Former Dodgers executive Derrick Hall, now the President and CEO of the Diamondbacks, has had quite an offseason. Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports has a wonderful profile of Hall, who battled prostate cancer and lived to tell about it:
Lately his energy has returned to his pre-surgery Herculean level. He and Amy hosted a dinner at their home for 80 United Way employees a few nights ago. He’s constantly on the radio and local television, pumping up the D-backs. He pops his head into offices and cubicles at Chase Field, chatting with employees who sell tickets, solicit advertising and evaluate the farm system.
His approach fosters the culture the United Nations recognized in giving the inaugural Positive Peace Award for a sports team to the Diamondbacks. It’s why MLB has Hall on its short list of candidates to replace Selig when he retires, perhaps as soon as 2014. It’s why several of the groups seeking to purchase the Dodgers have contacted Hall to become the CEO should their bid win.
That last sentence is interesting to note, as Hall resigned as senior vice president of communications just two months into Frank McCourt's tenure with the team, and the Dodgers haven't technically had a team president since Dennis Mannion was let go in October 2010.
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In other news...
- Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports that former Angels outfielder Chris Pettit has singed a minor league deal with the Dodgers. No word yet on whether or not Pettit got an invitation to big league camp in spring training.
- Dodgers minor league outfielder and first baseman Scott Van Slyke is profiled by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
- Former Dodger, current Orioles pitcher Dana Eveland, along with current Dodgers farmhand Joe Becker, will host a baseball camp in Palmdale for kids ages 8-16 on Saturday, February 4.
- On his first day at his new location, Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts has an interview with the great Old Hoss Radbourn.
- Sam Miller of the Orange County Register tells the tale of Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto, C.J. Wilson's agent Bob Garber, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, and a restaurant from the winter meetings in Dallas
- Happy 93rd birthday, Jackie Robinson.
- Pitchers and catchers report to Dodgers camp at Camelback Ranch exactly three weeks from today.