Lo Duca Says He Welcomes Hundley’s Return

Catcher Paul Lo Duca moved to set the record straight Wednesday, making it clear he had no problems with the Dec. 4 trade that brought back catcher Todd Hundley from the Chicago Cubs.

Apparently, there was some confusion about Lo Duca’s feelings regarding the four-player trade that sent first baseman Eric Karros and second baseman Mark Grudzielanek to Chicago for Hundley and reserve outfielder Chad Hermansen, prompting him to clarify the situation before beginning his work at Dodgertown.

Lo Duca backed up Hundley during Hundley’s first stint with the club, from 1999 to 2000. Their roles are now reversed, and Lo Duca said he doesn’t feel threatened by Hundley’s presence because they’re “good friends and Hundley is a great teammate.”

On the other hand, that doesn’t mean he won’t miss Karros and Grudzielanek, Karros especially because he served as Lo Duca’s mentor.

Somehow, it got back to Karros that Lo Duca was happy the longtime Dodger first baseman had been traded, which Lo Duca quickly informed his friend wasn’t true.

“It hurt a little bit when I heard about it,” Lo Duca said.

“I don’t remember saying anything about that. I heard about it from someone that they had read it in the paper and it was online, so I called E.K.

“I said, ‘Hey, man, I didn’t say a word,’ and he goes, ‘I know that.’ Me and E.K. get along really well. We talked it out and that was it. There were no hard feelings at all. Actually, he was the one guy I talked to most this off-season.

“He’s happy to go to a different situation.”