BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Offerman Playing Well, Claire Says

While Fred Claire, executive vice president, says he wants to keep Rafael Bournigal as the starting shortstop, his stance on bringing Jose Offerman back appears to be softening.

“The one thing I think (Offerman) could give us would be more on offense,” said Claire, who said Offerman is playing well for triple-A Albuquerque. “(Offerman) is strong and he will drive the ball more. But Rafael’s on-base percentage is good and he has made some heads-up running plays.”

When Montreal Coach Timmy Johnson was the manager of the Dodgers’ rookie team at Great Falls, Mont., his shortstops at one time or another included Bournigal, Offerman and Jose Vizcaino, now the shortstop for the New York Mets. But Johnson said Bournigal was the best defensive shortstop he has ever managed.

“(Delino) DeShields is the best infielder ever, shortstop or second,” Johnson said. “But Bournigal can play as well as anybody.”

A year after Bournigal arrived, Offerman did. “Offerman was No. 1 offensively, he did everything,” Johnson said. “He ran and made things happen and we thought he would be a better (all-around) player, a Garry Templeton type. I still think (Offerman) can be.”

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On the day after Italy lost the World Cup final, an Italian newspaper ran a story on catcher Mike Piazza. The headline was titled, “The Baggio of Baseball.”

Piazza, though, is rarely recognized in Montreal. On his way to the ballpark on Saturday, he walked to the Metro, took the subway, and walked through a crowd of about 100 outside Olympic Stadium without being approached.

“It’s different here than in any city in the league,” Piazza said. “You don’t have all the people hanging around the hotel and I can just walk right down the street and nobody knows me. I don’t mind signing autographs, but it’s a nice break to come here and not have all the attention.

“This city is one of my favorites. I love the restaurants, the fans are laid back, the shopping is good.”

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Rudy Seanez went shopping in Montreal, and a clerk, trying to describe him later, said he was that “Italian” pitcher on the staff.

“I’ve passed for a lot of things, but never an Italian,” said Seanez, who is Latino. “I bought some things from that store but had left before my wife paid for them. But when I was looking at them back at the hotel, there was this one shirt that had cost $160. It’s OK if she spends that much, because it is usually for an outfit. But for a shirt? So I took it back and got three shirts for what that one cost.”