Hoffman Says No to Boston

The position may have been plum, but the situation and timing weren’t right for Dodger third-base coach Glenn Hoffman, who was granted permission to interview for the Boston Red Sox’s manager job Saturday afternoon but withdrew his name from consideration a few hours later.

“It’s an honor to be considered, but I withdrew because of what’s going on here,” Hoffman said. “There are a lot of good things going on, and I couldn’t leave. I didn’t want to string [the Red Sox] on. I wanted to be up front.”

Hoffman, 43, who was contacted by new Boston owner John Henry on Saturday, didn’t want to elaborate, but it was clear the uncertainty surrounding the Red Sox and a reluctance to move his wife and five kids across the country were factors.

“It’s no knock on Boston, but it’s an unstable situation there,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “There are a lot of interim tags, and [Hoffman] is concerned about that. He’s experienced a similar situation here, coming in midstream. You’d like to bring in your own people, but that’s difficult to do with three weeks before opening day.”

Hoffman replaced the fired Bill Russell as Dodger manager on June 21, 1998, and guided what many considered a weak Dodger team to a 47-41 record the rest of the season. But the Dodgers were sold to Fox, Kevin Malone replaced Tom Lasorda as general manager, and Malone hired Davey Johnson as manager.

Hoffman, who interviewed for the Dodger job before Tracy was hired, aspires to be a big league manager, and he didn’t think Saturday’s rejection would damage his chances.

“This was a great opportunity for someone to show interest and to get my name out there,” Hoffman said. “But with three weeks to go before the season, if I’m not jumping in there 100% committed, it wouldn’t be fair to them or us.”

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It has been 20 years since a Dodger donned Steve Garvey’s No. 6, but not only is Dante Bichette wearing the number this spring, he started at first base in the Dodgers’ 8-1 exhibition win over the Montreal Expos on Saturday night.

“I’ve got fairly big forearms,” Bichette said, “but not quite that big.”

Longtime Dodger fans and Garvey loyalists cringe at the thought of another Dodger wearing No. 6, but hold off on those letters of complaint.

“That’s a big number to fill, but I probably won’t,” Bichette said. “That’s what was in my locker when I got here, but if I make the team, I’ll probably get another number. The last thing I want to do is tick off Dodger fans.”

Bichette, an outfielder by trade, has never played first base in a regular-season game, and he had to borrow a first baseman’s mitt--it was actually an old Angel Echevarria glove--from teammate Phil Hiatt. If Bichette is capable at first--he really wasn’t tested Saturday night--that would improve Tracy’s bench flexibility.

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Cesar Izturis, the favorite to win the shortstop job, had an RBI triple, two singles and two stolen bases Saturday night, giving him six hits, including a home run, in the Dodgers’ last two exhibition games. Marquis Grissom had three hits, and Dave Roberts had three runs batted in.... Center fielder Tom Goodwin, sidelined by a strained oblique muscle, swung off a tee and took soft toss Saturday and hopes to return to action early this week. Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, sidelined by a sore right hamstring, continued to improve, and Tracy expects him to play in his first exhibition game in the next few days.... According to ESPN’s Peter Gammons, the Dodgers recently tried to get a scout from another team interested in reliever Mike Trombley. “Sorry,” the scout told Dodger GM Dan Evans, “our [radar] gun can’t measure fastballs below 84 mph.”