He is gripped by an ex-Dodger fear factor

I Have a couple of concerns here, although I don’t believe any of them are big enough to keep our guys from winning the World Series.

First, they have to get out of this dump still healthy. Shea Stadium is two years younger than Dodger Stadium, which goes to show you what happens when hard living and drinking get the best of you.

When the Dodgers leave their dinky clubhouse today, they will walk down a long ramp under the stands -- a blue tarp on each side to deter the rats, before walking down some tricky steps with frayed green carpet, every fiber capable of snatching a cleat and sending an old man such as Kenny Lofton head over heels.

For once it makes sense for everyone to negotiate these steps like an obsessed Nomar Garciaparra, one foot at a time, not moving until the other one has caught up, feet side by side before negotiating the next step.

The last step up and into the dugout, though, is higher than all the rest, and the rubber mat -- on top of all that -- is loose, and so I worry that as prone as Julio Lugo is to making errors these days, he might miss that last step and we’re stuck with Wilson Betemit at third base every day even though he can’t hit left-handers.

The Mets don’t concern me nearly as much as that last step. The Mets seem to be trying to convince themselves they can recapture the magic they displayed earlier this season, hanging on the four consecutive games they won to finish the season.

Pedro Martinez, though, would’ve been their first choice to open the playoffs, but that’s one ex-Dodger we won’t have to worry about. Orlando Hernandez was the Mets’ second choice, but now he’s hurt too. We could always lend them Elmer Dessens -- especially because we don’t intend to use him.

The Mets lost ex-Dodger Duaner Sanchez the night before the trading deadline in an accident, and had to make a panic trade to add an arm, as a result losing Xavier Nady and making them vulnerable to left-handed pitching. I can’t tell you much about Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, but he’s left-handed and starting Game 2.

No, these are not your same powerhouse Mets, which might give the Dodgers the chance to swipe a game here, if they can keep the New York crowd quiet.

As for other concerns, it goes without saying I’m still nervous about Grady Little’s decision making, but I’ll be here with him every second-guessing moment.

That leaves only one more tiny problem, although it does have the potential to muck things up. That would be the ex-Dodger factor, and how much it motivates Paul Lo Duca and Shawn Green.

Most players will say they don’t care who they play, but not Green, who said emphatically, “I wanted to play the Dodgers, because I wanted to beat them.”

I’ve got to admit, I’m a little concerned about a motivated Green. I know what that’s like -- four home runs, a double and a single in the same game for the Dodgers a few years back against Milwaukee after telling him it was time to post more hits than strikeouts.

Much like J.D. Drew, if you get Green’s heart pumping, he’s got game-wrecking potential. That reminds me, better talk to Drew before today’s game.

“You didn’t tell Green to hit a homer against us, did you?” said Little, and I’m always amazed when someone questions Page 2’s loyalty to the boys in blue.

IT’S HARD not to root for Green, who donated $1.5 million during his six years with the Dodgers to the team’s Dream Foundation, and who represented himself with class on every occasion. When he hit home runs, and he hit 91 of them in a two-year span, he tossed his batting gloves to the youngsters in the stands.

In the end, though, it was the Dodgers who tossed him away, trading him to Arizona for Dioner Navarro, who is now in Tampa Bay. Some people think GM Paul DePodesta’s computer disliked Green, others believe it was owner Frank McCourt’s son, Drew, spending a lot of time in the Dodgers’ clubhouse at that time, who told his folks that Green didn’t think much of them.

“I have no idea why I was traded,” Green said. “Last year I felt a lot of animosity toward the Dodgers, but it’s watered down a little bit because of all the changes there. I expected to finish my career there, but I’ll tell you, the move here has revitalized my excitement for the game.”

That could be a problem -- especially if Lo Duca and Green begin feeding off each other. “That son of a gun didn’t get traded by the Dodgers until after he played in the playoffs for them,” Lo Duca said. “I got traded before they went to the playoffs. The Dodgers took away my playoff opportunity. I still don’t understand why they did that.”

The Dodgers traded Lo Duca and others so they could acquire Hee-Seop Choi. It was almost that silly. They also got Brad Penny, and the way he’s been going lately, well, we’ll see.

Lo Duca, hitting .318 for the Mets, took the trade hard, but said life is good now, although he spent a good part of this season hounded by the local gossip columns. There were accusations he had a gambling problem, and two women were mentioned as love companions, and while he said those stories proved to be bogus, they didn’t go over well with his wife. His ex-wife.

Given all that -- Lo Duca’s popularity with Mets fans only increased.

“If you give New York fans 100% they won’t judge you on personal matters,” Mets GM Omar Minaya said. “And Lo Duca plays like he’s from Brooklyn.”

I’m sure everyone in L.A. wishes Lo Duca and Green many happy years ahead in New York, but right now the only thing that matters is leaving this dump with at least one Dodgers win, and for that matter -- why not two?

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.