Little League Series a Big Deal to Them

The Dodgers did their usual pregame stretching exercises inside the clubhouse Saturday rather than on the field where they normally loosen up.

It’s not that there was concern about bad weather. It was concern about missing the Little League World Series.

Most of the players were planted in front of the television, watching the championship game between Mission Viejo and Guadalupe, Mexico, as if it were the deciding game of the real World Series.

For some, there was a personal connection.

First baseman Eric Karros played for Jim Gattis, manager of the Mission Viejo team, in Alaska the summer before Karros’ junior year at UCLA.

“He was the most intense coach I ever played for,” Karros said. “It was the first time that I played baseball in a situation where the only reason you were there was to win. You were not there to have fun.”

Coach Mark Cresse watched with pride because five members of the Mission Viejo team attended his Mark Cresse School of Baseball in Orange County in the last two years.

And many Hispanic members of the Dodgers also watched with pride, rooting for the victorious Mexican team.

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Wherever Dodger right-hander Chan Ho Park pitches, he draws large Korean crowds.

When he was announced as the starter for Friday night’s game in Philadelphia, 2,500 Korean fans purchased tickets.

Because of a rainout in New York on Wednesday, however, Park wound up pitching Thursday in New York.

Approximately 1,000 Korean fans still showed up for the game in Philadelphia on Friday and Park, at the request of the Phillies, acknowledged them by addressing the crowd via a video played in the second inning.

“Some of them didn’t understand,” Park said, “because they have no experience with this kind of thing. I tried to make them understand and told them to keep watching for me.”

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Pitcher Tom Candiotti was called on to pinch-hit in the sixth inning when the team needed a sacrifice bunt.

“You’re not up here to hit a home run, are you?” Phillie catcher Mike Lieberthal asked.

“Have you seen my average up there on the scoreboard?” replied Candiotti, hitting .048.

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Former Dodger pitcher Bill Singer, an area scout for the Florida Marlins since 1991, has been hired by the Dodgers to be a national cross-checker, a scout who checks up on those working on a regional basis.

TODAY’S GAME

DODGERS’ ISMAEL VALDES (8-10, 2.76 ERA) vs. PHILLIES’ MATT BEECH (2-7, 5.06 ERA)

Veterans Stadium, 10:30 a.m.

TV--Channel 5. Radio--KABC (790), KWKW (1330).

* Update--If the Dodgers win today, it would give them a sweep of the five games they’ve played in Veterans Stadium this season, marking only the second time they have blanked the Phillies on their home field since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958. The Dodgers went 6-0 here in 1988, when they went on to win the World Series. Behind Curt Schilling, Philadelphia shut out the Dodgers, 3-0, on opening day, but the Dodgers have since won all nine games they’ve played against the Phillies. A victory today, in this finale of the three-game series, would be the Dodgers’ fifth in the six games on this trip, evening the team’s road record at 32-32.