It’s Last Place That Dodgers Expected to Be

Eric Karros said it himself.

The date was April 18. While issuing his customary “It’s early” defense of the Dodgers customary it’s-lousy start, he added:

“In June or July, if we’re still hovering around .500, then there are real issues.”

Well, it’s that time, they are in that place, and those issues exist. One of which is him.

Eric Karros is not the Dodgers’ only problem.

But he may be the easiest solution to their problem.

The Dodgers need another left-handed hitter, another clubhouse spark, another on-field leader for what is still a salvageable championship run.

Karros, one of the last remaining Peter O’Malley Dodgers, is the only one who can give it to them.

If the Dodgers believe they can substantially improve by trading Karros, they need to do it, quickly, for his sake and ours.

This is as difficult to write as it will be for the many Eric Karros fans to read.

As recently as last winter, Eric Karros and a trade made as much sense as Nancy Bea Hefley and rock’n’roll.

It was written here that as one of the last true Dodgers, Karros’ value had become as indelible as the script on his shirt.

Think of the traditions he could share with his new teammates. Think of the Dodger work ethic he could pass along.

He was a Dodger when it meant something to be a Dodger, and what kind of price can you put on that?

This was going to be the season when he established himself as the clubhouse and field and community leader, much like Tony Gwynn in San Diego or Cal Ripken in Baltimore.

But then, unfortunately, the season began.

And, at times, the only Dodger tradition Karros embraced was the recent one of slow starts, missed opportunities, and passive explanations.

Instead of stepping up to the challenge of carrying the Dodger torch, he remained away from the fire, in the shadows, sometimes looking lost in a clubhouse that clearly no longer belongs to him.

His overall numbers, as always, are decent--he’s on a pace for about 24 homers and 72 RBIs.

But before Sunday, he was hitting only .200 with runners in scoring position, with only 22 RBIs in 70 at-bats.

Then there have been his comments which, to some, have stung harder than his swings.

When the team struggled, Karros, as always, declared that fans shouldn’t get upset.

“This is not do or die,” he said after a loss in early May. “This is not life or death. It’s another loss. It’s done . . . C’mon man, it’s May.”

To the faithful for whom the games finish a close third to life and death, those were not exactly words of inspiration.

To some of his new teammates, the words maybe just sounded odd.

Wasn’t this precisely the attitude that the new Dodgers were trying to eliminate?

Then there was the time Karros and others botched a rundown play that cost the Dodgers a run in a 6-4 loss to the Florida Marlins.

Instead of expressing outrage and vowing to do his best to prevent it from happening again, Karros noted that the run didn’t matter anyway.

“We were already down, 5-4,” he said at the time. “Obviously, you’ve got to execute. But that was meaningless in the scheme of things.”

To those many Dodger fans for whom no opposing run is meaningless, Karros again struck out.

So far, during a year in which Karros has needed to wrap this team in a bear hug, he has remained strangely at arm’s length.

The first sign that the Dodgers consider him expendable occurred Saturday in San Francisco when he was benched for Todd Hollandsworth simply because Hollandsworth bats left-handed.

The Dodgers won, and Johnson intimated that he would do it again if he thought it would help.

Not all of which is Karros’ fault.

Karros is not the one who attempted to solve the Dodgers’ left-handed problems by acquiring Todd Hundley and Devon White, neither of whom has lived up to the back of their baseball card.

That was Kevin Malone, Dodger general manager, who refused to comment Sunday on anything involving a trade.

Karros is not the one who decimated the team by taking away his buddy, Mike Piazza, perhaps forcing him into more of a leadership role than he was comfortable with.

But it is Karros who has value, and can be replaced. And it is Karros who can perhaps best help the team by leaving.

Karros, reached in his San Francisco hotel room Sunday for this story, was as gracious as always.

He said he wanted to be a Dodger for life. He said he had heard the talk about being traded for a left-handed hitter, and had only one question.

“Who is that left-handed hitter?” he said. “Who will be available? Is it somebody like Rafael Palmeiro? I don’t think there’s many available.”

He said he worried about the reaction to his continual comments about Dodger fans needing patience.

“I think maybe they’ve been misconstrued or misinterpreted,” he said. “I never meant that we aren’t busting our tails right now, in every game. It’s not that we’re not worried about it.

“And the perception that we don’t play as hard in April or May as we do in June or July, that’s ridiculous.”

Karros said he was merely trying to point out that it was too early to make changes, that there as no need to panic.

“All I meant was, just because we don’t have success in April or May doesn’t mean we can write off the season,” he said.

No, they can’t. Eric Karros is right, there is still time. But moves need to be made. And quickly, for his sake and ours.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at his e-mail address: bill.plaschke@latimes.com.