NOW IT’S THEIR MOVE : Duncan and Hamilton Are Back With the Dodgers and Are Hoping to Stay

Ten days in Albuquerque may not be most major league baseball players’ idea of an ideal summer vacation, but Mariano Duncan considered it a pleasant, stress-reducing diversion from his rocky season with the Dodgers.

“I had fun,” Duncan said. “Really, I did.”

But to Jeff Hamilton, who has spent a lot more time with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate than Duncan, his latest tour of duty there was another delay in his journey to a major league career.

“I was wondering when I’d get another chance,” Hamilton said. “I figured I’d spend the rest of the (minor league) season there.”

Both Duncan’s and Hamilton’s summers in the Southwest were interrupted this week. Because of injuries to Franklin Stubbs and Brad Wellman, Hamilton and Duncan are back with the Dodgers and probably will stay for the rest of the season.

Hamilton, long called the Dodger third baseman of the future, is still trying to show that he can hit major league pitching. Duncan, considered by some to be the Dodger shortstop of the past, is trying to regain his rookie form of 1985.

The Dodgers are 9 1/2 games behind Cincinnati, the National League West leader, going into tonight’s game against Atlanta at Dodger Stadium. If they don’t make a significant move up the standings soon, the adventures of Hamilton and Duncan may provide most of the intrigue for the rest of the summer.

The early returns show that Hamilton seems to be adjusting but that Duncan once again is struggling. In three games at third base, Hamilton is 3 for 10 with a run batted in. Duncan has two singles in two games since his return, but also has made three throwing errors at shortstop.

Hamilton, 24, has been in this situation before, and the results have been disappointing. He was brought up early last summer to replace injured third baseman Bill Madlock and hit only .224 in 71 games.

This year, Hamilton began the season in Albuquerque but was recalled in late May. A month later, he was back in Triple-A, having hit just .203, with no runs batted in, in 28 games.

Hitting has come a lot easier to Hamilton in Albuquerque. When he joined the Dodgers the first time this season, he was batting .390 and leading the Pacific Coast League. In the last month, Hamilton experimented at the plate but still had a .360 average when he was recalled.

“Jeff is here because we’d like to find out if he can hit big league pitching,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “It’s that simple. This should be enough time. He’s got the ability, as far as I’m concerned. The question is whether he’s ready to hit now .”

Hamilton hasn’t always felt such unwavering support. He did not play regularly in his first stint with the Dodgers this season, and he put pressure on himself at the plate because he knew an unproductive game probably would result in more time on the bench.

“I hope 59 at-bats isn’t what they judge you on,” Hamilton said. “I don’t know many guys who made it after just 59 at-bats, so I hope it won’t be that way with me.

“They’re giving me another chance, and I’m not going to psych myself out this time,” Hamilton said. “If I just keep my head straight and not put so much pressure on myself, I think I’ll do all right. The last time I was up here, I had been hitting so well (at Albuquerque) that it was like do or die, like if I can’t hit here after hitting in Triple-A, I’ll never make it.

“Now, I’m not going to think that way. It looks like I’m going to play every day, so I’m just going to take it day by day and not worry so much.”

Hamilton said he cooled off so quickly on his last trip up partly because he wasn’t playing every day and partly because he could not handle major league curveballs.

“You can’t go from an everyday player to having (an at-bat) here and there and expect to be the same hitter,” Hamilton said. “And when I wasn’t hitting, I lost some confidence.”

After getting back to Albuquerque Hamilton tried to hit more home runs, figuring he had already proven he could hit for average in the Pacific Coast League.

“I didn’t have enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title, so I worked on trying to hit the ball longer. (Triple-A) is a challenge, it was just that I didn’t have to show I could hit there.”

Manny Mota, the Dodger batting coach, said, however, that Hamilton won’t make it as a big league hitter until he learns to hit breaking balls and develops more patience at the plate.

“He was trying too hard his last time,” Mota said. “He’s just got to relax and remember what he has to do out there.”

Duncan’s situation is much different. There were complaints that he did not try hard enough, that he shunned the Dodgers’ instructions of working on bunting and reaching base, trying instead to be a power hitter.

He was sent down July 26, two nights after he had committed three errors in one inning and then taken himself out of the game, complaining of a migraine headache.

As he walked off the field, amid boos from the Dodger Stadium crowd, Duncan tipped his cap to his critics. His next appearance in a uniform was in Albuquerque.

The Dodgers did not say at the time how long Duncan would be away but it figured to be until early September, when the PCL season ends.

When Wellman injured his right eye, however, Duncan found himself back with the Dodgers after only 10 days, and he said he not only worked hard in Albuquerque but that he enjoyed the experience.

“I had all the help I needed to work on what I needed to,” he said. “They wanted me to try to get on base more, work on bunting and hitting the ball on the ground. I did all that.”

In seven games in Albuquerque, Duncan hit .273. One of his hits was a bunt single.

“But I scored eight or nine runs and I was on base many times,” Duncan said. “Like Fred (Claire) told me before I left, ‘Don’t worry about your batting average, just do the things you need to work on.’ The last three or four games, I got on base five times.”

His first two games back, however, indicate that Duncan probably hasn’t changed as much as he would like. He made two throwing errors Tuesday night, then added a third in the first inning of Wednesday night’s game. At one point, Duncan had three errors in his previous five chances for an assist.

The Dodgers know what they are getting with Duncan in the field, but they want him to improve his hitting.

“He’s not going to be a good ballplayer unless he hits the ball on a line and bunts for hits,” Lasorda said of Duncan. “It’s that simple. If he does that, he’s a good offensive player.

“His main problem is, whenever he hits a home run, he thinks he’s a home-run hitter and he’s not. Maury Wills showed me what a guy can do when he doesn’t go beyond his capabilities. Maury Wills used to work all day on bunting and hitting the ball in the hole between short and third. . . . I know (Duncan) is capable of doing the things we ask of him.”

And what of Duncan’s attitude? Some think that he simply does not want to work at being a singles hitter.

“You got to want to do anything to be successful at it,” Lasorda said. “In spring training, if I had asked you to bet that Orel Hershiser would have more bunt hits than Duncan, would you have taken that bet?”

Duncan maintains that he did extra work at Albuquerque, that he and Manager Terry Collins worked every afternoon on bunting.

“When they first sent me down, I felt real disappointed,” Duncan said. “The first couple of games, I was down. But I liked it after that. I got nothing bad to say about Albuquerque. I got along with Terry Collins. He would go to the park with me early and pitch to me. How many managers do that?”

Duncan also said that Julio Cruz, the recently signed veteran infielder working into shape in Albuquerque, helped him with his attitude and defense.

“I had an error one game, and Julio came over and kicked me in the butt and said not to worry about it, to think about the next one,” Duncan said. “I liked playing with him.”

Now, though, it’s the big show, again, for both Duncan and Hamilton. “I don’t really consider this my last chance,” Hamilton said. “But it is pretty important.”