Jordan Tries to Tap Powerful Potential

Dodger outfielder Brian Jordan has a .287 career batting average in 10 big league seasons, and he averaged 22 home runs and 95 runs batted in for the last four years. Imagine what kind of numbers he could have posted had he understood some of the finer intricacies of hitting.

“I never learned how to hit the right way,” said Jordan, who was acquired with pitcher Odalis Perez from the Atlanta Braves for Gary Sheffield in January. “I just used raw talent. I never really used my legs. I couldn’t tell the difference between a sinker and a cut fastball. To me, the ball comes in, I hit it. I’m a football player playing baseball. That’s why I feel I haven’t reached my full potential.”

Jordan, a former two-sport star at the University of Richmond, spent three seasons (1989-91) as an NFL defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons, a commitment that limited him to 406 minor league at-bats in his first four professional baseball seasons (1988-91). Most minor league regulars get more than 500 at-bats in one season.

By the time Jordan gave up football to concentrate on baseball in 1992, he was playing outfield for the St. Louis Cardinals, the beginning of a big league career that included seven years in St. Louis and three in Atlanta. But when Jordan took batting practice in Dodgertown for the first time, Manager Jim Tracy and hitting coach Jack Clark immediately noticed flaws in his swing.

“Now, I’m Jack’s project,” Jordan, 35, said. “I hit 25 home runs last year just using my upper body, so now Jack is teaching me how to incorporate my legs in my swing. I can see the difference already. When I use my legs, I can see how the ball takes off. There’s going to be a big difference once it becomes natural.”

Some veterans with 10 years of big-league experience might not be as open to new ideas or change, but Clark has been impressed with Jordan’s willingness to learn. Jordan is usually in the cages by 7:30 a.m., taking 30-45 minutes of extra batting practice a day.

“He’s like a young kid, a sponge, he’s just absorbing it little by little,” Clark said. “As we take this a little further, he’ll get more aggressive. I had to see him for a number of days before I jumped in, and you have to make sure a guy is open to it, but he was. We’re just trying to tweak a few things to pull his athleticism out of there.”

More specifically, the Dodgers want to pull more strength out of Jordan’s legs. Jordan is chiseled at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, but if he incorporated more of that body into his swing, he would probably hit for more power.

“I don’t want this to sound like a negative, but I think he can use his lower body better than he has in the past,” Tracy said. “There are some adjustments he can make to make the process work, and if he does, those are awfully strong legs that can make a difference for him.”

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The Dodgers committed five errors, including two wild throws by third baseman Hiram Bocachica in the fifth inning and a dropped fly ball in the fourth by Marquis Grissom, in an ugly 10-6 exhibition loss Saturday to the Baltimore Orioles at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Phil Hiatt and Mike Kinkade homered for the Dodgers, who had 16 hits. Shawn Green, who has been unable to play right field because of a sore throwing shoulder, struck out twice in four at-bats as a designated hitter but impressed Tracy with his hustle by turning a seventh-inning hit up the middle into a double.

“He sent a good message to the team,” Tracy said. “He understands what kind of players we need around here to take the next step from where we were a year ago.”

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A member of the Japanese media in town to cover the Dodgers was killed in an automobile accident early Saturday morning. According to the Vero Beach Police Dept., Masaaki Ono, a 27-year-old audio operator for the Los Angeles-based Fuji Television Network, died when he failed to yield at a Vero Beach intersection and was struck on the passenger side by a 1993 Volvo driven by 19-year-old Richard Connelly of Concorde, Mass.

Ono’s 2002 Chevy van overturned, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Connelly and two passengers were treated and released at the scene. The investigation continues, and no charges have been filed.

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A precautionary MRI on Mark Grudzielanek’s sore right hamstring showed no major abnormalities, but the second baseman, who was slowed by the same hamstring for much of last season, will be held out of exhibition games until the Dodgers are confident he will not run the risk of serious damage. Grudzielanek is taking batting practice and participating in drills that don’t require him to run at full speed.... The Dodgers agreed to terms with pitchers Matt Herges ($370,000), Eric Gagne ($300,000), Giovanni Carrara and outfielder McKay Christensen ($230,000) on one-year contracts.