Baseball: At 69, he’s not ready to rest on his laurels, but in a perfect world he might be Dodger general manager, hiring Bobby Valentine as manager.

With the adjective “Hall of Famer” now watching his back, Tom Lasorda was fearless Sunday in addressing two issues that could effect the Dodgers’ future.

For the first time, he sounded resigned to the possibility of ending his career with another organization.

For the first time, he admitted Bill Russell is not his favorite manager . . . because Bobby Valentine is.

Don’t look now, but Valentine’s contract with the surprising New York Mets expires this winter, and he doesn’t seem in a hurry to sign an extension.

That means if the Dodgers’ new owner keeps Lasorda from jumping teams by giving him the greater role in personnel decisions he seeks, his first move would be. . . .

Nah. Don’t say it. Can’t say it.

The real stuff suddenly swirling through the life of the Dodgers’ newest Hall of Famer is crazy enough without making anything up.

Lasorda addressed some of that while relaxing Sunday after his 13-minute induction speech.

The issue--at least until Rupert Murdoch completes his purchase of the Dodgers from Peter O’Malley--is Lasorda’s role after that purchase.

He is unsatisfied as an unofficial minor league scout and team ambassador, a job he’s held since retiring last July.

“I’ve always said if I can no longer manage, I’d like to be a general manager,” Lasorda said. “But I don’t want anybody’s job.

“If [Murdoch] wants me to work in the organization, I would be willing to work in the organization. But they might not even want me.”

Translated, he would never try to oust capable Fred Claire, but he wants more responsibility and wonders if Murdoch will give it to him.

And if he and Murdoch cannot make each other happy?

For the first time in a long time, Lasorda hinted at taking his act elsewhere.

“I’ve been with the Dodgers 48 years, and I always said I’d like to die a Dodger,” Lasorda said. “Now, I don’t know if I will or not.”

The next revelation came after he talked of being a general manager.

He was asked, if you could have any of the 28 current managers run your team, who would it be?

“This answer might surprise you,” Lasorda said. “But I would take Bobby Valentine.”

Surprise us? One imagines that statement might also surprise Bill Russell, current Dodger manager.

“Bobby Valentine is an outstanding manager. I’ve seen what he’s done with that Mets team,” Lasorda said. “That’s quite a job.”

Valentine and Russell were with Lasorda in his days as a Pioneer League manager in Ogden, Utah, in the 1960’s.

As well as Valentine is managing, though, it appears only one of them has a legitimate chance to make the playoffs and that is Russell.

And if Murdoch wanted Lasorda to return to the bench as a manager?

Finally, Lasorda ruled something out.

“That would be a compliment to me . . . but those guys put me in the Hall of Fame because they thought I retired, so I should probably stay retired from managing,” he said.

He added that he thought Russell, “does an outstanding job. I like Billy very much.”

So where does this leave things? Absolutely no different than before.

Lasorda will continue his minor league and public-speaking work until the end of the year. Russell and Claire will remain in their jobs for at least that long.

Then Murdoch takes over and perhaps hires former junk-bond financier and advisor Michael Milken to run the show.

Then Milken uses his close relationship with Lasorda--”We’ve been friends 15 years, how come you never asked about him before?” Lasorda said--to give him a bigger role.

Did they discuss that role on a recent plane trip with Milken to watch some games? Lasorda says no, but people do all sorts of things at 30,000 feet.

If the Dodgers win the National League West and advance to the playoffs for a third consecutive season, it would be silly to do anything with Russell or Claire.

If they win a playoff game for the first time in nine years, it would be absurd to touch them.

But if the Dodgers do not advance to postseason play, Murdoch might not be patient, no matter how unwarranted that impatience would be.

Should he want to use Lasorda, now he knows how his most renowned employee feels.

“The Hall of Fame,” shouted Lasorda during his speech, “is for eternity!”

So, too, apparently, will be his ability to stir things up.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Dodgers in the Hall

Hall of Fame members inducted as Dodgers:

* Walter Alston

* Roy Campanella

* Don Drysdale

* Leo Durocher

* Burleigh Grimes

* Sandy Koufax

* Tom Lasorda

* Larry MacPhail

* Pee Wee Reese

* Branch Rickey

* Jackie Robinson

* Wilbert Robinson

* Duke Snider

* Dazzy Vance

* Zack Wheat

BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

PHIL NIEKRO

Won 318 games in 24 seasons with the Braves, Yankees, Indians and Blue Jays. . . . Frustrated hitters with a baffling knuckleball he learned from his father. . . . Five-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner. . . . Ranks fourth in innings pitched (5,404 1/3), eighth in strikeouts (3,342) and 14th in victories. . . . Led National League in innings and complete games four times and in wins twice. . . . Pitched no-hitter against San Diego on Aug. 5, 1973.

NELLIE FOX

Scrappy second baseman was the catalyst for the Go-Go Chicago White Sox of the 1950s. . . . A 12-time All-Star, was the American League’s MVP in 1959, leading the White Sox to their first World Series in 40 years. . . . A .288 career hitter, led AL in hits four times and finished with 2,663 hits, striking out only 216 times in 9,232 at-bats. . . . Won three Gold Gloves and established a major league record in playing 798 consecutive games at second base. . . . Died in 1975.

TOM LASORDA

Managed Dodgers for 20 full seasons (1977-1996). . . . Joined predecessor Walt Alston, Connie Mack and John McGraw as the only men to manage the same team for at least 20 years. . . . His teams won 1,599 games, eight National League West titles, four National League pennants and two World Series. . . . Managed 61 postseason games, second to Casey Stengel’s 63. . . . His teams also won 90 or more games seven times, including 98 in his first full season.

WILLIE WELLS

Slick-fielding shortstop and premier hitter for 20 seasons in the Negro leagues. . . . Played on pennant-winning teams with the St. Louis Stars, Chicago American Giants and Newark Eagles. . . . Hit 123 career home runs, including league-leading 27 in just 88 games in 1929. . . . Led league with .403 batting average in 1930, one of 10 seasons when he hit over .300. . . . Also played in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Cuba, and was a player-manager at Newark. Died in 1989.

CHARLEY FEENEY

Winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award. . . . Reported major league baseball in Pittsburgh and New York for 41 years with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Long Island Press and New York Journal American.

JIMMY DUDLEY

Winner of the Ford C. Frick Award. . . . Radio voice of the Cleveland Indians from 1948-1967. . . . Graduate of the University of Virginia, where he played baseball, basketball and football.