Hatcher’s Message: All You Have to Do Is Call : Baseball: Still smarting from his release, former Dodger says he would play without pay in the minor leagues.

The beginning of baseball season has been the beginning of torment for Mickey Hatcher, whose days at his home outside Phoenix are long and unmercifully quiet.

In the mornings, Hatcher scoops up his quarters and takes batting practice against a pitching machine with the neighborhood children at Danny’s Dugout.

In the afternoons, he coaches the Apache Junction, Ariz., Police Dept. T-ball squad, whose roster includes his daughter, Amy.

And then he goes home, hoping the Dodgers will call and say they have changed their minds.

“I would give anything if the Dodgers would just call and say, ‘Hey, we made a mistake, come on back,’ ” Hatcher said Wednesday morning, his voice breaking as he spoke from his home. “Deep in my heart, I have never stopped believing that I belonged on that Dodgers team. Why am I not there? What they did was, they slapped me in the face. I am a Dodger, and I should still be a Dodger. It hurts so bad.”

Hatcher has been so desperate to return to the team that released him March 24 that he said he has spoken with Dodger owner Peter O’Malley and offered to return to the team’s triple-A team in Albuquerque, N.M., for no salary.

“I would play for nothing, nothing ,” said Hatcher, who has received no other offers. “I would just be their insurance. They wouldn’t have to promise to bring me up or anything.

“But they told me no. They won’t even have me for free. I cannot understand it. It’s burning me up.”

Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, said he recently spoke with Hatcher about a coaching position in the organization. But he said the club’s interest still does not extend beyond that.

“We have a very young club at Albuquerque, and it is not in our interests to go in that direction with Mickey,” Claire said. “With a player as popular as Mickey, this is always a tough call. These are not easy decisions to make.

“But in no way can we base a decision on popularity. We base it on ability.”

Hatcher, 36, said he never realized the extent of his popularity during his four seasons in Los Angeles until now.

“You should see the cards and letters I have received,” Hatcher said. “You can’t put anything over on the Dodger fans. They say they can’t believe I was released to make room for Gary Carter. I can’t say that, but the fans all say that.”

Hatcher added: “I will say that if they are just using Gary Carter as a pinch-hitter, how come they couldn’t keep me in that role? I batted .298 as a pinch-hitter (in 47 pinch at-bats) last year, and Carter has hardly ever pinch-hit (19 pinch at-bats last year). If they just wanted a pinch-hitter, I should be there.”

Even more compelling than the fans’ reactions, Hatcher said, are the phone calls from former teammates.

“A bunch of players have called me--I won’t say who because I don’t want to cause any trouble--but they all say they can’t believe I’m not with them,” Hatcher said. “The whole team feels I got a bad deal.”

Those unnamed teammates have also been grumbling in the clubhouse. They miss his spirit and leadership, but mostly they miss his ability to play first base, which could have come in handy since Eddie Murray left the lineup with a hip injury. Hatcher started 18 games at first base during the Dodgers’ 1988 World Series championship season.

“Hatcher should be here, period,” one veteran said earlier this week. “There was absolutely no reason to get rid of him.”

Hatcher worries that the Dodgers no longer trusted him to bat because of uncontrollable eye twitches he suffered late in the 1990 season.

Said Claire: “That had nothing to do with it.”

Hatcher, who batted .212 last season and .152 this spring, said he wished somebody would give him better answers.

“Who made the decision on me? Who let me go without giving me one last chance?” Hatcher asked softly. “I wonder this every day. It burns me up every day. It hurts me so deep.”