It Looks as If Cabell Is the Straw That’s Stirring the Dodgers

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said he may be the greatest steal since the Brinks robbery.

Pitcher Jerry Reuss referred to him as the missing piece of the puzzle.

Cincinnati Manager Pete Rose characterized him as the “most instrumental player” in a just concluded four-game series between his club and the Dodgers which ended Sunday with a 4-0 Los Angeles victory.

And just who was the object of all this admiration? Pedro Guerrero? Fernando Valenzuela? Reuss?

How about Enos Cabell?

Considered a consistent hitter, but a defensive question mark when he was obtained from the Houston Astros last month, Cabell has slowly rounded into a dependable, steadying influence at third.

His bat, weak at first, is coming around. He had three hits Sunday--two doubles and an infield single--and drove in two runs. Hitting just .243 when he was traded by Houston, he has raised his overall average to .261 and is hitting .286 as a Dodger.

And the question mark about his glove has turned into an exclamation point.

When he first trotted to third for the Dodgers, Cabell committed five errors in his first 14 appearances.

“I was making silly mistakes,” he said. “I was letting the ball go through my legs, throwing the ball away. I wasn’t relaxed. I was afraid of making mistakes because I was on a team that was in first place and I didn’t want to come over here and be a goat.”

At this point, he seems to have successfully tucked the horns away. He made two excellent throws Saturday night to retire Cincinnati runners and played another steady game at third Sunday, starting a double play and fielding his position flawlessly.

On some recent occasions, Lasorda has used a defensive replacement for Cabell in the later innings. Not any more.

When he first came to Los Angeles, Cabell’s job description read: “Little bit of third, some first, occasional outfield appearance and some pinch-hitting.”

That all changed when Dave Anderson, who had been the Dodger third baseman, was knocked out of the lineup and eventually onto the disabled list with a bad back.

Lasorda penciled Cabell into the lineup at third and, these days, he’s switched to non-erasable ink.

After playing in a night game Saturday, Cabell went to Lasorda and asked if he was going to come back and start a day game Sunday. After all, he is 35 and in his 14th major league season.

“I told him, ‘You’re playing pal. That’s what we got you for,’ ” Lasorda said.

What the Dodgers got Cabell for was pitcher Rafael Montalvo and infielder German Rivera.

“Al (Campanis, Dodger general manager) stole him,” Lasorda said of Cabell.

According to the Dodger manager, another move his new third baseman made Sunday impressed him as much as anything he saw.

Reuss, on his way to a six-hit shutout that lowered his ERA to 2.98 and raised his record to 10-7, was in a bit of trouble. Cabell walked over to the mound to calm the pitcher down.

Simple enough?

“I leaned over to a player next to me in the dugout,” Lasorda gushed, “and told him, ‘See how he went in to talk to the pitcher. This is what we’ve lacked.’

“When (Ken) Landreaux hit that line drive with Cabell on second, he waited until the ball went past him to see if it was going to be caught before he took off. He has great baseball instinct. He knows how to play the game.”

When the Dodgers were struggling early in the year, Reuss told reporters, “it seemed as if there were a missing puzzle part. It’s him (Cabell). He’s the one. He contributes knowledge and experience. He knows his position. He is a solid No. 2 hitter. He is doing the job of a No. 2 hitter, allowing the leadoff man to steal. I’m just glad to be the benefactor of all that.”

Reuss was the benefactor of all the offense he would need in the fifth inning when Cabell slapped a double just down the left-field line to score Mariano Duncan, who had singled.

Cabell scored the second run in the seventh after doubling into left center, coming home on Landreaux’s single. Landreaux subsequently scored on a single by Guerrero, one of two singles the Dodger left fielder had after seeing his 16-game hitting streak dissolve Saturday night.

Cabell knocked in the final run in the eighth, beating out an infield single to short with the bases loaded.

Joining Cabell in the three-hit category was Landreaux who has more in common with the new Dodger than just a business address.

Landreaux is a cousin of Cabell, who grew up in Southern California, was all-conference in baseball at Harbor Community College and has lived in Anaheim Hills since 1978.

“We can tell each other what we’re doing wrong because we’ve seen each other do what’s right and wrong for such a long time,” Landreaux said. “We can relate to each other because we’ve been through the same ups and downs and are living the same life.”

There haven’t been many down times for the Dodgers lately. Sunday’s victory at Dodger Stadium gave them three of the four games against Cincinnati and a seven game lead, the biggest lead a Dodger team has enjoyed since the 1978 World Series-bound club enjoyed a 7 1/2-game advantage on September 24.

Almost any statistic you look at these days brings a smile to Lasorda’s face. It is the first time in two years that the Dodgers have been 20 games over .500. The club has won five of its last seven, eight of its last 12.

The pitching staff can throw around a few impressive statistics of its own. Sunday’s shutout was the club’s 17th, a league-leading figure. And Dodger pitchers now have a streak of 25 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

The last time this club lost a series was in late June in San Diego. That left it six games behind the Padres.

What was wrong with the team then was a real puzzle.

But that was before the arrival of the missing piece.

Dodger Notes The baseball world has been rejoicing over the quick end of the strike, but a true historic spectacle may have been lost. Announcer Vin Scully had suggested to Tom Lasorda that he go on a hunger strike to protest the work stoppage. Scully even suggested that Lasorda could then write a book about his experience and, as an added touch, make the book edible. Lasorda, never accused of shying from the spotlight, had his mouth watering at the idea. But how long, he was asked, could he have lasted? “How long did Mahatma Gandhi last?” he said. . . . Cincinnati starter Andy McGaffigan, surrendered three of the Dodger runs in 6 innings to even his record at 1-1. . . . Manager Pete Rose sat out a second straight game and remains 21 hits short of breaking Ty Cobb’s career record. . . . On an infield single by Nick Esasky in Saturday night’s game, Steve Sax was mistakenly identified as the man whose throw caused Greg Brock to come off the bag. It was actually Bill Russell, filling in for Sax. . . . Following Saturday night’s Hollywood Stars exhibition, Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the only member of the team to stop by and thank clubhouse attendants for their help. . . . Mike Fratello, head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, was the Dodgers’ honorary batboy Sunday.