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DODGERS : When Crews Feels Better, So Will His Daughter

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Tim Crews cannot wait to throw batting practice for the first time Tuesday, and not just because he is two weeks behind every other Dodger pitcher.

Once Crews starts pitching, maybe his daughter will stop crying.

In another example of how baseball players suffer the weirdest injuries, Crews reported to camp with a hyper-extended elbow caused when his daughter Tricia, 7, jumped on his outstretched arm.

According to Crews, it was a case of mistaking nap time for play time.

“I had just finished working out at home (near Tampa) and I was laying down on the floor, resting, with my eyes closed,” Crews said. “Usually about that time of day, I wrestle with my children. So she jumped down on my hand. Just like she was (professional wrestler) Dusty Rhodes.”

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In past springs this would have just been another unusual story involving a one of the team’s true characters. But Crews became more than just an interesting decoration last year by recording a 2.77 earned-run average in a team-high 66 games, holding opponents to a .238 batting average.

This setback should not prevent his starting the season as the team’s middle relief pitcher--Crews said he usually needs only a couple of weeks of game preparation--but it definitely worried his daughter.

“Last week I would come home and she would ask me, ‘What did you do today, Daddy?’ and I would tell her, ‘I tried to throw, but it hurt too much,’ ” Crews said. “She would cry and cry. I had to tell her I would be OK soon.”

Darryl Strawberry looked great but the rest of the team played badly Sunday as the Dodgers fell to 0-3 in exhibition season with a 10-3 loss to the New York Mets before a record crowd of 9,028 at Holman Stadium.

In the Dodgers’ first televised game of the season, Strawberry hit his second home run in three spring games, a three-run, 400-foot shot to left field.

Strawberry has four hits in eight spring at-bats, with two home runs, two doubles and five RBIs. He has been involved in eight of the nine Dodger runs this spring.

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“I guess L.A. fans could be excited about that, but they will see a lot more of those,” Strawberry said of his home run, which came in the sixth inning against right-hander Anthony Young.

In his first at-bat, Strawberry struck out on a sweeping curveball from friend Dwight Gooden.

Dodger Notes

Orel Hershiser will throw his second simulated game this morning. If all goes well, he could announce when he is ready to pitch in an exhibition game. . . . Fernando Valenzuela gave up two runs on five hits in three innings Sunday.

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