We’ve Only Just Begun

Under a teal and white enchanted April sky, another opening day in the thick anthology of Dodger baseball got under way with umpire Frank Pulli punching out Jose Offerman on a third-strike pitch at least a foot outside. This was understandable, if not forgivable. Everybody is overeager on opening day.

The fact that this was also the first recorded entry in the diary of Florida Marlin baseball did little to lessen the day’s excitement. The park was packed, the Marlin pitcher was a weather-beaten old cuss who was born when Jackie Robinson was playing second base for Brooklyn, and, in keeping with that spirit, the ceremonial first pitch was lobbed out by Joe DiMaggio, a man who can remember when a Yankee trip to the deep South meant taking a choo-choo to Washington.

It was quite an occasion, this Florida fraternity initiation. On his scorecard, the home team’s manager submitted a lineup made up of Who, What and I Don’t Know, jigsaw-puzzled in haste with scissors and paste. Yet each name he scribbled with his pencil was as authorized to be identified as a genuine major leaguer as any Dodger or Yankee or Giant. And, by nightfall, it already had become a fellow’s inalienable right to feel pride in calling himself a Marlin. And that means in any language. Orestes Destrade, who at 30 found himself a graybeard to many teammates but only two-thirds the age of his starting pitcher, is already perhaps the most popular figure with the fans in Joe Robbie Stadium’s stands, at least partly because of his unusual--not only for a ballplayer but for anyone--ability to address them in English, Spanish or Japanese. This makes him a legitimate contender for the Berlitz triple crown.

The first batter to pick up a stick for the National League’s newborns was one Scott Pose, a center fielder whose previous experience in big league baseball was viewing a great many highlights on ESPN. Photographers stood ready to capture this monumental Miami moment, in case the kid got on base. They also stayed focused on the man atop the Dodger mound, Orel Hershiser, who could make a little history himself. Hershiser had a shot at becoming the first pitcher of the season to strike a Pose.

Making contact, which is more than the visiting team’s leadoff man had done, Pose rapped one sharply to the right of the new Dodger second baseman, Jody Reed. Ground strokes such as these proved as slippery as worms to the Dodgers a year ago, justifying their decision to hire new hands to play second and third. Alas, Reed put the familiar old E-4 on the scoreboard on his very first chance, and an E-5 for Tim Wallach was not far behind.

This was supposed to begin a new era for the Dodgers, not a new error. Some habits, however, die hard, and it can only be presumed that Tom Lasorda will not have to lecture his professionals about being more careful while running to a base, as Eric Davis wasn’t Monday, or being more careful throwing to a base, as Roger McDowell wasn’t, or being more careful holding a runner on base, as Rick Trlicek wasn’t.

As they work out the kinks, the Dodgers might fool a few people and play some great baseball. Lasorda’s everyday position players are adequate, a Lasagna Helper mix of veterans and kids. It’s the pitching--as well as the Atlanta Braves’ pitching--that becomes problematic with the Dodgers, particularly with last season’s last-place team squandering 40 potential triumphs for lack of a single run.

If Todd Worrell can save games, look for the Dodgers to contend until well into August, maybe longer. They have two tenderfoot pitchers named Pedro whose skinny arms can hurl baseballs very hard; they have the old Orel again to depend upon, his touch of wildness on opening day notwithstanding, and this finally could be the year that Kevin Gross works steadily the way he did the night of last summer’s no-hitter.

The expectations for Houston being a little too great, there is no reason the Dodgers cannot place in the upper echelon of their division, particularly if their outfield stays intact. They didn’t do much against Charlie Hough, that old farmer in the dell who pitched the first game for Florida, but one thing these Dodgers definitely figure to do is hit. The two Erics alone might swat 60 homers between them.

Texas will be the surprise challenger to Kansas City in the American League West, with the favored clubs fading, and that the Angels are doing the smart thing, throwing hungry kids out there instead of richer, lazier journeymen. All summer long, the Angels will pester opponents like gnats.

Everybody seems to believe this is finally going to be the year that the New York Yankees become the New York Yankees again, and they might very well be right. Pick ‘em, but beware of Milwaukee. Look out for the Montreal Expos, at long last, to win the National League East, and hey, how about another Canadian club in the World Series? Maybe the Expos know how to pitch to Francisco Cabrera.

October is a long way off, as these predictions might be. But that’s the fun of it. It’s a spring thing.