DODGERS : Wallach Feels Strange in Role of an Ex-Expo

It was never quite Paris in spring, but springs here were mostly good to Tim Wallach, who returned Friday to the Montreal Expos’ training complex for the first time in a different uniform.

Wallach spent 13 seasons as an Expo before he was traded to the Dodgers last Christmas Eve for infielder Tim Barker.

In French, the Expos offered a warm welcome.

Bonjour a Tim Wallach , the public address announcer crooned before Friday night’s game at Municipal Stadium.

“It’s a little strange,” Wallach said of watching his former teammates across the diamond. “It will be even more so during the regular season. It’s a different feeling, though I don’t know what that feeling is.”

Mixed, perhaps.

With Montreal, Wallach won three Gold Gloves and made five All-Star teams. He drove in 905 runs for the Expos and hit 204 home runs. Three times he was named the team’s player of the year, and he remains the franchise leader in games, at-bats, hits, doubles, RBIs and total bases.

Yet, he knew it was time to go. It started last season when the team asked him to move from third to first base to make room for Brett Barberie.

Wallach went reluctantly and later returned to third after the experiment failed. But he struggled at the plate, batting a career-low .223 while driving in only 59 runs in 537 at-bats.

Wallach, 35, figured a trade was coming, although he didn’t know when.

“I realized that if they could trade me, they would,” he said. “It definitely was the best thing for me. I’m happy to be here.”

As a Dodger, that is.

Wallach, who grew up in Southern California and played at Cal State Fullerton, is the Dodgers’ projected opening-day starter at third base.

Wallach joked with former teammates during pregame drills.

“They all said they missed me,” Wallach said. “But I think they realized that it was the best thing for both sides.”

Reliever Todd Worrell, who did not make the trip, threw for 12 minutes at Vero Beach on Friday and reported no soreness in his throwing shoulder. “He is progressing nicely,” pitching coach Ron Perranoski said. “Today he was working on his breaking ball.”

Ramon Martinez made his second start of the spring against the Expos and gave up two runs (one earned) and three hits in four innings. Martinez walked three and struck out one. . . . Former Dodger Franklin Stubbs started at first base for Montreal. Stubbs, who played for Milwaukee last signed, signed a minor league contract and is in camp as a nonroster player. He and Angel castoff Lee Stevens are vying for a job. . . . Darryl Strawberry, who turned 31 Friday, had three RBIs in the Dodgers’ 7-3 victory.