For First Time, Lasorda Doesn’t Have an Opinion

Tom Lasorda was in Edison Field over the weekend to watch the Angels, I would imagine just in case the Big Guy in the Sky turns out to be wearing red and waving a thunder stick.

Lasorda said he’s thrilled at the prospect of watching two of his former players, Dusty Baker and Mike Scioscia, manage against each other in the World Series, but refused to pick a winner.

“Let me tell you something,” said Lasorda, who begins almost every sentence that way, making me wonder if that’s how he opened his proposal to his wife, Jo. “I got mad at Roger Craig for picking a winner. I wouldn’t speak to Roger Craig for the longest time because we were teammates and I heard him say once he hoped Don Zimmer’s team [Cubs] beat us.

“That’s really terrible when you’ve played with a guy. I never forgave him for that. As far as I was concerned, we were no longer friends. I saw him in Boston when he was helping the Diamondbacks this past year and he said, ‘Hello,’ and I said, ‘Hi,’ and that’s the first time I’ve spoken to him in 10 years. I don’t ever want to be in that position with Dusty or Scioscia.”

I guess getting the silent treatment from Lasorda is a bad thing, but let me think about that for a few minutes.

There have been rumors for years that Baker wants nothing to do with the Dodgers because Lasorda gave him a bum rap over something better not mentioned. But Lasorda said, “Never, there’s never been a problem with Dusty. When the Giants were looking for a manager, the owner brought me a list of five names, and I recommended Dusty for the job.

“I love the guy, and I can’t tell you how much I hate the idea of even going into the Giants’ clubhouse, but whenever Dusty comes to town I go down to the Giants’ clubhouse and say hello.”

*

IT HAS been 14 years since the Dodgers won a playoff game, and for some fans it remains galling that Scioscia, who will probably be named manager of the year when postseason awards are announced, never got the chance to direct the team he played for from 1980 to 1992.

“He should be the manager of the Dodgers,” Lasorda said. “I agree with those people wholeheartedly who say he should have never left the Dodgers.

“But certain people got him out of here. We’ve got a good manager now in Jim Tracy, but if you turn back the clock, it should have been Scioscia. He was ready. I told him to go to triple A for a year and get ready, he did and he was ready.

“But the people here didn’t want him. It was [Kevin] Malone’s regime. The people here wanted all Dodger personnel out of here. I heard some of them make statements: ‘This is no longer a Dodger thing; this is us.’ I thought it was a disgrace, and wanted to know what was going on when they let Scioscia go.”

*

AS WE know now, if Scioscia makes a miscalculation, like throwing upstart Francisco Rodriguez in the biggest game of his life four games in a row, it’s no big deal because the Rally Monkey is going to be there to pick him up.

So I got to thinking what if Lasorda had the benefit of the Monkey’s good will after allowing Tom Niedenfuer to pitch to Jack Clark and the disastrous results that followed in the 1985 National League championship series, and I’ve never heard such language from anyone other than my mother-in-law.

In fact I had no idea it was possible to spit over the phone.

“Let me tell you something,” he said. “I got your Rally Monkey for you.... “

I reminded Lasorda that Tracy had a Rally Monkey and gave it to his dog, the dog chewed it up and look what happened to the Dodgers down the stretch.

“Are you telling me that monkey has got a lot of power,” Lasorda said, and I think he was choking, or the words were falling all over themselves trying to get out of his mouth. “Give me a break. Now let me tell you about Jack Clark.... “

*

A MONTH ago Lasorda went on a local radio station and blasted fans for not showing the Angels more support. The 2002 Angels, he said, are very much like the 1988 Dodgers, who came from nowhere to win it, which is like coming from Anaheim.

“What an exciting team,” Lasorda said, and I don’t think he was talking about the Dodgers. “One of the most impressive things was what Scioscia did with Tim Salmon this year. He stood by him when Salmon looked bad earlier this year and everybody wanted him out of the lineup.

“Had Salmon not played for a manager like Scioscia, you know, maybe somebody like Roger Craig, he would never have regained his confidence.”

Lasorda apparently not only has the appetite of an elephant, but the memory as well.

*

I GAVE it one more try: Who is going to win?

“Check it out,” Lasorda said. “Pennants, playoffs and the World Series are won and lost in the bullpen. That is a fact.”

So who has the best bullpen?

“They both have outstanding closers,” Lasorda said. “The extra guys have done a tremendous job for Scioscia. I don’t like Dusty’s middle men as much. And the Giants don’t have anyone to compare to that kid [Rodriguez].”

Then according Lasorda’s recipe for postseason success, the Angels have a bullpen edge, which makes the Angels his choice to win it all.

“I never said that,” Lasorda snapped in the voice I remember so well from that Dave Kingman tape recording.

“I’m not saying who has the better team.”

I guess I’ll have to give him a call; I’ll bet you Roger Craig knows who Lasorda will be favoring.

*

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.