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BASEBALL REPORT : DAILY UPDATE : DODGERS : It Was a Much Different L.A. Story Against Clark the Night Before

By BILL PLASCHKE
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If John Candelaria appeared ready to face Will Clark in their dramatic confrontation Monday, it was because he had earlier predicted that they would meet.

“Before the game, Candy came to me and said, ‘Later on tonight, game on the line, that first baseman is mine,’ ” said Tim Belcher, who was the winning pitcher in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Candelaria, who retired Clark with two out and runners on first and second in the seventh inning, said he had been thinking about facing Clark since the start of the season.

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“Because I’m the only left-hander in the bullpen, sooner or later, I’m going to face all the great left-handed hitters, and Clark is certainly one of them,” Candelaria said. “You bet it’s been on my mind.”

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Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.

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