Questions Underlined in Opener

The stadium has been refurbished and the roster reconstructed.

Amid the baseball rite that is opening day, however, the Dodgers seemed to be more about reverting than remodeling.

Of course, stripped of the accompanying panoply, the opening game is merely the over-magnified first of 162.

But through any lens, despite the makeover, Monday evoked haunting visions for the Dodgers of the injuries and inconsistency of 2005.

Is that a stretch?

Was the 11-10 loss to the Atlanta Braves amid some familiar boos and the new pastels of Dodger Stadium just that and nothing more, forgotten by the start of Game 2 tonight?

The next six months will provide the ultimate yardstick.

And perhaps the 17 hits that the Dodgers produced while clawing back from 8-1 and 11-6 deficits should count for more than anything, or as Manager Grady Little put it, “If we continue to do that all year, we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

It’s just that there they were, nobody having any fun and down by those seven runs with the Braves still batting in the fourth inning, Derek Lowe having yielded a pair of three-run homers in his bid for a fresh start from the emotional hangover of ’05 and Jeff Kent having revived echoes of last year’s failed defense with a costly error before the new season was even an inning old.

And there they were as well with a lineup already devoid of two of their important new players, two of those gap-filling but potential high-risk veterans signed in the off-season.

With center fielder Kenny Lofton on the disabled list because of a strained calf muscle, Nomar Garciaparra was scratched before the opener’s first pitch because of a muscle strain on the right side of his rib cage.

Garciaparra suffered the injury in his first at-bat Sunday against the Angels and stayed in for another before leaving.

By Monday morning, standing in the Dodger clubhouse, he was able to force a smile but remained haunted by the series of injuries that has disrupted his recent seasons.

“I guess he’s got a plan,” Garciaparra said, gazing upward, “but sometimes I can’t help wondering what it is.

“As much as I hate to miss the opener, at least it’s better to have something like this happen earlier than later.”

The would-be first baseman had a cortisone shot and will be reevaluated today. If some are tempted to jump to a premature conclusion by suggesting that the Dodgers made a mistake in signing Garciaparra given his recent run of fragility, this much is certain:

With Cody Ross already making an unexpected roster appearance in place of Lofton, the Dodgers will have to make another triple-A foray if Garciaparra is sidelined more than a day or two.

As the opener played out, with the Dodgers turning an Atlanta laugher behind Tim Hudson into a taut finish in which the visitors were forced to use five relief pitchers, Garciaparra’s replacement, Olmedo Saenz, went one for six with three strikeouts, and his team could have used one more bat.

“We were strapped,” Little said, “and that’s a concern we’ll have to address [if Garciaparra remains sidelined].”

For the manager, in his official debut at the helm, there were some highlights beyond the fact that “we came through the game unscathed except for a couple guys having their feelings hurt.”

New leadoff man Rafael Furcal looked like a $39-million bargain by reaching base five times against his former team, including three singles and a walk. Jose Cruz Jr., batting second in the juggled lineup, contributed four hits and an exceptional catch in left field. Each of Little’s starters contributed at least one hit, and the Dodgers might have pulled out an improbable victory after Lowe’s departure if Hong-Chih Kuo and Franquelis Osoria had held the Braves to those initial eight runs instead of giving up three more.

Kuo and Osoria, of course, represent two other issues for the Dodgers. Spring training is over. Can they maintain their impressive Florida form amid the scrutiny of the season?

Questions, questions, and one game isn’t going to provide definitive answers even under the microscope of opening day, this one clouded by the hint of rain, three Atlanta home runs and another erased lineup card.

There is much new about the Dodgers, from front office to clubhouse, but those 91 losses of last year are going to keep clouding the process in their own way until this team proves it has turned a page -- on the field and in the trainer’s room.