BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Gott Surveys the Strike Damage

The Major League Players Assn. can spout whatever it wants, and the owners can put their own spin on it, but Pittsburgh Pirate reliever Jim Gott said the fallout from the strike is worse than anyone imagined.

“Everybody’s pro-union,” Gott said of his peers, “but a lot of guys didn’t realize what would happen when we went on strike. I don’t think the players believed there’d be anything like this. A lot of people have been shocked with what’s happened. It’s been a disaster.”

Gott, one of the most popular players in the Dodger clubhouse the last four years, received a 50% pay cut to sign this year with the Pirates. He earned $1.8 million each of the last two years with the Dodgers, and after the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians backed out of their oral agreements, Gott was left with only a one-year, $900,000 proposal from the Pirates.

Yet it’s not the size of the paycheck that troubles Gott, but the damage the strike has done to the game. Fans’ apathy toward the game is reflected each night in the waning attendance in Pittsburgh and other cities.

“It was ludicrous for this game to be stopped, and to go without a World Series,” Gott, 35, said. “I’m ashamed to have been a part of it. I know this. We can’t afford to interrupt this game again. . . .

“There’s something wrong when we can’t have an Orel Hershiser start and finish his career with the same team. It’s just that we can’t sell the game or promote the game the right way. We all have to pay the price, but I don’t think a lot of guys realize the price we have to pay.

“This is the national pastime, but all people do is hear us griping and moaning. We want to be heroes, but we don’t put ourselves in position to be heroes. It’s not about signing autographs, throwing balls into the stands, or sky diving. It’s about respecting the game.

“This is the best game in the world, and it’s time we show that appreciation.”

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Dodger third baseman Tim Wallach, who has not played a game this season because of a herniated disk and bulging disks in his lower back, was placed on a rehabilitative assignment with Class A San Bernardino. If Wallach experiences no discomfort in today’s game, he could be activated as early as Wednesday.

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The Dodgers purchased the contract of triple-A Albuquerque catcher Tom Prince and sent Noe Munoz back to Albuquerque. They also released veteran shortstop Dick Schofield, and optioned outfielder Reggie Williams and rookie reliever Felix Rodriguez to Albuquerque. Dodger Executive Vice President Fred Claire said of Schofield: “We got him thinking if we had a need for a shortstop, he’d be the guy. But Jose [Offerman] has done a good job there.”