Dodger Call-Up Angers Players : Baseball: They try to get Claire to rescind addition of Mike Busch, who was replacement player during strike.

Mike Busch stepped off a plane Tuesday afternoon, took a cab to Dodger Stadium, walked into the clubhouse for the first time as a major league player and sat alone.

He put on his uniform, walked onto the field and took batting practice, alone.

He re-entered the clubhouse, sat by himself in front of his locker before the game, stepped into the dugout and sat alone.

It wasn’t until he stood for the national anthem that anyone dared to be near him. Billy Ashley, one of his closest friends in the minors, stood to his immediate left.

The silent treatment continued during the 4-3 loss to the New York Mets.

Busch became a Dodger on Tuesday, but in the players’ minds, he was a teammate only because of his uniform.

He was ignored, belittled and condemned.

And Dodger players vowed this is only the beginning of the harsh treatment they plan for Busch because he played in replacement games this spring during the players strike.

“He’s a scab, pure and simple,” said Dodger center fielder Brett Butler, “and there will be individuals who’ll treat him as such.”

Dodger players kicked Busch out of the clubhouse, held a 40-minute team meeting and tried to coerce Fred Claire, executive vice president, to change his mind and take Busch off the team.

Dodger players voted unanimously that they don’t want Busch on the team, and prohibited him not only from being in their meeting, but refused to even let him speak.

Yet the only vote that counted was that of Claire, and after listening to the players’ pleas, he decided that nothing would change. Busch is staying.

“We tried to get [Claire] to reconsider,” said Butler, who led the clubhouse meeting. “The players said this would be a deterrent. He said no.

“Obviously, the players aren’t happy with the decision that was made. There’s a lot of pressure on everybody right now. Our focus is on trying to win a world championship, and distractions are not what we need right now.”

The Dodger players not only plan to ostracize Busch, but also his wife, Lyvier, when she attends games. They have no plans to dine with him, be with him, and said he’ll be considered a teammate in name only.

The Dodgers also decided that if they make the playoffs, Busch will not be voted a playoff share.

And if there’s a brawl on the field, if an opponent hits Busch intentionally because of his role in the strike, no one can promise they’ll be there to back him up.

Welcome to the big leagues.

“I kind of took it personally when he did it,” said Ashley, who spent three years with Busch in the minors. “We were close, you know. We were teammates. . . . It was as if a good friend of mine stabbed me in the back.”

Busch, 27, a former All-America football player at Iowa State, was surprisingly stoic during the commotion. Maybe when he got home, or called his family on the telephone, he would show emotion. But not in front of about 40 reporters and camera crews, and 24 teammates who refused to acknowledge him.

“I have no regrets about my decision,” Busch said, “and if I had to do it all over again, I’d do the same thing. I thought long and hard about it. It wasn’t easy. But I made the decision. I’ll live with it. No regrets.”

Busch paused, momentarily appeared emotional, then blurted: “I still consider this the best day of my life.

“This situation is not going to take anything away from it. I’m the lucky one here. I’m here to do business. I’m here to play baseball and help this team win.”

Busch was told that he would have the opportunity to privately address his teammates and was eagerly looking forward to explaining his decision, but Dodger players reconsidered and refused.

“The question was asked, ‘Does anyone want to hear from Mike Busch?’ “Butler said. “The answer was no. It was unanimous.”

Said Busch, who decided to become a replacement player six weeks after having a baby girl: “I kind of wanted to get everything out in the open, but what are you going to do?”

Busch, who was hitting .269 with 18 home runs and 62 runs driven in at triple-A Albuquerque, was called up, Claire said, simply because he was the best candidate to replace third baseman Tim Wallach. Wallach was put on the disabled list with two ligament tears in his left knee, and although he opted not to have season-ending surgery, the Dodgers are not counting on his return.

Claire had trade discussions Tuesday in an attempt to acquire third baseman Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox or Terry Pendleton of the Florida Marlins, but if no trade is made, they’ll go with a third-base platoon of Dave Hansen and Busch. Like it or not, Claire insisted, Busch is staying.

“We knew there was going to be a certain amount of controversy out there,” Claire said. “You’d have to be naive not to think it would happen. I understand the emotions. I can’t say anything today that has happened shocked me.

“But we had a real need, we wanted someone with experience and ability, we identified that player, and it was Mike Busch.

“I’m going to make decisions the way I’ve always made them--based on a player’s ability.”

Busch did not encounter any open resentment or hostilities at Albuquerque, but outfielder Rick Parker and pitcher Jim Bruske, both of whom declined to become replacement players this spring, acknowledged he was chastised behind his back.

So what will this do to the Dodgers, a team that began the night one game ahead of the Colorado Rockies, but now must deal with the distractions of having only the second replacement player in the National League?

“Look at what happened to the Houston Astros,” Butler said. “They called up [Craig] McMurtry, and they lost 11 in a row. I don’t know if there’s anything to that . . . but believe me, this definitely makes it hard.”

* OUT OF FOCUS: The Dodgers couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand and lost, 4-3, to the Mets, who rallied in the ninth. C7