THE TWO BOBS.

Robert Daly and Bob Graziano talk frankly about the new regime at the L.A. Dodgers, and their plans to resurrect the franchise

SINCE purchasing the Dodgers from Peter O'Malley in April 1998 for $311 million, Fox Entertainment Group, a unit of News Corp., has been faced with an array

As the season was ending last year, Fox fired Dodger President Bob Graziano, who had been with the team since the early 1980s. Then, Bob Daly, who had only recently stepped down as co-chairman of Warner Bros., bought 10 percent of the team and became its chairman and managing partner. He quickly brought back Graziano, hoping the two could have as successful a partnership as Daly did with Warner Bros. co-head Terry Semel.

Brooklyn-born Daly is now charged with recapturing the sense of tradition that many felt had been lost when News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch bought the team.

Question: You've gone from one high-profile position to another. How do they compare?

Daly: This is a much higher profile in a smaller arena. During the Christmas holiday, I had lunch in Malibu with my wife and David Geffen, and we walked across to a yogurt place. I went to pay the woman, and she said to me, "I would give you this for nothing if you get Mike Piazza back." All the time I was at Warner Bros., nobody ever said to me, "if you just get me Kevin Costner in another movie, I'll give you this yogurt for nothing."

And the truth of the matter is, this is a much smaller venue. The revenues of the Dodgers are a drop (compared with Warner Bros.). I just came off running an $11 billion company with a profit in excess of a billion dollars. I have a loss here (at the Dodgers). The total revenues of the Dodgers are not as big as from "The Matrix." One movie. But that doesn't mean it's not as complex.

Q: Talk about how you came to acquire part of the Dodgers. When did you approach Fox? Was it before or after you made the announcement that you were leaving Warner Bros.?

Daly: In September. After. You have to understand that when the Dodgers were up for sale, I put a group together to try and buy the Dodgers. During that time, Rupert Murdoch called me three times to ask if we could do it together. And I told him, "Rupert, we can't do this together, I work for Time Warner." Dissolve: He buys (the Dodgers), everything goes on, and I'd run into him from time to time. When I left (Warner Bros.), I called Rupert through a mutual friend who said to him, "You should really talk to Bob Daly." And I called Rupert and said, "I'd like to come and see you." And I went out to his house, and had breakfast with him. This was in late September. And I said that I'd like to be the head of the Dodgers, but I'd like to buy a piece.

Q: At about that same time, Mr. Graziano reportedly had been fired by Fox executive Rick Welts, who then became interim head of the team.

Daly: Here's what was going on. From the first time I had a conversation with (Murdoch), I told him how much I wanted Bob (Graziano) to be my partner here. But here's the problem: Rick Welts knew nothing about me, because I was dealing with Rupert and Peter. So Rick was sort of Out there on his own. So in between me talking to Rupert and to Peter, Rick talked to Bob. They didn't know about it. Rick didn't know about me.

Q: The last couple of years, under Fox's leadership, things have not gone well on or off the field. What's going to be different now?

Graziano: I think the organization was thrown into turmoil not when Fox bought the team, but when Peter O'Malley put the team up for sale. We went through a year and a half of selling the ballclub, and when you're selling an organization, you do things differently. So not only were we going from changing ownership that had been in place for 50 years, but immediately making changes in the organization to make this business make more (economic) sense. That, coupled with the poor team performance, was the problem. Now, we have an owner who's hands-on, who is here every day, who understands the complexities of the business.

Daly: It's very hard for a big corporation to look after a baseball team like this. The key, like running anything, is that the person in charge (must be) absolutely in charge. And Bob wasn't absolutely in charge because he had Fox there, and they had a lot of say in what was going on. I don't blame Fox at all. I just think structurally it made no sense. And now I think there is a big difference, because when we make a decision here, Bob walks down with (General Manager) Kevin (Malone), or whoever, and we sit down at this table, and we make a decision. When we leave this table, the decision's been made.

There were a lot of people from Fox who played a role with the Dodgers. But these guys have huge jobs. I had those jobs. I know what those jobs are like. When you're here, you're living it every moment. People are bringing you up to date, telling you what's going on. Look, you've got to give Fox credit. They agreed with everything we're saying. From the day I walked into this job, they haven't said "boo" about anything. I just fill them in. I talk with Peter (Chernin) every once in awhile or (News Corp. co-Chief Operating Officer) Chase (Carey) because I feel an obligation to, because they own more than I do, not because they ask me to.

Q: In your short tenure, you've already made some big deals: trading Raul Mondesi for Shawn Green, and then signing Green to a big contract -- and then trading Eric Young and Ismael Valdes for mostly unproven talent. You didn't clear these with Fox ahead of time?

Daly: No. I'll tell you what I did. In the trade of Mondesi for Green, I didn't even talk to them. Signing Green to a (six-year) contract for $84 million? I felt an obligation to tell them I was doing that.

Q: So you told them, rather than asked for permission?

Daly: If somebody there said to me, "Bob, I really wouldn't want to spend $84 million," I would have to go back and say, they own a lot of this club. I probably would argue with them about it. But I believe in a partnership relationship where both sides have to feel good about it. In this case, I told them I was doing it, and they said, "Great." As far as the Valdes-Young Deal , they didn't even know about it until it was done. We sent out an announcement today, signing a player to a four-year contract with an option for five, and you know the first time they heard about it?

Graziano: When you sent them the press release.

Daly: I just sent them a press release so they don't see it on the news. And if they see it on the news, they see it on the news. They've given me that authority. That's part of what I negotiated for.

Graziano: I think that highlights the fact that Fox knew there were problems in the way the organization was structured. And I think they came to the conclusion, and you have to give them credit, that just to come in and replace me and keep the exact same structure as they had before was going to fail again. When Bob approached Fox and said, "I've got this idea," they understood that this would solve the structural problems that had existed over the past year and a half.

Q: What has been most surprising since coming here?

Daly: The biggest shock to me is (the team's finances). I've never lost money running anything in my life. Look at my record at Warner Bros. This year, the one in which Terry Semel and I left, will be the 17th record year in a row with profits. To come aboard and find out that the Dodgers lose money -- and this is one of the best franchises in baseball -- tells you a little about the economics of baseball vs. a lot of other businesses. So the job ahead of us is, most importantly, how do we field a team that wins? That's really where it starts, winning ballgames, and try to do it in such a way that it wouldn't be so bad to make a dollar. And we're not going to be there for a while. We're certainly not going to be there in the year 2000. We could have the best team you could possibly field, and we will not make money this year. There's just no way.

Q: That is in large part due to skyrocketing player salaries. What do you see changing?

Daly: The people who are the stars will always get paid whatever the marketplace will be. Where you'll have to make decisions is where decisions are being made in the movie business right now. The people who -- let's just call them the people who don't draw people into the park -- are going to make less money. (In the movie business) I'm talking about actors who are not the marquee people, who are really good at what they do, but are the middle-tier people. At some point, there has to be a finite amount of money you can spend on anything.

Q: I've seen reports that the Dodgers' payroll is going to be around $94 million this year, up from around $80 million in 1999.

Daly: Well, it's going to be in the high 80s. We hope it doesn't get to 94. But it'll be close to 8 to 10 million dollars more than last year. We won't be (the league's highest payroll).

Q: Any regrets about leaving Warner, given the AOL-Time Warner merger?

Daly: Zip. Why should I regret leaving? I kept all my stock (laughs). It took me a long time to leave Warner Bros., an agonizing year. Once I made the decision, I never went back.

Robert A. Daly

Title: Chairman, CEO and managing general partner, Los Angeles Dodgers

Born: Brooklyn, 1941

Education: Attended Brooklyn College, Hunter College

Personal: Married to songwriter Carole Bayer Sager; three children

Bob Graziano

Title: President and chief operating officer, Los Angeles Dodgers

Born: Los Angeles, 1958

Education: B.A., USC

Personal: Married; two sons