BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Gross’ Return Not What He Planned

From the moment he was sent to the minor leagues on the last day of spring training, pitcher Kip Gross dreamed of the day he would return to Dodger Stadium.

But he never dreamed he would live through a nightmare first.

After being recalled from triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday night, Gross flew here Thursday and found himself in a cab riding through the middle of the violence in South-Central Los Angeles.

“It was unreal, the cab driver was lost and everything was smoky and people were running into the streets carrying all kinds of stuff,” Gross said from his downtown hotel room. “I said, ‘Holy smokes.’ I told the cab driver, ‘If where I’m going isn’t better than this, you better take me somewhere else.’ ”

Gross is from Gering, Neb. (population 7,760).

“My dad once had the tires shot out of his car, but I’ve never been through anything like this,” he said.

Because Albuquerque played Wednesday night and he was busy packing afterward, Gross wasn’t aware of the extent of violence in Los Angeles until his plane was diverted to Long Beach Thursday afternoon.

When he realized that bus service to Los Angeles was being delayed, he grabbed the nearest cab.

“But the cab driver only knew one way into town,” Gross said. “And that was the wrong way. With every turn, we saw something worse.”

Gross said when he arrived at the hotel, he was disappointed to learn that Thursday’s game had been postponed.

“I really wanted to get out there and pitch,” he said. “When I pitch, I can block everything out. Now, all I can do is sit there and watch the fires outside my window.”

The Dodgers, as expected, have bought the contract of Dave Anderson from Albuquerque. Anderson was batting .321 with five runs batted in and four errors while playing shortstop and third base at Albuquerque. Anderson started at shortstop for the Dodgers in place of Alfredo Griffin for two months in the middle of the 1988 season. As a starter in June, he batted .306 and hit safely in 16 of 28 games. He left the team as a free agent after the 1989 season, signing with the San Francisco Giants, where he spent the last two seasons. He will take the place of Kal Daniels, who was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a sore left knee.