Lima’s Script Could Use a Big Hollywood Ending

It is a violation of Journalism 101 for a reporter who is supposed to be detached to wave pompoms on behalf of a specific player.

Too bad, because how can you not hope that Jose Lima maintains his role on the Dodger pitching staff?

How can you not hope that a player who can fill a notebook with lively quotes and a normally quiet clubhouse with relentless chatter -- what Dave Roberts says is “enthusiasm, charisma and positive energy” -- stays around?

How can you not hope that the 31-year-old right-hander retains enough magic to re-create a little Lima Time in Tinseltown, bringing some personality and pizazz to a team that hasn’t had a lot of it since the departure of Mike Piazza?

Think about it.

Shawn Green is probably the most renowned player on the current roster, but aside from throwing his batting gloves to young fans after each home run, there isn’t a lot of color beyond his surname.

Eric Gagne has Dodger Stadium fans sticking around longer in the hope of welcoming him to the jungle, but he’s not apt to enhance his baggy attire and dominating stuff with flamboyant body language on the mound or controversial comments off it, eh?

The reality is that if it hadn’t been for the ancillary turmoil of the last eight years, if Gary Sheffield weren’t ripping management, if Sheriff Kevin Malone and Deputy Jamie McCourt weren’t creating periodic outrage with their quotes, the clubhouse core would have been categorized as more mild than wild.

Now the beat of Latin music is pounding from a stereo as Lima sits at his locker, leans into a tape recorder and says he loves L.A. and has only one word for it.

“I mean, L.A. Wow!” he says. “This is great. Who knows what might happen to me here? I might even become a movie star. That would be the greatest thing ever, but we’ll see, we’ll see. I’m just happy to be here, privileged to wear the uniform and hoping I can help the team win.

“I’ve been trying from the start to loosen it up, let the guys know that we’re not here by surprise or accident, that we’re here for a reason, and if we play together we can have a great year. I really believe that.”

Limited in his current pitching assignment, Lima hasn’t let it restrict his clubhouse volume or persona. As a Dodger official put it, “He’s run the place from the day he walked in. Guys just gravitated to him from the start.”

Of course, Lima can’t draw guys in if he can’t get opposing hitters out.

So far, so good.

He pitched well enough in the spring to earn a bullpen seat when there were no guarantees and debuted with two shutout innings in Wednesday’s 2-1, 11-inning victory over San Diego.

With Edwin Jackson in the Las Vegas wings, Lima and Wilson Alvarez are also options when the Dodgers first need a fifth starter in about a week.

“I don’t need to throw 98 any more,” Lima said of his decreased velocity. “I can get people out by throwing 88, 89. I have better command and maturity now. I can pitch as well as I ever have. I feel like the old Lima.”

The old Lima won 37 games with the Houston Astros in 1998 and ‘99, dominating hitters with his stuff and infuriating them with his gesticulating, finger-pointing style.

What happened between 21-10 in 1999 and 7-16 in 2000 was probably a matter of environment as much as anything.

Lima was a fly-ball pitcher who thrived in the spaciousness of the Astrodome. Amid the confines of the new and since-renamed Enron Field in 2000, he lost 13 decisions in a row and set a National League record by yielding 48 home runs.

“The new park got into a lot of heads,” Lima said.

He was also distracted that season by his father’s battle with throat cancer in the Dominican Republic. The prognosis wasn’t good, but the elder Lima survived. His son’s career continued to deteriorate.

At a time when he should have been in his prime, Lima went 10-18 during the 2001 and 2002 seasons with the Astros and Detroit Tigers. Opponents even stopped complaining about his gestures on the mound.

A year ago this month he was out of work. Then, his 5-year-old son, Jose Jr., asked him why he wasn’t going to spring training.

“I told him no one wanted me,” Lima said, “and he said, ‘But Daddy, you’re the best pitcher there is.’

“I started to cry. I told him I’d try again.”

Lima swallowed his pride and joined the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League, where he was a teammate of Rickey Henderson, who would be signed by the Dodgers in mid-season.

“I went there to humiliate myself,” Lima said.

Instead, under Manager Bill Madlock, his confidence was regenerated, his repertoire was refined and he began the ongoing practice of saluting his son by scribbling “Jr.” in the dirt of the mound before each appearance.

He went 6-1 with a 2.33 earned-run average and received the best of Father’s Day gifts in June when he was purchased by the Kansas City Royals, in the midst of a surprising bid for the American League Central title. Lima won his first seven decisions -- the longest streak by a Royal pitcher since 1994 -- before going on the disabled list because of a groin strain. He finished 8-3 and was shocked to be offered only $500,000 to return.

“They were saying I wasn’t appreciated, wasn’t respected,” he said. “It’s not all about the money, but they had pitchers making more who hadn’t done as much as I did and who weren’t as good as I am.”

The Dodgers offered $900,000 with the possibility of $600,000 more in incentives, and Lima arrived with all of his old fire and flair, still boasting the passion that “only God can take away from me.”

“He’s kept guys loose and given us a positive lift,” said Roberts, and Manager Jim Tracy agreed.

“Jose can grate on you if you’re sitting on the other side of the field,” Tracy said, “but I don’t think there’s anything phony about him. He loves playing, and he’s all about winning. I like guys like that in the clubhouse.”

With apologies to journalism instructors everywhere, here’s hoping the Dodgers continue to like him on the mound as well.