Dodgers Play G-Whiz in 4th Inning on a <i> Muy Lejos</i> Day for the Phillies

The Killer G’s turned vicious Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Kirk Gibson came to bat with the bases full, and made them empty. Alfredo Griffin, who hits with the bases loaded as though an arbitrator is sitting upstairs taking notes, delivered again. And, to cap off a seven-run inning, third amigo Pedro Guerrero finally got hold of a honron, and hit that sucker muy lejos, lemme tell ya. Very far.

After he hit it, Guerrero went into his honron trot--which, in a personal tribute to Roger Bannister, was clocked in a little under 4 minutes. Hard to fault him for taking his time, though. Pete had not poked a home run since April 13, and had not hit one at Dodger Stadium all season before this. He was hot to do the trot.

“I tell you, I was wondering about that. I don’t like to go too long without a home run,” Guerrero said after a 9-2 win over the phast-phading Philadelphia Phillies. “I wasn’t hitting the ball in the air lately.”

That’s true.

“I was just getting hits,” he added.

Also true.

Guerrero’s batting average currently stands at a cool .345, so let us have no more talk about what he hasn’t been doing. OK, so maybe the ball has not been flying over fences with any regularity. Big deal. This is still one tough Dominican. Guerrero has been hitting the ball, and more importantly he has been catching the ball, and even more importantly he and the Dodgers have been having a ball, opening up a nice little lead in the National League West. Chavez, all is well in the ravine.

It is about time somebody started paying the Dodgers some attention. Day after day, the major stories from the major leagues seem to concern the possibility of a Subway World Series in New York, or a Bay Bridge World Series in upstate California, or maybe even a Two-Lane Blacktop thing between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, a series that would attract a national television rating about half the size of Geraldo Rivera’s next special, “Charles Manson at Carnegie Hall.”

How much longer must we go before we declare the Dodgers for real? They look pretty authentic so far. That trade they made, the big one that cost them the pitching services of Bobby Welch, has not worked out badly at all, with Griffin and the two relief pitchers usually doing their duty. In place of Welch, meanwhile, they now have Belch. That sure was a nifty effort on Tim Belcher’s part Sunday, and this could be the start of something big.

The sight for sorest eyes, of course, was Guerrero’s home run, because any pennant contender needs some muscle. Manager Tom Lasorda wants to keep reminding Guerrero that he doesn’t particularly care if a .345 hitter ever hits another home run, but that doesn’t lift Pedro’s load completely. As the Dodger third baseman said Sunday: “I’m still trying to think home run once in a while. That’s why they put me in the cleanup spot.”

It was suggested to Guerrero that perhaps the game of baseball is using a different brand of baseball this season, seeing as how homer totals are down all over both leagues. Maybe the rabbit ball has been replaced by the tortoise ball.

“I haven’t noticed any difference,” Guerrero said. “I didn’t notice any difference last year, either.”

Same old ball?

“Same old ball,” he said.

It could be a coincidence, then, that Guerrero hasn’t really started mashing taters yet. Maybe they will start coming in bunches, as they have in other seasons, and as the Dodger slugger believes they will again soon. Guerrero is convinced that it will not be long before, on a steady basis, he starts doing what Willie Stargell has referred to as the disappearing ball trick, and he figures Gibson will make a few disappear, too.

“Everybody knows the kind of hitters we are,” Guerrero said. “That’s what a lot of people expect from the two of us, and that’s what I expect from the two of us. As far as home runs go, it’s still early. In ‘85, I probably went through the first month or two with only about 4 home runs, and then I came back and hit 15 in a month.

“When I start hitting them, it’s going to be for a while .”

Nobody likes seeing Guerrero play honron derby more than Lasorda, but the manager is trying to be realistic. “I’m not worried about the home runs,” Lasorda said. “He’s bringing in the RBIs, isn’t he? When these guys start thinking home run, that’s when they get into slumps.”

Pedro Guerrero is as responsible as anybody on the Dodgers for their being in first place right now. Never mind his hitting. He could have caused this club a lot of grief, just by refusing to play third base. Guerrero is more likely to lead the Dodgers in home runs than in sacrifices, but, in all honesty, it is he who has made the biggest sacrifice of anybody on the roster. Because he gave up his position, Lasorda can play the two Mikes, Davis and Marshall, every day.

Thanks to Guerrero, the Dodgers might go muy lejos this season.

In fact, there may be no limit as to how lejos they can go.