Phillies, Schilling Hit Snag

The Dodgers did all they could to help out, but it was not enough to rescue negotiations Wednesday between starter Curt Schilling and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Schilling, who actually thought he had a deal Tuesday before he pitched a two-hitter over eight innings against the Dodgers, watched negotiations nearly finalized, collapse, resurrected, and then put on hold throughout the evening.

Schilling, who thought he had informally agreed to a three-year contract extension worth $15.95 million, was waiting for the Phillies to get clearance on an insurance policy. He instead found out that the Phillies never intended to give him a $6.5-million option for the fourth year.

“They told us that there was never a fourth year involved, which is completely ludicrous,” said agent Jeff Borris of the Beverly Hills Sports Counsel. “It’s a complete fabrication on their part. It’s a way to try to weasel out of a deal that they probably never intended to do in the first place.

“It’s a three-ring circus. That deal would have made [General Manager] Lee Thomas executive of the year because he would have signed a [top-] quality pitcher for less than the market value.

“Now, they’re probably not going to improve on their last-place status from last year.”

Phillie President Bill Giles later took his turn during an impromptu news conference and fired back at Borris.

“We want to sign the guy, but his agent is making it very hard to be sensible,” Giles said. “I cannot believe that gentleman. . . . There was no mention of an option the last time we met. He’s handled this whole thing badly.”

The hang-up throughout the night, both sides said, was determining how many innings Schilling would have to pitch for the option to automatically trigger in 2001. Schilling and Borris believed he needed to pitch 450 innings over the lifetime of the contract while the Phillies insisted he pitch 180 innings in the final year of the contract.

Schilling, who is eligible for free agency after the season, said he probably will leave the Phillies if an extension is not finalized.

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Dodger Manager Bill Russell knew it had been a long time, but he didn’t realize it had been 27 years since the Dodgers were last shut out in their season-opener in 1970.

“I was on my way to [triple-A] Spokane that year listening to the game on the radio,” Russell said. “I was pulling a trailer in the Cascades. Ah, the memories.”

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While the Dodgers continue to tell teams that knuckleballer Tom Candiotti is available for trade, one of the major obstacles, according to one general manager, is the Dodgers’ reluctance to pick up a significant portion of Candiotti’s $3-million salary. . . . Phillie right fielder Danny Tartabull, who fouled a ball off his left foot Tuesday, was limping Wednesday and was out of the lineup. He is questionable for today’s game. . . . Dodger infielder Juan Castro realized he might be sticking around when the team changed his uniform number from No. 60 to 25.

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TODAY’S GAME

DODGERS’ ISMAEL VALDES (15-7, 3.32 ERA) vs. PHILLIES’ MARK LEITER (8-12, 4.92 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 7 p.m.

TV--Fox Sports West 2.

Radio--KABC (790 AM), KWKW (1330 AM)

* UPDATE: Ismael Valdes is the pitcher Atlanta Brave Manager Bobby Cox predicted one day would win the Cy Young Award. He has a .620 career winning percentage (31-19) and has won eight of his last 10 decisions. The Dodgers have won seven of his last eight starts, with the only loss in Game 2 of the Division Series against the Braves. He reached the seventh inning in 24 of his 33 starts last season but had no complete games. The Phillies are one of the few teams that has had success against Valdes. Valdes is 2-3 against the Phillies with a 3.92 earned-run average. Yet few have struggled against Valdes like Phillie shortstop Kevin Stocker, who has only one single in 15 career at-bats (.067). The Dodgers have feasted off Phillie starter Mark Leiter in recent years. Leiter was 1-2 with a 10.42 ERA against the Dodgers last year, and he is 3-3 with a 6.29 ERA against the Dodgers in his career.