Hard-working A.J. Ellis embodies the spirit of Dodgers

From Phoenix — If we search for a silver lining in the aftermath of the Frank McCourt scorched-earth era, we might find A.J. Ellis.

If the normal big league money were flowing for the Dodgers these days, it would be less likely that Manager Don Mattingly would have pointed his finger at Ellis as his man behind the plate to start this season.

The most recent Dodgers catcher had been Rod Barajas, but he wanted $4 million to stay. He got that from the Pittsburgh Pirates, sending another dagger into the hearts of Dodgers fans. Outbid by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ellis, who will turn 31 in April and has been mostly a career minor leaguer, will be paid $490,000 this season. The Major League Baseball minimum, at a time when players buy Porsches like we buy milk, is $480,000.

That’s not to denigrate Ellis. He may be living proof that Leo Durocher was wrong. This nice guy is not going to finish last, even if he doesn’t burn up the National League basepaths. He actually says thing such as, “I love guys who play defense and put the team first.” And he means it.

Ellis just might turn out to symbolize what the Dodgers need to be, and likely will be this season, while the courts and the lawyers continue to sort out what they will be in the future. After superstars Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, this is a roster that would make former UCLA football coach Terry Donahue proud. Think gutty little Dodgers.

Pivotal in this kind of fight-tooth-and-nail style is the guy behind the plate, running the show, getting his uniform dirty, shrugging off foul tips and big knocks from opposing baserunners trying to score. A good catcher shows heart and his team follows.

With Ellis, the heart will be less a problem than the bat.

“Whatever I add offensively,” Ellis says, “will be a bonus.”

Mattingly, asked if he would be happy with a batting average of .265-.270 from Ellis, says, “I’ll take that right now.”

To be clear, Ellis is not Jeff Mathis-challenged at the plate. The former Angels defensive star hit .174 last year. Ellis’ history indicates he will do better than that. He has a .262 average in 206 major league at-bats and hit .271 in 85 at-bats when he came up last season.

But the climb to his moment of opportunity has been long and hard. Patience might have factored in as much as a strong throwing arm and the ability to call a good game.

He was drafted out of Austin Peay, where he was a star and where he met another athletic star, his volleyball-playing wife, Cindy. Ellis went in the 18th round in 2003, the 541st player taken. The long trek had begun, through places like South Georgia, Vero Beach, Las Vegas and Albuquerque.

Ellis’ first major league appearance came in 2008, as a pinch runner for Nomar Garciapara. Fittingly, he was driven in on a homer by catcher Russell Martin. His first major league hit came on the last day of the 2009 season. His first huge major league moment came in 2010, when he played 44 games with the Dodgers and won a game with a walk-off hit.

Then came last season, when he played 31 games with the big team and hit his first major league home run, positioning himself nicely for the next most-important walk-off of his career — the one by Barajas.

Ellis’ summary in the Dodgers media guide begins with the word “cerebral.” Team pitchers talk about how solid he is behind the plate and how much time he takes to get to know and understand their approach. General Manager Ned Colletti characterizes him as a player “who has really worked hard” to get this shot.

All of which is nice if you add some performance pluses.

“I have worked hard so that the pitchers feel confident when I put a sign down,” Ellis says.

Mattingly says it better.

“These guys want to know,” he says, “that when their catcher puts a sign down, he isn’t just guessing.”

With Ellis, they know.

He even addresses, with logic and rationale, the current hell-on-earth situation the franchise is going through, as McCourt maneuvers to divest himself and pay his bills, with baseball and Dodgers fans eager for him not to let the door hit him on the way out.

“Sure, it is all around us. You can’t miss it,” Ellis says. “But it has gone on so long that there isn’t much chatter about it in the clubhouse. It is almost like we are numb to it. We are all control freaks, but this is one thing we cannot control.”

After so many years of being on the outside, looking in, Ellis says he is not assuming anything, even though Mattingly has all but handed him the keys to the car.

“Until I see that name on the lineup card on opening day ... “ he says.

Maybe fans can learn to embrace Kemp, Kershaw and their scrapping, gutty little mates, led by a tough, well-spoken catcher. Maybe they can find room in their hearts to even understand, perverse as it is, that McCourt should get credit for making it happen this way.

Never mind. That will never happen.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com