Hard to Believe Playoffs Could Be Dodger Payoff

There were 12 games to go when I arrived at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night to visit the Choking Dogs, a little surprised to run into team officials and TV personnel, who said they were setting up camera locations for postseason play.

I was surprised. I never thought the Dodgers would be so considerate, throwing open their park for the benefit of Angel fans to watch their team in the playoffs on the big-screen Dodger Stadium scoreboard rather than make the trek to Anaheim.

“No, we’re talking about our own postseason games here,” said a Dodger official, and I must acknowledge, that never crossed my mind.

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APPARENTLY I’M not alone. The Choking Dogs put Division playoff tickets on sale recently for Saturday and Sunday games (Oct. 5-6) to be played in Dodger Stadium after making Division, League Championship Series and World Series tickets available to season ticket holders. And I have a hook hanging on my wall for when I win a Pulitzer Prize.

Now I know there are a lot of crazies in town, or one guy who has 100,000 different e-mail monikers, because I hear from die-hard Dodger fans all the time and I figured every seat to the playoffs already had been sold.

But a team spokesman said season ticket holders purchased 17,000 tickets, and then the public bought another 10,000, accounting for somewhere between 26,000 and 30,000 tickets sold to date for the Oct. 5-6 playoff games--leaving more than 20,000 empty seats.

Tickets average $19 with some available at $10, so price shouldn’t be a deterrent, and Chad Kreuter doesn’t figure to play, so that can’t be the excuse to stay home. I know I’ve got the Dodgers pegged as Choking Dogs, but I can’t believe there aren’t 60,000 fans in greater Los Angeles counting on the guys to luck out.

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I BELIEVE in miracles--after all, USC and UCLA are undefeated--so I went to Dodger Stadium hoping I could help the Choking Dogs, and that’s when Manager Jim Tracy pounced on me.

“Man, where have you been? This isn’t the time for anniversary celebrations; with all the advice you have given us this season, you should be here now,” he said.

Tracy looked as if he hadn’t shaved in days, the gray beard a reminder of what it’s like to watch Paul Shuey pitch these days, and I asked him with all the playoff pressure if he could contain himself from over-managing any more than what he has already.

Tracy gave me one of those James Bond laughs that Goldfinger got with the laser crawling up the table between his legs like he was going to wiggle out of this interview unscathed.

“I did OK [Monday night], didn’t I?” he asked, and I guess if you agree he should have brought Jesse Orosco in to deliver a gopher ball to Barry Bonds, he did just fine.

I asked Manager [Shawn] Green if he agreed Tracy should have brought in Orosco, and the kiss-up said, “Yes, I do, and I think he’s doing a great job.”

Then I asked Manager [Eric] Karros, and he said: “I walk him, I walk him, and I walk him. I don’t know if he’s the best player to ever play the game, but if there is a better player--that would be a sight to see. What Bonds is doing at this level is equivalent to what a Major League player would do if he was playing with his Little League team. That’s what a joke it is.”

Now in this instance I happen to agree with Manager Green, although Karros was more eloquent, knowing Bonds could not tie the score with a swing of the bat. But I worry now there are going to be more difficult decisions in the next week, and how the Dodgers’ micro-manager might handle them.

If I’m Tracy, of course, I don’t start Omar Daal against the Giants on Tuesday night because I know the Giants are going to rock him for five runs before the end of the second inning. Don’t ask me how; I just know these things. I also would never start a game with Dave Roberts on the bench, but despite the positive impact it would have on the team, I’d look silly wearing the uniform a manager has to wear.

“You’re worried about me, aren’t you?” Tracy said, and it has been at least a month since I’ve called him “Knucklehead,” so I have no idea where he got that notion. “I do a lot of work in my office, do a lot of research and remember things I’ve seen. I’m prepared for this.”

St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa, who had to contend with the death of Darryl Kile, is probably going to be the manager of the year in the National League if the Cardinals win the division, but a miracle finish could vault Tracy to runner-up for a second consecutive year. Another third-place finish behind the Diamondbacks and Giants, and that would be something else.

At the least we’re going to find out how Tracy reacts under playoff pressure, and with every move scrutinized by Plaschke. I was going to say I feel sorry for Tracy, but obviously that wouldn’t stop Plaschke from writing about him.

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FORMER DODGER general manager Kevin Malone is now “assistant to the president” at The Master’s College in Santa Clarita. Right now he’s probably trying to convince the president to hire Kevin Brown to work with the alumni. It’ll probably involve the use of a private plane, however, to seal the deal.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Mike Shotwell:

“Every so often I make an attempt to read your column (like Tuesday’s anniversary column), but the experience usually leaves me frustrated. I shouldn’t have to grit my teeth and gird my loins every time I look at the center of page D2.”

Why should you be any different than everyone else?

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