.”

The McCourts said they’re looking toward the future.

“It’s incumbent upon us to make our goals and objectives very, very clear to everybody here,” Frank McCourt said. “We certainly have tried to simplify it and boil it down to one thing: It’s about winning with the right people.

“We want to be winners on and off the field. That’s our aspiration and ... we’re going to continue to say that over and over and over again until everybody understands how committed and dedicated we are to that.”