OFF BASE

Eric Young isn’t seeking revenge, though the Dodgers are on his list.

The Chicago Cub second baseman is pain-free and happy again, performing at the highest level of his career. Young has provided a spark atop the batting order and been much better in the clubhouse than the Dodgers had advertised.

The Cubs believe they have benefited more than the Dodgers from the Dec. 12 trade that brought them Young and pitcher Ismael Valdes for reliever Terry Adams and two minor league pitchers, despite Valdes’ disappointing start. Young has been the most productive player in the deal to this point, and he’s pleased about his strong contribution.

But Young’s mood turns when the Dodgers are mentioned. He believes Manager Davey Johnson made him the scapegoat for last season’s problems and was the force behind the controversial deal. Johnson said Young is mistaken.

Young faces his former team today at Wrigley Field for the first time. He said he’s eager to show the Dodgers he’s doing fine.

“Chicago has been good to me,” Young said. “I’m happy now because I’m around people who respect me and respect my effort. I know I can trust them, and that trust factor is big because of everything that happened last year.

“There was a lot of finger-pointing and back-stabbing that went on [in the Dodger clubhouse] last year. It was bad, but that’s OK. It was a blessing in disguise because I’m in a better situation now, and I want to thank the Dodgers for that. The Dodgers know what the truth really is, and they know who was behind everything that happened.”

Many relationships were strained while the Dodgers failed under the weight of an $83-million payroll and big expectations. The team went 77-85, and Young was among the players management criticized privately.

After a strong first month last season, he was slowed by leg and ankle injuries and was put on the disabled list in July. Some questioned the extent of his injuries.

Young said Johnson was his most vocal critic and that a Dodger executive confirmed that Johnson had persuaded Chairman Bob Daly to trade him, despite objections from some officials.

“A certain individual considered me a cancer, and that hurt,” said Young, whom Johnson had described as his “team MVP” in April.

“You ask people who know me, you ask my teammates, not the pretenders over there but the honest people, and they know that I wasn’t responsible for how we played. There were days I couldn’t even stand on my ankle in the morning, but I was out there trying to play. Then to be questioned like that. . . . It was hard to believe.

“The thing that hurt the most was that I’ve had other managers, and not one ever said I was a cancer. When a guy doesn’t like you, and wants you out of there, he’ll start everything up. All you have to do to start a rumor is say it one time. That’s what happened. I understand the game, it’s all about finding a scapegoat, but to be treated like that was wrong. It was definitely a learning experience, and I’m better for it.”

Johnson said he had not undermined Young.

“Never at any time did I blame E.Y. for any of our problems,” he said. “We had a lot of problems that weren’t going to be fixed last year. When you have shortcomings and need to remedy a lot of areas, a player tends to think he is the scapegoat, or the public perception is he was part of the problem.

“I know at times people made a lot out of the differences E.Y. and I had. The difficulties that E.Y. and I had were that he wasn’t doing the things I thought he was capable of, and he said he wasn’t doing them because he was hurt. I know at times it was painted that I didn’t like E.Y., but that was wrong. When we had success at all, it was when E.Y. was igniting us.”

Despite his injuries last season, Young batted .281, was third in the major leagues with 51 stolen bases and fifth among National League leadoff batters with a .382 on-base percentage. Fans criticized General Manager Kevin Malone for trading Young and Valdes, and some Dodger officials distanced themselves from the unpopular move.

Many current Dodgers said Young wasn’t the problem.

“Everyone here last year should be held accountable for the season we had, it’s a team effort,” first baseman Eric Karros said. “E.Y. had always been an integral part of the ballclub. Some things happened, we weren’t playing well and he was hurt. It was just an unfortunate situation all the way around.

“E.Y. has always had a lot of energy. He has always given 100%, and I’m sure he’s going to be successful for his new club.”

He has been to this point.

Young is batting .327, which would lead Dodger regulars. He tops the NL with 55 hits, 15 doubles and 14 stolen bases.

He’s second with 17 multi-hit games and ninth with 31 runs, also more than any Dodger. Scouts consider Young below average defensively, but the Cubs are satisfied with his play.

Young and Mark Grudzielanek, who replaced him at second base for the Dodgers, have five errors each.

Valdes is 0-1 with a 10.80 earned-run average in three starts. He isn’t scheduled to pitch in the series.

“The things that I had heard about [Young] with the Dodgers were way off base,” Cub Manager Don Baylor said of Young, his leadoff batter for five seasons with the Colorado Rockies. “It’s been shown that if you work with him, his defense is going to improve. The last couple of years, I could tell that he got away from that.

“It’s easy to trash a guy when he’s no longer on your club. That’s why you get away from trashing guys, because you never know, he might end up on your club again. E.Y. and I had our battles, but I was just trying to get the best from him. I never trashed him. He’s not a cancer and he never was in Colorado. That’s not even close to being the truth.”

Young said he’s looking forward to visiting with many of his former Dodger teammates, including Karros and left fielder Gary Sheffield. He doesn’t plan to speak with Johnson.

“I don’t have anything to say to Davey,” Young said. “He wasn’t man enough to call me into his office last year to discuss our situation, so he had better not try to come up to me now.

“The [Dodgers] can talk all they want to about financial constraints, payroll [flexibility], filling holes and whatever, they know that stuff had nothing to do with me getting traded. The bottom line is that Davey didn’t like me, he wanted me out and he got his wish.”

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Different Shade of Blue

A look at Eric Young’s numbers compared to the combined numbers of all Dodger leadoff batters this season:

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Young Category Dodgers 168 At-bats 163 55 Hits 47 .327 Batting avg. .288 .384 On-base percentage .350 15 Doubles 7 14 Stolen bases 5 31 Runs scored 32

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Note: Young ranks first or tied for first in the National League in at-bats, hits, doubles and stolen bases.