BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Lasorda Has Happy Reunion in Denver

The Dodgers certainly had a wonderful weekend at Coors Field in Denver, but most rewarding for Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda was the mere sight of Lance Goodman, a local junior high baseball coach.

Lasorda received a frantic telephone call about 10 years ago from Goodman’s parents. Their son, a promising high school player, was involved in a serious car accident. He was in a coma, and they feared he would die.

The parents, knowing that his favorite team was the Dodgers, asked if Lasorda could stop by the hospital.

“I walked in his hospital room, his whole family was there, and everybody was crying,” Lasorda said. “They thought he would die. He hadn’t responded to anything.

“I started talking to him. ‘Lance, I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but I know what’s going through your mind. You’re wondering why this happened to you? Well, maybe I can give you an answer. Maybe God wants to use you as an inspiration to others. I know you’re going to bounce back. And when you can walk again, you’re going to be a batboy for this team.’

“Tears started coming out of his eyes, and before you knew it, everyone in the room started crying.”

Goodman now works in Denver, and to this day, wonders if he’d be alive if not for Lasorda’s speech.

“It was a miracle,” said Mike Scioscia, Goodman’s favorite player who is now a Dodger coach. “Pure and simple, a miracle.”

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Dodger rookie reliever Todd Williams phoned home to Syracuse, N.Y., after winning his first major league game Saturday, and listened to his family screaming on the phone.

“Everybody kind of lost it,” Williams said. “I think they were more excited about the hit than the win. They knew about the win, but when I told them I got a hit, they said, ‘No way.’

“My sister said, ‘Does that mean you were on base?’ ”

Who can blame them?

Williams had not gotten a hit in a game since high school. In his three previous professional at-bats, he struck out twice and bounced back to the pitcher.

“I was standing on first, and thinking, ‘How do I get a lead?’ ” Williams said. “Well, now I can say I got my first hit and my last hit.”

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Dodger left fielder Billy Ashley awoke Sunday with a sore left shoulder, keeping him out of the lineup for the second game in a row.