The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 20

LABroadsheet 06-23-2011 4 C4 LA 1K TSet: 06-22-2011 22:51 C4 Cos Angeles (Times THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011 LATIMES.COMSPORTS BASEBALL Dodgers fall a few feet short DODGERS FYI surprises all Navarro's two-out, bases-loaded drive to deep center field in the ninth is flagged down by Jackson. Navarro Dylan Hernandez Detroit Tigers starter Rick Porcello was on the ropes. The first three Dodgers to face him in the fourth inning reached base, with Marcus Thames driving in Matt Kemp to cut the Dodgers' deficit to 5-3. Considering the circumstances, were you surprised to see Dioner Navarro put down a sacrifice bunt there with two on and no outs? If you were, you weren't alone. "When he bunted, it surprised me," Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said.

Navarro said he thought he had seen a bunt sign. "I didn't want to bunt there with him," Mattingly said. "He's swinging the bat pretty well." Navarro had hit a home run three days earlier. The wasted out might have been the difference in the Dodgers' 7-5 loss to the Tigers. In the at-bat that followed Navarro's, Jamey Carroll flied out to right field.

James Loney tagged up from third base but was thrown out at the plate by Magglio Ordonez. Broxton does well Mattingly said he was encouraged by the details of Jonathan Broxton's appearance with triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday. What most pleased Mattingly were the reports on Broxton's velocity. Mattingly said the closer's fastball was clocked from 94 to 96mph. "He was averaging 95," Mattingly said.

Broxton has been on the disabled list since May 4 because of a bruised elbow. Mattingly said that when Broxton returns, he won't immediately be put back in Dylan Hernandez Back when the Dodgers were still the Dodgers, their 7-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday would have been acceptable. They had won the first two games of the three-game series at Dodger Stadium. They had won their previous three games. And they displayed resiliency Wednesday, fighting back against a superior American League team to come within a few feet of extending the game into extra innings, if not winning it.

But these aren't the Dodgers of Sandy Koufax, Steve Garvey, Kirk Gibson, or even Manny Ramirez. These Dodgers have already lost too many games to have the luxury of taking comfort in moral victories. When backtracking center fielder Austin Jackson caught Dioner Navarro's line drive to end the game with the bases loaded, the Dodgers found themselves back at eight games under .500. Matt Kemp, who was charging home from second base when Jackson deprived the Dodgers of a rare moment of glory, threw his helmet in the direction of the vacant owner's box. As the Tigers celebrated on the field, Kemp retreated to the dugout with his hands on his head.

Later in the clubhouse, he declined to field any questions. "I'm good, dude," he said, walking toward the showers. The Dodgers will take a day off Thursday and resume play Friday with the first of nine more inter-league games, six against the Angels and three against Stephen Dunn BLOCKED OUT: James Loney is about to be tagged out by Victor Martinez after trying to score on a fly-ball out by Jamey Carroll in the fourth inning. the Minnesota Twins. For the Dodgers to meet Manager Don Mattingly's goal of reaching the .500 mark by the All-Star break, they will have to win 12 of their next 16 games.

Mattingly said he thought the Dodgers were about to secure one of those victories Wednesday. With the Dodgers trailing by two runs, Andre Ethier reached base on a one-out single to right field. Kemp walked and James Loney singled to left field to load the bases. Casey Blake pinch-hit for Dee Gordon but struck out to bring up Navarro, who hit a two-strike rocket against closer Jose Valverde. "I thought it was over his head," Mattingly said, referring to Jackson.

Loney, who was on the first base, said he also thought the ball would clear Jackson's head. So did Navarro. "I saw the replay," Navarro said. "He took a great jump." The sequence illustrated the Dodgers' lack of depth. The Dodgers didn't have a legitimate left-handed-hitting threat to pinch-hit for Gordon and were forced to send up the right-handed Blake.

Depth wasn't a problem for the Tigers. They held Jackson out of the lineup, starting Casper Wells in his place. Wells led off the game with a home run. Jackson entered the game as a ninth-inning defensive replacement. The Dodgers were forced to play from behind because of their inability to keep the ball in the park.

After not giving up a home run in their previous seven games, they served up four Wednesday, including three by starter Ted Lilly. Lilly also gave up home runs to Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera. Lilly lasted only 42A innings, giving up six runs and six hits. "I have to look myself in the mirror," Lilly said. "I need to get better." dylan.hernandezlatimes.com Selig not concerned over an advisor's role the closer's role.

"I think we'll try to get him into some games, get him comfortable out on the mound and see where he's at then and go from there," Mattingly said. Barajas is relieved Dodgers catcher Rod Barajas said that when he sprained his right ankle Saturday night, he initially thought the worst. "You hear about guys hearing a popping sound," Barajas said. "That's something I never experienced before. On that play, I heard the pop.

To hear that pop, we felt it could be pretty bad." He said he is hopeful he can be activated from the disabled list when his 15 days are up, but was unsure whether he could come back without playing in some minor league games first. "Being a catcher, the squatting is what's going to be tough," he said. Cuban embargo Asked whether he would like to work under Mark Cuban, Mattingly didn't want to answer. "I don't know," Mattingly said. Cuban, the owner of the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, told TMZ that he would consider buying the Dodgers under the right conditions.

Although Mattingly didn't want to talk about how Cuban has spent lavishly to improve his basketball team, he expressed an admiration for the Mavericks. "The Mavericks, obviously, over the years, it's kind of cool because it seems like they have high expectations," Mattingly said. "There's excitement around their franchise." dylan.hernandezlatimes.com Fox might not stand by McCourt Bill Shaikin Fox would not stand by Frank McCourt if the Dodgers owner were to ask a bankruptcy judge to order approval of the television contract rejected this week by Commissioner Bud Selig, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The Fox position would "severely complicate" any plans McCourt might have to file bankruptcy as a way to retain control of the Dodgers, said Rob Kampfner of White and Case, the firm that represented the incoming owners of the Texas Rangers through that club's bankruptcy proceedings last year. If McCourt cannot meet the Dodgers' payroll next week, Selig could seize the team and put it up for sale.

If McCourt were to take the Dodgers into bankruptcy before then, he could retain ownership through the proceedings, but without the Fox deal he would have a limited window of time to find the financing he has struggled to obtain for the last two years. "Frank would go in and wouldn't have an exit strategy," Kampfner said. A bankruptcy judge could overrule Selig and order approval of the Fox contract one McCourt says could be worth $3 billion to ensure the Dodgers' creditors are paid in full. Fox would respond that it is not bound to the agreement since a contract has not been executed and it would not support the Dodgers' owner should he ask a bankruptcy judge to implement the deal, said one of the people familiar with the matter who is not authorized to speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the circumstances. Kampfner also said that, if the Dodgers were to file for bankruptcy without interim financing to cover immediate payroll needs, the judge could appoint a trustee to replace McCourt in controlling the Dodgers.

Spokesmen for Fox and McCourt each declined to comment. bill.shaikinlatimes.com twitter.comBillShaikin Getty images Los Angeles Times then-wife Jamie in 2006, repaid amount paid for consulting deal. vice president of Charity Navigation, which tracks executive compensation at more than 5,000 charities. Miniutti said most charities of similar size would pay their top off i-cerinthe $100,000 range. Clayton said her compensation came not from donors but from $1 million that the McCourts provided as seed money to ThinkCure to cover salaries and other administrative costs.

"In my case, the McCourts as benefactors were paying my salary, which means that the cost of my compensation to the charity's donors was not excessive, it was zero," said Clayton, who was a senior editor at The Times before leaving to join ThinkCure. ThinkCure took in contributions and grants totaling $2.97 million in2008, its first full year of operation, according to its 2008 federal tax return. That sum included the initial $l-million endowment from the McCourts, said Clayton, whose total compensation that year was $203,375. In 2009, the charity announced that it paid out its first research grants totaling $600,000, a significant total for a foundation of its size to City of Hope and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. That same year, Clayton's compensation climbed to $253,280 while the contributions and grants brought in by ThinkCure dropped to $571,880, according to the tax records.

Clayton left ThinkCure in March of this year. ThinkCure paid out an additional $600,000 in grants to City of Hope and Children's Hospital Los Angeles last year, Clayton said. The charity's 2010 federal tax forms were not yet publicly available. james.peltzlatimes.com bill.shaikinlatimes.com Jamie McCourt," Manfred said. Sanderson was retained to "provide strategic counsel and consulting to assist in the positioning and direction of the Dodgers Dream Foundation," according to the attorney general.

Len Sanderson, president of Sanderson Strategies, said he had done similar work for about a dozen other professional sports teams. He also said the attorney general never contacted him. "If the AG would have asked me, I would have told them what we did," Sanderson said. "I'm proud of it." Sanderson said his primary assignment was to shape the foundation's mission by surveying how foundations related to other professional sports teams operated and by determining how the Dodgers' could distinguish itself in the community. His plan included several "cornerstone programs," and listed the goals and objectives for each.

Sanderson said his plan included efforts to raise Jamie McCourt's profile as chairwoman of the foundation. Those efforts, according to the correspondence, included a successful push to get Selig to launch a fan affordability initiative, the pursuit of a book project focused on Jamie McCourt and even the exploration of whether she could work with the Obama administration on community projects. "All of that helps the charitable foundation," Sanderson said. "You're trying to establish the fact that the foundation and ownership cares. The best way to do that is by branding the product, and putting a face behind the brand." Sanderson acknowledged talk of Jamie McCourt running for public office but dismissed it as "frivolous conversation." In an email dated Nov.

27, 2008, Sanderson wrote to Jamie McCourt: "Madame President Hope you're having a great Thanksgiving, complete with your very own Charles Steinberg. Enjoy the turkey. In eight years you can be pardoning one on the White House lawn. Let me know when you want to talk tomorrow." Jamie McCourt's response: "And to How's 11 AM my time? Asfortheturkeys, it would be hard to choose if sports writers Foundation, from CI ment of $239,080 to Dodgers executive Howard Sunkin that the team had already reimbursed to the charity. The foundation distributed $2,154,043 in charitable funds in those years, tax records show.

In 2008, the Dream Foundation retained Sanderson Strategies as a consultant, in a contract the attorney general found was "primarily for the benefit of a member of the board of directors." The attorney general's letter did not name the director in question or what services that person received. However, based on interviews and federal tax records for the foundation, the director could only be Jamie McCourt. The 2009 Dream Foundation tax filing outlined the Sanderson contract and included the notation of a possible "excess benefit" for one of its directors. The director wasn't identified, but the filing said that person resigned from the foundation board on April 10, 2010. "Mrs.

McCourt resigned as of that day," Choi said. Frank McCourt is the charity's sole remaining director, Choi said. Jamie McCourt said neither she nor anyone on her behalf was interviewed by the attorney general's office, according to her spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik. She declined to comment further. Frank McCourt, through his spokesman, declined to comment.

A spokesman for Atty. Gen. Ka-mala D. Harris said her office, as a policy, "does not confirm, deny or comment on investigations." Charles Steinberg, formerly the Dodgers' executive vice president of marketing and public relations, executed the contract on behalf of the Dodgers, according to the attorney general. Steinberg now works for the office of the commissioner of Major League Baseball, as senior advisor for public affairs.

He declined to comment, citing a confidentiality clause in his employment agreement with the Dodgers that prevents him from discussing club affairs with the media. Commissioner Bud Selig is aware of the charity matter but was not concerned about Steinberg's role, according to Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president. "Whatever was going on with the Dodgers Dream Foundation was directed by either Frank or OWNER: Frank McCourt, with Dodgers Dream Foundation for The attorney general launched an investigation into the Dream Foundation last year, after the New York Times reported the payment to Sunkin the $239,080 bonus part of $401,395 in total compensation. The amount paid to Sanderson was repaid to the Dream Foundation by Frank McCourt "from his personal account," Choi said. He added that there was "nothing to indicate that Mr.

McCourt received any personal benefit" from Sanderson's work. "This was the final issue that was outstanding with the investigation, so he made the decision to write the check," Choi said of Frank McCourt. The attorney general's letter did not say what would happen if the money was not repaid. The Dodgers repaid the Sunkin bonus, according to three people with knowledge of the situation who declined to be identified because of the sensitive circumstances. The Dream Foundation is the Dodgers' second-largest but most active charity.

Founded in 1998, it builds youth baseball fields and provides college scholarships for minority students. The charity had assets of $984,193 at the end of 2009, the most recent year for which tax records were available. The team's largest charity by current assets is ThinkCure, which raises money for cancer research. ThinkCure, which had $1.7 million in assets at the end of 2009, paid its former president, Janet Clayton, $456,655 in combined compensation including $432,466 in salary in 2008 and 2009, according to its federal tax records. Clayton's compensation "definitely seems excessive for a charity of this size," said Sandra Miniutti,.