BACK IN THE SWING : Mike Marshall Hopes a Big Season Will Exorcise ’86

Batting practice is more than just another spring training ritual to Mike Marshall. What happens during those few minutes determines whether the day will be judged as good or bad, or so Marshall’s serious demeanor suggests.

One day last week apparently wasn’t a good one for the Dodger right fielder. Facing one of those generic, nonroster pitchers with a uniform number in the high 70s, Marshall struggled to make contact. When he stepped out of the batting cage, Marshall couldn’t help but voice his frustration.

“Why is it that these guys with a 6.80 ERA in San Antonio, you can’t hit down here?” he asked no one in particular.

The next day, facing veteran reliever Tom Niedenfuer in batting practice, Marshall dug in at the plate and proceeded to pummel nearly every pitch. That, without question, was a very good day.

Marshall remained quiet, but Manny Mota, Dodger hitting coach who was standing outside the cage directly behind home plate, spoke up.

“Look at that expression on his face,” Mota said. “He wants to hit so bad.”

Fortunately for Marshall, there have been far more good days than bad so far this spring. As one of the key Dodgers recovering from injuries, a healthy and productive Marshall is essential to the Dodgers’ chances of bouncing back from a dismal 1986.

Marshall’s back was precisely the problem last season. Midway through what had been expected to be the best of his five major league seasons, Marshall was struck by a mysterious back injury that defied both diagnosis and treatment.

Doctors could not find a specific problem with Marshall’s back, therefore were unable to treat it, and there were some among the Dodgers who wondered just how serious the injury really was. All Marshall knew was that his back was so stiff and sore that he could not swing a bat effectively.

From early July to season’s end in October, Marshall had nothing but bad days. Whenever Marshall is unable to play, it is a bad day.

An off-season dedicated to rest and rehabilitation has Marshall and the Dodgers confidently talking of complete recovery and a highly productive 1987 season.

Even now, Marshall isn’t sure what caused his back problem. He says he doesn’t want to know.

“Hopefully, it’ll just be a mystery,” he said. “Hopefully, I just had a bad back for a couple of months.

“Whether I pulled a muscle, pinched a nerve, whatever it was, I’m happy it’s gone. You look at my X-rays or talk to the physical therapists who worked on my back, and they would say there are thousands of people who have the same back as I do and don’t have any problems. Who knows?”

Originally, back specialist Robert Watkins diagnosed the problem as a “mechanical strain.” Then, at one point last season, team trainers described it as stiffness and told Marshall that he had to learn to play with it.

Only Marshall knew how his back felt, though, and he simply told the Dodgers he was unable to play.

Physically, not playing provided needed rest and relief to Marshall’s ailing back. But mentally, the strain continued, and the season turned out to be Marshall’s worst.

On June 20, Marshall led the National League in home runs with 17 and was second in runs-batted-in with 45. After that, he went 10-for-89 with just 2 home runs and 8 RBIs.

“I was never in excruciating pain,” Marshall said. “I’ve played in a lot of pain. If you’re able to produce and do things, even through some pain, then you take an aspirin and play.

“It was stiffness. I just couldn’t play. I just could not swing a bat. I mean, I would work myself into a position where I could play one day, but then I’d be out a week. I’m looking at longevity right now.”

Longevity, to Marshall, means playing an entire season without losing time to injury.

Even in 1985, when Marshall batted .293, hit 28 home runs and had 95 RBIs, he missed 27 games because of injuries and an appendectomy.

“I have confidence in my ability, and I know the way I feel now,” Marshall said. “I’m going to go out there the first day of the season and play in the last game of the season, and play in a lot of them in between.”

Marshall’s plan this spring is to play more by doing less.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda admiringly calls Marshall the hardest-working player he has seen, and Marshall admits that he sometimes works too hard and is too single-minded when it comes to his game.

Take batting practice, for example. In previous years, Marshall would finagle for extra cuts around the cage until the coaches made him leave. Then, he would hit a few buckets of balls at the pitching machines. He even hit balls off a batting tee if he thought it necessary.

Doctors have advised Marshall that there will be less strain on his back if he eliminates extra batting practice. So now, the swings he does take seem more important.

“It’s not like I’ve slacked off,” he said. “I’m not working any less. . . . I’ve just put more time into the conditioning part of it. I’m in the situation now that I know I can catch, throw and hit. It’s just being physically able to do it.”

Under the supervision of Pat Screnar, the Dodgers’ physical therapist, Marshall’s training regimen seems suited more for a triathlete than a baseball player.

During the off-season, Marshall went through a regular routine of stretching, cycling, swimming, running and work with Nautilus weights. In spring training, Marshall goes through the same drills and batting practice as his teammates but adds stretching and deletes the overtime work.

“Mike knows he doesn’t want to get in the situation again where he aggravates (his back),” Screnar said. “But he also knows there will be a day or two when there’s going to be some stiffness again. He’ll be fine as long as he knows his limitations.

“I think, physically and mentally, he’s better equipped to handle it this year.”

Never mind Lasorda or Dodger management or his teammates, Marshall has always been toughest on himself.

Al Campanis, Dodger vice president, said Marshall took last season’s problems much too hard.

“He’s hyper-critical of himself,” Campanis said. “Some guys, they can take an 0-for-10 slump. It bothers Mike more than a normal guy, because he’s always been successful and he always expects it. He’s got to get better in taking adversity better.

“I’d say to him, ‘Mike, smile.’ He would say, ‘I never smile when there’s a ballgame.’ That’s not good. You make it tougher on yourself. I like a guy who’s light, gay and fun-loving, like Saxy (Steve Sax).”

Campanis believes that during those stressful summer months last season, Marshall overreacted.

“I believed him when he said he was hurt, because you can never question when a guy says he has an injury,” Campanis said. “And yes, I heard (talk among teammates). But Mike’s got a great imagination, like, ‘They’re talking about me, aren’t they?’ If two guys are talking, he thinks it’s about him. You can’t be that way.

“If you hit 50 home runs and have a miserable time doing it, it’s not worth it. Even when he’s doing well, he’s too serious. He’s always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Told of Campanis’ opinions, Marshall seemed perplexed and angry.

“If that’s what Chief (Campanis) said, then what it is is that he’s not satisfied with what I’m doing. He thinks I can do better or that I’m not the player for him.

“I’ve heard it from a lot of people (that he is too intense), but it’s the type of person that I am. It got me here. If anything, I’ve learned a lot about the game that way, about myself and what it takes for me to get ready.

“If they think I’m too intense, then they do. I know what I have to do to get ready to play.”

Lasorda said that he admires Marshall’s dedication, even if Marshall does take setbacks too hard.

“He’s an outstanding competitor and I know it bothered him not playing,” Lasorda said. “It’s up to him if he wants to be serious, that’s fine.

“Why wouldn’t Mike Marshall want to play? Here’s a guy who hit 19 home runs (last season) quicker than you can blink your eye and had a chance to put some big numbers on the board. Even if he just cruised for the rest of the season, he’d have hit 29 home runs. He had a lot of money riding on it.”

Had Marshall’s season progressed normally, he might have produced statistics that would have resulted in a $1-million contract. Instead, he passed up salary arbitration and signed for $672,500, a slight raise over his 1986 salary.

More important to Marshall, who will be eligible for free agency in two years, is atoning for last season. If a successful 1987 means a lucrative contract, Marshall will take it.

Aside from staying healthy, Marshall’s major goal for 1987 is to avoid a slump.

“When you have a long season, there are very few guys who can sustain it from Day 1 to the end of the season,” Marshall said. “Saxy did it last year. You have your ups and downs. Me, I just seem to have more of them than the average person. I really think I can hit 30 home runs, drive in 100 runs. I haven’t hit .300 yet, but I think I’m capable of that if I play a full year.

“But I’ve gotten to the point now where I just want to look in the mirror and say that I gave it everything I had.”