BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Claire Wonders What Exactly Is a ‘Baseball Man’?

He hasn’t been afraid to pull the trigger or take responsibility. Some of his moves have worked, some haven’t.

In that regard, Fred Claire is hardly alone among general managers.

Neither is he alone, he will tell you, in making the decisions that have generated a groundswell of media opinion regarding the Dodgers’ need for a true “baseball man” in the position Claire occupies, as well as that of Charley Blaney, the farm director.

In fact, it was suggested in this column recently that the Dodgers could benefit by hiring Joe McIlvaine after his expected firing by the San Diego Padres in July, when the ownership there is no longer responsible for the remaining two years of his contract.

McIlvaine is a true “baseball man,” having played professionally and been involved in the personnel field during his entire front-office career.

Does that matter really?

Not in Oakland, where attorney Sandy Alderson, with virtually no baseball experience when he became general manager of the A’s, has done a masterful job.

Not if ownership reneges on its financial responsibility, as Tom Werner and his colleagues have in San Diego, or the scouting and farm system are allowed to go fallow, as happened with the Dodgers in the ‘80s, complicating Claire’s job.

Not if the manager, as Tom Lasorda has repeatedly, refuses to operate a developmental camp amid the expectations of big-market Los Angeles and young prospects seldom get pressure-free, unqualified chances until they go elsewhere.

Does it matter? Is it necessary to have a true “baseball man” at the helm? There is no easy answer.

Claire, who left the business side to replace Al Campanis, was baseball’s executive of the year in his first full season as general manager, when the Dodgers won the 1988 World Series. His 1990 and ’91 teams both finished second in the National League West.

He suggests that his credentials only become an issue when the club is doing poorly. He suggests that to portray him as a non-baseball man is to knock a decision-making process that extends beyond his office.

“I feel very strongly about accepting responsibility, but I don’t sit here in a vacuum and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’ ” Claire said. “I don’t think you can find anyone in the organization who would tell you that I haven’t been open to opinions.

“I mean, when you talk about the decision-making process here, you’re talking about getting input from Tommy (Lasorda) and his coaching staff, as well as from a strong group of scouts and the developmental staff.

“I understand that you’re going to be criticized when you’re not winning and I accept that. I don’t want to sound defensive, but we’ve won one world championship, been close in two other pennant races and I’m certainly not ready to talk about this season in the past tense.

“The record (of trades and signings) is there in black and white. Anytime you struggle, there’s going to be a lot of focus on it. I didn’t hear a lot about it in ’88 or in ’90 or ’91.”

Claire said he doesn’t resent the suggestion that he isn’t a “baseball man” in the context of a McIlvaine, but wonders what the definition is and how long it takes to become one.

“Did I play the game at the major league level?” he asked. “No, and that’s not going to change. But I’ve held this position for seven seasons and been with the Dodgers for 25 and have always been involved with a lot of different facets that I still deal with in this job, like agents, doctors and lawyers.

“As for being a baseball man, I don’t know what else I am, but I’ve never put a label on myself and I’m not going to start now. I mean, that’s easier done by others.”

How far the Dodgers go in the National League West this season isn’t as much a mystery as how owner Peter O’Malley deals with his management team. He has indicated that all options are open.

Will Claire become the club president? Will Lasorda remain the manager or move into Claire’s position? Will Blaney, Reggie Smith or both assume the job of general manager? Will Claire pick Phil Regan to become the new manager or will Lasorda choose Bill Russell or will Blaney-Smith tab Jerry Royster?

Claire said he has received no indication from O’Malley regarding the future, which is fine.

“I don’t want to get too far out in front,” he said. “I love the job and I love the challenge. I accepted it on the basis of one day at a time. That’s all any of us get.”

Every baseball man knows that’s the nature of the job.

ROYSTER’S ROUTE

Kevin Kennedy manages the Texas Rangers. Terry Collins coaches for Jim Leyland with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Royster is the infield and third-base coach with the Colorado Rockies.

Each gave up a minor league managerial position with the Dodgers to move, seeing little chance for advancement with Lasorda and his staff locked in.

Royster, 40, could return. He moved up the Dodger managerial ladder, from Kissimmee to Yakima to Vero Beach to San Antonio. He managed for them in Puerto Rico and Arizona during the winters. He sent Mike Piazza, Pedro Astacio, Billy Ashley and Eric Young to the majors.

He had what the Rangers said was an impressive interview before the job there went to Kennedy. He is close to Blaney, the farm director who gave him the managing opportunity in the minors and who could become the Dodger general manager if Claire moves upstairs.

The Dodgers made no promises, Royster said, when he was deciding whether to join Don Baylor in Colorado or return to San Antonio.

“It was hard to tell what’s going to happen with the Dodgers,” Royster said. “But they weren’t going to make any changes at the major league level, and it wouldn’t have been fair to my family to go back to double A when I had the opportunity to get experience (and significantly more money) at the major league level. The Dodgers’ position has always been they won’t stand in the way of anyone’s chance for advancement.”

An infielder who spent three years with the Dodgers and nine with the Atlanta Braves after being traded in the deal that brought Dusty Baker to L.A., Royster said it’s nice to hear his name being mentioned as a managerial candidate, but that “all I know is what I read.”

He also said he would “never do anything or say anything” concerning Lasorda’s job.

“I only played for him for a short time, but he’s been great to me and my family,” Royster said. “He’s been a major influence in my career. He taught me how to treat people and act off the field. If I do things half as well as Tommy thinks I can, I’ll be fine.”

METS’ MESS

In Los Angeles recently, Jeff Torborg said his hope was that the New York Mets’ 1992 record of 72-90 was an aberration. A 13-25 start leading to Torborg’s firing last Wednesday proved that his thinking on that was the aberration.

As Dwight Gooden said, “We stink right now, and Jeff ran out of things to say to protect us.”

Torborg, at least, went out with more poise than the fractious Mets have displayed--on or off the field.

“If you’ve been watching what’s been going on here very closely, I’d have done the same thing,” he said of the need for change. “I think the club will play better, but that’s only because the laws of percentage dictate it.”

In other words, this is a bad team that will probably require more than a change from the family-oriented method of Torborg to the loud, in-your-face style of Dallas Green. It’s a team that seems more concerned with what the media are doing in the clubhouse than its performance on the field. A headline in the Philadelphia Daily News said it best: “Dallas in Blunderland.”

Specifically, the Mets lack the fire of Lenny Dykstra, the clubhouse presence of Keith Hernandez, the talent of the ‘80s. They are 1-22 in games they trail in the eighth inning or later, 4-17 in games decided by two runs or fewer. The bullpen is 1-10 with three saves. The leadoff man, Vince Coleman, has an on-base percentage of .290. The $29-million savior, Bobby Bonilla, has a batting average of .222 and a chip on his shoulder. Gooden is a shadow of the once Wunderkind, and Bret Saberhagen is more sigh than Cy.

The $39-million Mets trail even the Florida Marlins in the National League East.

“You take it hard when someone absorbs the blame for what you created,” pitcher Jeff Innis said of Torborg’s firing. “I’m feeling a lot of sorrow and guilt.”