Reporting from Visalia, Calif. -- The stadium is full, the players are limbering up on the unblemished grass and sausages are sizzling on the grill, sending an irresistible invitation into the springtime air. But Walter O'Malley's grandson hardly notices. On this Friday night, he has an 80-year-old tempest to contend with, and her name is Irene Burtlow.
An O'Malley grandson brings his baseball family values to Visalia
Tom Seidler, 43, is owner of the Rawhide, the Arizona Diamondbacks' single-A team in Visalia. He grew up around the Dodgers, and it is easy to imagine what might have been had his family kept the franchise.
The single-A Rawhide baseball team has become an integral part of Visalia's… (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
"Tom Seidler," Burtlow says, pointing a finger at his chest. "I have a bone to pick with you. I am not happy, not happy at all …"
For decades at minor league baseball games in Visalia, members of the home team's booster club have passed a cap around the grandstand at Recreation Park, which fans fill with coins and dollar bills. At the end of the game the cash has gone to Visalia's best performers, often smooth-cheeked teens with still-fresh memories of the high school prom.
But now Seidler, the 43-year-old owner of the Rawhide, the town's entry-level professional team in the single-A California League, wants a change. The money, he tells Burtlow, ought to be distributed to everybody on the team. It would build better spirit, he says, and help more players — especially those who can barely pay their bills. After all, few of these players get big signing bonuses from the Arizona Diamondbacks, their parent club in the National League.
For 15 minutes, Burtlow argues that tradition shouldn't change. Seidler listens calmly, then finally assures her he will come up with a compromise. Burtlow softens, and he wraps an arm around her shoulders.
As Seidler turns away, he says he loves this part of his job. "The hospitality part. Being with fans, hearing their views, their complaints. I guess you could say it's in my DNA."
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Seidler hails from baseball royalty. He is a grandson of Walter O'Malley, the patriarch of a family from an era that now seems sacred in Los Angeles, especially as the city broods over the current sorry state of its Dodgers.
O'Malley bought the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 and — amid great controversy — moved them west, creating an enduring bond between city and team.
When he died in 1979, O'Malley bequeathed the Dodgers to his two grown children. One was Peter O'Malley, who ran the club until the family sold it in 1998, citing the family's failure to get city backing for an NFL stadium at Chavez Ravine. The other was Seidler's mother, Terry, who helped her brother guide the team behind the scenes.
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