Mariners Don’t Rock Dodger Ship

He didn’t growl. He didn’t bark or fuss or slam a fist down on his paper-cluttered desk.

In his small office near the bottom of Dodger Stadium, first-year Manager Jim Tracy sat still in his chair, blue eyes flashing toward the cameras. And in a voice soft with conviction, he spoke.

“I think you have to give this club a lot of credit,” he said after his team’s 9-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners, its third defeat in four games to end the first half of the season.

“There’s probably a lot of people that felt like we wouldn’t be in the position that we’re in right now. I still think there’s some good things to come. I really don’t think you’ve seen the best of this ballclub . . . you have to be encouraged about a lot of things that you accomplished to this point, and also what lies ahead in the second half of the season.”

Even after two blowout losses in the past three days to the team with baseball’s best record, Tracy believes the Dodgers are on the right track mentally to enter the second half of the season.

“We have [a winning attitude],” Tracy said. “And we have had it--since the first day of the season. Or we wouldn’t be where we’re at right now. Nowhere close to it.”

In the team’s clubhouse, however, there was silence. No music from the stereos throughout the room. No handshakes or smiles or pats on the back.

But, when asked, the players seemed to exude the same confidence that carried them through a recent nine-game win streak.

“I think we’ve put ourselves in a good situation,” Dodger first baseman Eric Karros said. “Guys are going to get healthy, things are going to go our way, and we’re going to catch clubs ahead of us. I’m excited about where we’re at as a team.”

Going into the break, the Dodgers stare at a 3 1/2-game deficit to Arizona.

“Teams that aren’t going to be in contention in the second half are just going to show up and collect their paychecks,” reliever Mike Fetters said. “I don’t think this clubhouse is like that. In this clubhouse, guys want to win. Guys believe in this clubhouse that we can do it.”

Whether the Dodgers can overcome the injuries to their pitching staff and their occasional lapses on offense to prevail in the National League West remains to be seen, but no one can say they didn’t gain enough confidence.

“Even though we ran into a bit of a buzz saw [against Seattle], heading into the break I don’t think it will hurt us,” Jeff Reboulet said. “When you leave the clubhouse today, you’re not really worried about that.”

Their manager has something else in mind.

“I want to go all the way up the hill with this group,” Tracy said. “Because as hard as they’ve worked, and as much as we’ve been through till this point, it would be a hell of a lot better if we made it all the way to the top.”