DODGERS : Roenicke Opts for Coaching Over Comeback

Dodger coach Ron Roenicke used to throw a knuckleball at Mt. San Antonio College, where he was a left-handed pitcher, a species now prized by the Dodgers. But once Roenicke got to UCLA and was moved to the outfield, he never pitched again--in college or in eight major league seasons before his retirement in 1988.

Then last fall Roenicke, 36, went to the Dodgers’ instructional league as a pitcher to see whether he should pursue a comeback. He had been throwing a good knuckleball while playing catch with Tom Candiotti and even threw it to prepare Dodger hitters when they faced Tim Wakefield last season.

“I went . . . to see what would happen, and I threw it well,” Roenicke said of his time in the instructional league. “I have continued to throw it down here, but I would have to get really good at it to try and make it as a pitcher. And I’m really not planning on it.”

The Dodgers say they don’t mind if Roenicke works on his pitching as long as it doesn’t interfere with his duties as a coach, which include throwing batting practice. Fred Claire, the Dodgers’ executive vice president, said he told Roenicke that after he pitched in the instructional league he would have to decide whether he wanted to remain a coach or go back to being a player. Roenicke chose coaching.

In his second season as the Dodgers’ “eye in the sky,” Roenicke positions fielders during games.

Shortstop Jose Offerman agreed to terms on a one-year contract. He will get $300,000, a raise of $165,000. . . . The first injury of the spring was suffered Monday by the durable Brett Butler, who went down in the batting cage when he was hit on his right calf by a pitch thrown by Rod Nichols. Manager Tom Lasorda drove Butler back to the clubhouse to be examined by the training staff, which said there was no serious damage. Then Butler went back out and completed his workout.

The first national syndicated daily sports show in Spanish, “Deportes CBS,” began this week on CBS Hispanic radio network. The three-minute spots will be broadcast by Jaime Jarrin, who has been covering the Dodgers for 35 years and broadcasts the Dodger games for KWKW, the flagship station of the club’s Spanish radio network. Thirty-eight stations around the nation will carry the show, including KWKW. The program will be heard at 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Dodgers have brought in former major league pitcher Kent Tekulve to work with three minor league relief pitchers who throw a submarine-style pitch, similar to what Tekulve threw. They are right-handers Todd Williams, Isidro Marquez and Jose Garcia.

Williams is one of the Dodgers’ top prospects. Last season, at Bakersfield and San Antonio, he had 22 saves, most in the Dodger system. At San Antonio, he had 13 saves in 39 games, with a 7-4 record and a 3.48 earned-run-average. Williams also had 35 strikeouts in 44 innings.

Forty-seven additional minor league players will arrive in Dodgertown today when the pitchers and catchers report.