Stand-Up Guy Is Last Thing Dodgers Need

The most memorable moment of a stalled Dodger season looped lazily toward the ground in front of Shawn Green.

But he wouldn’t dive.

A giant sigh at the end of a suffocating Dodger week was falling just beyond the reach of a gliding Green.

But he wouldn’t dive.

Odalis Perez’s no-hit bid would have been sustained, perceptions could have been changed, the dangerously spreading clubhouse diseases of apathy and selfishness might have been halted.

All that was needed, at that dramatic eighth-inning instant Saturday afternoon, was for the Dodgers’ best player to show his team that he was willing to stain his knees and scrape an elbow and eat some grass.

But Shawn Green wouldn’t dive.

The ball dropped for a single. The stadium rumbled with anger. Green stared blankly.

The Dodgers eventually won the game, but lost another battle with their fans and their future, a 2-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks clouded by the nagging notion that even a blockbuster deal won’t bring this team championship intensity.

Dan Evans doesn’t only need to trade for hitting, he needs to trade for passion.

Jim Tracy needs to stop managing with velvet gloves and try bare knuckles.

The players need to quit waiting for a savior and find one in themselves.

Green’s stand-up comedy Saturday was a metaphor for the underlying problem that has plagued this organization since it last won a playoff game.

Since Kirk Gibson in 1988, has anyone really been willing to lay out for this franchise?

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and if I have no chance, I’m not going to dive,” Green said afterward. “That’s false hustle. I was running as hard as I can. I’m not going to put on a show. That’s ridiculous.”

No, when your pitcher is trying to throw the club’s first no-hitter in seven years while trying to break its longest losing streak in a decade, that’s called leadership.

When Perez’s no-hit attempt ended with Shea Hillenbrand’s leadoff single in front of Green in the eighth inning, many of the 39,956 fans booed Green.

Can you blame them?

“Whatever,” Green said.

When Green came to the plate in the bottom of the inning, the boos were even louder, Gary Sheffield-level jeers.

“On TV, in slow motion, everything looks easy,” Green said.

Later, Paul Lo Duca expressed dismay at the boos, calling them “pathetic.”

Talk about inappropriate responses.

As one of only two position players in the lineup not underachieving, if Lo Duca wants to call somebody out, there are much better targets.

Then, of course, Tracy defended Green, sticking with his player-protection philosophy,

“My reaction was that if he dove, he would have fell 20 feet short of the ball,” Tracy said. “If you dive and the ball bounces behind you and the guy gets three bases just because you are trying to preserve a no-hitter, that wouldn’t be good.”

It is understandable that Tracy would want to shield a struggling star who seems to be wilting in front of our eyes. But, in this case, credibility in the clubhouse and with the fans is more important.

Those who watched the play know that the ball was hit so softly, it would not have bounced behind Green. And with the Dodgers holding a two-run lead, a dive would have been clearly worth the risk.

Virtually every outfielder on the team but Green would have dived for that ball. Their first base coach, John Shelby, helped win their last championship by diving for that type of ball.

And across the diamond, that clubhouse is filled with players who would dive for that ball.

For instruction, or shame, the Dodgers need only look at the Diamondbacks, who have endured far more adversity this season with much more inspiration.

So the Dodgers lost two of their outfielders and a first baseman to injury.

The Diamondbacks lost four position players, their closer, their two top set-up relievers and, oh yeah, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling.

And then they went on a 12-game win streak.

The Diamondbacks have the sort of veterans who, even with an influx of rookies, can maintain a culture of hustle and intensity. The Dodgers don’t have that. The Diamondbacks have the sort of leadership that, even in the worst of times, demands excellence and accountability. The Dodgers still are waiting for that.

Even if Evans trades for the two bats needed to make this lineup whole -- and with the Dodgers’ limited supply of desirable players, he must wait for the prices to drop -- that doesn’t change a few things.

The Dodgers are still a team whose star reliever allowed a run to score when he took off his glove because he thought the game was over.

They are still a team whose shortstop failed to score from third on a single.

They are still a team whose top pinch-hitter, after one of his rare pinch-hits, overran first base and was thrown out.

All in the last couple of weeks.

Guys like Brian Giles and Carlos Beltran can hit, but they can’t cure brain cramps.

Tracy, who is increasingly in danger of losing this clubhouse if he doesn’t use a firmer grip, held a meeting before Saturday’s game. The players say he talked about showing more passion.

“I don’t care how we get it done, we just need to get it done,” Lo Duca said. “That’s what the meeting was about. Just getting it done.”

Tracy needs to take his words to heart.

One reason the Dodgers had not lost seven consecutive games for a decade is that theDodger clubhouse always has been a nasty place during a losing streak.

Lineups have been changed. Fundamentals have been demanded. Measures have been taken. When all else failed, Tom Lasorda would just barge inside and scream.

Losing has to be painful around here again.

The Dodgers have too much pitching and defense and potential to take a dive just because their best player won’t.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.