Hundley May Be Able to Return

The Dodgers are increasingly optimistic that Todd Hundley will be able to return this season as the backup catcher continues to progress more quickly than expected from surgery two months ago to remove a floating disk fragment from his lower back.

Hundley is already running and throwing again, though his hitting remains limited to swinging off a tee and taking soft toss in the batting cage.

“He has progressed to the point now where he is doing a lot of baseball activities,” physical therapist Pat Screnar said. “Really, it’s quite an achievement. He’s striving to [return], and he’s got a reasonable chance.”

Hundley batted only .200 in 12 games this season before going on the disabled list in early May, but Manager Jim Tracy said he relishes the idea of adding a left-handed bat to his lineup and providing additional rest for catcher Paul Lo Duca.

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George Hendrick has not spoken with reporters since replacing Jack Clark on Sunday as the Dodgers’ hitting coach, and Tracy said it’s fine with him if Hendrick continues a code of silence he has maintained with the media since claiming some of his quotes were misconstrued in 1973.

“I’m not going to grab him by the arm and say, ‘Hey, you need to go talk,’ ” Tracy said. “To each his own. If he doesn’t talk, he doesn’t talk. If he’s making these guys better, that’s the whole point of the situation.

“What he’s interested in doing is a lot of work from the neck up. I don’t think he’s a big believer in dramatically changing mechanics of an individual swing.”

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Dodger Chairman Bob Daly, who has pledged his team’s support for a youth baseball academy slated to open next summer in Compton, said one key to reviving interest in the game among urban youth is to do a better job of explaining its intricacies.

“I think the problem is, baseball is slow if you don’t understand it,” said Daly, who sits on a new committee convened by Commissioner Bud Selig charged with finding innovative ways to promote the game. “And I think it’s important to appreciate it and understand it. The only way you can do that is if you sit down and work with young people and teach them the game. Then I think they’ll have the same feeling toward the game that a lot of other people have.”

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If he has no setbacks from his workout Wednesday, first baseman Fred McGriff is expected to take the next step in his recovery today by running at an angle.

McGriff has been out since July 4 because of a sprained right knee ligament.