For Openers, Weaver Feels Right at Home

Derek Lowe will start the season opener and Jeff Weaver the home opener, Manager Jim Tracy said Wednesday. He said the decision was not about Lowe, the $36-million free agent and the Dodgers’ top starter this spring, but about Weaver, who led the team in innings and strikeouts last season and tied for the lead in victories.

“With the job Jeff Weaver did for this club last year, he’s the guy that deserves to pitch on opening day in Los Angeles,” Tracy said.

“I got chills when he told me,” said Weaver, who grew up in Simi Valley. He called the chance to start the home opener of his hometown team “a dream come true.”

Lowe, who will make his first opening-day start, called it “an honor” and said, “It really can’t get here quick enough.”

Tracy would not identify the other starters, expected to be left-handers Odalis Perez and Kazuhisa Ishii and right-hander Scott Erickson. He said he would use a left-hander in the second game of the season so Lowe and Weaver -- right-handers with similar styles -- would not pitch on consecutive days.

The Dodgers start the season April 5 in San Francisco and open the home schedule April 12 against the Giants.

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Perez will not be a pitcher-owner next winter. He offered $1 million to buy his longtime Dominican Republic winter team, but said his bid was rejected and the team’s operating rights were assigned to a group led by a business associate of Sammy Sosa.

Perez would have been the first active player to own a Dominican team. He hoped to revitalize Estrellas Orientales, the San Pedro de Macoris-based team for which he has pitched since 1995. The popular team last won a championship four decades ago.

“I feel sad,” he said, “because I believed the only way the team could come around and be a contender was for me to buy it.”

Dodger infielder Jose Valentin became a player-owner last year when he bought his Puerto Rican team for $1.6 million. By owning the team and luring major leaguers who might not otherwise play winter ball, he said, he can field a winner and pack in fans.

“You know the game and you know what players need,” Valentin said. “People said it’s not a good investment, but if you know how to run the show and treat the players right, they’ll come.”

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Norihiro Nakamura, who could beat out Olmedo Saenz for a reserve infield spot, raised his average to .333 with a home run and single in the Dodgers’ 7-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. “I’m just here to prove I belong,” Nakamura said through an interpreter. “As the days go on, I have less and less doubts about my ability to play here.” ... Valentin and Milton Bradley also homered, and Weaver became the first Dodger starter to pitch six innings.... Outfielder Cody Ross required stitches to close deep gashes on his right knee after an awkward slide in which the knee slammed against the shinguard of Oriole catcher Sal Fasano.