Russell Says Diversity Has No Effect

The fallout from Mike Piazza’s comments in Thursday’s Times that the Dodgers’ cultural diversity affects performance on the field was immediate.

Someone put a definition of chemistry on the clubhouse bulletin board next to the lineups.

“Billy Ashley called me chemical man,” said Piazza, who was mobbed by the media before the game. “I thought there was nothing negative in the article toward my teammates or management. If anybody wants to talk to me about it, I’ll be more than happy to explain what I said. Obviously, we’ve won with the same team the last two years.”

Manager Bill Russell maintains that cultural diversity doesn’t affect the team on the field and that all teams have similar problems.

“It goes on in every clubhouse,” Russell said. “You’ve got people from different countries and they hang out together the same way on other clubs. It happens everywhere. It happened when I played.”

DODGERS’ CHAN HO PARK (5-4, 3.19 ERA) vs. PADRES’ JOEY HAMILTON (4-3, 4.58 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 7

TV--Fox Sports West 2. Radio--KABC (790), KWKW (1330).

* Update--Park is third in the National League with a .213 opponent batting average. The Dodgers are 8-5 in Park’s 13 starts this season and 8-8 in his 16 appearances. Even with Thursday night’s loss to the Padres, they have the second-best home record (25-17) behind the Montreal Expos (29-15) in the NL.--CHRIS BAKER