BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Mondesi, on Strike, Takes a Strike

In the second inning of Tuesday’s game against the Florida Marlins, Raul Mondesi took too long to step into the batter’s box after his name was announced. Home plate umpire Joe West signaled Marlin pitcher David Weathers to throw the first pitch and called it a strike.

It couldn’t have been anything else. Rule 6.02 (c) says: “If the batter refuses to take his position in the batter’s box during his time at bat, the umpire shall order the pitcher to pitch, and shall call ‘strike’ on each such pitch.”

Manager Tom Lasorda argued to no avail, and, after the game, West explained: “He (Mondesi) wouldn’t come to the batter’s box. I said ‘C’mon’ and he said, ‘No.’ So I said, ‘fine, Strike 1.’

” . . . He evidently wasn’t ready. I said, ‘Let’s go.’ He defied me. So I said, ‘OK, we’ll play without you.’

“If he wants to stand over there and hear his name announced, that’s too bad. We’re going to play. I’ve never seen a player defy an umpire when he says let’s go. We’re supposed to keep the game moving. We don’t play these games for them.”

Mondesi then singled to left field, driving in Eric Karros, and later scored on Ramon Martinez’s single.

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Jose Offerman was summoned to a meeting with Fred Claire, Lasorda and a couple of coaches before the game. The meeting was triggered by published remarks Offerman made about his being benched for three games. Claire said Offerman remains the team’s shortstop, but that he wanted Offerman--who said he was unclear why he was being benched--to know what is expected of him. “Whatever it takes,” said Claire, referring to the tantrum Offerman had after being asked to bunt with a pitcher on deck in a game last week.

“I just think it was time for a talk,” Claire said. “He went through an experience here and he didn’t handle it well. He has been our regular shortstop and has been on the bench, and I thought it was a good time to talk about where we are.”

Offerman started Tuesday night’s game, batted second and doubled off the wall in the fifth inning.

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Brett Butler said he could barely get out of bed Tuesday morning because he was so sore from running around the outfield in the seventh inning Monday. The Florida Marlins scored six runs on seven hits, including three doubles and a triple, and hit each to whatever gap Butler was the farthest from. “I haven’t done that much running in a long time,” Butler said. “If I played them to the left, they hit it to the right. I felt like I was on Candid Camera or something.” . . . Delino DeShields joined the team Tuesday night and said he hopes to return to play by Monday. . . . With an expected move coming up in the bullpen, Claire said he would rather not call up Chan Ho Park from San Antonio, preferring to keep Park in a starter’s role.

The Dodgers signed 13 draft picks: left-handed pitchers Christopher Ochsenfeld of Bethel High, Va.; Edilberto Oropesa, formerly of Cuba, and Jason Reed of Grossmont College; right-handed pitchers Ronald Hollis Jr., from the University of Michigan; Jeffrey Paluk, from Saginaw Valley State; Ricky Stone of Hamilton High, Ohio; Elias Tapia, from Los Angeles, and Gregory Thompson of Robert H. Goddard High in New Mexico; outfielders Johnny Hilo of Cal State L.A. and Donald Sell of the University of the Pacific; infielders Kevin Faircloth of North Carolina State; Adams Riggs of the University of South Carolina and Kevin Zellers of Kent State.