RETURN ENGAGEMENT

Everyone could have been spared some aggravation, but the Dodgers mistakenly took a roundabout route with Eric Young.

They didn’t realize what Young would become, watching him excel elsewhere. Correcting the error was costly, but something had to be done.

Young is back where he belongs, playing second base and stirring excitement with his speed and style, after being reacquired in a trade with the Colorado Rockies last season. It took a while, and the road was a little bumpy, but Young found his way home.

“This is the organization that gave me my start, the place where I really started to believe I could do this, so I was always very thankful for that,” Young said. “But everything in your life happens for a reason, so leaving was a blessing in disguise. But coming back has been a bigger blessing.”

Convinced that Young, who made his major league debut in 1992, wasn’t ready to play regularly, the Dodgers left him unprotected in the expansion draft after the season. Colorado selected him in the first round, and the Dodgers traded for Jody Reed of the Boston Red Sox.

“It was disappointing because I didn’t know anything about the Rockies,” Young said. “But I don’t quit, so I went there ready to work.”

Otis and Lucille Young wouldn’t tolerate anything less from their son. While raising their children in New Brunswick, N.J., the Youngs taught them they would have to earn what they wanted. That outlook helped Young excel in baseball and football at Rutgers University, from which he graduated.

But his mother needed to remind him occasionally.

“He called home and wasn’t happy about [going to Colorado], but I told him to stop that nonsense,” she said. “The Lord was giving him an opportunity, and I told him to go there and make us proud.”

Young did, becoming an all-star in 1996 during a personal-best season. He led the league with 53 stolen bases, and hit .324 with 113 runs, eight home runs and 74 runs batted in.

He became an immediate fan favorite, hitting the first home run in team history in the Rockies’ first home opener. Young had a high school baseball field named in his honor after funding its refurbishment.

But Young, usually upbeat and vocal, also had some rocky moments with Colorado Manager Don Baylor, making his experience sometimes difficult. Young said he now realizes that Baylor was only trying to help him maximize his ability, but he had hoped to find a better situation at the time.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers had problems at second.

Reed rejected a contract offer after the 1993 season. Fred Claire, executive vice president, seemingly improved the team by acquiring all-star Delino DeShields from the Montreal Expos for pitcher Pedro Martinez--but that deal became the worst of Claire’s tenure.

DeShields, who joined the St. Louis Cardinals last season, was hampered by injuries and uncomfortable with the Dodgers. Martinez, now with the Red Sox, won the National League Cy Young Award last season with the Expos and is baseball’s highest-paid player.

“I still looked at the papers and saw what was going on with the Dodgers,” said Young, whom the Dodgers selected in the 43rd round of the 1989 free-agent draft. “In the back of my mind, I always wondered if something would happen.”

Young was reunited with the Dodgers in an Aug. 18 trade for pitcher Pedro Astacio. He filled large holes, boosting the team’s stagnant offense and playing well defensively.

He played in 37 games, batting .273 with 28 runs scored and 13 stolen bases. In 155 games overall, he batted .280 with 106 runs and 45 steals.

Trading Astacio was difficult for the Dodgers because the right-hander is considered among the league’s most talented starters. But Claire was forced to because Wilton Guerrero was overwhelmed at second as a rookie.

No Dodger was more pleased by the move than all-star catcher Mike Piazza, who grew tired of hitting with the bases empty. Young and Piazza were teammates in single-A on the Vero Beach Dodgers in 1990, and they are represented by the same agency.

“I was stoked because I knew what E.Y. could do,” said Piazza of Young, who has averaged 39 stolen bases in his five full seasons. “It was just fortunate we were able to get him back.”

And the Dodgers might still have Astacio and Martinez had they recognized Young’s potential.

“Yeah, but you can’t look at it that way,” Manager Bill Russell. “You never know how things are going to work out, and E.Y. will be the first to tell you he wasn’t the player he is now back then. He left and got better.”

The Dodgers rewarded Young, 30, with a four-year, $18-million contract in the off-season. Young has already earmarked some of the money, buying his parents a new home. He also plans to build baseball fields at parks throughout Los Angeles.

“This game has done a lot for me and my family, and I just want to give something back,” Young said. “This is the way I can do it, by taking some of what I have and giving kids a chance to play the game, like someone once gave me a chance.”

And that would make Young’s homecoming complete.