DODGERS : As Usual, Lasorda Isn’t Worried

His biography in the Dodgers’ media guide takes up five pages and Manager Tom Lasorda wouldn’t mind adding a few more. At 65, retirement is not in his vocabulary.

Lasorda still keeps a rigorous schedule. Besides his regular duties, he works overtime with his players, spends countless hours with fans and works on keeping himself in shape.

After Friday’s spring opener at Dodgertown, Lasorda went directly to the pool, where he swam 20 laps and did some exercises. “And it is a big pool,” he said.

After Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Houston Astros, Lasorda went to an Italian banquet in Tampa before making the 150-mile return trip to Vero Beach. Some wonder when he sleeps, but that’s an activity usually reserved for cars and planes.

In the last couple of seasons, he has had to take time to answer questions about his contract, which ends this season. And after last season’s 63-99 disaster, the question remains: Is this Lasorda’s last season as manager?

“If last year has any bearing on my being manager, I wouldn’t be here right now,” Lasorda said before adding this patented refrain: “I love the Dodgers and I love my job and when Peter (Dodger President Peter O’Malley) doesn’t want me to be here anymore, he’ll tell me. What good would it do me to worry about something I can’t control?”

Lasorda is in his 44th season with the Dodger organization and his 17th as manager. He has managed 2,538 major league games and eight seasons worth of games in the minors. He has managed in four World Series, winning two. Only one other professional head coach has a longer active tenure than Lasorda--Don Shula of the Miami Dolphins has 23 years. But Lasorda knows that someday it will end.

“I feel like at any time I’m going to hear my mother’s voice saying, ‘Wake up, Tommy, it’s time to go to school,’ ” he said. “When I was a teen-ager, I used to go to sleep at night dreaming about pitching for the Yankees. And in the morning, my mother would wake me up for school and I didn’t want to wake up, I didn’t want to leave my dream.

“That’s what this is to me. It’s a dream. And I don’t want to wake up.”

The Dodgers, trailing by 3-1, scored one run in the ninth inning, but left fielder Chris James made a diving catch of a line drive by Lenny Harris to prevent the tying run. Doug Drabek pitched two scoreless innings for the victory and Tom Candiotti gave up one run on two hits and took the loss. . . . Mike Piazza gave the Dodgers their first run when he hit a home run to left-center in the eighth. Lasorda said Piazza will start at catcher in today’s game against the Astros at Holman Stadium. The Dodgers’ Kevin Gross is scheduled to face Houston’s Mark Grant. Game time is 12:05 PST because of radio conflicts with the L.A. Marathon.

A hard-hit foul ball by Jose Offerman hit a volunteer usher between the eyes and shattered her glasses. Kathleen Harkin, a senior citizen working her first game as an usher, was taken to a hospital for treatment. The incident caused play to be stopped momentarily. “I felt really bad,” Offerman said. “But when anybody comes to the games, they need to see what is happening in the game because it could be dangerous.” . . . Offerman said he feels more confident about his fielding this season and very comfortable with second baseman Jody Reed. “We have good communication,” he said. . . . Former California basketball Coach Lou Campanelli arrived in Vero Beach Friday to spend some time with Lasorda, who invited the recently fired coach here. “He needs to be around somebody positive,” Lasorda said.