His Way, Not the Dodger Way

Jerry Reinsdorf wants a publicly funded stadium, which would be his second since leading a group that bought the White Sox in 1981. A reluctance to spend his own money helps explain the constant mediocrity of Reinsdorf’s team. A transplanted New Yorker, Reinsdorf grew up a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the history of which seems not to have rubbed off on him in the least. The Dodgers had Branch Rickey, Reinsdorf gave us Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn. When he finally got around to firing that pair back in August, Reinsdorf announced that he had no intention of going after the likes of Shohei Ohtani; see “reluctance,” above. The Dodgers, though, had no such problem. Consider what the means. A team playing in the third-oldest stadium in major league baseball—a privately owned stadium, at that—went out and signed Ohtani for $700 million. LA also added pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto for $325 million. Back in 2020, they signed Mookie Betts to a $365 million contract. They also have Freddie Freeman. We have Mickey Mouse. Yesterday, the Sox faced the Dodgers in Glendale; the place was packed, courtesy of Ohtani Fever (vs. Nicky Lopez or Paul DeJong fever). Oh, Garrett Crochet fanned Ohtani in his first at-bat, just as he’s fanned him the two times they’ve faced each other in the regular season. But, so what? If Crochet has a breakout season and establishes himself as a number-one starter, all that does is start the clock on his getting traded; look no further than Dylan Cease. Jerry Reinsdorf doesn’t pay for pitching any more than he pays for ballparks.