Dodger Black & Blue

There was yet another news conference Monday afternoon at Dodger Stadium to spin the latest dramatic move in the organization’s season-long sideshow.

It was the biggest and most intriguing to date under the Fox Group umbrella, but there’s always tomorrow with this volatile bunch.

New Dodger President Bob Graziano initiated the gathering by firing executive vice president Fred Claire and manager Bill Russell late Sunday night and replacing them with Tom Lasorda and Glenn Hoffman, respectively.

Lasorda, the longtime former manager, gets his dream job on an interim basis and improves his standing in the organization. There appears to be some confusion among Fox Group and Dodger executives about the status of Hoffman, who was promoted from the Dodgers’ triple-A farm team at Albuquerque.

Graziano said Hoffman has the job on an interim basis as well, but a Fox Group official said the former Dodger infielder is the team’s manager and his situation will be evaluated at the end of the season, which is typical of the team’s policy in the past. Regardless, Hoffman is understandably pleased with his status.

“Tommy told me I’d be a manager one day,� he said, “but I didn’t think this day would come so soon.�

Claire and Russell didn’t either. They weren’t at the news conference and didn’t return phone calls Monday night.

Claire, 62, assumed control of player personnel decisions in 1987, shortly after his predecessor, Al Campanis, was fired by former owner Peter O’Malley for saying that blacks lacked the “necessities� to manage in the majors during an ABC “Nightline� interview.

Ironically, Campanis died Sunday morning.

“Fred always gave the organization 100% of his efforts, and he was responsible for a great deal of the Dodgers’ success through the years,� O’Malley said. “His contributions to the organization will always be appreciated.�

Claire, who was praised by players for being fair, was selected the Sporting News executive of the year after the Dodgers’ World Series championship season in 1988. Under his guidance, the team finished first or second in the National League West the past four seasons.

And he presided over the rebuilding of the Dodger farm system, which has produced five of the past six NL rookies of the year. But he also provided fodder for the critics.

Claire’s high opinions of Dodger players weren’t always shared by on-field management. He handcuffed Russell this season by failing to provide his manager with a closer, as well as help at other key positions, while committing high salaries to the Dodgers’ middle infielders.

Claire declined to trade supposed top prospects for established players, such as declining an off-season deal with the Florida Marlins that would have brought all-star pitcher Kevin Brown to Los Angeles for Paul Konerko.

Brown was traded to the Padres and is again among the league’s top starters. Konerko has struggled to establish himself in his rookie season with the Dodgers.

Some thought that Claire, who was in his 30th year with the organization, might succeed O’Malley as president of the team after the sale was completed. Instead, Graziano, formerly the other executive vice president, was appointed president and CEO.

Graziano has been with the Dodgers for 13 years, and has been primarily involved with business operations.

Russell, 49, was promoted from the team’s bench coach to manager in 1996 after Lasorda suffered a heart attack.

He fell out of favor with team executives last season because the Dodgers failed to qualify for the playoffs after leading the division by two games on Sept. 16. Some players said Russell managed scared this season.

“It’s not easy being a general manager and a manager in today’s world,� O’Malley said. “But I always admired the jobs Fred and Bill did for the Dodgers.�

They were the first officials to be sacrificed because of the team’s mediocre performance. Claire last year signed a three-year personal services contract with O’Malley before the Fox Group bought the team. Russell is owed the remainder of his $350,000 contract this season.

The Dodgers have struggled because of injuries and ineffectiveness, failing to meet the expectations accompanying a $57-million payroll. They are in third place in the National League West, and they trail the division-leading San Diego Padres by 13 1/2 games.

That was not what Graziano expected, and the people he reports to aren’t accustomed to failure.

Graziano figures the Dodgers’ performance should improve now that Lasorda and Hoffman have assumed their new roles in the Changing Dodger Order.

At least, that’s the sunny outlook preached by the president and his excited new underlings.

“With the way the team has been playing, I decided that a change was necessary,� Graziano said. “The team just wasn’t performing up to its capability, and I wasn’t comfortable staying with the status quo.

“We needed to get back on the right track, and I feel optimistic about that happening now. The move was made with the future of the organization in mind, and it was simply time to move forward.�

So Graziano made the boldest move of his four-month tenure as president Friday, informing Chase Carey and Peter Chernin--co-chief operating officers of Fox Group’s parent company News Corp.--that he was going to pull the plug on Claire and Russell after only 74 games.

Lasorda retired in 1996 after 20 years as the Dodger manager. Graziano said Lasorda will help conduct a national search for a general manager, and Lasorda will continue to have significant input in player-personnel decisions, something the vice president didn’t have when Claire occupied the general manager’s chair.

Lasorda remained among the Southland’s most popular sports figures, even when factions within the organization reduced his power over the last few years. And if he is perceived by some as white knight riding to the team’s rescue, then that’s fine with him.

“I told Bob Graziano that I would always be there for him in whatever he needed me to do, and this is what he needs me to do now,� Lasorda said. “There is a lot of talent on this team, and I’m going to challenge every one of these players to do everything they can to help this team.�

Hoffman doesn’t have as much rah-rah enthusiasm as Lasorda. Few do. But he’s not far behind.

“This team has the talent,� Hoffman said. “All we have to do is go out there and play and stay competitive.�

Sounds simple enough. But Hoffman might have begun learning that things aren’t as rosy as he believes when the Dodgers blew a 4-0 lead and lost to the Angels, 6-5, when Jim Bruske walked in the winning run in the ninth inning Monday night.

Russell could have told him.