Dodgers owner Frank McCourt meets with team’s employees

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt on Monday met with the team’s employees for the first time since he agreed to sell the club for a record $2.15 billion, according to people who were at the meeting.

McCourt had been in New York overseeing the sale and, upon returning to Los Angeles, met with the employees in the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium, according to multiple people who attended the meeting but were not authorized to discuss it.

“I’m going to miss you all,” McCourt told the group during the 45-minute meeting, one of the people said.

McCourt also took a few questions after his remarks and, when his talk ended, he received a standing ovation from the employees, the people said.

Dodgers spokesman Joe Jareck declined to comment.

McCourt agreed to sell the Dodgers to a group led by the investment firm Guggenheim Partners that also includes Magic Johnson. The sale, awaiting approval by a Bankruptcy Court, is scheduled to be completed by April 30.

Adam Kennedy’s different Freeway Series

As a player with the Angels, Adam Kennedy always enjoyed the Freeway Series against the Dodgers. But did the infielder ever dream he’d be in the other dugout for the series?

“No, I didn’t, but I’m proud to be doing it on this side,” said Kennedy, 36, who signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers this season.

Kennedy, who dreamed of playing with the Dodgers while growing up in Riverside, spent several seasons with the Angels, including 2002, when they won the World Series.

“I used to always like to look in the stands and see the red and blue going at it, taking their side and standing up for it,” Kennedy said of fans at previous Freeway Series games.

Interleague play has made exhibition games less of a novelty in recent years; the Dodgers and Angels play six times in this year’s regular season.

The series also is less about rivalry and more about “getting ready and prepared for the regular season,” said Kennedy, who started Monday’s opening game of the series at Angel Stadium as the Dodgers’ designated hitter. “But it’s still fun.”

The teams play Tuesday and Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

Ted Lilly throws in a simulated game

Starting pitcher Ted Lilly, recovering from a stiff neck that postponed his season debut, threw in a simulated game and Manager Don Mattingly pronounced the outing a success.

“It was good, his pitches got up there” in number to “close to 70,” Mattingly said. “You could tell he got a little gassed at the end, but I think he was good.”

Mattingly said the left-hander remained on track to start a minor league game April 8 and make his season debut April 14 against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.

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