ANALYSIS : Dodgers Are a Case of Benign Neglect : Baseball: They didn’t find a bullpen stopper and someone to solidify the infield. The season reflects the results.

Eager to make amends for the one game that separated them from first place last fall, the confident Dodgers began the season anticipating their first midsummer showdown series.

It is finally here.

But the series, beginning today, is against the Houston Astros.

And the showdown is for last place.

The one game has become 11 1/2, their infield has become toxic, their clubhouse has grown tense, their season has turned desperate.

“It’s like a bad dream,” Fred Claire said.

But it is not a dream, and nobody should know better than Claire.

He’s living it.

Since being tabbed to pick up after the Al Campanis wreck in 1987, Claire’s record as the Dodgers’ general manager has been excellent.

He is even being mentioned by some Dodger haters around the league as a candidate for National League president.

That is why it’s so strange that he has handled parts of the 1992 team as some of his players handle grounders.

He has recognized the talents of and signed Darryl Strawberry, Brett Butler and Tom Candiotti and acquired Eric Davis. But he apparently has forgotten about a veteran infielder who can go to his left.

He has accomplished bullpen steals, getting Roger McDowell from the Philadelphia Phillies for Mike Hartley and Braulio Castillo. But he apparently has forgotten that without a sound closer, everything falls apart.

Jay Howell is finally sound. But is it too late?

“Chemistry is a product of winning, pure and simple,” Claire said on May 14, 1990.

The occasion? The trading of infield stabilizer and team leader Willie Randolph to the Oakland Athletics for Stan Javier.

Claire was correct about clubhouse chemistry. By the time the team made its late-season run, talk about Randolph’s missing leadership had quieted.

But Claire was mistaken about on-field chemistry.

It comes not from winning, but from having a ground-ball pitcher know that his ground balls will be caught.

“There is nothing worse than thinking you’ve just gotten an out with a grounder, then seeing it become something else,” Candiotti said. “You’re thinking, ‘I’ve just done what I’m supposed to do, and it didn’t work. Now what do I do?’ ”

In other words, how much would the Dodgers appreciate Randolph now?

OK, this team is on a pace to commit a league-high 156 errors, but Dodger division champions in 1983 and 1985 had more.

“But it’s not always errors, it’s plays that aren’t made,” Candiotti said. “After pitching for a short time in front of the great defense in Toronto, with Robbie Alomar and Kelly Gruber and Manny Lee, you learn what plays can be made.”

Claire put together an outstanding outfield defense, but Candiotti said pitchers care more about the other guys.

“If a ball is hit in the gap against me, I’m so mad at myself. Sometimes I don’t even care if the outfielder runs it down,” he said. “I don’t expect him to get it. But pitchers expect ground balls to be caught.”

This on-field chemistry also comes from having the hitters believe that if they can mount a comeback in the top of the ninth inning, it will still be worth something after the bottom of the ninth.

The team is generally happy with the bullpen, but on nights such as Tuesday in Atlanta, the veterans long for the days when Howell could be allowed to finish by himself.

Claire could have seen all of this coming.

He knew Howell was coming off injuries before spring training. Yet no move was made to sign a proven bullpen stopper, such as Mitch Williams, who could complement Howell and McDowell.

Howell threw his first pitch of the season on May 22.

Claire also knew that Eddie Murray was not going to be here before spring training, thus exposing the infield as four guys without a sure-gloved leader.

Yet when the Dodgers were offered veteran third baseman Tim Wallach of the Montreal Expos for some young players, Claire refused.

The infield is as unstable as when the team left Vero Beach after spring training.

Claire also knew that maybe Juan Samuel and this team were not a good mix because Samuel has never quite felt wanted. Yet Claire tried to make it work.

These problems have restricted Manager Tom Lasorda, and he has reacted with unusual moves that have elicited more criticism than normal.

Lasorda often points to the injuries of Davis and Strawberry as reasons for this team’s struggles. But even he knows better. In the 20 games that Strawberry and Davis were in the starting lineup, the Dodgers were 9-11.

Even with everybody sound, this was not constructed as a championship team.

Not that Claire didn’t make a good deal when he acquired Davis from the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher Tim Belcher. And Candiotti has adequately replaced Belcher.

The Dodgers’ problems were not caused by what Claire did, but by what he didn’t do.

“First off, you have to look how the ballclub was structured last year in relation to this year,” Claire said in explaining his moves. “You can’t compare this team to, say, the years of Garvey, Cey and Lopes.

“Last year we finished one game back, and we made three defensive changes since then. Eric Davis is far superior to Kal Daniels in left field, Jose Offerman makes plays Alfredo Griffin couldn’t make at shortstop and Eric Karros and Todd Benzinger are good defensive first baseman.”

Indeed, Murray has seven errors for the New York Mets, three more than Karros and Benzinger combined.

Is the season salvageable? Will Claire make changes now?

There are indications that he is trying. The Boston Red Sox confirmed that they were close to a deal with the Dodgers that could have involved second baseman Jody Reed.

Many Dodger veterans are waiting for a shake-up.

“I know two changes that I will be happy to make: when Eric and Darryl come off the disabled list,” Claire said.

Look for Javier to be moved when Davis returns this week and for Daniels to be moved when Strawberry returns, if not sooner. And look for Claire to try to trade Samuel.

“What we are going through, this is what Kirk Gibson used to call ‘the Beast,’ ” Claire said.

Judging from his history, look for Claire to bite back.