With Power Out, Dodgers Appear Defenseless

Opening day for the Dodgers had to be considered a qualified success, regardless of the result. Ted Koppel didn’t ask for press credentials, Al Campanis sat unassumingly in the third deck, and controversy was about as scarce as empty seats at Dodger Stadium.

But the Dodgers won’t be content just to avoid embarrassment this season, so what happened on the field Monday afternoon had to be disconcerting. They officially unveiled their powerful, publicized and expensive new lineup, only to slink back to the clubhouse a few hours later having been virtually shutdown by Dave Dravecky and the San Francisco Giants, 5-1, before 48,484 fans.

Other than Steve Sax’s leadoff home run on Dravecky’s first pitch, which Sax punctuated with a fist-pumping home-run trot, the Dodgers barely flexed any offensive muscle. Dravecky limited them to just two other benign hits, Sax’s single in the sixth inning and Mike Scioscia’s single in the eighth.

Meanwhile, the dubious Dodger defense helped contribute to the demise of starter Fernando Valenzuela with two errors on the same play in the third inning--one being a self-induced miscue by Valenzuela--and several other less glaring weaknesses.

If you looked at the scoreboard, though, the Dodgers were error-free. It seems the error column on the control panel had malfunctioned. Perhaps because of overuse in previous seasons? All told, this was not a memorable opener for the Dodgers, looking to purge last season’s demons. But, at least it is over, and no one made national headlines.

“Let’s face it: We didn’t play good,” Kirk Gibson said. “It’s nobody’s fault but our own. Let’s learn from it. It may take us a while to get going. People got to understand this isn’t the end of the world. . . . You can’t call it a season after this. Tomorrow is a new day.”

True, but Monday’s performance resembled so many recent yesterdays.

Some faces may have changed, but results did not. Gibson and Alfredo Griffin each went 0 for 4, Gibson striking out twice. Mike Marshall, John Shelby and Mike Davis each went 0 for 3, and Pedro Guerrero was 0 for 2 with a walk.

“So we didn’t hit today,” Guerrero said. “That’s all right. We got 161 to go. We will hit. We’ve had problems with left-handers in the past and against guys who throw the ball as well as he did.”

Indeed, the main reason for the dormant Dodger bats was Dravecky. After Sax’s first-inning home run, the left-hander retired the next 11 batters before walking Guerrero in the fourth. It was Dravecky’s only walk. Sax and Scioscia singled, but the Dodgers could not mount even the beginning of a threat.

With little offense to speak of, the Dodgers’ defense and pitching were even more important. The defense proved vulnerable, and Valenzuela did not have enough command of his pitches to overcome it.

Valenzuela, pulled for a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning after giving up 5 runs (4 earned), 7 hits and 4 walks, suffered from lapses in his control, but mostly had an effective screwball and fastball.

Valenzuela’s most costly errant toss wasn’t even directed at home plate and led to a two-run Giant inning that erased the Dodger lead.

With one out, Mike Aldrete walked and went to second base on Will Clark’s infield single that Guerrero backhanded near third base but failed to handle. With the count 3 and 2 on Candy Maldonado, Valenzuela attempted a pickoff play at second base.

The throw went 3 feet wide of Sax and into center field. As Aldrete ran to third, Shelby’s throw sailed beyond the reach of Guerrero and Valenzuela, who was backing up third base. Aldrete easily scored and Clark stopped at third. Maldonado then walked, and Kevin Mitchell’s sacrifice fly to center brought home Clark for a 2-1 Giant advantage.

“I threw wide to second and they scored the runs--my fault,” Valenzuela said. “I didn’t turn my shoulder all the way on the pickoff play.”

The Giants hit Valenzuela hard in the fourth and, coupled with a couple of non-plays in the field, resulted in a three-run inning that gave San Francisco a commanding 5-1 lead.

Guerrero snared a hard liner hit right at him by Robby Thompson for the first out, but he couldn’t get in front of Jose Uribe’s ground-ball single that skidded to his left and under his glove. Dravecky then laid down a bunt, but hesitancy on Valenzuela’s part not only advanced Uribe but enabled Dravecky to reach first.

The bunt bounced to Valenzuela, who took a long time gathering it. Both Guerrero and Scioscia yelled for him to throw to second base, but the throw was too late to get Uribe.

“I broke too slowly for the bunt,” Valenzuela said. “And I wanted to make sure I made a good throw.”

Valenzuela’s next throw to the plate wasn’t fast enough, either. Brett Butler, the Giants’ publicized free-agent outfielder, knocked a two-run triple down the right-field line, scoring both runners.

The Giants made it, 5-1, on Aldrete’s sacrifice fly to left field. Gibson was in shallow left field when he caught the ball, but Butler was sent home, anyway. Gibson’s throw pulled Scioscia five feet off home plate on the first-base side.

Valenzuela and the Dodgers’ defense settled down in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Giants had done enough damage and Dravecky continued to be baffling with a cut fastball and curve.

While Manager Tom Lasorda seemed mildly surprised by the offensive drought, he took the defensive foibles in stride. After all, it probably won’t be the last time the subject is broached.

“I’m not concerned,” Lasorda said. “We don’t expect to go away with any errors. Errors are deceiving. They are only bad when they hurt you. They hurt us today.”

Dodger Notes

Orel Hershiser will try to give the Dodgers a win before they head out on the road when he opposes the Giants’ Kelly Downs tonight at 7:05. . . . The Giants were mostly mum when the subject of the Dodgers’ defense was brought up. But Dusty Baker, the former Dodger now a Giant coach, said: “Errors don’t help, but it (also) doesn’t help when the fans and media don’t let them forget them.” Added Dodger Steve Sax: “We played well defensively this spring, and we will again.” . . . In addition to the two errors and the three ground balls that went by Pedro Guerrero, Mike Marshall took a bad-hop grounder off his chest and could not underhand the ball in time to Fernando Valenzuela covering first base. . . . Tim Belcher, slated to be the fifth starter but delegated to bullpen duty because of two early off-days, pitched two perfect innings in relief of Valenzuela. Brad Havens pitched one inning, giving up two singles. Belcher said Monday his preference is to start, but he doesn’t mind a brief relief role. “I hope they keep me sharp and give me a lot of work before I get a start,” Belcher said. . . . Former Dodger vice president Al Campanis, 71, in attendance Monday, said he is engaged to be married. The bride-to-be is Georganne Benson, a nurse from Salt Lake City. . . . Mickey Hatcher, team comic, did not let opening day pass without making some silly gesture. When Dodger players lined the third base line for the national anthem, Hatcher took off his hat and had eye-black smudged on his forehead. Unlike the Kirk Gibson much-publicized episode during spring training, this prank was self-induced.