Tracy Sees Positive Side

One day after the forced resignation of general manager Kevin Malone, the emphasis Friday at Dodger Stadium was on the future.

But Manager Jim Tracy wasn’t willing to let go of the past so easily without a few words about the man who hired him.

“There has been a lot of talk about what Kevin did wrong,” Tracy said. “But he has given me the opportunity of a lifetime.

“He told me, if he had to do it over, there are things he would have done differently, situations he regrets.

“But look at where our farm system was two years ago. If we had lost an Andy Ashby [on the disabled list because of a strained right elbow], we would have wondered who we were going to bring up. Now we have a Luke Prokopec. There has been a lot of good around here along with all the negatives people have been talking about.”

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Catcher Paul Lo Duca, who suffered a strained left hamstring in Thursday’s game at San Francisco, is day-to-day after an examination Friday by Dr. Frank Jobe.

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Shortstop Tim Bogar, on the disabled list since April 4 because of a strained right hamstring, begins a weekend rehabilitation assignment today with the team’s triple-A club in Las Vegas.

Third baseman Dave Hansen, who suffered a fractured finger on his left hand in spring training, will begin a rehab assignment this week with the Class-A Vero Beach Dodgers.

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Dodger right-hander Darren Dreifort has been fined $1,000 for hitting the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Tony Womack with a pitch on April 11 in an 11-5 Dodger victory. Dreifort is expected to appeal.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

LUKE PROKOPEC

(1-0, 1.17)

vs.

PADRES’

KEVIN JARVIS

(0-1, 9.22)

Dodger Stadium, 7

TV--Fox Sports Net 2.

Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

* Update--This will be Prokopec’s seventh major league appearance and only his fifth start, but he carries himself like a veteran. “Luke is a guy with a tremendous amount of self-confidence,” Tracy said. “Which is what he should have.” Jarvis is 1-2 with an 8.42 earned-run average in eight appearances against the Dodgers.

* Tickets--(323) 224-1448.