CENTER OF CONCERN : Again This Spring, There Is No End of Challengers for Landreaux’s Job

The demise of Ken Landreaux, long anticipated by veteran Dodger watchers, is going to happen. Even Landreaux is sure of that, though he says it would be a mistake if the end comes this season.

Critics, however, say that the mistake has been the Dodgers’ keeping Landreaux in center field this long. They say that his fielding is suspect, his attitude sometimes belligerent and his desire nonexistent. They say that the Dodgers can’t win this season with Landreaux as a starter.

Those criticisms, justified or not, have followed Landreaux through his six seasons with the Dodgers. Yet, he has survived, if not always thrived, despite the prospects given chances to replace him and countless rumors suggesting his departure.

Again this spring, the Dodgers have fueled speculation that Landreaux might finally be given a pink slip.

Al Campanis, Dodger vice president, has said that Reggie Williams, rookie Jose Gonzalez and nonroster prospect Mike Ramsey each will be given a shot at winning the center-field spot. Campanis also talks about the possibility of trading for a center fielder, the leading candidates being the Philadelphia Phillies’ Gary Redus and the Cleveland Indians’ Brett Butler.

The media, fans and even some Dodger players have pushed for free agent Tim Raines to replace Landreaux.

“This,” Landreaux said, smiling thinly, “is a definite problem situation.”

The job, it seems, always has been his to lose.

A few springs ago, the Dodgers talked up Ron Roenicke as Landreaux’s replacement in 1983. But Landreaux kept the job, and Roenicke eventually found another one.

Last spring, Campanis had come up with another phenomenon, Gonzalez, to push Landreaux out of the way. At the end of camp, Gonzalez was in Albuquerque and Landreaux was still in center field. Gonzalez is back for another try this spring, and has company in Williams and Ramsey, a longshot.

You’d think the constant competition would make Landreaux insecure. All along, though, he’s had the security of a four-year, $2.4-million contract, which has made him difficult to trade or release.

That contract expires, though, after this season and the consensus is that, then, perhaps even sooner, Landreaux will be gone.

Is he worried?

“I don’t see any pressure here,” Landreaux said. “I’ll play where I’ll play. If they are going to release me or send me off, I can’t do nothing about that. If they think I can’t do it no more, that’s their opinion.”

It is the opinion of Landreaux, coming off a sub-par 1986 season in which he hit .261 and had 29 runs batted in in 103 games, that none of his challengers would be a suitable replacement.

“I don’t think there’s anyone (in the Dodger organization) as good as me,” Landreaux said. “Having potential and ability is one thing. . . . When I was coming up, I did all those things in the minor leagues they say these other guys are doing. But when I got to the major leagues, I found it a totally different situation.

“I don’t think any of those guys are ready. But I can’t control (management’s) thinking. But I can control doing my own job.”

That may be true, but the Dodgers and Landreaux seem to have different ideas of what his job is and how he should approach it.

Almost from the time he joined the club in 1981, the Dodgers have unblushingly said that Landreaux does not give maximum effort. They have said that he doesn’t have the concentration to put his talent to use, and some even doubt whether he cares about the quality of his performance.

Campanis doesn’t necessarily agree with all of those contentions, but he has been among the most recent of Landreaux’s critics.

“It’s been said--and I didn’t say it, I’m just passing it along--that he is a classic underachiever,” Campanis said. “It’s his own mental conception of what he wants to do. Some people rise to the occasion, some don’t.

“I like the guy, personally, but he’s got to show me he can be the kind of player we want. It could change, if he changes his ways. But it’s hard for him.”

What the Dodgers want from Landreaux is consistent effort and production. Landreaux’s .271 average in nine major league seasons shows that he can hit, but his defensive play often has been weak and his concentration lacking.

That’s the maddening thing about Landreaux, a paradox in spikes. He combines tremendous talent with what is widely viewed as laziness. He is considered one of the fastest Dodgers, yet he sometimes moves with geriatric deliberateness.

Lasorda sometimes unloads his clubhouse tirades on Landreaux simply to get a reaction--any reaction--out of him. Often, Lasorda walks away shaking his head.

One day a few years ago, Lasorda yelled at Landreaux, who was filling a cup with soup in the clubhouse: “Kenny, what’s the soup?”

Replied Landreaux, quietly: “Of the day.”

Lasorda and Campanis laugh at that incident, but Landreaux occasionally makes them want to scream.

A few years ago, the Dodgers installed a padded wall in center field of one of the practice fields here. They reportedly did it because Landreaux would not practice making running catches against a chain-link fence.

The wall has been there for several years now. Has Landreaux ever made a catch against it?

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him go near it,” one Dodger executive said.

Landreaux says that the Dodgers have always mistaken his “restrained” way of getting ready to play for slacking off. He insists that he works hard, and that it only looks easy.

“They say if a sprinter runs full out hard and strains too much, it’s not good for him,” he said. “They want a sprinter to run nice and fluid and get the most out of his ability. So, I try to stay in control all the time, to the point where it don’t look like I’m really trying.

“They get the wrong idea. It’s a misconception. It’ll look like I’m not running out there, but I cover a lot of ground. And I’m always out there trying to hit the ball.”

Campanis rolled his eyes when told of that explanation. “Like I said, it’s been said that he’s an underachiever,” Campanis said.

Still, Landreaux has made contributions in his six seasons with the Dodgers. Maybe that’s why he’s survived so long; every time they think of getting rid of him, he comes across.

It has always been that way with Landreaux. The Angels traded Landreaux and three other players to Minnesota in 1979 for Rod Carew, and Landreaux responded by hitting .305 the first year. The next season, Landreaux had a notable 31-game hitting streak, but he played in only 129 games and hit .281.

In 1981, his first season as a Dodger, Landreaux caught Bob Watson’s fly ball for the final out in the Dodgers’ World Series win over the New York Yankees. And in 1983 and 1985, when the Dodgers won divisional championships, Landreaux was a productive starter.

In the nonchampionship seasons, however, both Landreaux and the Dodgers struggled, although with his injuries and lack of productivity last season, he was simply one of many on the club.

“People don’t realize that Kenny could be a big help,” Campanis said. “He can be a player, but it’s up to him. I don’t remember the year--it was either ’85 or ‘83--and we went into Houston for a big series. And he had something like eight straight hits and we knocked them off and won the division. He’s important to us.”

Landreaux blames his inconsistency on injuries, not being used every day and bad luck. He maintains it’s not because of lack of effort.

“I haven’t produced up to my capability the last few years, but look at the circumstances,” Landreaux said. “I’m dealing with a lot of things, like those rumors of them getting rid of me.

“It’s been injuries, too, and being in and out of the lineup. I think I got pretty close (to reaching his potential) in ’79 and ‘80, but I got injured both years.

“As long as I stay healthy, they can bring in anybody to challenge me and I’ll still be here.”

And the challengers are . . .

In order of seniority, Campanis lists Williams, Gonzalez and Ramsey. And, should Landreaux and the others fail to impress, Campanis says there will be a trade for an established center fielder.

Gonzalez, hampered by a wrist injury, had an .059 average in spring training games last year. The injury bothered him almost all of last season, when he hit .277 in Albuquerque and .215 in 57 games with the Dodgers. It also bothered him in winter ball in the Dominican Republic.

“I took a month off after hurting it again, and now I feel ready to play,” Gonzalez said. “I think I’ve got a good chance to make it.”

During the off-season, the Dodgers convinced Gonzalez to stop trying to be a power hitter and to start concentrating on making contact. Since Gonzalez is one of the fastest players in the organization, he is a potential leadoff hitter.

Ramsey has a chance to jump from Double-A to the big leagues.

In the opinion of many--including those who count--Ramsey is the best defensive outfielder by far.

“If he can hit .250, he can start in center field for us,” Campanis said. “I said can, not will. He’s been a project, but he’s now getting close to being a big leaguer.”

Before he was acquired by the Dodgers from the Cincinnati Reds in 1982 for pitcher Ted Power, Ramsey was a pitcher in the Reds’ organization. But the Dodgers noticed his speed and converted him to a center fielder. Hitting is Ramsey’s weakness but he managed a .286 average in San Antonio last season.

Ramsey said he came to camp with the goal of just making the club’s Triple-A team in Albuquerque. All the talk of starting in Los Angeles has been a little too much for him.

“The big leagues would be just the icing on the cake,” Ramsey said. “Right now, I’m thinking of just improving my hitting. But I think, just from my personal view, I’d have to hit more than .250 in the big leagues. That’s not holding my own up there. I’d want to do better.”

Williams hit .277 for the Dodgers last season on the way to becoming the club’s rookie of the year. He played every outfield position, including center when Landreaux went out with a knee injury.

This spring, however, Williams, a right-handed hitter, is fighting to make the club. Still, Campanis mentions him as a possible successor to Landreaux.

“He’s an extra outfielder,” Campanis said. “If we use him, it will be platooning him and Landreaux.”

Said Williams: “I think I showed them I’m able to compete on the big-league level and produce. Now, it’s showing them that last year was not a fluke. It’s a tough situation, but I’m not going to back down.”

Maybe this will be the season when the Dodgers finally do something with Landreaux. But don’t be surprised if he’s starting in center field for them on opening day, April 6.

Landreaux isn’t betting against himself, even if he is 32 and in the final year of his contract.

“Other players don’t bother me, because I know I can play in the major leagues,” he said. “I’ve never doubted myself. I guess the only way the rumors are going to stop is if I go out there and put some numbers up there that makes them keep me or send me off.

“I want to keep playing. I love baseball. Some people might not think that, but I do.”

Dodger Notes Dodger pitcher Brian Holton does not look especially impressive on the mound, but he is hoping to put up some impressive numbers. Holton is bidding to become the club’s fifth starting pitcher or, as an alternative, a long reliever. The three shutout innings Holton pitched in the Dodgers’ 5-4 exhibition win over the Atlanta Braves Tuesday in Vero Beach certainly didn’t hurt his cause. On a day when Fernando Valenzuela gave up four runs in a wild first inning, Holton was a steadying influence for the Dodgers. . . .Valenzuela’s best pitches were nonexistent in a horrible first inning. He gave up consecutive singles to Dion James and Damaso Garcia. Then, after striking out Gerald Perry, Valenzuela walked Dale Murphy and Gary Roenicke and hit Graig Nettles with a pitch. It resulted in four runs. . . . Highlights from the Dodgers’ third straight exhibition win: Steve Sax went 3 for 4 and had an RBI, and Mike Scioscia had two singles and two RBIs. Pedro Guerrero, playing his third straight exhibition, had a second-inning single and scored a run. . . . Bob Welch, bothered by a recurring bone spur in his right elbow, pitched on the sidelines Tuesday and reported no soreness, according to trainer Bill Buhler. Pitching Coach Ron Perranoski said Welch will pitch in a B game Saturday. . . . The Dodgers will travel to Lakeland today to play the Detroit Tigers.