BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Poll Shows Reds Rooting for Braves

If it seems as if the Cincinnati Reds were not overly enthusiastic while being swept by the Atlanta Braves in a three-game series this week . . . maybe they weren’t.

A poll taken by the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News revealed that 25 members of the Reds want the Braves to beat the Dodgers, and five were noncommittal.

Not even Eric Davis, who is one of Darryl Strawberry’s best friends, would vote for the Dodgers. He was noncommittal.

Ted Power, a Cincinnati relief pitcher who once played for the Dodgers, said: “My dream is for the Dodgers and the Braves to tie and force a playoff, with the Braves beating them, 10-0, in front of the Dodgers’ home crowd. Then I want the cameras to focus on Tom Lasorda.”

Jay Howell pitched well to six hitters Wednesday, and afterward pronounced himself ready if needed for the last weekend of the season and the postseason.

“I certainly don’t want to push any other reliever out of the way until I get out there a couple of times, but (if) they need me in an extra-inning game or something, I’ll be ready,” Howell said.

The Dodgers would like to see him in such a situation this weekend before deciding to place him on the postseason roster.

Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, used an unusual method to decide how to call what is becoming a very important coin toss--the toss that gave the Dodgers the home-field advantage in a one-game playoff with the Atlanta Braves, if necessary.

When Bill White, National League president, informed Claire on Sept. 18 that there would be a toss, Claire said he pulled a quarter out of his pocket.

“I tossed a quarter and decided that however it landed in my hand, this is how I would call it if I got the chance,” Claire said. “It landed tails. But it just didn’t feel right. So I decided to do it again. It landed heads. And for some reason, that felt right.”

On the official toss, Claire was given the right to call because the Dodgers have moved into the first place the previous night. He called heads, and so the Braves must travel to Los Angeles for a one-game playoff Monday night if the teams end the season tied.

The ceremonial first pitch Wednesday was thrown out by Robert Erburu, chairman of the board and CEO of Times Mirror and co-chairman of the Bill of Rights Celebration. The catcher was John Bryson, chairman of the board and CEO of Southern California Edison, a major participant in the Bill of Rights on Wheels program. . . . During his visit Tuesday, former Dodger Mickey Hatcher witnessed a clubhouse meeting then commented on the difference between the 1988 Dodgers and this year’s version. “It was kind of quiet in there, everybody was kind of serious,” Hatcher said. “Characters have a lot to do with winning, and this is not a happy-go-lucky type of club. . . . They are the serious type . . . but they have still managed to find a way to get it done.”

The starting pitchers for the San Francisco Giants this weekend will be Bud Black, Trevor Wilson and rookie Bryan Hickerson. . . . The Dodgers’ regular-season attendance was 3,348,170, the third largest in National League and Los Angeles history.