Dodger Notebook : Guerrero Is Suddenly Called Away on Business

VERO BEACH, Fla. â€”  Pedro Guerrero was absent from the Dodgers’ 7-1 exhibition loss to the St. Louis Cardinals here Sunday. He won’t be present for today’s game in Orlando against the Minnesota Twins, either.

According to Dodger officials, Guerrero returned home to the Dominican Republic with his wife, Denise, to attend to personal business. The nature of that business was not disclosed, although one official said it involved the signing of some papers regarding a property transaction.

“It’s not like it was a special favor or anything,� Vice President Al Campanis said. “It was just something personal he had to do.

“If it was anybody else on the team, we would have sent him home, too. If the 40th man on the roster came to me, I’d tell him the same thing.�

Guerrero, who has appeared in 16 of the Dodgers’ 22 spring games, recently has begun to hit, bringing his average up to .241. He has yet to hit a home run, but he has six doubles and a triple.

Guerrero makes no secret of his disdain for spring training. “I can’t wait till the season starts,� he said a couple of days ago. “I just know I’m ready.�

Guerrero, who tied Steve Garvey’s club record of 33 home runs last season before spraining his left wrist last September, is making no predictions that the record will fall in 1986.

“I can’t say that I will (break it),� Guerrero said. “I don’t like to talk like that. I like my bat to do the talking.�

Guerrero, who was 17 when signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1973, turns 30 on June 29.

“I still think I have a lot of good years coming up,� he said. “I’m still young. Not only this year, but the years coming up could be pretty good for me.

“I’d like to play probably another five years after my contract ends. I’ll be 31 when my contract ends. Thirty-one plus five, I’ll be 36. Some guys play until they’re 40.�

Guerrero’s arithmetic is off by a year. He’ll be 32 when his 5-year, $7-million contract expires after the 1988 season.

“One thing I don’t want to do is go out there when I can’t hit and can’t run no more,� Guerrero said. “I keep myself in good shape, I should be able to play until my late 30s.

“But if I know I can’t play, I don’t want to make a fool of myself. Some guys, they play for a long time, they keep pushing themselves, and then they get released. I don’t want that to happen to me.�

Guerrero again said it made little difference to him that Fernando Valenzuela has surpassed him as the highest-paid Dodger.

“Why should it bother me?� he said. “I signed my contract before Fernando signed his. No one forced me to sign it.

“I’m glad he got what he got. I think he deserved it. I hope everybody else gets even more than me. If they all get paid that much, then whoever comes up will get paid, too.

“I don’t care if I’m the highest paid. I just get what I deserve.�

Like Valenzuela, Guerrero said he pays little attention to his finances, although he wears enough gold to make a down payment on a second home in Bel-Air.

“I don’t really get involved in that,� Guerrero said. “I just play the game.

“I don’t mess around with money too much. I know what I’m making, I know what I signed for, but I don’t want to mess with money, especially while I’m playing.

“To me, money is not all. I like to spend time working on my job. My job will give me more money.�

Guerrero recently was featured on a segment of NBC’s “Today� show, which focused on some of his charitable endeavors back in the Dominican Republic: distributing free sneakers to children in San Pedro de Macoris and sponsoring a youth baseball league.

The segment also showed the trappings of Guerrero’s own privileged existence--beautiful home, expensive car--and said he had it all.

Almost true. There is something Guerrero and his wife, Denise, would like to have--children.

“We want kids,� said Guerrero, who will be married six years in October. “There’s nothing we can do about it. We’re trying. I know some people are married seven, eight years before they have kids.�

They’re not mentioned in the team’s media guide, but Guerrero said he has two children in the Dominican Republic--a 9-year-old daughter, Yvanova, and a 6-year-old son, Francis. “He lives with my mom,� Guerrero said.

“I know Denise wants kids. Me, too.�

Dodger Notes

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda on Pedro Guerrero: “He’s been working awfully hard the last two weeks. And he played winter ball to boot.� . . . Rain washed out a scheduled appearance by Alejandro Pena, who hasn’t pitched in a week. Pena, who was supposed to pitch in a minor league game, tried warming up twice, but rain kept interrupting. Finally, it was decided it might be detrimental for Pena to try again after sitting so long. It becomes increasingly apparent that Pena, 13 months after shoulder surgery, will be sent out for rehabilitation, although Dodger Vice President Al Campanis said he will not make that decision until Tuesday night. . . . Nonetheless, Dr. Frank Jobe, who performed the arthroscopic surgery on Pena, remains optimistic. “I’m sorry he didn’t get to test his arm--hopefully before we leave he’ll get another chance,� Jobe said. “What we’re really trying to do is see him put together three or four or five outings in a row without too much problem. Then we’ll know he’s back for good. He’s almost been pain-free--some stiffness his last time out, but it’s possible he didn’t get warmed up. He hasn’t had any serious pain, but we’re still in the period of testing. “I have to give credit to two people--Alejandro himself, because he’s really worked like a dog, and Pat Screnar, who directed it (Pena’s therapy). There are some people, under similar circumstances, who would have given up. Alejandro didn’t.�

The Dodgers were pounded by the Cardinals even though St. Louis sent over only three regulars--catcher Mike Heath, because he’s new to the National League, and Jack Clark and Terry Pendleton, because their names were drawn out of a hat. Manager Whitey Herzog was irked that the team had to make the three-hour bus trip in the first place, and vowed to writers that he would not return until the Dodgers come to St. Petersburg. . . . Clark, in his first at-bat since you-know-what, grounded to third, scoring Pendleton from third, in the first inning. . . . The Dodgers made three more errors, two by Steve Sax, giving them 37 errors in 22 games. . . . The Dodgers took a look at pitcher Dave Eichhorn, who was 6-9 with 10 saves in Class AA San Antonio last season and had impressed Lasorda with his sinker in a simulated game last week. Eichhorn breezed through his first inning, retiring the Cardinals on three ground balls, then gave up two runs on four hits in his second. . . . Rick Honeycutt went six innings for the first time this spring. Of the five runs charged to him, only two were earned, one on a home run by Jerry White.

As expected, Fernando Valenzuela will pitch next Monday’s opener in Los Angeles against San Diego, with Orel Hershiser scheduled to pitch Tuesday. The Opening Day assignment will be Valenzuela’s fifth in six seasons. Reuss started in ‘82, when Valenzuela was a holdout.