Wallach Returns but Works No Miracles : Baseball: Dodgers energized by veteran third baseman’s quick recovery, but Cubs win, 12-1.

It didn’t have the melodramatic entrance of Willis Reed limping onto the basketball court in the NBA finals. It lacked the drama of Kirk Gibson hobbling to the plate in the 1988 World Series.

But when third baseman Tim Wallach walked onto Wrigley Field on Monday, declaring himself fit to play, the Dodgers celebrated the achievement as if it were a gift from the heavens.

“Just call him ‘Cal’ Wallach,” Dodger bullpen coach Mark Cresse said. “The guy’s incredible, isn’t he?”

The Dodgers ruined the Hollywood script, losing, 12-1, to the Chicago Cubs in front of a paid 22,158. It was their most lopsided loss to the Cubs in 25 years, going back to a 13-2 loss Aug. 15, 1970.

The defeat dropped the Dodgers (67-60) into second place, one game behind the Colorado Rockies. It’s their largest deficit in the National League West since Aug. 10, but they are two games ahead of the Houston Astros in the wild-card race.

It didn’t even matter that Dodger starter Ismael Valdes (11-11) lost his fourth consecutive start. Valdes, who dominated the Cubs in his first three starts (0.35 ERA), lasted only 3 1/3 innings in his shortest outing of the season, yielding seven hits and five earned runs.

The Dodgers say the game was forgotten the minute they walked out of the clubhouse. Besides, if anyone really contemplated the defeat--a game so humbling that Cub starter Kevin Foster drove in three runs and stole the first base by a Cub pitcher in three years--the Dodgers would sit down and cry.

The return of Wallach is what the Dodgers instead will treasure.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Dodger pitcher Tom Candiotti said. “Here we are two weeks ago thinking he’s out for the season. Not only is he back, but he’s back in the lineup.

“A lot of guys don’t understand now, but when their careers go on, and they look back to all the guys they played with, they’ll always remember Eli [Wallach] and this night. What he did was awesome.”

Wallach tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Aug. 26. Doctors told him he would need reconstructive knee surgery, sidelining him for six months, ending not only his season but perhaps his career.

Everyone believed that Wallach’s season was over.

Everyone, that is, but Wallach and Pat Screnar, Dodger physical therapist.

“I knew there was a chance, and that’s all I wanted,” said Wallach, who worked three hours a day with Screnar. “At some point, I know I’m going to have to have [surgery], but I didn’t want it now. I want to help this team reach the playoffs.

“It’s a big reason why I want to play so badly. I was in the playoffs my rookie year [in 1981] and I thought it would be happening every year. You kind of take it for granted you’ll be back, but I haven’t been back since.”

Wallach, who said he had no problem with the brace he wore during his seven-inning stint, doubled in his first at-bat, handled four balls flawlessly, and is ready to assume his role as the team leader for the pennant stretch.

“This is what he’s played his whole career for,” Dodger first baseman Eric Karros said, “just to get back to the playoffs. He’d have to be dead not to go out there now.

“He’s by far the biggest gamer of anybody I’ve ever played with. At times, you worry about individual stats, and anyone who says they don’t is lying. But I can honestly say he’s the one guy who I’ve never seen do that.

“He’ll never put himself before the team. Ever.”

Wallach’s mere presence on the field, the Dodgers believe, will provide a psychological boost for the final 17 games. He always has been their team leader. Now, his teammates will tell you, he’s also their inspiration.

“Anybody in this clubhouse just has to look over at Tim and knows what he means to the team,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president. “They know what he does. They know what he means.

“This is big for this team.

“Very big.”