DODGERS : Rain Steals Show Once Again

Heavy rains soaked Dodgertown Sunday, creating lakes out of baseball fields and sending the Dodgers scrambling to find a place to play.

The storm, which had subsided by late afternoon, turned Holman Stadium into a foot-deep lake, forcing the cancellation of Sunday’s televised game against the Florida Marlins and today’s game against the New York Yankees.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, frustrated by the team’s lack of playing time since the big storm hit here last weekend, loaded his team on buses and went to Winter Haven, Fla., to play an intrasquad game at the Cleveland Indians’ training camp, where it was merely drizzling. The weather overshadowed the one-inning debut of reliever Todd Worrell, who pitching coach Ron Perranoski said looked impressive in the intrasquad game. Worrell, who has been recovering from tendinitis in his right shoulder, struck out two and picked a runner off second base. But when he pitches again will depend on treatment of a tight left hamstring that he said limited his velocity.

“The hamstring tends to throw a curve in my workout, but heck, with the weather and all, nothing is going the way things are planned,” said Worrell, who said that he suffered the tightness five days ago while running.

Weather permitting, the Dodgers will play another intrasquad game in Winter Haven today. But storm fronts expected to hit Tuesday night and again on Thursday place the Dodger games in jeopardy for the remainder of the week, and club officials aren’t taking any chances. Dodger executive Fred Claire, who is facing deadlines on roster cuts, is considering renting a domed stadium--either in Toronto, New Orleans or Houston--if the rainy weather continues.

“I called Pat Gillick (Toronto general manager) this morning and asked him if he wanted to go back to Toronto,” Claire said, “and he thought I was kidding.”

The Dodgers and Blue Jays returned to Florida Saturday night after playing two exhibitions in the SkyDome.

Since the big storm hit here March 12, the Dodgers have seen two games postponed, one canceled and another called after seven innings. They have played in 50 m.p.h. winds and 40-degree temperatures with winds swirling at 20 m.p.h. The conditions have diminished the playing time of several reserves trying to make the final 25-man roster, which has to be decided by April 5. The Dodgers have until March 30 to make a decision on their non-roster players, or be forced to pay them their salaries.

One of those decisions will be whether to keep shortstop Kevin Elster, who played in his first game Saturday since coming back from shoulder surgery. In Sunday’s intrasquad game, Elster played 10 innings and said he threw hard, strong and without pain.

“He looked good,” Lasorda said. “He didn’t cut the ball loose and really fire it, but he did get it across.”

The Dodgers’ next game is scheduled for Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals at Baseball City, which is located in central Florida and as of Sunday was playable. But the weather anywhere in Florida is unpredictable.

“The only place the sun was shining (Sunday) morning was in Ft. Lauderdale and Ft. Myers,” said Billy DeLury, the Dodgers’ traveling secretary. Those cities are on opposite sides of the state.

The last time the Dodgers went through anything like this was in 1959, when a cold spell sent the team packing to Cuba. The Dodgers sent a plane back to pick up the Cincinnati Reds, and, with Pee Wee Reese acting as manager, played four games before returning to Florida. Manager Walter Alston stayed behind.

There was also a week last summer when it rained hard, and right field of Holman Stadium was under water. A couple of players from the Vero Beach club got into a boat and rowed around. Sunday, they could have sailed a yacht.