Old Flame Burns Bright

The torch is carried every morning, around a felt-covered card table in the Dodgertown lounge--several pups and a Bulldog.

“How do you handle pressure?” the pups ask.

“How do you win without your good stuff?” they wonder.

The torch is carried every afternoon on a Dodgertown field, during drills, when the oldest Dodger pitcher is the liveliest one, slapping backs and spreading ideas.

“Anything he has to say, you want to listen,” rookie Jeff Williams says.

The torch is carried every night on the Dodgertown streets, when employees and fans and friends greet the prodigal pitcher the same way.

It’s never, “Nice to see you.”

It’s always, “Welcome home.”

That’s when it gets to him. That’s when the torch burns brightest, when its bearer realizes he has been brought back for far more than six innings every five days.

“I’ve put on three uniforms since I was last here,” Orel Hershiser says. “None of them fit like the one I’m wearing now.”

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Just in time, the Dodgers have acquired the one player whose long arms can span the gap between then and now.

Just like that, in little ways, the Dodgers have acquired their best chance to become a little more Dodger-like again.

Hershiser is sentimental enough to remember what it was like when this organization was special, but smart enough to understand that things must now be done different.

He can talk to the young pitchers about Sandy Koufax . . . and Pedro Martinez.

About Roy Campanella . . . and Mike Piazza.

About October of 1988 . . . and April of 2000.

“I know what this organization once stood for,” he said. “But having been with other organizations, now I also know that there are different ways to do things.”

Welcome home, indeed.

Not that this torch was the only reason Bob Daly and Kevin Malone reacquired Hershiser in December.

Sure, he is now in a position to one day lead this organization into a new era.

Certainly, he is now on a springboard from which he can leap to pitching coach, to manager, to general manager, taking his understanding of both old and new Dodger values with him.

But that’s for later. A more immediate question now is, can the 41-year-old guy still pitch?

The Dodgers, particularly Manager Davey Johnson, believe he can.

Hershiser, who turned down more lucrative offers, said he never would have come here otherwise.

“This is not a victory tour,” he said. “I’m not here as a charity case because they had no room on the coaching staff and still wanted to get me on the team.”

He tightened his gaze, as if it were October already.

“I want to compete; I want to win,” he said. “I think I’ve proven I can still do that.”

During his five seasons away--in Cleveland, San Francisco and New York--the tendency around town was to ignore him, maybe even forget him. Things were frustrating enough without thinking of the Dodgers’ last postseason winning pitcher in another uniform.

Now that he has returned, it’s safe to look. And what a surprising sight.

The pitcher the Dodgers thought was finished has averaged 13 wins and 31 starts a season during his time abroad. He has been involved in tight pennant races or playoffs nearly every year.

In his last World Series, for the Indians in 1997, he was shelled as a starter. But in his last playoff, last season for the Mets, he threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.

“Last year I think I found a way to extend my career out of the bullpen,” he said.

Even though he can offer only about six strong innings as a starter, some Dodger officials think he would be better in the rotation. If Carlos Perez has a good spring, though, he will probably start in the bullpen.

“I’ll do anything,” Hershiser said.

In old-school Johnson, who doesn’t care how they win or who gets the credit, the Dodgers have a manager secure enough to let Hershiser do just that.

“I see him as a starter, a possible reliever, a coach, an assistant manager, a possible assistant general manager . . . I just don’t know,” Johnson said with a laugh. “Whatever he’s doing, he’s a good friend of Bob Daly, so I’m staying close to him.”

But seriously . . .

“He will be a big help to this team with whatever he does,” Johnson said.

Claude Osteen, the pitching coach, feels the same way.

“I know Orel is shooting for a job a heck of a lot higher than what I’ve got, so I’m not worried,” he said with a laugh.

But seriously . . .

It was Osteen who called a meeting of the pitchers and recommended they meet with Hershiser during daily morning chalk talks. It is Osteen who has recommended Hershiser’s advice to anyone who will listen.

“Orel and I are both on the same wavelength, that’s the important thing,” Osteen said. “I figure, his help does nothing but make us better.”

What does Hershiser want to eventually do?

“My first talk with Orel, coaching came up, but he said he wanted to manage,” Johnson said, laughing. “I said, ‘Orel, isn’t that a little premature?’ ”

But again, seriously . . .

He won’t declare anything other than that he wants to keep pitching as long as he can pitch.

One year and then a coach? Two years and then a front-office position?

There is no grand plan, no timetable, only one real desire.

“Like I told the younger pitchers, I’m paying back a debt,” Hershiser said. “Everything I’ve accomplished came from this organization. The knowledge this place gave me, I want to give it back.”

The torch was carried on the Dodgertown diamond the other day when a boy pressed his face to the fence. He then turned to his father and spoke for Dodger fans everywhere.

“That’s Orel Hershiser?” he said. “Cool.”

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

STICKING AROUND

Gary Sheffield says he doesn’t plan to retire any time soon. Page 11

A REAL VETERAN

Tom Candiotti can only laugh at being the old man in camp. Page 11

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Dodger Historian

Where Orel Hershiser ranks among Dodger career leaders:

Category Number Rank Wins 134 6th, behind Sutton, Drysdale, Koufax, Osteen, Valenzuela Losses 102 5th, behind Sutton, Drysdale, Osteen, Valenzuela Strikeouts 1,443 5th, behind Sutton, Drysdale, Koufax, Valenzuela Shutouts 24 6th, behind Sutton, Drysdale, Koufax, Osteen, Valenzuela ERA 3,00 4th, behind Koufax, John, Drysdale