Suspense Ends for Dodgers--It’s the Cardinals

Tom Lasorda sat in his office, opened mail, answered phone calls and finally said: “Picked up another game today.” And then he opened some more mail and answered some more phone calls.

In fact, the Dodgers did pick up another game on the Cincinnati Reds, beating them, 3-1, Saturday before a crowd of 23,861 at Dodger Stadium. That put them 6 1/2 games in front with one game to play--today. Meaning Saturday’s game was a tad on the meaningless side. Kind of hard to get worked up over it, win or lose.

Face it: If you were the Dodger manager and you had mail to answer Saturday, that’s what you’d do, too. The party’s over, the celebrating done for now. Another way you could tell, aside from Dodger Blase, was how the clubhouse seemed to smell of fermentation. More wine had been spilled in that clubhouse last week at clinching time than had ever been aged on “Falcon Crest.”

The fact that the Dodgers’ opponent in the pennant series was finally identified--St. Louis won its division Saturday--didn’t have too many folks worked up, either. Lasorda, using a letter opener the way some surgeons use a scalpel, further observed on the day’s various developments: “St. Louis is a very, very good team.”

Actually, he elaborated: “The Cardinals, they’re the best in the league in hitting and in defense, and they have two 21-game winners.” And then: “It will be a very, very exciting playoff.”

In any event, it will be more exciting than Saturday’s game, a good enough game but one without any drama whatsoever. About all that seemed to be on the line was the race for the MVP, the Reds’ Dave Parker vs. the Dodgers’ Pedro Guerrero. Parker homered off Bob Welch in the first inning to give both the Reds and himself a quick lead. Guerrero countered with a single in the Dodgers’ three-run fourth inning to give at least the Dodgers a lead.

That lead, to be as brief as possible, was born of Ken Landreaux’s single off the Reds’ Ron Robinson (7-7). Guerrero moved him to third with his single, and then Greg Brock drove one through the box to score Landreaux. Eddie Milner’s throw from center was off, and Robinson wasn’t exactly brisk to back up third, so the ball ended up in the Dodger dugout as Guerrero scored, too. Mike Marshall hit a tall fly to right to score Brock, and that was that.

Meanwhile, the Reds, who had pushed the Dodgers right up to Wednesday, had no luck with Welch (14-4), even though he was having some problems early.

“I felt good,” he said, meaning overall. “Early, I felt bad but I was able to keep going.”

Welch said he reverted to a previous failing, throwing across his body, but corrected that in the middle innings. The only reason he came out of the game after eight innings was so that Tom Niedenfuer could get some work.

If it wasn’t exciting for Welch, it was at least satisfying, as he had such a scary start this season. He had appeared in only one game before June 5 because of a sprained ligament in his right elbow. He even went to the Dodgers’ Class-A team at Vero Beach, Fa., to rehabilitate the arm.

“I’ve seen worse things happen and then get turned around,” said Welch, who will start the third playoff game. And then he mentioned one of the Cardinals’ 21-game winners, John Tudor, who began the season horribly. As big as Tudor’s comeback was, it’s hard to top Welch’s. Since his return, the Dodgers have won 18 of his 22 starts, including eight in a row.

Welch has been particularly effective against the tough teams. He has beaten the Reds, for example, seven straight.

Of course, the toughest is yet to come. The Cardinals, a team of speed and pitching, are next (at least after today’s game). Not that the Dodgers are hyperventilating at the thought.

Mike Marshall, who will finish up his best season today, said of the Cardinals: “They have the speed, but we have the power.” Marshall is a lot of that power with 28 homers and 95 RBIs and a. 293 average. “We’ll see what happens.”

Some of that power has been missing as Guerrero remains slightly hobbled by a sprained wrist. Although he continues to get treatment, he notices no difference in it. Said Guerrero, who still leads the team with 33 home runs: “When I’m hitting good, I’m using my wrist. Now, I’m using my whole body to swing to protect my wrist.”

No problem for now; the Dodgers are 6 1/2 up with one game to play, and the magic number is minus-something. Not even some fireworks could raise anybody’s blood pressure. Jay Johnstone threw some firecrackers into Lasorda’s office and quickly withdrew. They went off one at a time, with some noise and some smoke.

Lasorda looked up from his mail: “That’s terrible.” And then he took another phone call.

Dodger Notes

The Dodgers announced the pitching matchups for the first three games of the National League championship series. Opening the series Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, Fernando Valenzuela (17-10) will face St. Louis’ John Tudor (21-8). On Thursday at Dodger Stadium, Orel Hershiser (19-3) will oppose Joaquin Andujar (21-11). Saturday at St. Louis, Bob Welch (14-4) will go against Danny Cox (18-9). And Sunday, it will be Jerry Reuss (14-10) for the Dodgers; the Cardinals have not named their pitcher. . . . Today, the Dodgers close out the regular season by sending rookie Dennis Powell (1-1) to the mound. The Reds will pitch Tom Browning (20-9). . . . The Reds’ Pete Rose was honored in pregame ceremonies for breaking the all-time hit record. Gifts tended toward footwear--a bronzed shoe and a pair of cowboy boots.