Amid Turmoil, Tracy Shows Quiet Confidence

The Dodgers will begin the search for a full-time general manager this week--another potential distraction for Manager Jim Tracy as he tries to keep his players focused and competitive in the National League West and tries to establish his own reputation.

Imagine. After 15 years as a minor league player and manager and six as bench coach under Felipe Alou and Davey Johnson, Tracy gets this prestigious opportunity only to have his star left fielder disrupt spring training and his general manager dismissed in April, triggering a search that could produce months of distracting headlines.

“Interesting way to start out, isn’t it?” the understated Tracy said, knowing it is more than interesting.

A manager’s fate is often tied to that of his general manager. It was Kevin Malone, first as general manager of the Montreal Expos and later as the Dodger GM, who got Tracy the appointments under Alou and Johnson and then lobbied for his selection as manager after Johnson’s firing.

Tracy now has a second year on his contract, but a new general manager might want his own man.

“It’s paramount that the relationship between manager and general manager work if the situation is going to be constructive,” Tracy said in the quiet of his office, “but I can only control the things under my control. The ultimate decision is up to the people in charge. I can’t cross that bridge until we get there.”

The test of Tracy’s big league managerial skills is just beginning, but he evokes memories of Walter Alston’s quiet strengths and confidence. The sense is that there is more to the man than initially meets the eye and ear. Although the Malone legacy probably will be thought of in a negative context, Tracy could be the positive.

“Jim has the total support of our organization,” Chairman Bob Daly said. “He wasn’t just Kevin’s choice or my choice or Bob Graziano’s choice or Tom Lasorda’s choice. We all chose him, and I like everything about him. I hope he’s going to be the manager for a long time.”

That, of course, is about as definitive as Daly will get until a GM is selected. Cleveland Indian GM John Hart remains the first choice despite his recent statement that any Dodger interest is a nonissue because he intends to remain with the Indians until the season ends. That, of course, is what Hart has to say to ease Cleveland concerns, but sources said he remains open to overtures, providing the Indians give permission to an interested club and are compensated if Hart leaves.

Oakland Athletic General Manager Billy Beane, who might have a tougher time getting out of his contract, remains No. 2 on a Dodger list that also includes Jim Duquette, New York Met senior assistant GM. Duquette and Dave Wallace developed a close relationship when the Dodgers’ interim general manager worked for the Mets.

For Tracy, who believes in his ability and relation-building skill, the job is to keep the Dodgers focused, as he did during the Gary Sheffield episode of March. If the team plays well, his own situation is enhanced.

“Sure, I think about it,” he said, referring to how the GM change might affect him, “but I’ve set a goal with this team and that keeps me from being sidetracked by some of these tangents. My focus is on giving the L.A. fans a winning team, doing some things with this club that a lot of my critics and a lot of people in the industry don’t think we can do.

“That’s a challenge, and I don’t really look on any challenge as too big. The people here have gone out on a limb for me and I don’t want to let them down. If I fail them I fail myself, and I haven’t made a real habit of failing.”

In other words, Tracy said, between now and that bridge he’ll have to cross when a new GM is selected, “I’d like to make a statement for this team and for myself. Not with my mouth but with my actions. I’d like to feel that what I do with this ballclub, well, people will say, ‘Hey, this guy has an idea of what he’s doing.’ If I have to try to verbally convince someone of how good I am, then I don’t really believe it myself, and that’s not my nature anyway.”

Tracy’s Dodgers, despite the absence of Adrian Beltre and several oft-chronicled deficiencies, were only 1 1/2 games off the NL West lead through Friday’s games. He thinks the offense is capable of more and believes there’s a need for the Dodgers to focus better on every pitch, to play with more passion at home, but “there’s been a lot of pluses amid the turmoil.”

He also believes there’s been too much finger-pointing in his time with the Dodgers, too many people making excuses, and he said he has reminded the players to take responsibility for their own performance. The GM situation is another potential crutch, but Tracy said it should have no bearing on the team’s play or the organization’s ability to make moves, given the commitment and knowledge of Wallace and staff.

Malone is gone, and Tracy said, “I know there were situations that came up that the organization couldn’t ignore, but on a personal level I can’t ignore the opportunity he gave me. I talked to him the other night and he said, ‘Trace, I’ve made some mistakes, there are some things that I wish I’d have done differently.’ I hope things work out for him and we can produce the winner he felt the fans deserved. He’s a good man who cares about people and humanity. Despite all the negatives people have been talking about, he did a lot of good things for the organization, particularly in the farm system.”

He was also a security blanket for the manager, but Tracy might not need it. Given all those years on minor league buses, all that time selling grocery displays and delivering newspapers, working two jobs to keep his family afloat, it may be true, as he says, that no challenge is too big.