BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : A Problem That Is Tough to Nail Down

Tom Candiotti doesn’t feel very comfortable talking about his fingernails, but for him, nails are an important factor in throwing the knuckleball.

Candiotti’s nail on his middle finger of his throwing arm has been giving him problems since the end of spring training, and it has showed in his pitching. The nail keeps cracking, and it puts a spin on the ball that keeps even Candiotti guessing about where it’s going to go.

“I don’t like to talk about it because it sounds dumb,” Candiotti said. “Usually, when I have trouble with it only (pitching coach) Ron Perranoski and a few others know.”

Candiotti has had trouble with his nail throughout his career, and most recently has gone to a manicurist to get a fiberglass wrap put on it to strengthen it. He had hoped the wrap would keep the nail from cracking more while it grows out, but it hasn’t worked so far. It cracked again before his last start Sunday at Philadelphia while he was throwing in the bullpen. He lasted three innings while his record dropped to 0-3.

“When I get back to L.A., I’ll have it wrapped again, but that even that affects the knuckleball, “ Candiotti said. “Unless anybody knows anything better that I should try, then send it in.”

When Candiotti was with Cleveland, the word got out about his nail problem and he received all sorts of remedies in the mail.

“I tried everything, even this chalk thing you put around the outside of your nail,” he said. “Someone even sent me the stuff they put on horses’ hooves to make them harder. Not the stuff they sell in the cosmetic counters that contains the hoofmaker stuff. But the real stuff from the racetrack. I took it to my trainer and he thought that maybe I shouldn’t use it since it was for animals.”

Todd Worrell, still on the disabled list with a pulled muscle in his forearm, will throw again when the team returns to Los Angeles on Wednesday. . . . Ken Schanzer, vice president of NBC Sports, stopped by with his wife, Lisa and their son, Tommy, to see Tom Lasorda and Vin Scully. Scully is godfather to Schanzer’s son.