The Sports Report: There could have been a ballpark in Woodland Hills

Hello everyone. My name is Houston Mitchell and I hope everyone out there is watching “Agents of SHIELD” because this looks like it could be the best season of the show so far.

Baseball

Bill Shaikin wrote a great story on how a minor league ballpark almost ended up in Woodland Hills. A quick recap before you go read the story here:

In 2012, Peter Guber joined the Dodgers’ new ownership group. In 2014, he led an investment partnership that bought the minor league team in Oklahoma City. The Dodgers also employ players at Class A Rancho Cucamonga of the California League, but they do not own the team.

At the same time, in Woodland Hills, Peter Lowy, then Westfield’s chief executive officer, had land that housed a fading mall. The land needed to be used for something. The two got together and developed a plan: Why not buy a California League team, put it in Woodland Hills, and let the Dodgers run it?

“Where else would it be better to have a minor league team for the Dodgers?” Lowy told Shaikin. “I think it would have been sold out for every game.”

“This wasn’t going to be some big money-maker,” Guber said. “It was marginal in that respect. But it would have been great for the Dodgers. We thought it would have been fun.

“The team wouldn’t have been something somebody would follow in the Los Angeles Times, but we felt it could be a really good incubator for executive talent, and for trying out new fan initiatives.”

The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, was on board with the project. The city would not have had to pay a dime. Everyone loved this idea. Except for one person.

“There was nobody that did not like it,” Guber said, “except for Arte Moreno.” Moreno, of course, owns the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California, United States, North America, Earth.

Under baseball rules, the Dodgers and Angels share the same territory: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. So if a minor league team wanted to play anywhere within that territory, the Dodgers and Angels would have to approve.

Moreno did not approve.

“He wasn’t mean or anything,” Guber said. “He was just indifferent to any of our propositions.

“He has a right to do anything he wants. We have no quarrel with that. … But it certainly didn’t leave a good taste in our mouths, in terms of our relationship in the marketplace.”

And that was that.

You can read the whole story by clicking here.

Golf

Tiger Woods shot a three-over-par 73 on Friday in the second round of the PGA Championship, putting him at five over for the tournament when the cut line was plus-four. His last opportunity came on No. 18, the least-imposing hole at Bethpage Black, but his approach from 113 yards hit the front of the green and spun back into the intermediate rough. He missed on his Hail Mary chip from 40 feet and wound up five feet from the cup. He made that for par, but it wasn’t enough.

It may not have mattered much though, not with the way Brooks Koepka is playing. Koepka followed his opening-round 63 with a 65 for the lowest 36-hole score (128) in majors history. That beats the previous record, held by several golfers, by two strokes.

After two rounds, Koepka has a seven-shot lead over Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott.

“What Brooksy did, he’s driving it 330 yards in the middle of the fairway,” Woods said. “He’s got nine-irons when most of us are hitting five-irons, four-irons, and he’s putting well. That adds up to a pretty substantial lead, and if he keeps doing what he’s doing, there’s no reason why he can’t build on this lead.”

NBA playoffs

Western Conference Finals

All times Pacific

at Golden State 116, Portland 94

at Golden State 114, Portland 111

Tonight, 6 p.m., Golden State at Portland, ESPN

Monday, 6 p.m., Golden State at Portland, ESPN

*Wednesday, 6 p.m., Portland at Golden State, ESPN

*Friday, 6 p.m., Golden State at Portland, ESPN

*Sunday, May 26, Portland at Golden State, ESPN

Eastern Conference Finals

All times Pacific

at Milwaukee 108, Toronto 100

at Milwaukee 125, Toronto 103

Sunday, 4 p.m., Milwaukee at Toronto, TNT

Tuesday, 5:30 p.m., Milwaukee at Toronto, TNT

*Thursday, 5:30 p.m., Toronto at Milwaukee, TNT

*Saturday, May 25, 5:30 p.m., Milwaukee at Toronto, TNT

*Monday, May 27, 5:30 p.m., Toronto at Milwaukee, TNT

*-if necessary

NHL playoffs

Western Conference Finals

All times Pacific

at San Jose 6, St. Louis 3

St. Louis 4, at San Jose 2

San Jose 5, at St. Louis 4 (OT)

at St. Louis 2, San Jose 1

Sunday, Noon, St. Louis at San Jose, NBC

Tuesday, 5 p.m., San Jose at St. Louis, NBCSN

*Thursday, 6 p.m., St. Louis at San Jose, NBCSN

Eastern Conference Finals

All times Pacific

at Boston 5, Carolina 2

at Boston 6, Carolina 2

Boston 2, at Carolina 1

Boston 4, at Carolina 0

*if necessary

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Odds and ends

Another horse fatality at Santa Anita; 24 thoroughbreds have died since Dec. 26…. Sports leagues hope to win where criminal justice system hasn’t on domestic violence…. Dodgers blast Reds with four home runs and Rich Hill pitches a gem…. Tour of California’s convoy of controlled chaos is the race behind the race…. FC Barcelona’s youth academy searches for soccer’s next Messi…. Mick Cronin isn’t a fan of tough talk, but he wants UCLA to be tough…. Sofia Abrego pulls off rare distance triple at L.A. City Section track and field finals…. Galaxy star Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended for two games by MLS…. LAUSD is investigating allegation of academic misconduct involving Narbonne athlete…. Matt Harvey snuffs out the Royals’ hitting power in Angels’ win.

Today’s local major sports schedule

(All times Pacific)

Dodgers at Cincinnati, 1 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570

Kansas City at Angels, 7 p.m., FSW, KLAA 830

Born on this date

1909: Tennis player Fred Perry

1924: Sportscaster Jack Whitaker

1937: Baseball player Brooks Robinson

1946: Baseball player Reggie Jackson

1960: Hockey player Jari Kurri

1960: Tennis player Yannick Noah

1962: Volleyball player Mike Whitmarsh

1973: Race car driver Dario Franchitti

1983: Football player Vince Young

Died on this date

1963: Football player Ernie Davis, leukemia, 23

And finally

Reggie Jackson’s final at-bat in Fenway Park. Watch it here.

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email us here. If you want to subscribe, click here.