Get ready for the Super Bowl shuffle.

With the start of NFL training camps probably days away, and every team angling for the ultimate prize, a major player reshuffling is in the works. Two years worth of unrestricted free agents are expected to hit the open market this week, and clubs are bracing for an unprecedented flurry of signings.

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If things follow the anticipated course and players approve the collective bargaining agreement team owners have offered, free agency will begin Wednesday with franchises getting a chance to retain their own unsigned players, and continue Saturday — the same day camps are expected to start — when teams are eligible to sign the remaining free agents.

There are more than 400 unrestricted free agents this year, roughly double a typical year, because in last year’s uncapped season the requirement for free agency was increased from four seasons of service to six. Under the proposed CBA, that number drops back to four seasons.

And it won’t be just free agents who are switching teams. There are likely to be some high-profile trades too.

A look at some of the better-known players who could find themselves with new teams this season — or who could at least strike lucrative deals with their current teams:

Quarterbacks

Kevin Kolb, Philadelphia: With the resurfacing of Michael Vick, Kolb didn’t get much of a chance with the Eagles to prove what he could do as the starter. He could wind up finding his opportunity out West, as Kolb would be a good fit in Arizona or Seattle, among other places. There are rumblings that the Cardinals might strike a deal involving cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie for Kolb.

Donovan McNabb, Washington: As much as Mike Shanahan says he loves McNabb, the coach’s actions say otherwise. The Redskins could wind up trading him — perhaps to Minnesota? — but they would have to rework his contract first. McNabb is due a $10-million bonus if he’s still on the roster after Week 1.

Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle: When he’s healthy, which isn’t often, Hasselbeck is a crafty player who can move the offense. The Seahawks seem unwilling to give him anything longer than a one-year deal. Maybe he’ll wind up finishing his career in Tennessee, helping bring along his Northwest neighbor, Jake Locker.

Carson Palmer, Cincinnati: Palmer says he isn’t going back to the Bengals and will retire if they don’t relinquish his rights. From the look of things, Bengals owner Mike Brown plans to call his bluff. Palmer’s old coach, Pete Carroll, would love to have him in Seattle.

Running backs

DeAngelo Williams, Carolina: In 2008, the last time he played a full season, Williams ran for 1,515 yards and scored 18 rushing touchdowns. A popular projection has him heading to Denver for a reunion with Coach John Fox, who is looking to help Knowshon Moreno.

Cedric Benson, Cincinnati: The Bengals gave Benson a second chance and he made the most of it . . . until his recent arrest on a charge of assault causing bodily injury to a family member, that is. Now, he’ll be able to test the free-agent market, although Cincinnati has identified re-signing him as a priority.

Ahmad Bradshaw, New York Giants: Bradshaw was very productive for the Giants last season and has said he’d like to stay. But the Giants have a lot of decisions to make on their high-profile free agents; are they willing to commit the cash to keep both Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs?

Receivers

Sidney Rice, Minnesota: The Vikings would love to keep the 6-foot-4 Rice, who’s coming off an injury-shortened season, but he’ll have his share of suitors. New England is rumored to be interested.

Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards, New York Jets: The Jets can probably keep either Holmes or Edwards but will be hard-pressed to hang on to both free agents.

Malcom Floyd, San Diego: Floyd has not been consistent, but the Chargers could be left short-handed if they let the free agent go and Vincent Jackson also finds his way out of town. Jackson’s agent is claiming the receiver’s rights have been violated because he has been prevented two years in a row from testing the free-agent market because San Diego put the franchise tag on him (under the old labor agreement). That argument is still pending.

— With Puerto Rican flags waving in the breeze and many of his countrymen cheering in appreciation, Roberto Alomar was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Speaking first in his native Spanish, the third Puerto Rican player to be enshrined, along with Orlando Cepeda and Roberto Clemente, said he felt proud to be a Puerto Rican.

“I always played for my island,” he said at Sunday’s ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., before adding, “It is a true blessing to be able to share this moment with all of you. I have you in my heart.”

The governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuno, took a moment to congratulate Alomar, saying that his induction “is an honor for all Puerto Ricans.” He thanked Alomar for representing his Caribbean homeland well in the big leagues.

Alomar, a member of the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series championship teams in 1992 and 1993, is the first player to enter the Hall of Fame wearing a Blue Jays cap and only the 20th second baseman to be inducted.

“I did not know how nervous I would be,” said Alomar, who was bypassed in his first year of eligibility and on his second try was named on 90% of ballots cast, becoming the 26th player to garner at least 90% in any election. “Suddenly, I feel speechless.”

The switch-hitting Alomar won a record 10 Gold Gloves at second base, was a 12-time All-Star and a career .300 hitter. Full of baseball smarts and grace, he’s also linked with one of the game’s most tawdry moments — he spit on umpire John Hirschbeck during an argument in 1996. The two have long since moved past that, and Hirschbeck was invited to come Sunday. He had to decline because he was working a game in Pittsburgh.

Also inducted Sunday was right-hander Bert Blyleven, the first Dutch-born player to be enshrined. He thanked his late father and 85-year-old mother for the drive and determination he needed to succeed.

Blyleven, whose amazing curveball frustrated batters, finished with 287 wins, 3,701 strikeouts, 60 shutouts and two World Series rings — in 1979 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and 1987 with the Minnesota Twins.

Blyleven’s path toward the Hall was slow and steep — he drew the backing of only 14.1% one year — but on his 14th try became the first pure starting pitcher to be selected by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America since Nolan Ryan in 1999.

Blyleven’s father, who died of Parkinson’s in 2004, fell in love with baseball and the Dodgers after the family moved to Southern California in the late 1950s.

“I wish he was here,” Blyleven said. “But you know, Mom, I know he’s up there looking down right now.”

Front-office guru Pat Gillick was the other inductee. His teams posted winning records in 20 of his 27 seasons as a general manager and advanced to the postseason 11 times. He was general manager when the Blue Jays won the World Series in 1992 and 1993 and when the Phillies won in 2008.

Reporting from Baltimore —

While rookies Tyler Chatwood and Mike Trout were teaming up to beat the Orioles on Sunday, aging sluggers Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells remained on pace for career-worst seasons in more than one major offensive category this year.

But Angels Manager Mike Scioscia isn’t ready to blame the decline on age.

“These guys are going through rough stretches now, but they’re athletic, they’re still in great shape. Their bat speed’s there,” Scioscia said. “At times in a hitters’ career you have to come to a point where you have to make some adjustments.”

That time has definitely come for the 37-year-old Abreu, a .295 lifetime hitter who is on pace to hit .265 with career lows for homers (five) and runs batted in (62). Abreu has never hit fewer than 15 homers or driven in less than 74 runs in a full season.

“It’s not the same. It’s not me,” Abreu said.

Abreu, hitting .159 in July, has been working with hitting coach Mickey Hatcher on moving closer to the plate to improve his coverage. That appeared to work Sunday when he walked, drove in the Angels’ first run by squirting a ground ball through the infield, then lined out to third on an outside pitch.

“When you’re not swinging well and you’re not comfortable in the box, everything from your slugging percentage to your batting average, everything’s going to start to wither,” Scioscia said.

Hunter, who turned 36 last week, is hitting a career-low .236 and is on pace to strike out a career-high 130 times. He too showed signs of breaking out Sunday, drilling a ball off the top of the center-field wall for a double in the third, then driving a ball over the wall for his 13th home run of the season in the eighth, giving him a team-high 49 RBIs.

Wells, 32, who homered twice in the series, is batting .246 in July and .219 for the season — 61 points below his career average. His on-base percentage of .250 is more than 50 points lower than his previous worst.

“There’s different reasons for everybody,” Scioscia said. “I don’t think we view the decline in Torii and Bobby as much age as it is just really getting into some bad mechanics at times.

“These guys both have a lot of baseball left. We need that production now.”

Quiet time

The Angels gave Trout the silent treatment in the dugout after his first big-league homer Sunday.

“I was figuring on something,” said Trout, who showered and dressed quickly after the game so he could visit with his parents.

But with so many young players on the Angels roster, the prank proved difficult to pull off. Peter Bourjos, who has less than a year of major league experience, was among the first to crack.

“It lasted longer than I thought it would,” he said of the cold shoulder Trout got in the dugout. “I was just so happy for him I had to go over.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

PARIS — After two runner-up finishes, Cadel Evans finally stood at the top of the podium on the Champs-Elysees as champion of cycling’s great race.

Wrapped in his country’s flag and with tears in his eyes, Evans listened as Australia’s national anthem played Sunday after he became the first Australian — and the oldest rider since World War II — to win the Tour de France.

“I couldn’t be any happier. A few people always believed in me. I always believed in me. And we did it,” Evans, 34, said.

He celebrated after crossing the finish line in the pack on the Champs-Elysees, embracing riders from different teams as the massive crowd on France’s most famous thoroughfare cheered wildly.

Evans bounded up the steps onto the podium, taking deep breaths, then appeared at the top looking calm.

“Thank you to everyone. It’s really incredible,” he told the crowd.

Evans was joined on the podium by the Schleck brothers of Luxembourg — Andy, who finished second overall for the third consecutive year, and Frank. Andy finished 1 minute 34 seconds behind Evans in the final standings.

Australian singer Tina Arena sang the national anthem. Evans’ Italian wife, Chiara, stood beside him after the presentation ceremony.

“I think he’s worked very hard,” she said.

Evans is only the third non-European to win the Tour since the first edition of the race in 1903. Greg LeMond broke the European dominance in 1986 with the first of his three wins, and fellow American Lance Armstrong won seven titles in a row beginning in 1999.

It has been a long wait for Evans, who first showed himself as a challenger for major races in 2002 and twice finished second in the Tour, in 2007 and 2008.

Evans is the oldest Tour winner since World War II, narrowly eclipsing Gino Bartali of Italy, who also was 34 but slightly younger when he won in 1948. The race’s oldest winner was 36-year-old Firmin Lambot of Belgium in 1922.

“Cadel was the best of the Tour and he deserved to win,” Andy Schleck said. “Second isn’t bad, and my brother was on the podium too. I’ll be back to win this Tour. We have a date for next year.”

Sunday’s 21st and final stage — the most prestigious for the race’s sprinters — was won by Britain’s Mark Cavendish for the third year in a row even though he had to change bikes on the Champs-Elysees. He also took the green jersey, awarded to the overall best sprinter.

Cavendish crossed the line holding out the green jersey he was wearing, then he kissed it. Despite his 20 Tour stage victories, the jersey had eluded him until now.

“Finally!” he said.

Second place in the stage went to Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway, and third to Andre Greipel of Germany.

This year was a far cry from the Tours of many recent years that were dominated almost from the start by Armstrong or, later, Alberto Contador. This was a race that defied predictions and was hanging in the balance on the final weekend.

Evans rarely made his presence known, but he was always there. Up every mountain he was never more than one bicycle length behind his rivals. With a small lead that he picked up in the early stages of the race and a lot of strength in time trials, he knew he did not need to attack to win.

Still, when Andy Schleck broke away from the field on the climb of the Galibier pass Thursday, observers thought Evans’ BMC team had made a crucial mistake. But Evans remained calm.

He went into the time trial Saturday needing to make up almost a minute on Schleck; he made up more than 21/2.

“The real highlight was the last three to four kilometers of the time trial yesterday, because I knew we were on the right track,” Evans said.

The polka-dot jersey, awarded to the best climber, went to Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez of Spain, who brought his two children onto the podium. The best young rider was Pierre Rolland of France, who won the classic climb up the Alpe d’Huez on Friday.

Before setting off Sunday, riders removed their helmets and observed a minute of silence in tribute to the victims of the attacks in Norway on Friday.

“When this kind of thing happens, everybody forgets about the sport,” Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd said. “It’s not even important in comparison.

“It’s quite nice that everybody thinks of us. We’re a small country … unfortunately, this can happen anywhere.”

Hushovd and countryman Boasson Hagen won two stages each in this year’s race.

BUENOS AIRES — Diego Forlan scored two goals and Luis Suarez had one as Uruguay won the Copa America for a record 15th time, beating Paraguay, 3-0, on Sunday.

Suarez scored in the 11th minute, and Forlan’s goals came in the 41st minute and the 89th.

“We played as a group,” said Suarez, who was selected the tournament’s best player. “I think when groups are united like this, everyone together and going for the same thing, you can get things done.”

Uruguay won its first Copa America title since 1995. The team reached the World Cup semifinals a year ago, surpassing the performance of South American powers Brazil and Argentina.

Argentina and Brazil were upset in the quarterfinals of this tournament. Uruguay defeated Argentina on penalty kicks and Paraguay eliminated Brazil, also in a shootout.

Argentina has won the Copa America title 14 times, Brazil eight. Brazil had won four of the previous five titles.

Uruguay was the clear favorite going into the final, wrapping up a tournament filled with surprises.

Brazil and Argentina were eliminated early, and Venezuela reached the third-place match Saturday before losing, 4-1, to Peru. Those two teams have been the weakest in the region in recent years, but they suddenly look formidable going into regional World Cup qualifying this year.

Uruguay’s squad featured 20 of the 23 players it took to the World Cup a year ago, and it showed teamwork and unselfish play with none of the vast star power of Argentina or Brazil.

“The important thing was getting started well,” said Suarez, who had four goals in the Copa America — second most in the tournament to Peru’s Paolo Guerrero, who scored five. “With two goals in the first half, I think it was very difficult for them to come back.”

Suarez gave Uruguay the lead in a match it dominated in the opening minutes. Receiving a pass in the area, the Liverpool forward beat defender Dario Veron and scored on a left-footed shot that was deflected and went in off the far post behind goalkeeper Justo Villar.

Forlan made it 2-0 by lashing a left-footed shot from 13 yards that left Villar flat-footed. The Atletico Madrid striker had not scored in his 12 previous matches for the national team.

Forlan scored the game’s final goal in the 89th minute, taking a pass from Suarez and scoring into the far corner.

“This has been a lot of work, going back many years,” Forlan said. “It’s been a job of doing things well and it’s yielded results.”

Paraguay, which seldom threatened, played without injured forward Roque Santa Cruz and winger Aureliano Torres. Paraguay Coach Gerardo Martino and top assistant Jorge Pautasso were suspended for the match after they were sent off for repeatedly arguing with the referee in the team’s semifinal victory against Venezuela on Wednesday.

Martino, an Argentine, is seen as a leading contender to take over Argentina’s national team. The Argentine federation was to meet Monday and decide on the future of Coach Sergio Batista.

With a dive to his right and a kick to his left, Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart provided the difference in Sunday’s exhibition match against the Galaxy. Hart blocked A.J. DeLaGarza’s attempt and then made his own to win the shootout, 7-6, after nine rounds.

“I couldn’t wait,” Hart said of his rare chance to view the goal from the outside. “I was trying to take it earlier.”

After 90 minutes the match stood knotted up at 1-1, thanks to a 53rd-minute goal from Galaxy forward Mike Magee that equaled Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli’s penalty-kick goal in the first half.

On their way to the goal before the shootout began, Hart and Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Perk could be seen talking and laughing. Galaxy midfielder Juninho provided the first miss in the shootout, hitting the left post, but Perk evened the festivities by blocking forward John Guidetti’s attempt in the fifth round.

“It was a lot of fun,” Perk said. “There is no pressure at that point, it’s just a friendly, and the kickers are expected to make them, so we’re just out there having a blast.

“I can’t tell you guys [what was said before the shootout]. It’s between me and him in the heat of the moment, so I’ll have to take that to my grave.”

Magee managed to get past Hart with a 25-yard shot into the upper corner of the goal, but aside from that score Hart made four saves.

“There were a lot of quality saves that he made in the game,” Perk said. “It was pretty much me watching him … trying to take a little bit away from his game and put it into my game.”

Galaxy midfielder Dan Keat opened the goal-scoring sequence by crossing the ball over to midfielder Chris Birchall. Birchall headed the ball directly to an open Magee.

“When I saw that ball bounce the way it did and he was able to volley it, I had a feeling he was going to get it on goal,” Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said. “It was a fabulous goal against a fabulous goalkeeper.”

Balotelli’s afternoon ended shortly after his 20th-minute penalty kick slipped by Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Saunders, who played the first half. Less than 10 minutes later, Balotelli had a breakaway for what should have been an easy goal, but instead he stopped, spun and kicked the ball with his right heel. The ill-advised trickery sent the ball wide right, and Manchester City Coach Roberto Mancini sent Balotelli straight to the bench following the showboating in front of 24,897 fans at the Home Depot Center.

“In football you should be serious always,” Mancini said. “If you have a chance to score, you should score … For him, I hope it’s an important lesson.”

douglas.farmer@latimes.com

twitter.com/d_farmer

Rocky Bridges never took himself too seriously.

A major league journeyman, minor league manager and major league coach, he joked that he didn’t like the national anthem because every time he heard it, he had a bad day.

• Jerry Crowe

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In truth, every day in baseball was a great day for Everett Lamar Bridges, whose infectious enthusiasm and proclivity for making people laugh superseded his playing ability.

“I had fun playing baseball,” he says. “Many of the players now, I’m not sure they have fun playing the game.”

Even bouncing among seven teams in 11 seasons did little to temper his zeal for the game, Bridges once noting, “I’ve had more numbers on my back than a bingo board.”

Bridges, who played for the Angels in their debut season of 1961, also said he wouldn’t eat snails because “I prefer fast food.” He described one club executive as so skinny he could tread water in a test tube. And he said of a diet drink he’d supposedly concocted, “You mix two jiggers of Scotch to one jigger of Metrecal. So far I’ve lost five pounds and my driver’s license.”

In a lengthy Sports Illustrated profile from 1964 — how many other power-deficient .247 career hitters are afforded such treatment by Sports Illustrated? — Bridges was described as “one of the best stand-up comics in the history of baseball.”

Vin Scully, whose second season with the Brooklyn Dodgers was Bridges’ rookie season with the club in 1951, recalls the former utility infielder as a “beautiful guy,” beloved by all.

And former major league pitcher Jim Bouton, author of “Ball Four,” called Bridges “my all-time favorite manager” even though Bouton never played for him.

“In fact, I’ve never even met him,” Bouton wrote in his 1973 collection of short stories, “I Managed Good, But Boy Did They Play Bad,” which took its title from a Bridges quote. “However, I’ve spent a good piece of my life sitting in bullpens around the country listening to different ballplayers talk about how much fun it was when they played for Rocky Bridges. …

“The reason Bridges was a great manager was that he understood that baseball is supposed to be mainly fun.”

Bridges, born in Texas but reared in Long Beach, signed with the Dodgers after graduating from Long Beach Poly High.

“It got me off riding my bicycle delivering The Times,” Bridges, 83, says from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where he moved from Long Beach 40 years ago. “I was the best peddler The Times ever had. I worked five years there and never missed a morning.”

As a ballplayer, Bridges had a front-row seat to history, including the famous National League pennant race of 1951, the 1952 World Series, the 1958 All-Star game and, in his swan song, the Angels’ inaugural season.

“I watched Bobby Thomson’s home run — from the bench, naturally,” he says. “I didn’t play much.”

Bridges’ longest stint with one team was four years with the Reds in Cincinnati, which he says was fortunate because “it took me that long to learn how to spell it.”

When he was selected for the All-Star game with the Washington Senators in 1958, Bridges notes, “That surprised everybody. They were close to launching an investigation.”

Bridges didn’t get into the game, nor did he play in the ’52 World Series, won by the New York Yankees over the Dodgers.

He hit only 16 home runs, noting after ending a two-year drought in 1961, “I’m still behind Babe Ruth’s record, but I’ve been sick. It really wasn’t very dramatic. No little boy in the hospital asked me to hit one. I didn’t promise it to my kid for his birthday, and my wife will be too shocked to appreciate it. I hit it for me.”

Is labor peace just around the corner for the NFL?

According to an ESPN report, the NFL Players Assn. and league have reached an agreement on the remaining points in a proposed 10-year collective bargaining agreement.

The report, citing unnamed sources from both sides, said the NFLPA is planning a major news conference Monday and that player representatives’ executive committee is flying to Washington for a Monday vote.

If the executive committee votes to approve the CBA, which was ratified Thursday by NFL owners, the agreement will then be put to a vote of player reps from the 32 teams.

Assuming the new agreement clears those hurdles, players will vote on it Wednesday at their various team headquarters. It requires a majority vote to pass. At that point, if the CBA is approved, teams can begin contract talks with their own players, among them draft picks and free agents.

That would set the stage for free agency and training camps to start Saturday.

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– Sam Farmer

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Oddest great game ever pitched by Chad Billingsley. Talking Bizarro great, Alice in Wonderland great.

Billingsley started Sunday as if he was going to work on the shortest outing of his career. He could do nothing right. He walked his first batter, hit his second and then gave up two singles.

That left the Dodgers down, 1-0, with the bases loaded and still no outs. The only question seemed to be how many body parts Billingsley would leave behind before he was dragged off the mound.

Only then, the strangest thing happened. Clark Kent jumped into the phone booth. Suddenly, bullets bounced off his chest.

Billingsley struck out the side, did not give up another hit and retired 21 of the last 22 batters he faced.

And the Dodgers eked out a 3-1 victory against the Nationals before an announced crowd of 36,458 at Dodger Stadium.

Billingsley (9-8) ended up pitching seven innings. After throwing a staggering 38 pitches in the first, he threw 77 pitches over the next six innings.

He struck out 10, walked two and lowered his earned-run average to 3.92.

After Billingsley gave up that early run, the Dodgers rallied with two runs in the bottom of the first against Jason Marquis (8-5) after Rafael Furcal singled with one out.

Furcal was erased when Andre Ethier bounced into a fielder’s choice, but Matt Kemp then singled. Aaron Miles, batting fifth, then laced a hit to center fielder. Ethier scored easily and third-base coach Tim Wallach waved Kemp home.

Kemp would have been out by several feet, but catcher Jesus Flores couldn’t hold on to the throw and the Dodgers were up, 2-1.

They added another run in the third after Furcal walked and stole second. He took third on an infield single by Kemp and, after Miles walked to load the bases, scored when the Nationals couldn’t turn a double play on a bouncer by James Loney.

The rest was left to the suddenly unhittable Billingsley.

Kenley Jansen shut out the Nationals in the eighth, extending his scoreless streak to 14 innings, and rookie Javy Guerra pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save, after earning the victory on Saturday.

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– Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Chad Billingsley delivers a pitch against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium. Credit: Kirby Lee / Image of Sport / US Presswire

The Angels are a long way from giving up on the present. But Sunday they took a good, long look at what could be their future just the same.

And that future looks awfully bright.

Just ask the Baltimore Orioles, who were kept on the ropes for seven innings by right-hander Tyler Chatwood before center fielder Mike Trout delivered the knockout blow with a three-run, eighth-inning home run in a 9-3 Angels win at Camden Yards.

For Chatwood, who only recently turned old enough to drink, it was arguably the most complete outing of his rookie season. For Trout, the youngest player in the majors, the homer was the first by a teenager in the big leagues since 2007.

It was enough to make 52-year-old Manager Mike Scioscia, who played his last game before Trout had mastered walking, feel young again.

Neither player figured in the Angels plans this season.

But Chatwood, called up in early April for what was expected to be a cameo appearance, seized a spot in the rotation. Sunday he went seven innings for the third time in his last six starts, dropping his earned-run average over that span to 2.48.

Among Angels starters, only Jered Weaver has a better ERA in his last six starts.

“I don’t think we’ve seen him as crisp. He had great stuff,” Scioscia said of Chatwood (6-6), who didn’t walk a batter for the first time this season. He made only one mistake, giving up a two-run home run to Adam Jones in the sixth.

Now Trout, promoted from double A 21/2 weeks ago when Peter Bourjos was sidelined by hamstring tightness, is trying to make a case that he should stay too. Friday, he had his first two-hit game in the majors and also stole his first base. Then Sunday, with the Angels clinging to a one-run lead, he lined a shot deep into the left-center-field bleachers.

“Mike’s been doing something every game,” Scioscia said. “You have to keep pinching yourself and telling yourself this kid’s 19.”

Trout had a little bit of a home-field advantage since he grew up only two hours from Baltimore. As a result, he said, a couple hundred friends and family members attended the three-game series here, with his parents and girlfriend in attendance Sunday.

“My parents, I think that’s [my] first home run they’ve seen in pro ball,” said Trout, adding it was a feeling that “can’t be described in words.”

The Angels said the ball was caught by Zack Hample, a 33-year-old New York collector who claims to have snagged more than 5,000 baseballs at various ballparks, experiences he shares in three books.

Hample asked for a picture and an autograph in exchange for this baseball, which Trout quickly handed over to his parents.

Whether he’ll get a chance to collect any more mementos this season is up to Scioscia, who originally thought Trout’s visit would be a short one.

Now he’s not so sure.

“If there’s an appreciable role for anybody that’s going to help us to be a better team, a more complete team, they’ll be on our team,” he said. “This guy’s advanced physically and mentally, but he still hasn’t played a long season.

“He needs to play every day.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

After Manchester United’s 7-0 rout of the Seattle Sounders in an exhibition game Wednesday night in Seattle, perhaps expectations should be lowered for the Galaxy’s match against Manchester City on Sunday. Then again, perhaps they should have been lowered before the European clubs came stateside.

“Teams come over here and look for fitness and they want to win these games,” Galaxy midfielder David Beckham said. “And that’s what they do. That’s what their managers expect of them.”

Going into Saturday, the two Manchesters, along with Real Madrid, had trounced MLS squads four times in the past few weeks by a combined score of 17-3, including Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over the Galaxy on July 16. The exhibitions include a few variations from usual match rules — most notably the use of 22 players instead of the usual 14.

“It’s worse when an elite club can play more players,” Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said upon learning of the Sounders’ score Wednesday. “If you tell those guys they only have to play 45 minutes, it’s 45 minutes of hell. The advantage is to these clubs when they get to play more players, because they obviously have better players, deeper players, more quality.”

To be clear, Arena does not think his squad, nor any of the MLS teams, would do remarkably better against the European powers under normal conditions.

“The results haven’t been good, no question about that,” he said Thursday. “It’s a difficult competition to gauge some of the results. I do believe if we played Real Madrid 10 times, they’d probably beat us 11.

“We’ve brought some of the great club teams in the world to the United States to play MLS club teams and others. It’s to show these great teams and players.”

Manchester City will not be pulling any punches at the Home Depot Center. After heavy rains created a less-than-ideal playing surface for its 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Monday in Canada, Roberto Mancini’s squad is looking to close its trip to North America with a strong performance.

“The last game is what we’ve been looking forward to against the Galaxy,” Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry said. “They’re a big team out here with some big players. A perfect send-off for us before we start our season.

Mancini said his starters will “probably” play 90 minutes, while Arena expects to cap his starters’ time at 45 minutes.

douglas.farmer@latimes.com

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Scanning the long-range forecast for Spartanburg, S.C., Ryan Kalil sits in the comfort of Manhattan Beach and can’t help but cringe — the wilting heat, the steam-room humidity, the relentless thunderstorms.

Carolina Panthers training camp is the last place he wants to be this summer.

And the only place.

Kalil isn’t just the team’s starting center, but he’s also the anchor of its offensive line, the club’s franchise player coming off his second consecutive Pro Bowl appearance.

He’s in limbo now — just like every NFL player — unsure of when the bitter labor fight will actually end, allowing him to un-click the pause button on his career.

“Cooler heads will prevail,” said Kalil, a former USC standout. “There’s a sense of urgency for us to get back to the game of football. We don’t want to miss any games. I don’t want to miss any games.”

But he’s quick to add that players aren’t going to rush to approve a deal that they’re still wrapping their heads around. If they’re going to ink their names to a collective bargaining agreement that runs through the 2020 season, they sure as Spartanburg better have 20/20 vision heading into it.

“Look, these NFL owners are unbelievable businessmen,” he said. “It’s not that we think they’re shysty or are trying to pull a fast one on us; it’s that we have to go through the process to protect us. Because these guys are phenomenal businessmen. And we’re not. And we know that.”

Three full days of digesting the agreement that owners approved Thursday might just be enough for the players. An ESPN report Saturday, citing an unidentified source, said the league and players have tentatively agreed that the 11-member executive board of the NFL Players Assn. will vote Monday on the proposal. That would allow players to begin arriving at training camps Wednesday to vote on whether to re-form as a union, a necessary step to forging a final accord.

Passions have been inflamed over the past several days, especially among the players, who have been largely mistrustful of league owners and executives, certainly during the past year and in some cases dating to when the owners opted out of the last CBA in 2008.

After several quiet weeks of mostly calm negotiations, tempers flared Thursday night after owners approved the latest deal, putting the players on the clock to accept that offer as soon as possible but no later than Tuesday.

The players resisted, of course, branding it an obvious power play to force their hand and ratchet up the public pressure on them to do the deal. Most hadn’t even seen the terms of the agreement — although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith spent weeks working on it together — and they weren’t about to trust that it had their best interests at heart.

One reason the league didn’t present the deal to the players before voting on it was the concern that there was no way to keep the terms out of the media if 1,900 players got an advance look at them. Then the sides would again be negotiating in the media, something that could have sidetracked the process.

Regardless, for the players, many of whom are deeply concerned about the owners affording them respect through these negotiations, seeing the basic deal terms for the first time on NFL Network felt like a slap in the face.

A few days later, it seems the sting has gone out of that slap, and from the perspective of Kalil and others, the players will soon be ready to make a clear-headed choice.

“I think we’re still close, and I definitely believe 100% that the people we elected to represent us are working as hard and as quickly as they can to get a deal done so that we can get back to football,” Kalil said. “We don’t want to miss games either.

“I think we’re playing football this year. I can’t see us missing games. The thing I don’t know is the time frame or whether we’ll miss some preseason games. But I’ve got to believe we get to the regular season, and I’ve got to believe we’ll play all 16 games.”

For now, Spartanburg awaits.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

twitter.com/latimesfarmer

The annual rites of summer are in full swing in the U.S., with Europe’s big and not-so-big clubs over here for a few weeks to play Major League Soccer’s not-so-big and some-quite-small clubs, as well as a couple of Mexico’s alleged giants.

So far, so bad.

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Real Madrid thrashed the Galaxy, 4-1, and the most meaningful comment to come out of it was Jose Mourinho’s remark that it is pretty to cool to come to America and be able to train in obscurity — or something like that.

“The training conditions are good,” Mourinho said. “The freedom that we have is also good, because in Europe our lives are difficult. Socially, it is difficult. Here, players feel some freedom. They can walk in the street. They can be together. They can share some time together.”

Want a translation? It means that very few of the people who might have run into Real Madrid’s millionaires on the boulevards of Westwood or Marina del Rey could tell the difference between their Pepe and their Kaka.

The players were not bothered because they were not recognized.

Perhaps if Real had been training in or wandering around East L.A. instead of UCLA it might have been otherwise. Perhaps even Cristiano Ronaldo might have been spotted and hounded by fans and media.

Switch north, now, to Seattle, where Manchester United demolished the Seattle Sounders, 7-0, and the debacle — witnessed by a crowd of 67,052 — brought the admission from Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid that perhaps he should not have “rewarded” his bench by giving everyone a chance to say that they once played against Wayne Rooney.

Better from Schmid was his pregame observation that “every player hopes in the back of their minds, whether they say it or not, that this is their breakthrough game; this is their game in front of Cecil B. DeMille and they get discovered.”

Well, Cecil B. is long, long gone and the Sounders were not discovered, they were exposed.

Of course, so was Chivas de Guadalajara, which was made to look downright ordinary by Marcelo and Co. in Real Madrid’s 3-0 whitewash of Mexico’s supposed powerhouse down San Diego way.

What applies to MLS apparently also applies to the Mexican league, except that the Mexican league occasionally produces a player such as Javier Hernandez, and MLS is light years away from achieving that. Landon who?

On Saturday, large throngs were expected in Chicago to watch Manchester United, and in Philadelphia to watch Real Madrid and in Toronto to watch Juventus and Sporting Lisbon.

On Sunday, Manchester City is in Carson to give the Galaxy a second lesson in humility, assuming, of course, that City takes the game seriously and that Mario Balotelli and friends are not in L.A. simply for some beach time before their real work begins.

Later still, Barcelona and Mexico’s Club America will be making their annual pilgrimage to U.S. shores, the difference being that it is they who will be bowed down to rather than them doing the bowing. Soccer idols and all.

It is difficult to tell whether this annual incursion of European and Mexican teams is a good thing or not.

On the plus side, it does give U.S. soccer fans the chance to see in person some of the players they normally can only read about or watch on television. It also feathers the financial nest of MLS and its clubs, large crowds and fat television contracts translating into welcome revenue.

On the other hand it does expose the gulf that still exists between the best of MLS and the best of Europe, which in turn keeps fans from going to MLS stadiums and has them tuning in, instead, to the Premier League or Serie A or La Liga.

Don Garber, the MLS commissioner, argues that the rising tide lifts all ships, which is meant to indicate that if big crowds come out to see the world’s top clubs, some of those same fans might be moved to sample an MLS game or two.

As trickle-down theories go, it doesn’t hold a tremendous amount of water. Not enough to float a ship.

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena has another theory, one he expressed in a midweek news conference.

“It’s a lot more difficult in these games — the way they’re set up in this format — for the MLS clubs than it is for the visiting teams,” Arena said, “because the whole tournament is set up to accommodate them. Our needs are not addressed at all.”

Sandwiching high-profile friendly games, whose results mean nothing but require effort and commitment if only to save face, between league matches that count in the standings, is not an ideal scenario.

Unlimited substitutions is what the European clubs want, but their roster depth (in numbers and talent) makes that an unfair fight when MLS teams go to their bench.

But that’s the situation MLS has gotten itself into each summer. It wants the prestige of playing against top clubs. It wants the revenue from those games. It wants to foster relationships with Europe’s and Mexico’s powers.

But it’s the league’s players and coaches who pay the price.

grahame.jones@latimes.com

Chivas USA forward Justin Braun made it look so easy Saturday night.

With a touch here, a tap there, and a slide to finish it all off, the striker snapped his team’s five-game losing streak to the Houston Dynamo with casual grace and a grin.

Behind his three goals, Chivas picked up three critical points with a 3-0 victory over the Dynamo to send the team confidently into a five-game road trip after the All-Star break.

“We’re excited about not only the result, but the way we were able to play tonight,” Coach Robin Fraser said. “At the end of the day, some of the goals were really, really good.”

Outstanding service found Braun in all the right places Saturday, and he converted on almost every quality chance for his second hat trick of the season.

The first goal came in the 31st minute, when Chivas midfielder Jorge Flores dropped a pass back to defender Ante Jazic, who sent a perfect cross to Braun, who struck the ball in the air with his left foot from 10 yards out. Then, just nine minutes later, Blair Gavin’s chip dropped at Braun’s feet as he made a run alone in the middle of the box. Braun calmly tapped the ball over goalkeeper Tally Hall’s head to put Chivas up 2-0 before halftime. The game was long decided by the time Braun notched his third and final goal, sliding into a ball sent into the right side of box in the 86th minute.

The goals gave Braun seven on the season, moving him ahead of Nick LaBrocca for the team lead.

“It’s cool to get another hat trick,” Braun said. “I had hit a little dry spell, but this helped take that weight off my shoulders.”

Before Saturday night, Chivas (6-7-8) had only one win in 15 tries against Houston (5-7-9), and the team entered the game shorthanded in the attacking third with striker Ben Zemanski sidelined by an injured ankle.

Even so, Chivas played with a sense of offensive urgency largely absent this season. By the 12th minute, Gavin had already shimmied past a defender and sent a strike just high. After that, Chivas kept the pressure on, peppering Hall with quality chances to the end.

“Coming off this win, going into that long stretch of road games certainly gives your confidence a little bit of a boost,” Fraser said. “For us, to be in striking distance [of the playoffs] is important.”

matthew.stevens@latimes.com

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Zab Judah might have disputed the ending, but there was no decrying the harsh lessons that the younger champion Amir Khan delivered his older Brooklyn opponent Saturday.

Khan picked apart Judah in the fifth round, and landed another stiff right to the face that caused the 33-year-old Judah to bend downward. Seeing another hole, Khan threw a hard right uppercut that struck Judah on the top half of the belt.

Judah sank to the canvas, referee Vic Drakulich told him to get up and began counting toward a knockout — six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

At the 2:47 mark of the fifth, Khan had won.

Judah was able to spring up then, only in argument mode.

“It was a low blow,” Judah said afterward. “I was trying to get myself together and that was self-defense. [The punch] lifted my belt.”

The complaint was in vain. It was a legal blow.

The 24-year-old British Khan improved to 26-1 with his 18th knockout, and the 33-year-old Judah (41-7) handed over his International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight belt to Khan’s collection, which includes a World Boxing Assn. belt.

Khan outpunched Judah 284-115 and landed more than triple the punches (61-20). He bloodied Judah’s lip in the second round, continued landing blows to the face in the third and expertly followed several jabs with a hard right to Judah’s mug in the fourth.

“I knew he was getting hurt,” Khan said afterward. “He kept moving away and ducking. I kept hitting him right in the face, and the shot that knocked him out was right on the belt. … It was only a matter of time.”

Perhaps in early 2012, Khan will be able to fight Coachella Valley’s Timothy Bradley for all four major titles.

“If Bradley didn’t want to fight him before, he doesn’t want to fight him now,” Khan promoter Richard Schaefer said after the bout, listing the Aug. 27 Robert Guerrero-Marcos Maidana winner or Erik Morales as other possible December foes for Khan.

The unbeaten Bradley, nicknamed “Desert Storm,” declined the match earlier this year as he negotiates a split with his promoters and he told The Times in a Saturday night telephone interview that he anticipates a 2012 Khan bout after a tuneup fight in the fall.

“He’s not ready for ‘The Storm,’ I’m not impressed,” Bradley said. “I know all the comments that are coming about this Khan performance, but I’m not stressing. … No way possible he can be No. 1 [at 140 pounds]. When we do get in the ring, everyone will see who the best in the world is.”

What Khan showed Saturday before the ending was another advanced level under the guidance of Hollywood’s famed trainer Freddie Roach, who also counts Manny Pacquiao in his stable.

Khan’s precision against Judah showed the Roach effect, and what the Brit ensured Saturday is that the payday with Bradley will be richer than the $1 million-plus he collected in the softer touch versus Judah.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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Reporting from Baltimore — Bobby Abreu slumped into a chair in the corner of the Angels’ clubhouse and reached into his locker for a sock.

What he was really looking for, however, were answers.

Answers to why he’s hitting .153 this month. Or why the Angels are averaging 3.2 runs a game and rank last in the American League in hitting since the All-Star break.

And answers, like an approaching baseball when Abreu is at the plate, are proving elusive.

“I don’t know,” he muttered. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

Well, here’s a guess: The Angels just may be hitting themselves out of a pennant race.

As evidence, look no further than Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

The Angels took a quick first-inning lead on Vernon Wells’ two-run home run. Then they didn’t get a man to third base the rest of the game.

They had runners on base in seven innings and got a man to second base three times. But they also hit into two double plays and were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

And, fittingly, the game ended with Howie Kendrick, the Angels’ leading hitter, striking out with the tying run on second base.

“You’re going through a little cycle now where a lot of your guys are trying to find their game,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Which is to say Abreu isn’t the only one struggling, a bad sign when you’re 100 games into the season and in the middle of a pennant race.

Maicer Izturis is hitting .120 in July. Torii Hunter, after going 0 for 3 on Saturday, is hitting .207 this month and Jeff Mathis is hitting .179. Add in Abreu, who has struck out in nearly a third of his at-bats this month, and the Angels have four regulars hitting below .210 this month.

And after going three for 18 with runners in scoring position in their two games in Baltimore, they rank 25th in the majors in that category.

“We need to get better. We’ve talked about that all along,” Scioscia said. “As you get more guys in your lineup swinging the bat well — seeing that good at-bat, moving runners — that’s kind of the lifeblood of an offense when you’re struggling in the batter’s box.”

That didn’t happen Saturday, just as it hasn’t for most of the month. And with Joel Pineiro struggling on the mound, matching a season high by giving up 11 hits, the Angels had little room for error.

For Pineiro, who lasted only 51/3 innings, it was his second poor outing in a row, after a disastrous performance in Oakland in which he gave up eight runs and recorded only one out.

“It’s just a matter of getting that arm slot back and getting the ball down, really,” said Pineiro, who is 3-5 since early May.

Now the Angels find themselves under .500 since the All-Star break, just as their race with the streaking Texas Rangers, who won again Saturday, is beginning to heat up.

“A couple of opportunities missed,” said Wells, who admitted he has his eye on Texas.

But then Wells sighed and added: “If we don’t take care of our own business there’s nothing for us to look at.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

The malaise that is this Dodgers season reached its 100th game Saturday night and appeared set to take further hold after only a half inning.

Dodgers starter Ted Lilly had given up two singles, two doubles and three runs to the Washington Nationals before many fans had found their seats at Dodger Stadium.

But on this night, the Dodgers and Lilly — who slugged a two-run double and had three runs batted in overall to help his cause — declined to go quietly and made a game of it.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal, who has struggled at the plate since returning from the disabled list July 3, hit a walk-off double against Washington reliever Ryan Mattheus to score Trent Oeltjen in the bottom of the ninth inning and give the Dodgers a 7-6 win.

That was “was a huge hit for him,” Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s been down” about his slump “so it’s good to see that.”

Mattingly also praised his bullpen for keeping the Dodgers (44-56) in the game in the final four innings, adding that “It was a nice win from the standpoint that the guys came back.”

Dodgers closer Javy Guerra (2-0), who pitched a scoreless ninth inning, earned the victory.

The Dodgers’ seven runs and 14 hits were their most since they exploded for 15 runs and 25 hits against the Twins in Minnesota on June 27.

The Dodgers tied Saturday’s game, 6-6, in the seventh inning when pinch-runner Eugenio Velez scored from third base on a wild pitch by Nationals reliever Henry Rodriguez.

Velez had replaced catcher Dioner Navarro, who walked, and then he stole second base and moved to third base when Jamey Carroll grounded out.

Though the Dodgers’ sparse run production has been their main concern this season, Lilly’s uneven performance over the last two months also raises questions.

In five of his last seven starts, the left-hander has allowed four or more earned runs, and his earned-run average climbed to 5.08 in Saturday’s outing.

After Lilly spotted Washington the three runs in the first inning, the Dodgers came back with a run in the first inning when Furcal scored on Matt Kemp’s sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers scored again in the second inning when Lilly bunted and a sliding James Loney scored from third base as catcher Wilson Ramos bobbled the throw at home plate.

The Nationals then scored three more times against Lilly in the third inning on a two-run double by Rick Ankiel and a run-scoring infield single by Ian Desmond.

But in the Dodgers’ half of the third inning, Kemp doubled, Juan Rivera singled and Kemp tagged and scored on Loney’s sacrifice fly.

After Juan Uribe singled, Washington intentionally walked Dioner Navarro to load the bases and get to Lilly. But the pitcher lined his double to right-center field, cutting the Nationals’ lead to 6-5. It was only his third hit of the season.

“Fortunately, I was able to help” with the bat because “I put us in a big hole,” Lilly said. “We were able to come back, in large part due to the work the bullpen did. Then obviously we got some clutch hits as the game went on.”

james.peltz@latimes.com

— Cadel Evans seized the Tour de France yellow jersey in the next-to-last stage Saturday, all but giving Australia its first victory in cycling’s showpiece event and capping one of the most dramatic races in years.

The two-time runner-up took the overall lead by overcoming a 57-second deficit to Andy Schleck of Luxembourg in the time trial.

A red-eyed Evans choked up on the victory podium, holding back tears before hurling the winner’s bouquet into the crowd.

“I really can’t quite believe it right now,” the 34-year-old Aussie said. “I have been concentrating on one event for so long.”

Although there is one more stage — Sunday’s ceremonial finish along the Champs-Elysees in Paris — the leader after the time trial is almost certain to be the winner. Launching a successful attack during that flat ride is virtually impossible.

This year’s edition of the 108-year-old race was tense all the way — a riveting finish and without a serious doping blight that marred past Tours.

The Schleck brothers, knowing they had lost, embraced after the finish line of the 26-mile time trial. Evans leads Andy Schleck by 1:34, and Frank Schleck by 2:30.

The 20th stage was won by Tony Martin of Germany. Evans finished second in the stage — seven seconds behind — and was 2:31 faster than Andy Schleck.

The riders set off Saturday in reverse order of the standings. Andy Schleck had the benefit of riding last, and said beforehand that he’d have the added inspiration of wearing yellow.

By the first intermediate time check at the 9.3-mile mark, Evans had already erased 36 seconds of his deficit to Andy Schleck and was 34 seconds faster than the elder Schleck.

At the second, at 17.1 miles, Andy Schleck’s lead had vanished — Evans was 1:32 faster. The Luxembourg rider wasn’t even among the 10 fastest riders who had crossed that point. Evans then kept gaining as the stage progressed to the finish.

The looming victory for Evans, the BMC team leader, culminated a stellar and methodical three weeks of riding. Unlike defending champion Alberto Contador and other main contenders, Evans was spared crashes. His only real problem was mechanical trouble Friday, but he recovered without any lost time.

Evans will have won the Tour without having won a stage. But his triumph attests to his diligent preparation as he eyed a title he has narrowly missed for years.

“Today, we went through the process, like we had the plan every day — and the plan every day was A, B, C, D,” he said.

Evans’ psychological toughness had been questioned, but he showed a veteran’s skill and savvy to take cycling’s greatest prize.

“This is the victory of a complete rider,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme said. “Is the consecration of a career.”

Evans had been regarded as a perennial underachiever until he became a world champion two years ago. And he enjoyed a solid buildup to the Tour, racing less than usual so he would peak at the right moment.

The parallels between Andy Schleck and Evans are considerable. Both are two-time runners-up, and both have been second to Contador — Evans once and Schleck twice. Both also know what it’s like to just miss out on victory. Evans was second to Contador by 23 seconds in 2007; Schleck was 39 seconds behind the Spaniard last year — two of the closest finishes in race history.

The Schlecks — whichever one — were vying to be the first from Luxembourg to capture the Tour since Charly Gaul became the country’s only winner in 1958.

As second and third overall, they will be the first brothers to share the Tour’s winners podium on the Champs-Elysees.

Football media days/daze staged annually by the Southeastern Conference compare to the frenzy of Super Bowl week, with a notable exception:

Super Bowl week ends with a game.

• Chris Dufresne

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“This has got to be the largest credentialed media contingent for a nonevent,” said Tony Barnhart, veteran multimedia sage of Southern football.

The SEC credentialed 1,050 people for last week’s gridiron fest at the Wynfrey Hotel.

They take their “nonevent” football seriously down here.

For three days, Wednesday through Friday, starting with Arkansas and ending with Louisiana State, fanatics of all shapes and allegiances jammed the lobby for the chance to glimpse their heroes.

Think of a “Star Trek” convention combined with a rodeo.

Upstairs, writers staked out stories as cameramen and beauty-contestant broadcasters tripped over each other’s re-takes.

Friday, Alabama fans, cordoned off by a barrier, actually booed a Birmingham sports writer as he descended the escalator.

Twenty-nine outlets set up shop, for 72 hours, in a first-floor corridor called “Radio Row,” to dispense vital and not-so-vital SEC football information.

Rarely have so many gathered, in one place, for so little in actual news value.

For SEC fans, media days are a sign the season is just around the very long corner.

“43 days until Football! Roll Tide!” boasted a sign in “Bama Fever,” an apparels shop adjacent to the hotel.

For journalists, the SEC interview adventure is as much a cultural happening as it is informational.

It was here, two years ago, that Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was asked if he was still a virgin.

“Yes, I am,” he said.

Former Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer once refused to cross the border to attend for fear of being served a subpoena in a legal case involving the NCAA and an Alabama booster.

“I am not attending because of the legal circus that’s been created,” Fulmer said.

Fulmer did show up in 2008 . . . and was served a subpoena.

But that was it for the Angels’ scoring — not that they didn’t have their chances.

They had runners thrown out trying to steal in each of the next two innings, left Alberto Callaspo at second after a two-out double in the fourth, then got runners on first and second to start the fifth only to leave both as well.

And in the ninth, they had the tying run at second with two outs and All-Star Howie Kendrick at the plate, but Kevin Gregg struck him out on a full-count pitch to end the game.

The Orioles, meanwhile, had Angel starter Joel Pineiro walking a tightrope before breaking through for a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth.

Adam Jones got Baltimore started by homering to lead off the fourth. Then a run-scoring single by Nick Markakis and Jones’ sacrifice fly an inning later put the Orioles ahead to stay.

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– Kevin Baxter in Baltimore

Photo: Erick Aybar reacts after getting tagged out by Baltimore second baseman Robert Andino (not pictured) while trying to steal second base.Credit: Joe Giza / Reuters

An aging right-hander who has pitched only 40 innings for one of the worst teams in baseball could wind up determining which teams make the World Series this year.

Or maybe that honor will go to a gimpy 34-year-old outfielder with two surgically repaired knees whose current team would pay as much as $6 million to get rid of him.

Then again, maybe neither will get anywhere close to a pennant race. Such are the vagaries of the week before baseball’s July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline, perhaps the busiest and most important seven days of the season.

“It’s always fun,” says Angels General Manager Tony Reagins, who will spend the next week sleeping next to his cellphone. “I look forward to it.”

Last year, more than five dozen players — All-Stars Kerry Wood, Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren, Lance Berkman and Miguel Tejada among them — changed uniforms in the final week of July, several in the final hours.

The pace isn’t likely to be as withering this year since 17 teams entered the weekend within seven games of a postseason berth, making them less likely to trade away valuable pieces that might help another team.

For the other 13, though, it’s a sellers’ market — especially if they have pitching, the most valuable commodity this time of year. Which brings us to Heath Bell, a three-time All-Star with 28 saves who is languishing in the San Diego Padres’ bullpen.

No fewer than eight contending teams figure to make a play for Bell or teammate Mike Adams, with Texas, Philadelphia and St. Louis at the top of that list.

For teams looking to add a bat to the outfield — Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco and the New York Yankees — the top target is weak-kneed Carlos Beltran, with the New York Mets reportedly willing to pay off his contract for the right deal.

After that, it all becomes a big poker game, says Tampa Bay executive Gerry Hunsicker, who spun major trade-deadline deals during his nine years as general manager of the Houston Astros.

“Sometimes teams want to aggressively move a player and they don’t have a lot of leverage,” Hunsicker says. “Or teams value a player differently. We may have a player we place a certain value on and our trading partner may not agree with that.”

Then again, maybe everybody’s just bluffing.

“A lot of the Internet information … is complete speculation. Some is completely false,” says Reagins, who is clearly a buyer at the trade deadline. “If I have interest in a player, I’m calling the GM and finding out the availability and what the … demand is to get that player.

“You just don’t assume a player is not available.”

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti will be a seller at the trade deadline for the first time in his six years in Los Angeles.

“It’s probably the first time I’ve been with a club that’s been in this position since 1996,” says Colletti, who has been an active buyer in recent summers. “If we can get a prospect or two for someone who’s going to be a free agent, we’d like to do that. What do you call that? Are you a buyer or a seller?”

Colletti says he could be both. He’d like to make a trade that would give him the assets to spin a second deal for a player or players “that would help us the rest of this season and going forward.”

That requires homework and diligence. Colletti relates one deal he was about to make before a scout raised questions after an awkward fielding play the night before. Colletti checked further and found out the player had broken a finger.

“A lot of it is buyer beware,” he says.

Be aware, too, that the trade market doesn’t close when the nonwaiver deadline passes at 1 p.m. PDT on July 31. Teams can still deal players who have cleared waivers — and Hunsicker says most teams dump the majority of their roster on waivers this time of year, hoping to sneak through the ones they’d like to trade.

Which means Reagins will be sleeping with his cellphone for at least a few more weeks.

“We’re looking to improve our club,” he says. “[If] we don’t acquire a player at the trade deadline, there’s still another deadline. If you think you’re forced to make a deal, it probably doesn’t end up very good for you.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

It is the sturdiest room in a sagging stadium, filled with the calmest voice in a storm of a season.

Don Mattingly’s office is part Dodgers museum, part principal’s office, all hardball.

• Bill Plaschke

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  Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda, now trade bait, loses 7-2 to Nationals

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  Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen shines after returning from DL

The walls are filled with black and white Brooklyn Dodgers photos, his personal photos, hung at his insistence, the lifetime New York Yankee intentionally surrounded by Jackie and Campy and Duke.

“This office is not about any individual, it’s about this organization, I don’t want anybody to ever forget that,” Mattingly said.

His desk is filled with motivational books and two large plastic bottles. One is marked “James Loney Fly To Left Fund.” The other is marked “James Loney Line Drive Fund.”

Every time Loney hits a fly ball to left field — usually a sure out for the left-handed hitter — he owes Mattingly five bucks. Every time he hits a line drive, Mattingly drops five bucks in the other bottle.

“Just like my players, I’m trying everything,” Mattingly said with a smile.

I didn’t think I would like Mattingly as a manager, but I do.

His debut record stinks, his long-term future under new ownership is uncertain, he has made rookie decisions and protected questionable players.

But I like Mattingly as a manager because, in a season of emptiness, he brings presence.

His team can’t win, but he has yet to let them quit. His owner acts like a fool, but the players do not. The entire operation has been dragged through a sewer, yet Mattingly has somehow kept the team above it all.

I like Mattingly not because of what has happened, but because of what has not happened. There has been no selfish player rebellion, no distracting player fights, no clubhouse turmoil amid perhaps the most tumultuous summer in Dodgers history.

“We’re teetering,” Mattingly said. “But I’m proud that guys continue to get ready to play and give us their best effort.”

The games are hard to watch. The results are hard to take. Mattingly wakes up in the middle of some nights at his South Bay home and walks the floor. The lineup is filled with injuries, the bullpen is filled with oddities, the team can’t hit, there’s no money to acquire anybody decent, and on nights when Clayton Kershaw doesn’t pitch, there’s not much chance for a win.

Yet, you rarely see the sort of fundamental breakdowns that were evident under Joe Torre. You never hear of veterans belittling kids like they did under Grady Little. It might be the worst year ever to be a Dodger, yet Mattingly is still selling this crazy view of what it means to be a Dodger.

“We stress only one thing — there’s one way to play the game and that’s the right way, all the time, 10 games back or 10 ahead,” Mattingly said. “We want to set a standard, and, even though right now it’s not good enough to get wins, one day it will be.”

Of course, when the Dodgers roster finally gets good enough, will Mattingly be good enough? That will be the question eventually faced by the team’s future owners after next season. Is he holding this smoking wreckage together just long enough to get dragged out of the driver’s seat when the new engine finally arrives?

Right now, it would be a difficult call, because, while I love the way Mattingly has managed this crisis, I still have no idea whether he can manage championship baseball, and neither does anybody else.

“Donnie hasn’t even had one easy week, so it’s really tough to judge,” said Ned Colletti, Dodgers general manager. “But if the effort has been there, and I attribute that to him and his staff.”

If Mattingly were being graded, that grade would be an incomplete. He still struggles with the fast pace of a National League game. He still has nights like Friday, when he pulled reliever Kenley Jansen at the start of the ninth inning after Jansen had struck out four consecutive batters, only to watch the next three pitchers combine to set up Jerry Hairston Jr.’s grand slam.

“You do what you think is right, but sometimes you beat yourself up over it,” Mattingly said. “There’s things I’ve done this year where I’ve later been like, ‘What am I doing? I can’t do that.”

One of those things happened July 4 in the sixth inning against the New York Mets, when Mattingly allowed right-hander Rubby De La Rosa to pitch to left-hander Daniel Murphy with right-handed Jason Bay on deck. Murphy’s double gave the Mets a lead they never lost.

Mattingly was so upset with that decision, he called Colletti later that night to talk about it. He’s not only unafraid to admit mistakes, but he’s also willing to discuss them with his boss, and how can you fault a rookie for that?

“I’ve been embarrassed sometimes, but I’ve been embarrassed on the field as a player,” Mattingly said. “You learn quick and you move on.”

He is learning quickly, painfully, enduring what is surely one of the most doomed managerial debuts in recent history. Yet, he is doing it with the sort of grace and dignity that the Dodgers will need moving forward.

“I love what I’m doing. I love the challenge of what I’m doing,” he said. “I don’t like the losing, but I have to be the guy that sees where we’re going.”

Where he goes every morning is on an hour-long walk on the beach, down by the water, barefoot and anonymous, his feet covered in sticky sand yet, as always, his mind on the gorgeous blue.

“Sometimes I’ll just jump in the water, and it’s been really, really cold,” he said . “But I’m telling you, it’s warming up a bit. I can just feel it.”

bill.plaschke@latimes.com twitter.com/billplaschke

When Kenley Jansen went on the disabled list in late May, the reliever also drew a reprimand from Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly.

On Friday, though, Mattingly was singing Jansen’s praises because the right-handed pitcher has sparkled since returning from the DL on June 18.

“He’s been doing the job,” Mattingly said. “His ball’s got some jump to it … and his slider is getting better, and he’s willing to use it more, which makes him a lot tougher at-bat.”

Before Friday’s game against the Washington Nationals, Jansen had held opposing batters to a .079 average (three for 38) and was averaging 14.33 strikeouts per nine innings. He also had an 112/3 -innings scoreless streak.

“I’m making better adjustments [against batters] now than I was last year,” Jansen said. “Last year when I’d get into trouble out there, all I’d do is keep throwing my fastballs. Now I have some pitches to work on, and I’ve learned how to slow the game down better.”

Jansen, a 23-year-old native of Curacao, was put on the DL because of inflammation in his throwing shoulder. But he hadn’t immediately told the Dodgers he was hurting, which annoyed Mattingly.

The 6-foot-5 pitcher said he learned his lesson.

“All this stuff is new for me,” Jansen said. “I just tried to stay out there and keep competing. But then a little injury becomes big.

“Now I know when something bothers me just let them know right away,” he said. “I really don’t want to be on the disabled list; it’s not fun at all.”

Mattingly said: “We’re using [Jansen] in a lot of different spots. Sometimes we’ll use him when we think we can get two innings out of him. Other times we’ll use him a little bit later in a one-inning situation.”

“He’s doing a lot better job of holding runners,” Mattingly added. “He’s been really good about changing his tempo.”

Jansen said he is less concerned about his recent statistics than about his health. “The important thing is my arm feels better; it’s not bothering me,” he said.

A return to the Ravine

The last time the Nationals’ Davey Johnson managed at Dodger Stadium was 11 years ago when he was managing the Dodgers.

Johnson, 68, was chosen last month to replace Jim Riggleman, who abruptly resigned. Before Friday’s game, the Nationals were 8-12 since Johnson took over.

The Nationals job is Johnson’s fifth stint as a manager, and his first since managing the Dodgers in 1999 and 2000. The Dodgers were 163-161 in his two years, and Johnson was fired after the 2000 season.

“I thought I was making progress, but it didn’t last long enough to make a difference,” Johnson recalled of his Dodgers tenure. Even so, “it’s always nice to come here,” he said. “You can’t beat the weather; love the ballpark.”

james.peltz@latimes.com

There’s speculation that Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda is a leading candidate to be traded before baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline July 31.

Kuroda began Friday’s game against the Washington Nationals with a 6-11 record. But he still is seen as an asset for a pennant contender because the Japanese right-hander generally has pitched well this season while getting little run support.

So it was yet again Friday night, when Kuroda gave up three runs in the first two innings to Washington — including a two-run home run to Nationals starting pitcher John Lannan — that would prove too much for the Dodgers’ punchless offense.

Jerry Hairston’s grand slam in the ninth inning off Dodgers reliever Matt Guerrier blew the game open and the Dodgers fell to Washington, 7-2, for their fifth loss in six games.

The left-handed Lannan held the Dodgers to two runs (one earned) and three hits in 61/3 innings of work at Dodger Stadium in the opener of a nine-game homestand, and even those two runs came across on an error by Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond.

At one point, Lannan struck out the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Juan Rivera in order.

Kuroda’s early mistakes, meanwhile, proved well beyond the Dodgers’ slim margin for error even though he held the Nationals scoreless for the next 41/3 innings.

Kuroda, 36, now has only one victory in his last 11 starts. In those 11 games, the Dodgers scored four or more runs only twice.

Kuroda “was a little rough early but as the game went on he got better and better,” Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said. “Obviously we’ve got to put some runs on the board.”

The Nationals scored their first run in the opening inning when Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-out double, stole second base and scored on Michael Morse’s double in front of an announced paid attendance of 39,839.

Kuroda had two out again in the second inning when Desmond singled and Lannan hit his first career home run, a line drive over the right-field fence that gave Washington a 3-0 lead.

Kuroda, speaking through an interpreter, said the pitch to Lannan “was a slider that did not break that much.”

Giving up a homer to the opposing pitcher “obviously is really disappointing,” Kuroda said, “but you just have to concentrate on the next hitter.”

The Dodgers came back to within one run in the fourth inning when Kemp walked, Rivera doubled and Juan Uribe hit a sharp grounder that got past Desmond for an error, enabling Kemp and Rivera to score.

Lannan had a second hit, a single, that gave Washington runners at first base and second base with one out in the seventh inning. That ended Kuroda’s night. But Dodgers relievers Scott Elbert and Kenley Jansen retired the next two batters to quash the threat.

Jansen also struck out the side in the eighth inning.

The Dodgers threatened in their half of the seventh inning when Aaron Miles stroked a one-out double and moved to third base when Tony Gwynn Jr. grounded out. But shortstop Rafael Furcal struck out looking. He was 0 for 4 and is batting .165.

james.peltz@latimes.com

The two new suspects in the beating of a baseball fan at Dodger Stadium live six doors apart on a quiet cul-de-sac in Rialto. Neighbors say the men played catch with their kids and welcomed newcomers to the street. They seemed like regular, friendly fathers.

But authorities now believe Louie Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 30, were responsible for the March 31 attack that left Bryan Stow, a 42-year-old paramedic and San Francisco Giants fan, with brain damage. They were charged with assault and mayhem Friday afternoon and remained in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail. Both have violent criminal histories, according to court records.

A third person connected to the case, Dorene Sanchez, also was arrested Thursday on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact to a felony, police records show. A neighbor and a relative of Norwood’s said Sanchez, 31, is the sister of Louie Sanchez and either the wife or longtime partner of Norwood. She was taken into custody but later released on bail.

On Friday afternoon, she was seen by a Times reporter entering the grand jury room on the 13th floor of the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s downtown criminal courthouse. Two law enforcement sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the grand jury had been probing the Stow case.

The fast-moving developments came as Los Angeles police officials faced tough questions over the handling of the case, particularly their continued insistence that an alleged gang member, Giovanni Ramirez, was the assailant.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Ramirez, who was arrested in May, had nothing to do with the beating. “In policing, it is just as important to exonerate the innocent as it is to implicate the guilty,” he said.

Residents on the street where Norwood and Dorene Sanchez live in a brown stucco two-story home said heavily armed LAPD officers swarmed the neighborhood Thursday morning. Police searched the suspects’ homes and vehicles, and towed a truck that neighbors said belonged to Norwood.

Detectives then went door-to-door asking neighbors whether the suspects had ever displayed Dodgers banners or other paraphernalia at their homes or on their cars, and whether they had bragged about the stadium attack. Marie Love, 43, said police asked her: “Did you hear any bragging? Did anyone hear any bragging, anything like that?”

She said she had not heard any such talk and was shocked that Norwood and Sanchez would be arrested. They were known as family men who often played baseball with their children on a small patch of grass in front of Love’s home.

Love said that Norwood and Dorene Sanchez live with three children: a toddler and two older children, between 9 and 11 years old. Louie Sanchez’s son, she said, is about 9 or 10, and visits his father on weekends.

Witnesses to the beating reported seeing a child about 10 years old in the car in which the two assailants fled after the attack. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the case, who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said a child has provided authorities with information about the attack.

Love described Louie Sanchez as laid-back and friendly, saying he organized events for single parents in the neighborhood to get their children together and enjoyed putting on Fourth of July fireworks shows for the youngsters. “I really hate this because he’s a great guy,” she said. “I’ve known them for a real long time. That’s a good family there. For this to happen is a shock….I’m willing to believe that they arrested the wrong guy a second time.”

Both men have violent pasts, according to court records. In March 2006, Norwood was convicted of inflicting bodily injury on a spouse or partner, court records show. Three years earlier, Sanchez was found guilty of the same crime and sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to court records. In 2004, Sanchez was convicted of carrying a loaded firearm, and in 2000 Norwood was found guilty of disturbing the peace, the records show.

Fontana police noted Sanchez’s neck tattoos when he was arrested for drunk driving in 2005, according to court records. The LAPD has described one of the assailants in the Stow attack as possibly having tattoos on his neck.

In July 2006, a girlfriend, Tanya Felix, sought a temporary restraining order against Sanchez, saying they had been living together and he had beaten her repeatedly over the previous year. In the request, she said that he had recently broken down her front door looking for another man. Felix never appeared at a scheduled court hearing to determine whether to grant her request, and the request was denied.

A woman briefly opened the door at Louie Sanchez’s home on Friday morning. “He doesn’t live here,” she told a Times reporter before closing the door. No one answered the door at Norwood’s home.

Norwood, according to arrest records, stands 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 250 pounds, roughly matching witnesses’ description of one of the attackers. And records show Louie Sanchez is 5 feet 11 and weighs 175 pounds, figures that also are close to the description witnesses gave of the second assailant.

Norwood’s mother, Diana Page, said in a brief interview Thursday evening that she did not know why her son was in custody but had learned about his arrest from a friend of her son’s. Norwood, a construction worker, is a Dodgers baseball fan but his mother said she did not know whether he was involved in the assault on Stow.

“I don’t know the last time he was at a game,” she said.

The abrupt change in the investigation’s course has left many LAPD observers wondering why investigators first focused so intently on Ramirez. The 31-year-old was taken into custody May 22 after his parole agent expressed suspicion that he might fit the description of one of the attackers, and two witnesses picked Ramirez out of photo lineups.

But the case against Ramirez stalled almost immediately as detectives scoured mobile phone records, thousands of images from surveillance camera footage, financial records and hundreds of other possible links and tips, but failed to link him to the beating.

Without any hard evidence, prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges against Ramirez. Instead, police held him in custody for allegedly violating the terms of his parole from a previous conviction. Last month, Ramirez was sentenced to 10 months in prison for the violation.

At a news conference Friday, Ramirez’s family expressed anger and frustration at the LAPD for what they consider a rush to judgment.

“If they didn’t have any proof, why did they … say he’s the suspect?” said Soledad Gonzalez, Ramirez’s mother.

One of Ramirez’s attorneys, Jose Romero, said there are lessons to be learned from the case. “We do have a system of justice in place by which suspects are proven innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have just the opposite here.”

phil.willon@latimes.com

jack.leonard@latimes.com

joel.rubin@latimes.com

Times staff writers Rick Rojas in Riverside County and Andrew Blankstein, Abby Sewell and Richard Winton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Reporting from Baltimore — No team in baseball has been better over the last 5½ weeks than the Angels. But on the mound, at least, it’s been pretty much a two-man show, with the team winning 80% of the games started by Jered Weaver and Dan Haren but struggling to keep its head above water when anyone else is pitching.

On Friday, in 104-degree heat and sweltering humidity, Ervin Santana made a bid to narrow that gap, holding the Baltimore Orioles hitless into the sixth inning in a 6-1 Angels win that was a lot closer than the score would suggest.

“We try to do the same thing they do,” Santana said of his two teammates. “They’ve been pitching very good. And we’re trying to follow that.

“It’s good for us. That way we learn more so we can bring it to [our] game.”

Apparently those lessons weren’t lost on Santana (5-8), who before Friday had one only once since late May. Against the Orioles, though, he was brilliant if not overpowering, allowing just two men to reach base through seven innings as the Angels built a 2-0 lead.

Then the weather appeared to get the best of him, with Baltimore turning a walk and two singles into an eighth-inning run.

“I wasn’t worried about how hot it was,” said Santana, who struck out only one batter. “But I knew it was hot.”

The same could not be said of the Angels’ offense, which is hitting .198 since the All-Star break. And though they scored six times Friday, only two of those runs were earned; the final four came in the ninth when Vernon Wells followed an error and an intentional walk with a two-out grand slam.

“We have to win games. That’s all that matters,” said Wells, who never played in a pennant race during his nine full seasons in Toronto. “That’s what’s fun about being over here. We’re playing meaningful baseball after the All-Star break.”

And if Santana keeps closing the gap between himself and the top of the rotation, the Angels just might keep playing meaningful games into October.

“Ervin’s been pitching much better than his won-lost record indicates,” said Scioscia, pointing to Santana’s 2-4 record and 2.89 ERA the last two months. “A lot of his losses were kind of close to tonight’s game. There wasn’t much support . . . and maybe there was a hit here that they got that swung the game maybe against us.”

Santana and Wells weren’t the only ones who put on a show Friday. Teenage rookie Mike Trout rewarded more than 200 friends and family members who made the two-hour drive from his hometown of Millville, N.J., by collecting his first two-hit game in the majors. He also scored twice and stole his first base.

“It was very special to me,” Trout said. “It’s one of the [few] opportunities I had to shine in front of my family. They don’t get to see me play as much as I would like.

“It was just an awesome day. A dream come true.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

NFL owners were hoping a new collective bargaining agreement would swoop in for a landing this week.

Instead, it’s locked in a frustrating holding pattern, endlessly circling the airport.

There was no vote from the players Friday on a proposed CBA they got from owners the night before, and no guarantee there would be one before the Tuesday deadline set by owners for the players to re-form as a union and ratify the deal.

Kevin Mawae, president of the NFL Players Assn., said Friday that the players are “discussing” the latest offer — one that assumes a global settlement of all unresolved litigation — but there would be no further statements for the day out of respect for the mourning Kraft family. Myra Kraft, wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, died of cancer-related complications this week.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and several owners attended Kraft’s funeral Friday in Newton, Mass.

For the players, approving a deal is a multistep process. There’s the issue of reconstituting as a union, which owners say can be done almost instantaneously but players say could take up to two weeks. There’s resolving the Tom Brady antitrust lawsuit (10 players are named plaintiffs) and the so-called lockout-insurance case regarding TV revenues, and whether those should be folded into the CBA. Then, there’s voting on whether to accept the other terms of the labor agreement.

The NFL thinks there is ample time for the players to do those things before Tuesday’s deadline and the scheduled beginning of free agency Wednesday.

“That process is within their control and the timing is largely within their control,” said Jeff Pash, the league’s top lawyer, “but we believe that they could do so.”

Incidentally, one of those deal terms could have a direct influence on the Los Angeles market.

In the proposal, the league has specific language that refers to the stadium situations in California as a whole, and L.A. in particular, that shows a willingness by owners to grease the skids for a deal.

The incentive has to do with stadium “investment credits,” revenue that can be set aside to help build a venue rather than factoring into the salary cap. Under the proposed agreement, those credits are higher in California than for stadiums in other states, and have the potential to be higher still for an L.A. stadium solution.

According to Pash, the special provisions recognize “both the unique costs of building in California, and the relatively greater difficulty and the experience of getting support other than from the private sector.”

As for L.A., Pash said, “We can either work within that structure, or we can do a separate almost side-type arrangement with the players association, and really that will depend on where we are, what the prospects for getting a team will be in Los Angeles, and how that whole process will come together.”

Goodell said the proposed deal “works for the growth of our game going forward and encouraging investment in our game.” He has long pointed to the fact there haven’t been any new stadium starts since 2006, when the last CBA was put in place, and argued that agreement wasn’t conducive to owners making that type of investment.

So what does this new California/L.A. language mean?

Well, first of all, it means Goodell Co. were thinking about the state and L.A. during these high-pressure negotiations, another indication they’re serious about getting something done.

Specifically, it means the NFL wants to encourage and incentivize investment in California stadium projects.

What would happen is the league would lend the L.A. team owner money. . That money would be deducted off the top of the total revenue pool before it is divided between the owners (53%) and the players (47%). Therefore, both the owners and the players would be making a sacrifice to help grow the league.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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Dodgers owner Frank McCourt must negotiate with Major League Baseball for a loan to fund the team in bankruptcy, a judge ruled Friday.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross denied McCourt’s bid to use the loan he had arranged, over McCourt’s objections that the league could leverage its standing as a lender to oust him from ownership. Gross said he would ensure Commissioner Bud Selig would not abuse that power and criticized McCourt for refusing even to consider an MLB loan that would save the Dodgers millions of dollars.

The decision doesn’t mean McCourt will lose ownership of the Dodgers during the bankruptcy proceedings, but it was a rebuke to the way he has handled the team’s business with MLB.

“It is unclear to the court how [the Dodgers] think they can successfully operate a team within the framework of baseball,” Gross wrote in his ruling, “if they are unwilling to sit with baseball to consider and negotiate even more favorable terms while under the court’s protection.”

McCourt and his attorneys had argued that, as the debtors, the Dodgers were entitled to pick the loan they preferred. That is standard under bankruptcy law, but Gross ruled that McCourt forfeited that priority by failing to disclose he would have personally owed his lender $5.25 million if the court did not approve the loan.

That “clearly compromised McCourt’s judgment,” Gross wrote.

The lone witness in Wednesday’s hearing, Dodgers assistant treasurer Jeffrey Ingram, conceded that the league was not hostile to the Dodgers, and that the lower interest rate and absence of fees in the proposed MLB loan made its financial terms superior to that of the loan arranged by McCourt.

Kris Hansen, a New York bankruptcy attorney who has argued cases before Gross, said the judge clearly felt McCourt had put his own financial interest ahead of the team’s.

“It is definitely a lesson … baseball has conducted itself well and you haven’t,” Hansen said.

Thomas Salerno, the lead attorney for the Phoenix Coyotes during the NHL team’s bankruptcy, said Gross could appoint a trustee to handle the Dodgers’ financial affairs if he finds additional evidence of what the judge considers actions not in the best interest of the team. MLB also could ask Gross to appoint a trustee, one of several steps the league is considering.

For now, Gross ordered McCourt to negotiate a loan with the league “cooperatively and in good faith” and ordered MLB to ensure the terms are “independent of and uncoupled from” baseball rules the league might use to justify a takeover of the Dodgers in bankruptcy.

“There’s no question in my mind the judge wants a constructive dialogue between the Dodgers on one hand and MLB on the other hand,” said Bruce Bennett, the lead attorney for McCourt. “If a constructive dialogue is possible, the Dodgers will be part of it.”

Bennett said he expected to file court papers next week to start the process of the sale of the Dodgers’ cable television rights, the revenues from which could be critical to McCourt emerging from bankruptcy as the team owner.

MLB and Fox, the current rights-holder, are expected to oppose the sale. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 16.

Gross said he would defer consideration of “the issues surrounding the underlying feud between the Commissioner and … Frank McCourt,” but distinguished between McCourt and the Dodgers.

“It is clear that baseball needs and wants the Dodgers to succeed,” Gross wrote, “and the debtors are best served by maintaining baseball’s good will and contributing to the important and profitable franchise group under the commissioner’s leadership.”

Although Friday’s decision does not foretell the resolution of the case, the ruling indicates that Gross will not necessarily exercise the traditional judgment that an owner can best determine what is good for his business, said Daniel Baird, a University of Chicago bankruptcy law professor.

“That’s a message that’s not going to allow McCourt to sleep well at night,” Baird said.

The biggest winner in Friday’s developments might have been Highbridge Capital Partners, the New York hedge fund that would have provided McCourt with a $150-million loan. That money is no longer owed and thus not at risk, and Highbridge still made $5.5 million in fees from McCourt.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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Amir Khan has showed his heart, opened his wallet and now he will be required to prove his ring intelligence.

Khan, the 24-year-old World Boxing Assn. light-welterweight champion, returns to the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Saturday, when he will meet veteran Zab Judah, the division’s International Boxing Federation champion.

In a unanimous-decision win in December, Khan produced a gripping title defense by withstanding the best punches of hard-hitting Argentine Marcos Maidana.

The remarkable 10th round answered skepticism about Khan’s durability that date to a 2008 first-round knockout loss at the hands of British countryman Breidis Prescott.

“I’ve always wanted to prove all these people wrong,” said Khan (25-1, 17 knockouts), who proceeded to defeat Paul McCloskey by a technical decision in April. “I proved so much in that [Maidana] fight, giving and taking shots. I’ve proven I’m a different fighter at 140 pounds than I was at 135 [versus Prescott], when I was killing myself to make weight. I love 140.”

Khan and Judah each weighed in Friday at the limit, 140 pounds.

Khan was positioned to unify the weight class with a date against World Boxing Council champion Timothy Bradley, but the unbeaten Coachella Valley fighter declined Khan’s efforts to share in U.K. pay-per-view profits that would have pushed Bradley’s purse beyond $1.5 million.

Bradley, coming off a January victory over a sluggish formerly unbeaten Devon Alexander in Detroit, is embroiled in a nasty split with his promoters Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson.

Instead of following through on HBO’s plan to match the Bradley-Alexander and Khan-Maidana winners, Bradley is fighting a lawsuit by Shaw and will probably pay a settlement to resume his career.

That drama left Khan to act quickly on a replacement, and the 33-year-old Judah (41-6, 28 KOs) got the fight. Judah claimed his belt with a November split decision over Lucas Matthyse, then retained the title with a savvy technical knockout of Kaizer Mabuza in March.

“Zab does set traps — him going to the corner or ropes isn’t because he’s tired,” Khan trainer Freddie Roach said. “He’s tricky, he hides that left and you’ve got to keep from walking into it. He’s smarter than Amir because he has more experience. You can’t teach experience.”

Judah has spent the last decade fighting opponents such as Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto. He lost those bouts and clearly needs success Saturday to continue to participate in big fights.

“I’ve been before the bright lights before,” Judah said. “He’s never been there against someone like me.”

Like Roach’s star fighter, Manny Pacquiao, however, Khan gets passionate when the subject is chasing personal greatness in the ring. He says he will top the Maidana effort by “knocking Judah out. … I know it’ll come. I’ll win in a good style. Judah can’t keep up with my power and speed.

“I know one bad performance can take all the good ones away. If I lose, people will say I’m just a normal fighter. I’m getting better. Bradley knew it. So he can wait. … It might be a bigger fight next year, but I’ll win that fight.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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His conscience is paralyzed. His sense of entitlement is blinding.

So, no, actually, I wasn’t surprised to see this week’s photos of Andrew Bynum leaving his convertible sitting across two handicapped parking spaces while he shopped at an upscale grocery store in Westchester.

• Bill Plaschke

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If there’s one Laker who suffers from a disability of maturity, it’s him.

The sight of this strong, able-bodied basketball star exploiting a benefit belonging to the physically challenged would have been only sad, if it weren’t also so expected. The photos, unveiled in an NBC4 investigation, did not result in a ticket because there were no parking cops around. However, this was the latest in a string of incidents that have left the big man looking small.

A couple of months ago, Times columnist T.J. Simers stopped fawning over Bynum long enough to write about an emailed photo from a reader who claimed the image was of Bynum’s sports car parked in a handicapped spot at a Playa del Rey bank.

A few weeks before that, Bynum ended the postseason with a disgraceful clothesline cheap shot of Dallas’ Jose Barea, knocking the guard to the court in a heap. Bynum was ejected from the game, but not before he tore off his shirt in a crude gesture of retribution, stalking away half-dressed while appearing half-crazy.

The Lakers had a meeting with him after that incident. They reportedly had another meeting with him earlier in the year about other questionable community behavior.

This is a guy who blew off knee surgery last summer to travel to South Africa, forcing the Lakers to start the season without him, causing Pau Gasol to be overworked perhaps to a point of playoff exhaustion.

This is a guy who, while sidelined from a knee injury two years ago, was photographed at the Playboy Mansion playing hula hoop and carrying a scantily clad woman around on his shoulders.

I’ve spent two years practically pleading for the Lakers to trade him because he’ll always be such a physical risk. The Lakers have always resisted because of the potential of his size and his youth.

Well, right now, he’s nothing more than a big dummy who, at age 23, is old enough to know better. Right now, his supporters in the Lakers front office are dwindling to the point where they can probably all fit under Jimmy Buss’ baseball cap.

The only thing that Bynum seemingly understands less than respect is remorse. It took him two days to apologize for the nationally criticized clobbering of Barea, and it will take at least that long for him to apologize for this handicapped-parking incident.

I gave him a chance Thursday, but his agent David Lee said Bynum could not be reached for comment. In fact, the only sounds we’ve heard from Bynum since this disclosure was the slamming of his car door on an NBC4 reporter who ambushed him earlier this week.

Well, that, and a Thursday afternoon tweet from Bynum describing how he has arrived in Las Vegas for the weekend.

The Lakers’ front office could not address the issue because they cannot talk about any players during the lockout, so I spoke to another guy who wears a similar jersey. His name is Alvin Malave, one of the captains of the Fast Breakin’ Lakers wheelchair basketball team.

Yes, the Lakers actually sponsor a wheelchair basketball team, providing them with Lakers uniforms and everything. I’m guessing Bynum didn’t know, or maybe he would have been warned about the handicapped parking spaces from rugged shooting guard Malave, 31, a Woodland Hills man who was paralyzed from the waist down a decade ago when he was hit by a car.

“Not a lot of stuff bothers me, but this is a big, big deal,” Malave said. “For someone like Bynum to not take it seriously, he has no understanding of our situation.”

Malave is fit enough to easily roll his wheelchair from any spot in any lot, but he parks in the handicapped spots because he needs the space to enter and exit his car.

“Those spots aren’t only close, they’re wider than regular spots, that’s why they’re so important,” he said. “I need to have my door fully open to get my wheelchair out and put it back in.”

Malave remembers times when he has been forced to park his car in a regular space, only to return to find it hemmed him by two other cars.

“I’ll have to wait in the parking lot for 10 or 15 minutes sometimes for someone to come back my car out for me,” he said. “It’s very frustrating, and Andrew Bynum should know that.”

Bynum should also know that there was once a very good college football coach in this town, UCLA’s Bob Toledo, whose tenure here began to unravel in 1999 when 22 of his players were involved in a handicapped parking scandal.

“It’s a shame a superstar like that couldn’t use better judgment,” Malave said. “Hopefully, he’ll at least apologize.”

Here’s an idea, Drew. After your apology, why don’t you show up at the Maywood Park and Recreation Center one Saturday morning before the end of summer to cheer on the Fast Breakin’ Lakers as they play other teams in a wheelchair summer league?

The handicapped parking spots will be filled, but that’s OK.

You can walk.

bill.plaschke@latimes.com

twitter.com/billplaschke

ALPE D’HUEZ, France — Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck captured the Tour de France yellow jersey on the famed Alpe d’Huez on Friday, lining up a pulsating finish to the 2011 race with this weekend’s time trial and final dash to the Champs Elysees in Paris.

The 26-year-old rider who famously said “my stomach is full of anger and I want to take revenge” after losing the 2010 Tour by a mere 39 seconds, has just under a one minute advantage over Australia’s Cadel Evans going into Saturday’s time trial, the last big obstacle to Schleck finally avenging his loss and donning the yellow jersey on the Champs Elysees podium.

Schleck, a two-time Tour runner up to Spain’s Alberto Contador, has long spoken of the advantage he gains from racing alongside his older brother Frank, who is now second overall, 53 seconds behind Andy.

But Saturday’s race will pit the younger Schleck against Evans, also a two-time Tour runner up and a notably better time trialist, with nothing his brother can do to help.

Frenchman Pierre Rolland won the 19th stage, battling up the mountain’s 21 brutally steep bends to finish 14 seconds ahead of Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez and 23 seconds clear of a more dangerous Spanish rival, three-time Tour champion Alberto Contador.

Schleck, who famously lost the 2010 Tour by a mere 39 seconds to Contador, now has a 53-second lead over his brother Frank in second place, while Australia’s Cadel Evans is third, 57 seconds behind.

Schleck knocked Contador out of the running in Thursday’s race up the Galibier pass, launching a daring solo attack from over 30 miles out that his rival couldn’t match.

The 26-year-old Luxembourg rider, considered one of the best climbers in the peloton, kept his 57 second lead over Evans on the Alpe d’Huez, the last of a three-day stretch of epic mountain stages in the Alps and one of the most famous climbs in cycling.

But Evans still has every chance of beating both Schleck brothers in Saturday’s time trial in Grenoble, the race’s penultimate stage.

Time trialing, the individual race-against-the-clock race excelled at by specialists like Swiss world champion Fabian Cancellara and US rider David Zabriskie, has long been Schleck’s weak point.

Evans is a strong time trialist, but it will take a superlative performance to make up his 57 second deficit and upset the Schlecks’ long-held dream of becoming the first brothers to finish on the winner’s podium together in the Tour’s 108-year history.

Schleck said he has not pre-ridden Saturday’s stage, a 42.5 kilometer (26.4 mile) individual time trial in Grenoble. But he dismissed concerns that he isn’t a good enough time trialist to hold of Evans.

“Everybody tells me it’s a time trial that suits me good, so I believe everybody and hope to show a good performance tomorrow,” Schleck said.

In 2008 Evans beat Schleck by nearly 2 minutes in a time trial that was about 10 kilometers longer. Schleck was only 23 and riding in his first Tour then, and since then has put significant effort into improving his skills in the specialist discipline.

Evans admitted he wished he was not so far behind Schleck going into Saturday’s stage.

“Of course I’d like to take more time going into the time trial,” Evans said. “I’d much rather be in yellow, with five minutes” going into the stage.

Evans said he’d follow a simple strategy Saturday: “Start as fast as possible, finish as fast as possible, hope you’re fast enough.”

Schleck took the yellow jersey from Frenchman Thomas Voeckler, who cracked on the day’s first climb and never managed to catch the leaders despite a gritty struggle up the Alpe d’Huez.

The Luxembourg rider made good on the promise he made Thursday to capture the jersey, after he missed taking the lead on top of the Galibier pass by only 15 seconds after launching a daring solo attack.

Now he has Sunday’s finish line firmly in his sights.

“My motivation is super, my legs are good, my condition is there, so I’m confident I can keep this till Paris,” Schleck said.

He rode much of the day in a small group alongside Contador, but chose not to follow the Spanish rider when he attacked at the bottom of the 13.8 kilometer (8.5 mile) Alpe d’Huez.

“I had no interest in chasing Contador or Sanchez,” Schleck said, as neither rider was in contention for the yellow jersey.”Today I had bigger goals than to win the stage.”

Rolland crossed the line after attacking near the end of the day’s route, packed with thousands of wildly cheering cycling fans.

Rolland, a 24-year-old rider from team Europcar, attacked as the demanding 109.5 km (68 mile) race over three difficult climbs drew to a tense finish, finally dropping Contador and Sanchez toward the top of the 6,100 foot final climb.

Rolland, who is riding in his third Tour, clenched his fists and grinned widely as he crossed the line 14 seconds ahead of Sanchez and 23 seconds ahead of Contador.

“I grew up watching Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani, watching how they climb the Alpe d’Huez,” Rolland said. “Now I’ve won the Alpe d’Huez, it’s going to take a minute to sink in.”

Andy Schleck rode in 57 seconds behind Rolland in a group of six riders that included his brother and Evans.

Voeckler rode in 3 minutes and 21 seconds behind Rolland, losing the yellow jersey he had worn for 10 days. Voeckler dropped to fourth place overall, 2 minutes and 10 seconds behind.

Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday. Blyleven was elected on his 14th time on the ballot, his next-to-last opportunity. Alomar made it in the second year he was eligible. Staff writer Ben Bolch offers his take on the chances of some active players:

First-ballot, baby

Vladimir Guerrero has been one of the most feared hitters in both leagues, capable of hitting balls a long way whether they are over the plate or bounce in front of it (just ask Pete Harnisch about that split-fingered fastball off the Olympic Stadium turf in 1998). Before he’s done, Guerrero just might reach two milestones — 500 home runs and 3,000 hits — generally thought to make hitters a lock for Cooperstown.

Jim Thome is a throwback in the best sense. When he becomes the eighth player in baseball history to hit 600 homers, he will do it without a whiff of suspicion about performance-enhancing drug use. Three others to reach that hallowed mark in recent years — Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa — can’t share that distinction.

Derek Jeter has been nothing if not consistent. The New York Yankees shortstop never hit below .291 in a full season before 2010, helping him reach 3,000 hits only a few weeks after turning 37. He should have first-ballot company in teammate Mariano Rivera, who figures to eclipse Trevor Hoffman as baseball’s all-time saves leader. Though closers are often shunned by the Hall of Fame, the most dominant reliever in the history of the game should be quickly enshrined.

Get the plaque ready

The winner of a record 13 Gold Glove Awards, Washington’s Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez has been unrivaled defensively as a catcher over the last 20 years. He’s also batted only a tick under .300 for his career and is within reach of 3,000 hits. He’s as good as in.

One of the best switch-hitters of any era, Chipper Jones put together an eight-year stretch when he drove in at least 100 runs every season. The Atlanta third baseman also was a cornerstone of 13 playoff teams and batted a career-high .364 at age 36.

Ichiro Suzuki is human after all. After collecting at least 200 hits, winning a Gold Glove and being selected an All-Star in each of his first 10 seasons, the Seattle outfielder is hitting well below .300 this year for the first time in his career. That probably won’t keep him out of Cooperstown unless it precipitates an unusually steep decline for one of the most dynamic leadoff hitters in baseball history.

Give peace (and these guys) a chance

Players aren’t inducted for being versatile and sticking around into their mid-40s. Good thing Omar Vizquel can hit too. The last remaining player who made his debut in the 1980s, the 44-year-old shortstop could reach 3,000 hits if he sticks around a few more seasons. He also has won 11 Gold Gloves and has played every infield position.

Assuming he plays until he’s 40, Johnny Damon, 37, could easily surpass 3,000 hits. Of the 28 players who have reached that threshold, 24 are Hall of Famers and two — Jeter and Craig Biggio — probably will be. Only the scandal-plagued Rafael Palmeiro and Pete Rose will likely be left out.

David Ortiz will always be beloved in Boston for helping the Red Sox break the “Curse of the Bambino” in 2004. And if the slugger who has averaged 35 homers and 118 RBIs over a full 162-game season in his career makes it to Cooperstown, he just might find something to love about New York as well.

Cooperstown, circa 2025

It’s never too early to start thinking about your legacy. There are several 34-and-younger players who will merit strong Hall consideration if they maintain their current pace, or even tail off a bit.

Albert Pujols, 31, already has three MVPs and more than 420 homers. It’s going to be hard to keep him out. The same can be said for Ryan Howard, 31, who has averaged 45 homers over his five full seasons, and Miguel Cabrera, 28, who is already more than halfway to 3,000 hits at an age when some guys still rely on mom to do their laundry.

Joe Mauer, 28, an MVP in his fifth full season, could be among the greatest catchers to play the game provided he stays healthy. Roy Halladay, 34, has been the most dominant starter of the last decade. CC Sabathia, 31, could notch victory No. 200 as soon as next season.

The asterisk wing

Alex Rodriguez’s steroids admission puts him in the same unelectable spot as Mark McGwire and Palmeiro despite the possibility that the New York Yankees third baseman could overtake Bonds — another suspected drug cheat — as baseball’s home-run king. McGwire received fewer Hall of Fame votes in 2011 than he did the previous year, so it looks as if the voters aren’t softening their stance on those believed to have used performance-enhancing drugs.

That’s also bad news for Jason Giambi and Manny Ramirez. Giambi’s vague apology and subsequent mea culpa that he was “wrong for doing that stuff” likely ended the borderline candidacy of a former AL MVP who could reach 450 homers. Any lingering chance Ramirez had of reaching Cooperstown vanished when he failed a second drug test earlier this season and retired. The former Dodger will probably be remembered more for his use of a female fertility drug than his 555 homers.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Norwood, according to arrest records, is 6 feet 4 and weighs 250 pounds, roughly matching the description witnesses gave to police of one of the people responsible for the March 31 assault on Stow. 

Records show that Louie Sanchez is 5 feet 11 and weighs 175 pounds, measurements which also are close to the description witnesses gave of the second assailant. Fontana police described Sanchez as having neck tattoos when he was arrested for drunk driving in 2005, according to court records. The LAPD has described one of the assailants in the Stow attack as having possible tattoos on his neck.

The arrest of the trio marked a dramatic turn in the investigation into the beating on opening day in the stadium parking lot, which left Stow with brain damage. The attack has garnered national attention and placed intense pressure on the LAPD, city officials and the Dodgers organization to calm fears of violence and lawlessness among fans.

In May, police took another man, Giovanni Ramirez, into custody and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck described him repeatedly as the prime suspect in the case. The investigation into Ramirez, however, stalled almost immediately as detectives scoured cellphone records, thousands of images from surveillance camera footage, financial records and hundreds of other possible links and tips, but failed to link him to the beating.

Without any hard evidence, prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges against Ramirez. Instead, police held him in custody for violating the terms of his parole from a previous conviction. Last month, Ramirez was sentenced to 10 months in prison for the violation.

Stow, a father of two, was walking through the Dodger Stadium parking lot with two friends after the Dodgers’ opening-day victory over the Giants when he was attacked.

Stow, who lives in Santa Cruz and works as a paramedic, was wearing Giants apparel and was taunted by the two men, police have said. One of the assailants blindsided Stow with blows to the back and head, police said.

The two assailants repeatedly kicked and punched Stow while he was on the ground. After he appeared to make progress in recent weeks, Stow’s condition took a turn for the worse this week when he suffered seizures and underwent emergency surgery.

RELATED:

Complex portrait emerges of new suspects in Bryan Stow beating

Bryan Stow tries to give ‘thumbs up’ to medical staff

Family of Giovanni Ramirez slams LAPD’s handling of Bryan Stow case

– Andrew Blankstein, Jack Leonard and Joel Rubin

Photo: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck talked to the press after three new suspects were arrested in connection with the beating of Bryan Stow.

Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

Although it’s possible that NFL players could vote today on a labor agreement proposed (and ratified) by team owners, the prospect of any immediate decision is unlikely.

Kevin Mawae, president of the NFL Players Assn., released a statement this morning saying player leadership is discussing the proposal, the settlement arrangement and the process for recertification of the players union. But he added: “There will not be any further NFLPA statements today out of respect for the Kraft family while they mourn the loss of Myra Kraft.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and many team owners are attending the funeral of the wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. She died Tuesday of cancer-related complications.

Under the proposed agreement, which owners have asked players to ratify by Tuesday, team facilities would open Saturday, and the league year -– along with free agency — would begin Wednesday.

According to the players, they did not see the agreement before the owners voted on it. Player representatives from all 32 teams took part in a two-hour conference call after the owners’ vote was announced, but no player vote on the agreement was taken.

RELATED:

NFL owners approve labor deal; players have yet to vote

NFL lockout: Owners, players working on different timetables

NFL lockout puts rookie free agents in limbo while the clock is ticking to save the presseason

 – Sam Farmer

Photo: NFL Players Assn. President Kevin Mawae, center, arrives at the NFLPA offices in Washington on Tuesday. Credit: Susan Walsh / Associated Press

In the sport of boxing, there are thousands of sideshows and two real issues: Will Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao ever fight each other, and will the Klitschko brothers ever do the same?

The answers, in order, are: probably not, and never.

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If you are a boxing fan, you hate both conclusions. If you are a human being, you will come to understand the Klitschkos’ stance. Younger brother Wladimir articulated it nicely once again over lunch the other day.

“Don King once offered us $100 million to fight,” he said. “My reaction was, how much is your mother worth?”

Wladimir said when he and Vitali used to merely spar, it got bloody and dangerous.

“The last time we sparred, and that was years ago,” he said, “I broke my leg. After that, we said no more.”

Recently, that stance became even more important.

The Klitschkos’ mother, Nadia, became a widow July 13. Her husband, Wladimir Rodionovich, died of cancer after a long battle. He was 64, a former colonel in the Russian Air Force and one of the men put in charge of the cleanup of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986. His youngest son said that his cancer was directly attributable to his work at Chernobyl, and that, even at only 64, he was among the last of his military friends to die.

“I was 10 when Chernobyl happened,” said Wladimir, whose family was in Kiev, Ukraine, 100 miles away. “Our father told us the Russians were hiding the truth, that something very bad had happened.”

So the vow of Wladimir and Vitali to never fight each other took on additional importance July 13.

The timing of the senior Klitschko’s death in Kiev also turned out to be especially significant to Wladimir, who had won his 14th fight in a row 11 days before, in a noisy and controversial matchup against England’s David Haye in an outdoor soccer stadium in Hamburg, Germany.

Wladimir said that, at the services, the priest said his father had had nothing to confess at the end, but only said that he had been able to see his dream come true, when he watched his son beat Haye on TV. Wladimir’s victory that night meant that he and Vitali now own all the heavyweight boxing titles. Wladimir is champion of the WBA, IBF, IBO, WBO and Ring Magazine sanctioning bodies. Vitali is the WBC champion.

“My father was my biggest fan,” Wladimir said. “I heard it from the priest. I really didn’t know that before.”

Wladimir is 35. He spends a lot of time in Los Angeles and the Klitschkos’ company, K2 Promotions, has an office in Marina Del Rey. Vitali just turned 40. He has lived part time in Bel Air for years and planned the births of his three children here, so they would become American citizens. Both brothers speak four languages.

They have dominated the heavyweight division for much of the last decade and, despite their ages, appear poised to carry on. Especially Wladimir.

“When I won the Olympics [for Ukraine, in Atlanta in 1996], I think that that is all there is,” he said. “Then I realize that there was something else, pro boxing. I figured I’d do that until I was maybe 25. Then I thought about stopping at 30. But I feel better every year, 32, 33, 35.

“I will know when it is time, but it’s not now.”

Nor is it for Vitali, who will fight Tomasz Adamek of Poland on Sept. 10. That will be in a new soccer stadium in Wroclaw, Poland, scheduled to open in 2012.

“The tickets are almost sold out,” Wladimir said, “but we don’t have any seats for them to sit in yet.”

And then, in November or December, at a yet-to-be-determined site against a yet-to-be-determined opponent, Wladimir will fight again. Part of his eagerness to get back in the ring is his dissatisfaction with the Haye fight, which he won overwhelmingly on all cards. In a fight seen that night of July 2 on HBO, Haye got on his bicycle for the entire 12 rounds and pedaled. The fans booed and veteran ringside analyst Larry Merchant ripped him repeatedly, and accurately.

“I haven’t even watched it,” Wladimir said. “I can’t yet. I’m not satisfied with the fight. He was amazingly quick and fast, but he just ran. He never wanted to fight.

“If you have lost the first 11 rounds — and I’m sure his corner was telling him that — then you come out in the last round, close your eyes and start swinging away.”

That didn’t happen, and Haye, who had trash-talked the Klitschkos and previously taunted them with an altered picture on a magazine cover of him holding Wladimir’s bloody head in his hands, danced to safety one more time in the 12th.

Boxing fans want blood and guts. The Klitschko brothers give them strength and strategy. They are both about 6 feet 7 and 250, both careful in their approach to opponents, and both somewhat dismayed that their legacy seems to be that they are boring. The legacy they’d like, and think they deserve, is that they have been consistent and durable.

“When I hear I am boring,” said Wladimir, whose record is 56-3, “I always answer one way: 49 knockouts.”

Vitali could answer the same way. His record is 42-2, with 39 knockouts.

Boxing fans need to let go of their preoccupation with a Klitschko-Klitschko fight. They also need to start appreciating what the brothers have given to the sport. Anything else is a useless waste of energy.

“We know how to fight,” Wladimir said, “and we aren’t going to change how we do it.”

bill.dwyre@latimes.com

Frank McCourt now has to negotiate with Major League Baseball for a loan after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross decided that the MLB loan was “not a vehicle for Baseball to control” the Dodgers.

The judge ruled Friday that McCourt could not use the loan he had arranged to fund the team through the bankruptcy process, even though McCourt and his attorneys had argued he should not have to accept financing from a league allegedly intent on ousting him — so much so that the proposed MLB loan included terms aimed at triggering that ouster.

DOCUMENT: Bankruptcy judge’s ruling against Frank McCourt

McCourt and his attorneys had argued that, as the debtors, the Dodgers were entitled to use their business judgment to pick the loan they preferred. That is a standard under bankruptcy law, but Gross ruled that McCourt forfeited that priority by failing to disclose he would have personally owed his lender $5.25 million by not seeking court approval of the loan.

That “clearly compromised McCourt’s judgment,” Gross wrote, opening the door for him to compare the proposed loans on purely financial terms. The lone witness in Wednesday’s hearing, Dodgers assistant treasurer Jeffrey Ingram, conceded that the lower interest rate and absence of fees in the proposed MLB loan made its financial terms superior to that of the loan arranged by McCourt.

Gross said he would defer consideration of “the issues surrounding the underlying feud between the Commissioner and … Frank McCourt,” but he slammed the Dodgers for refusing even to negotiate with MLB for a loan that could save the Dodgers money.

“It is unclear to the Court how Debtors think they can successfully operate a team within the framework of Baseball if they are unwilling to sit with Baseball to consider and negotiate even more favorable terms while under the Court’s protection,” Gross wrote.

We’ll have more later at latimes.com/sports.

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Photos: The Dodgers and the McCourts