YOU CAN’T WIN : His NL All-Star Squad Might Beat AL, but Lasorda Will Feel Like a Loser

After announcing the names of his coaches and trainers for the July 11 All-Star game in Anaheim, National League Manager Tom Lasorda of the Dodgers said Saturday that he wished he was not involved in any further roster decisions.

“I wish the fans would pick all the players, not just the starters, and I am serious,” said Lasorda, making his fourth appearance as the All-Star manager. “You have guys around the league who take it personally if you don’t select them. You have to worry about guys on your own team. There is a lot of resentment.

“And then there are guys who got it in their contracts where they make so much more money if they make the All-Star team. You don’t pick those guys, you have more resentment. You have their agents mad at you.”

Lasorda, in conjunction with National League President Bill White, chose Montreal’s Buck Rodgers and San Diego’s Jack McKeon as coaches. Three of Lasorda’s Dodger coaches were also picked to serve as batting practice staff: Joe Amalfitano, Mark Cresse and Bill Russell. The National League All-Star trainers will be San Diego’s Dick Dent and Montreal’s Ron McClain.

After the starters are announced at the close of fan balloting later this week, Lasorda and White must choose the reserves that fill out the 28-man roster by this weekend.

Lasorda emphasized that White will influence the selection of the reserves. “He’s already called me a couple of times and pointed out some things; the league president is very involved in this,” Lasorda said.

But no matter, Lasorda said, the manager always ends up as the bad guy.

“There was one year when I was sitting down with Chub Feeney, who was the league president, and going over the roster,” Lasorda said. “He wanted a pitcher from my club, but I said, ‘Chub, my pitcher is going to pitch on Sunday before the game, so I want to take this pitcher from this other team.’

“Chub said no, he wanted my pitcher. So we picked my pitcher. And then I get a letter from the agent of the pitcher from the other team, the pitcher I wanted, giving me a hard time about not taking his guy. So what do you do?”

Lasorda said the safest approach is to give special consideration to those who finish second in the fan balloting, and to adhere to a ballot submitted by each manager listing his votes for the league’s top 10 pitchers.

“But I still worry,” Lasorda said. “I worry about my team, I worry about all of them.”

So which Dodger player or players will make the All-Star team? The leading candidate might be catcher Mike Scioscia, despite his .244 average (three homers, 19 RBIs). Scioscia has played well defensively, throwing out 36% of attempted base stealers. It would be Scioscia’s first All-Star appearance.

The other top Dodger top candidates are pitchers Orel Hershiser and Jay Howell and second baseman Willie Randolph. All three have worthy statistics, but all three face heavy competition at their positions.