BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Williams Apologizes to Dodgers

The emotions of that black Sunday having subsided, Matt Williams is repentant regarding remarks directed at Orel Hershiser and the Dodgers.

“Maybe by going as far as we did and coming up short, it fueled the fire, but I went about expressing my frustration in the wrong way,” Williams said from his Scottsdale, Ariz., home Friday. “I chose the wrong words.

“I was upset that we lost and upset with what transpired. If I downgraded the Dodger organization, coaches and players in any way, which I think I did, I apologize.

“No one is forcing me to do it. I’m doing it on my own. I have my own code of ethics. I don’t want anyone showing me up, and I don’t want to show anyone up. Unfortunately, I think I did, and I need to apologize for that. I have a lot of friends on the Dodgers, and I don’t want to damage our relationship.”

Tied with the Atlanta Braves for the National League West lead going into the final day of the season, the Giants were routed by the Dodgers, 12-1, as the Braves beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-3, to advance to the league’s championship series.

The Giants won 103 games, becoming only the eighth team to win 100 or more and finish second.

Williams said his disappointment and frustration simmered on the flight to San Francisco, and he later appeared on ESPN and angrily said Hershiser should be prepared next year for line drives up the middle because of remarks Hershiser directed at Williams during Sunday’s game. Williams also said that the Dodgers would not win even one game against the Giants next year.

“Orel has since called me and assured me that he wasn’t the person making the comments,” Williams said. “We aired it out, and I took him at his word. I mistook him for someone else. As far as I’m concerned, we’re fine.

“Of course, every time I go to bat against the Dodgers next year, I’m going to try to get a hit and try to win, and I’ll try to hit the ball up the middle against Orel because that’s the only way to hit him, but that wasn’t the way to express my feelings.”

The problem surfaced in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game, Williams said. The Giants brought in Jim Deshaies, who promptly threw high and tight to Cory Snyder, who had hit a home run earlier.

“Jim hadn’t pitched in a while and it was purely unintentional, but the Dodgers started yelling at me from the dugout because I was going to be the next hitter in the ninth inning, and they were warning me to stay loose, making threats and all that,” Williams said, thinking at the time that most of it was coming from Hershiser.

“All of that’s natural and part of the game. You protect your own. Their reaction was valid, but the way the game was going, to have the season end that way, it hit me wrong.

“I didn’t appreciate it, and I just overreacted.”

Meanwhile, Williams said the success of the Giant season outweighs the disappointment, but conceded he hasn’t watched much of the playoffs.

“I know who’s won and lost, but I’m not glued to the TV and I don’t think many of our players are,” he said.

“It’s hard to go as far as we did and lose, but I think it’s fueled our fire and that the guys will work extra hard this winter to build on the positives of the season. We had a lot of good things happen. It’s the only way to look at it.”

The Dodger-Giant rivalry becomes even more personal next year when they compete in the four-team National League West.

“I think realignment will be fun for the fans and healthy for the game,” said Williams, who batted .294, and had 38 home runs and 110 runs batted last season.