Newcomer Ashley Quickly Becomes a True ’92 Dodger : Baseball: Rookie struggles in major league debut, dropping first fly ball hit to him. Team loses, 5-1, to the Cubs.

It took a couple of days, but after finally playing his first major league fly ball on Wednesday, Billy Ashley felt like a Dodger.

He dropped it.

“God bless him,” Brett Butler said after Ashley’s error helped the Chicago Cubs to a 5-1 victory.

The debut for an unassuming youngster became a full-blown event before 15,445 jeering, then cheering, fans at Wrigley Field.

In about two hours, Ashley dropped a ball, bobbled one, made a running catch and threw out a runner at home plate with the Dodgers’ best outfield assist this season.

And that was the easy part.

Throughout the game, perhaps realizing they were watching a player who just arrived in the National League from the Texas League, fans in the left-field bleachers treated him like a new toy.

Just up from San Antonio, Ashley was booed, he was saluted with sarcastic bows, he was cursed. Then he was given a standing ovation for being a good sport.

“He came to the bench and Eric Karros said, ‘Hey dude, every field in the league is like this. . . . Just wait until you get to San Francisco,’ ” Butler said. “I said, ‘Man, don’t tell him that now .’ ”

At least the sting of losing for a second time in as many games to former teammate Mike Morgan, who pitched a three-hitter, was somewhat forgotten by the Dodgers as they watched yet another prospect try to grow up.

“I guess it was kind of mess out there,” said Ashley, who was hitless in three at-bats. “I guess I’m not used to this too much.”

Not only wasn’t he used to the atmosphere, he wasn’t even used to the position. Normally a right fielder, it was only the fifth time in his pro career he has played left.

But when Eric Davis could not play because he wanted to rest his sore wrist, Ashley was given a chance only one day after admitting that he dreamed he would be eaten alive by the ivy.

He only wishes that would have happened.

With the Dodgers and Bob Ojeda behind, 1-0, Ashley played a fly ball hit into the wind by Luis Salazar in the fourth inning.

Ashley ran in, then out, then left, then right.

“I thought I was right under the ball, then I felt the wind blow me in and I saw the ball go this way and that way,” Ashley said. “I finally said, ‘I’m not going to catch this ball.’ It was a helpless feeling.”

The ball bounced off his glove and dropped to the ground while Salazar ran to second base, from where he scored as one of Derrick May’s two runs batted in.

When Ashley took the field in the next inning, the fans were shouting at him and cheering for him to drop another one.

Using Butler’s advice, Ashley tipped his cap to them and exaggerated his catching motion while throwing the ball with Butler.

“I figured I better play along with them. It might be more fun,” Ashley said.

He then made a running catch on a line drive by Sanchez into the left-center field gap, and the sarcastic cheers began.

“I was so glad to catch it, I didn’t want to throw it back,” Ashley said.

Ashley finally drew real cheers in the eighth inning when he picked up a line drive single by Doug Dascenzo and threw out Joe Girardi at home plate on the fly.

“Actually, I wasn’t expecting him to go, so I was kind in shock when he rounded third,” Ashley said. “I was surprised I wasn’t more shaky.”

His teammates also were surprised.

“The most amazing thing about this is that he smiled all day,” Butler said. “In fact, he hasn’t had a smile off his face for two days.”

He’ll learn.