Marshall Is Playing Back to Last Season : Mysterious Ailment Defying Diagnosis, Keeping Him on Bench

In what is swiftly becoming a repeat of last season’s frustrations, Dodger right fielder Mike Marshall remains unable to play because of a recurring back problem that so far has mystified doctors and prompted speculation by a few teammates about the injury’s severity.

Marshall, who missed his second straight game Thursday night and four this season because of stiffness and soreness in his back, will undergo more tests today in an attempt to determine the problems.

Thursday morning, Marshall, who also has a recurring wart on his index finger, saw back and hand specialists at Scripps Institute in La Jolla.

Dr. Roger Thorne, the back specialist, requested a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test that can determine even slight irregularities in the back. Marshall will have the test this morning, and there may be a diagnosis as soon as tonight.

Marshall, who returned to Dodger Stadium from La Jolla about an hour before game time, expressed his frustrations about the problem.

“Sure, I’m not happy about it,” Marshall said. “How could I possibly be enjoying this? For anyone on the team or anywhere to doubt me, all they have to do is look at my contract and my past record.

“I don’t know what they are going to say until after the test (this morning at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood). But I’m not hoping for a major injury so I can say to my teammates and management, ‘See, I told you so.’ I don’t want them to find anything critically wrong. I want them to tell me it’s minor.”

Marshall, who said he has played with pain and stiffness all season, was hitting .264 with 3 home runs and 18 runs batted in when he asked out of the lineup Wednesday night.

Before Wednesday’s game, there also was frustration expressed privately among some of Marshall’s teammates, who obviously want him in the lineup.

Second baseman Steve Sax, a close friend of Marshall’s, said he was aware of the talk. But Sax said most players believe Marshall is injured.

Both Sax and Marshall pointed out that the injury last season probably cost Marshall several hundred thousand dollars on his off-season contract negotiations with the club. Marshall signed a one-year contract worth $670,000, avoiding an arbitration hearing.

“Why would he do that to himself,” Sax said. “If Mike says he’s hurt, I believe him. Everyone else should, too. Why would he make it up? He’s hurting himself the most. I think everybody realizes that.”

Dr. Robert Watkins, the Dodgers’ back specialist, last season diagnosed Marshall’s problem as a “mechanical strain” and suggested that Marshall would have to deal with the discomfort through off-season rest and special exercises.

Marshall says he cannot swing a bat without experiencing pain. He said he has played in pain before, but this problem is different.

“For two seasons (1984 and ‘85), I had major surgeries, but other than that, I played every game,” Marshall said. “In all my years in the minors, I missed only a handful of games.”