Schmidt expecting to hear it tonight

It’s part of the plan the Dodgers devised early in spring training when they set the order of the starting rotation. Jason Schmidt will make his first return to the city of his greatest accomplishments, but he won’t pitch.

He’ll be besieged by local reporters wondering how he feels wearing blue, and whether he misses the bay, the bridges and Barry.

Schmidt expects to be booed while shagging balls in batting practice, but otherwise he wants to lie low. He won his first Dodgers start, getting the team into the win column Wednesday with a gutsy, five-inning effort against the Milwaukee Brewers, and he’ll start the home opener Monday.

“If I was a kid and I had a favorite player and he left, would I boo?” Schmidt said. “Probably.

“If it wasn’t the Dodgers, it’d be different.”

He is aware of the burning of his jersey by Giants fans on YouTube and the sour grapes spilled onto message boards when he signed a three-year, $47-million deal with the devil, er, Dodgers.

In actuality, the Giants made no effort to sign him, even when he approached the club to try to negotiate an extension after the 2005 season.

“I didn’t expect to go back, honestly,” he said. “I could tell a year earlier. You have to play in San Francisco to really know how it works. Not many guys re-sign except Barry Bonds. They keep running them out of there.”

Even though Schmidt was 78-37 in 5 1/2 seasons with the Giants -- breaking Juan Marichal’s record for best winning percentage in team history among pitchers with at least 100 decisions -- he felt as if he fell short of expectations.

“I didn’t win 20 and we didn’t win a World Series,” he said. “There was all this talk about going young. When I packed my bags after last season, I knew I wouldn’t be back.”

The St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs chased him, but he chose the Dodgers to stay on the West Coast and in the National League.

The Dodgers might be the Giants’ top rivals, but Schmidt, 34, expected a comfort level in L.A. As for his reception this weekend, “comfortable” wouldn’t be the first word that comes to his mind.

“Grady [Little] asked me, ‘Do you want to pitch against them?’ ” Schmidt said. “I said it didn’t matter. If I got it out of the way, that might have been good. Not pitching will give me a chance to take everything in, though.

“Going into that stadium as a visiting player makes you say, ‘Who are these people?’ They are brutal. Then you play for the Giants and realize the fans are great.

“But I’m not a Giant, I’m a Dodger, and I’ll get booed.

“I’m expecting the worst and hoping for the best.”

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Rudy Seanez is no Patsy, and he’s no Bobo either. The Dodgers’ record book proves it.

The 15-year veteran reliever who made this year’s team as a non-roster invitee also pitched for the Dodgers in 1995, and his gap of 12 seasons between Dodgers appearances is the fourth-longest.

Topping the list is Patsy Donovan, who pitched for the Dodgers in 1890 and in 1906 and 1907. Vicente Romo went 14 years between his appearances in 1968 and 1982, and Bobo Newsom pitched for the Dodgers in 1929-1930 and again in 1942-1943.

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steve.henson@latimes.com