BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Emotional Night at the Stadium

In a pregame tribute to Don Drysdale and Roy Campanella, Campanella’s widow, Roxie, stirred the crowd with an emotional tribute to her husband, who was confined more than 30 years to a wheelchair.

“I tried so hard to keep him here as long as I could,” she said, her voice shaking as Don Newcombe moved forward to hold her. “But God wanted him, and took him away.

“But he is happy now because he is walking, something he always wanted to do.”

Roxie Campanella asked the crowd to forgive her for holding a private memorial service.

“Roy would have wanted that because he had so many friends, I could not have found a place large enough for all of them to attend,” she said.

The widows of the two Hall of Famers were escorted behind home plate by Carl Erskine, Newcombe and Manager Tom Lasorda, who all spoke.

Ann Meyers Drysdale said her husband “went out on top” because he was back with the Dodgers.

“I know he was as happy as he has ever been, being a part of the organization,” she said. “And I know he’s part of the greatest Hall of Fame now.”

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A day after rookie Expo shortstop Wil Cordero made three errors, giving him 20 on the season, Lasorda said he understood what Expo Manager Felipe Alou was going through.

Last year, Lasorda watched Jose Offerman make 42 errors at shortstop. This season, Offerman, in his second full season, also has 20 errors.

“You sympathize for the kid, and you feel for his ballclub,” Lasorda said. “All you can do as a manager is try to encourage him and keep on building up his confidence.”