BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Hershiser Back to Normal, at Least in Spring Training

Orel Hershiser pitched from a mound for 15 minutes at the Dodgers’ first spring workout Friday at Vero Beach, Fla., which was unusual because it was not unusual.

Nearly two years after shoulder surgery, he is on the same schedule as other sound pitchers.

“I think he is like a regular person now,” Frank Jobe, the Dodgers’ team physician, said. “No more pitch counts or anything like that. Enough time has passed to where he is ready to continue from where he left off last season.”

Hershiser was grateful for the vote of confidence, although he is not yet at his pre-1990 level.

He acknowledged that, while he could start the season normally--opening day, probably--he will not yet be the pitcher who led the league in innings pitched for three consecutive seasons.

In other words, look for more seven-inning appearances than complete games.

Mike Scioscia used four different mitts while catching the knuckleball of Tom Candiotti for the first time. By the final mitt, he was winning most of the battles.

“Sometimes I can’t even tell when I’ve caught it,” he marveled.

Scioscia, saying he felt overweight last year, lost 15 pounds this winter while working with a private trainer.

Who better than Dave Anderson, once the Dodgers’ top young shortstop, to understand that he might be needed as a backup to Jose Offerman? “I’ve been through it before here. I know what Jose is going through. I know the team has to cover themselves with him,” Anderson said. “You have a young player like Jose who hasn’t done much in the last two years, and you don’t have any other natural shortstops on the roster. There might be a need for somebody like me.”