His Dream Becomes Nightmare

Eric Davis couldn’t have expected any of this.

“You have to have a strong mentality,” Davis said Sunday after doubling twice in a 6-3 success for the Dodgers over the New York Mets--both of whom must learn to do without Darryl Strawberry. “I’ve been in this situation before--for eight years in Cincinnati. It’s nothing new to me.”

Yeah, but. . . .

“Eric Davis is walking out there sometimes like he has to carry the whole ballclub,” a sympathetic Manager Tom Lasorda said. “I keep telling him it’s like quicksand. The harder you try to get out, the faster you sink.”

Unlucky Eric.

The guy could use some good news.

He finally gets to live again in Los Angeles--and what happens? The city has its worst violence since Eric was a child.

He finally gets to play for the hometown Dodgers--and where are they? In last place, with the worst record in the National League.

He finally gets to play with his friend from childhood Strawberry--and where is Darryl? On the disabled list. He and Davis haven’t played a game together since May 6 and won’t until June.

He winds up with Mitch Webster (59 homers since 1983) or Eric Karros (77 big-league at-bats) hitting ahead of him instead of Strawberry--resulting in what? A run of 44 at-bats during which Davis gets four hits, none for extra bases.

He finally gets Kal Daniels back hitting behind him, beginning today against the Cubs--and what happens? Davis has to move to center field to relieve Brett Butler, who is one for 29.

Wait. It gets worse.

Davis is playing--without complaint--despite a herniated disk.

How does he feel?

“I feel fine,” Davis said. “I feel great.”

Come on. How does he feel?

“Let me just tell you what I know,” Lasorda said. “What I know is that the first time a doctor took a look at Eric’s problem, he said: ‘Disabled list.’ And Eric said: ‘Let me keep going. Let me see how I do.’

“That thing of his presses on the nerve. Your arm goes numb. One whole side of your body can go dead at any minute. And he’s playing with it. Let me tell you, Eric Davis is a remarkable young man.”

Why is he playing?

“Because we need him,” Lasorda said. “Because he knows we need him.”

The Dodgers had two things going for them. An all-All-Star outfield. And a powerful 3-4-5 punch.

Now what they have is a lot of catching up to do.

The best break they have gotten is that nobody in the National League West is threatening to run away and hide. The Dodgers are not very far behind in the loss column--with a whopping 131 games to play.

If they ever get their leading slugger (Strawberry) back, their bullpen stopper (Jay Howell) back, their regular second baseman (Juan Samuel) back and their intended first baseman (Daniels) back full time, they might have possibilities.

The Dodgers without Strawberry don’t have any pop.

Then again, Todd Benzinger sure did have an interesting theory Sunday.

“It’s kind of ironic, but we seem to be more relaxed now that Darryl is gone,” Benzinger said.

Again, please?

“We were pressing while Darryl was with us,” Benzinger said. “It was like: ‘We’ve got everything here to have a winning team. Why aren’t we winning?’ Now that Darryl’s not here, it’s more like: ‘OK, we can’t get by on just talent. Let’s go for broke.’ ”

If going for broke means Mike Scioscia dragging bunts for singles, then, hey, the Dodgers are going for broke.

I don’t want to say Mike Scioscia is slow, Lasorda said, auditioning for those Jay Leno guest-shots, but: “He could get in a race with a pregnant woman and finish third.” Ba-dump-bump.

It’s up to Davis, though, to make the Dodgers go.

Without Strawberry, Samuel or Butler in the daily lineup, Davis doesn’t dominate the team speed--he is the team speed.

Without Strawberry, Davis doesn’t dominate the team power--he is the team power.

To wonder if Eric misses Darryl would be like wondering if Garfunkel missed Simon. He can play alone. It simply isn’t quite as good that way.

He didn’t need to ask Strawberry how much pain he was in before going on the disabled list.

“He doesn’t have to say it,” Davis said. “You can look at his face.”

You needn’t ask Davis how much pain he is in, either.

He won’t say. He will simply play.