BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Strawberry Is Doing His Part Off Field, Too

Darryl Strawberry’s new aggressive attitude has carried over to the bench and the clubhouse.

In the dugout, he has become one of the loudest players, decrying the skills of the opposing pitcher while chiding his teammates to stay fired up.

“Yeah, I’ll tell the guys that this pitcher or that pitcher can’t get them out,” Strawberry said. “I’ll do my best to keep everybody going. A lot of guys around here have never been in a lot of pennant races, even though they have won. In New York, we were always in a pennant race, and I know that it takes every little thing to get through one. Anything I can do, I will.”

In the clubhouse, he has become less accommodating to visiting reporters, refusing to spend all afternoon giving interviews, unlike earlier in the season.

“This is pennant-race time; I don’t want to hear about a lot of junk,” Strawberry said. “I don’t like getting disturbed in the middle of a pennant race. This is not a good time for me to be dealing with things that have nothing to do with the game.”

One player’s memory of the Reds’ St. Bernard mascot, Schottzie, who was put to sleep Wednesday:

“Too bad about Schottzie, but that darn dog once bit me,” said the Dodgers’ Mitch Webster. “I was going under the stadium to the batting cages, and I ran right into Marge (Schott) and that dog as they were coming out of the elevator. I like pets, and I reached down to pat her, and all of a sudden she growled and came at me. Marge screamed, ‘Stay away, she doesn’t like people in uniforms!’ ”

Webster said the dog then bit down on the back of his hand before Schott pulled her off.

Alfredo Griffin remained in Centinela Hospital Medical Center Thursday morning, still suffering from double vision after surgery Tuesday on his broken right cheekbone. Doctors think the eyesight problems are a side effect of the surgery. . . . Announcer Vin Scully became a grandfather for the second time when Mike and Cathy Scully gave birth to Matthew Vincent.