Mondesi Hears It From Fans

It sometimes can be difficult distinguishing between the crowd chanting “Raaauuullll” or yelling “Boooooo.”

There was no such difficulty Friday night at Dodger Stadium, where the Atlanta Braves beat the Dodgers, 7-3. The boos for right fielder Raul Mondesi, clear and intense, began before the first pitch when the players in the starting lineup introduced themselves on the video scoreboard. The mere appearance of Mondesi’s face on that scoreboard ignited the crowd, which drowned out Mondesi’s voice.

The first time Mondesi touched the ball, it was on a routine fly to right by shortstop Jose Hernandez. Mondesi handled it easily, but that didn’t stop the boo birds.

The rage over the collapse of the highly touted, highly paid ’99 Dodgers has come crashing down on their right fielder. His expletive-laced tirade to reporters in Montreal, blasting General Manager Kevin Malone and Manager Davey Johnson, has been answered by a tirade from Dodger fans.

Johnson tried his best before Friday’s game to calm the stormy waters.

“This is not a clubhouse in turmoil,” he said. “One player is upset. I was upset. This will be handled in private. It will not be handled where the pros and cons are out in public.

“I want [Mondesi] to be happy. I’ve told him a hundred times that you can’t play this game if you are not happy. I just want his focus to be on baseball.

“I don’t have a malicious bone in my body about anybody in here [the clubhouse]. I give everybody a chance. It has nothing to do with one person. It has to do with 25.”

Second inning: The crowd got Mondesi coming and going in his first at-bat, blasting him when he walked to the plate and again after he swung weakly in striking out.

Johnson, who continues to show his support for Mondesi by leaving him in the starting lineup, bristled at the suggestion that Mondesi is in the manager’s doghouse.

“I don’t have a doghouse,” Johnson said. “Raul really is a nice person. Unfortunately, what has come out is that he is an immature person. I can put this behind me and not hold it against him. . . . I don’t hold grudges. I told him, ‘I know what you did and I still love you. Let’s learn from this.’ ”

Fifth inning: Mondesi nearly turned the boos into cheers, but when his long fly to center was hauled in by Andruw Jones, the crowd remained angry.

If ever a manager could be prepared for a volatile situation such as this, it is Johnson, who learned all about handling difficult players in a 12-year managerial career that included stints with the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles. In New York, Johnson had to handle Darryl Strawberry, who was embroiled in problems ranging from drug use to domestic abuse. In Baltimore, Johnson had Cal Ripken, whose consecutive-game playing streak became an issue.

“Strawberry was a lot like Mondesi,” Johnson said. “Darryl would listen to me. He seemed to understand and then, boom, he would walk out of camp. I would tell him, ‘Things are going to be all right.’ He’d say, ‘Yeah, Skip, you’re right.’ And the next day, he’d be gone.

“To me, this [Wednesday’s tirade] is not Mondesi. I just hope Mondesi doesn’t have anything close to what happened to Strawberry. They are grown men, but they do not always act like it.”

Sixth inning: Nothing changed. Mondesi grounded to third. The crowd of 40,363 booed.

In Ripken’s case, Johnson didn’t have to deal with an absent player, but rather one who didn’t want to leave. Johnson didn’t dare fool with Ripken’s streak, although the manager admitted he would have liked to have used some of that playing time for other players. Johnson merely moved Ripken from short to third.

“That ballclub knew I was in charge,” Johnson said, “if I would even think of moving a Hall of Famer to third.”

Johnson further upset Ripken by removing him in one game for a pinch-runner.

“I reserve the right to do whatever I think is best for the club,” Johnson said. “I have to have that right.”

So he cannot let Mondesi usurp his authority. But what, short of a trade, Johnson and Malone can do to discipline Mondesi, in addition to piling new fines on the ones already levied, remains to be seen.

“I don’t condone what [Mondesi] did,” Malone said. “I don’t appreciate it. We will deal with it internally.”

Malone said he was pleased that Mondesi had issued an apology in a statement released through the Dodgers.

Has Mondesi apologized to Malone himself?

“I think,” said the general manager, “he will apologize to me personally, sooner or later.”

Ninth inning: Mondesi singles to center against Rudy Seanez and a few scattered ‘Raauuuls’ could be heard.

Others could follow if Mondesi finally learns to keep quiet and let his bat do the talking.