Dodger Good-Will Trip Is One Rocky Experience

No one ever said that the Dodgers’ seemingly unceasing quest to foster international relations via the baseball field would be all handshakes, bows and translated platitudes. Sometimes a little sacrifice and suffering is required.

After playing host to a contingent of coaches from the Soviet Union and opening their Dodgertown facilities to a Japanese professional team this spring, the Dodgers took their good-will efforts on the road to Puerto Rico Monday for two games against the Montreal Expos to benefit the Roberto Clemente Sports City.

The trip Monday turned out to be fraught with more calamity and misfortune than Steve Martin and John Candy experienced on the movie screen. There were farcical adventures in modes of transportation ranging from planes to buses to simple running in the outfield, all coming before the teams finally took the field at 9:30 p.m. (Atlantic time)--an hour and a half later than the scheduled starting time.

Once the game was under way, the fans were treated to their first glimpse of Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who received the only standing ovation in pregame introductions and then pitched five scoreless inning in the Dodgers’ 6-1 victory before a crowd of 15,453. Tracy Woodson and Ralph Bryant each hit home runs for the Dodgers.

But first, the road to San Juan . . .

It all began routinely enough, at least for the Dodgers. They arrived at San Juan International Airport in the early afternoon and were immediately herded into a press conference for the Spanish-speaking media. Valenzuela, Manager Tom Lasorda and Steve Sax all answered questions in Spanish.

Then came a harrowing bus ride to Hiram Bithorn Stadium, replete with a motorcycle escort from a hyperkinetic policeman who stopped traffic during rush hour several times to allow the Dodger buses a clear path, once moving three lanes of traffic on a one-way street so that the buses could go against the flow.

Only after the Dodgers arrived at the stadium did Kevin Kennedy, the club’s Double-A manager who has managed in Puerto Rico, say that the officer took them the long way from the hotel to the stadium. By freeway, it normally takes 5 minutes. By police escort, 15 minutes.

Lasorda was so entertained by the policeman’s effort that he presented him with a Dodger jacket upon arrival.

Once there, the Dodgers still didn’t feel safe. After Mike Davis fell in a pothole in right field and badly sprained his left ankle, Lasorda and outfielder Kirk Gibson examined the rest of the field for hazards. They found drainage grates on both the left- and right-field foul lines and more rocks in the turf than at Irwindale’s quarries.

Dodger players grumbled about the playing conditions before and after watching Davis being carried from the field and rushed to a local hospital.

Meanwhile, the Expos were half an hour into their early afternoon flight from Miami to San Juan when the captain came on the loudspeaker and informed the passengers that there was a mechanical problem on the airplane and they would immediately have to return to Miami.

“As soon as the pilot told us that there was nothing to worry about and that this happens often, you heard a pffft from the back of the plane,” said Rich Griffin, Expo public relations director. “It was (Tim) Raines inflating his life-jacket vest.

“The stewardess didn’t think it was funny and told Tim that he would have to get off the plane in Miami. As soon as she said that, other players tried to do the same thing.”

Once back in Miami, the Expos had to wait nearly four hours for another flight. Finally, at 7:30 p.m., the Expos landed in Puerto Rico and were bused to the stadium.

In the interim, the Dodgers just killed time while the fans grew restless.

Those fans who weren’t mingling on the field, chasing after fly balls and sitting in the dugout, booed when it was announced that the game would be delayed indefinitely.

To placate fans, the Dodgers staged an impromptu home run hitting contest featuring Pedro Guerrero, Ralph Bryant and Jeff Hamilton. No surprise: Guerrero won. But the highlight had to be a swarm of youth in left field, chasing after fly balls, and state police officers in combat fatigues chasing the kids.

The weary Expos finally arrived at about 8:30, and the first pitch was thrown an hour later after the playing of the anthems from Canada, the Untied States and Puerto Rico.

The atmosphere at the park during the game was not totally foreign to North Americans, with a few notable exceptions.

Stray dogs prowled the concession area, which included shish kabobs being barbecued. Salsa and samba music, not Springsteen, blared from the loudspeakers. Also, there was no well for photographers, so they lined the field parallel with the coaching boxes.

Valenzuela clearly was the most popular player with the fans. It was almost like Fernandomania revisited with the media hounding him for interviews and autograph-seekers hovering.

There was more to this visit, of course, than simply providing Valenzuela with a chance to relive old times or show Dodger players how plush and cushy playing conditions are in the United States.

Organizers said that all money raised from the game will be donated to the Roberto Clemente Sports City in San Juan. Vera Clemente, widow of the former Pittsburgh Pirates star, is vice president of the foundation, which helps educate and teach baseball to youth from low-income families throughout Puerto Rico.

“Our main income is this game,” Vera Clemente said. “So, it was important that we play it. All we have is the games and a telethon we have had the last seven years. The government gives us $75,000 for maintaining the facility, but that’s not enough.”

Vera Clemente then wiped her brow with a handkerchief. The game had begun, despite all the logistical problems.

“We were supposed to have had two games last spring (between Pittsburgh and Toronto), but they were rained out,” she said.