(B) OPINION: Business Takes The Pitcher's Mound In Los Angeles Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News.

 
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                       THE BridgeNews FORUM: On sports and 
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* Fabled Dodgers Franchise, Run So Well By The O'Malley Family,

Becomes Mere Programming

By Bill Wallace

IT IS UNLIKELY THAT Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-born media mogul, has ever sat through nine innings of a Major League Baseball game.

That's all right because Murdoch's impending purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers, for a record $350 million, has nothing to do with being a fan or even a casual customer. This is a business deal.

And it is a cheerless ending of the O'Malley affiliation with the Dodgers, which dates back to when the team was still in Brooklyn.

For baseball purists, the impending sale is like Larry Flynt's …