Cromer and Homers

When he was born, he was named Roy Cromer III. But his parents, referring to the fact that he was the third member of the family with that name, started calling him Tripp.

When he started hitting home runs for the Dodgers--three in less than a week--Manager Bill Russell started calling him Roy Hobbs, after the character in “The Natural.”

But whenever the Dodgers have put his name in the lineup, the 29-year-old South Carolina native has done what the team needed.

Take Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, for example.

With shortstop Greg Gagne still sidelined because of a viral infection, the Dodgers called on Cromer, even though he is still recovering from a bad bruise at the base of the left hand.

Cromer responded by smashing a Mark Clark pitch to the gap in the sixth inning for a bases-loaded double to break open the game and enable the Dodgers, also aided by three home runs, to cruise to an 8-3 victory over the New York Mets in front of a crowd of 33,358.

“There are always guys you root for,” said winning pitcher Tom Candiotti (6-3), “guys who may not have the best talent on the team, but have a great work ethic. Tripp is one of those guys. It doesn’t matter where you put him, second, short or third.

“You look at him and he’s not very intimidating, but he sure has some pop in his bat.”

Who knew?

Cromer, who was formerly in the St. Louis Cardinal organization, had 18 RBIs in 368 big league at-bats spread over three years. He now has 18 RBIs this season in 67 at-bats along with a .328 average.

“At this pace,” Met Manager Bobby Valentine said, “he’ll get 200 RBIs for his first 600 at-bats.”

Cromer, who also had a single in four at-bats Tuesday, was hardly the only one swinging a big stick for the Dodgers.

Their three home runs were hit by:

* Raul Mondesi, who smashed his 22nd of the year into the left-center-field seats in the third inning. It was his fourth home run in five games.

* Tom Prince, who hit his first of the year into the left-field bullpen in the fourth. Prince was filling in for starting catcher Mike Piazza, who is day-to-day because of a strained left hamstring.

“I’m out there to handle the pitchers,” Prince said. “If I get a big hit every once in a while, more power to me.”

Power is something Prince is not known for. Now in his 11th season, this was his seventh homer.

* Billy Ashley, who slugged a pinch-hit homer to left in the ninth. It was Ashley’s sixth homer of the year and his second in a pinch-hitting role, the only two the Dodgers have had this year.

The Dodgers did all this despite having just returned from a grueling eight-game trip to three cities in eight days, a trip in which they wound up with a 4-4 split.

And it came against the Mets, who came in here with the momentum of a five-game winning streak that had catapulted them 14 games over .500, the first time they have been that far above in six years.

The Dodgers blasted Clark (7-7) for seven runs in 5 1/3 innings.

But New York’s bats weren’t exactly silent either. They got home runs out of Butch Huskey (his 14th), Carlos Baerga (sixth) and Edgardo Alfonzo (seventh), but they couldn’t get anybody on base before their big blows.

In the Dodger clubhouse after the game, Cromer was surrounded by reporters, playing an unaccustomed role for a role player, a supporting actor who is suddenly threatening to become a leading man.

When one reporter sought to praise Cromer, he said with a smile, “Calm down a bit. It’s a lot of fun, but there’s a long way to go.”

When told that his teammates appreciated him because he never complained, Cromer responded, “What can you complain about being around here?”

Russell, his manager, now has a pleasant problem on his hands. Second baseman Wilton Guerrero had three hits Tuesday to raise his average to .301. With Cromer so hot and Gagne about ready to return, who will sit out?

On Tuesday, Russell was content to focus on Cromer and not worry about the future.

“He’s a pleasure to have around,” Russell said. “He’s a quiet guy. I can relate to that.”

But he’s no longer quiet with a bat in his hands.