DODGERS : Thrill May Be Gone, but Valenzuela Isn’t

VERO BEACH, Fla. â€”  If the romance has not completely disappeared, then it is as faded as Fernando Valenzuela’s smile.

The Dodgers’ former favorite son goes about his business as if it were a business. He works hard, speaks quietly, behaves like a man wearing this blue-trimmed uniform for the first time.

He wonders if he is wearing it for the last time.

“I know I haven’t helped the Dodgers win much in the last three years,� said Valenzuela, in his 12th season. “If I can’t do that anymore, then I’m retiring. There is no reason for me to keep pitching.

“This year could be my last year. Or maybe I go five or six more years. At this point, I just don’t know.�

Many thought Valenzuela pitched his final innings as a Dodger last season. One was Valenzuela.

“In the beginning of the winter, I didn’t think I would be here,� he said. “I thought there was no chance.�

He lost several important September games. Despite a mid-season no-hitter against St. Louis, he wound up 13-13 with the second-worst earned-run average among National League starters at 4.59. In the last three years he was 28-34 with a 4.08 ERA.

When the Dodgers made no overtures to re-sign him, he planned to join another team in the National League West, perhaps San Diego or Houston. Interest was expressed by those clubs, though none offered nearly as much money as the Dodgers.

Still, even when the club offered Valenzuela arbitration in early December, it was thought that the Dodgers were only ensuring themselves of compensation when Valenzuela signed with another team.

But Valenzuela accepted the arbitration offer and eventually agreed to a contract paying him $2.55 million.

“Peter O’Malley had a lot to do with me coming back,� Valenzuela said, referring to the Dodger owner. “He let it be known through other people that he wanted me. He doesn’t think of baseball as just a business, he thinks of it as family. He made me feel wanted.�

But Valenzuela said it is too late for him to think of baseball as anything but a business. He said he was prepared to leave the Dodgers two months ago and would be prepared to after this season.

“I want to be with somebody who needs me,� he said. “I like the Dodgers but . . . business is business.�

There is speculation that if Valenzuela does not pitch well early in the season, he will be gone by the All-Star break.

If Orel Hershiser returns from shoulder surgery, one of the current starters will have to go. As the fifth starter, Valenzuela is the logical candidate. And he has confirmed that he cannot pitch in relief.

“I will play anywhere--outfield, first base, anywhere,� Valenzuela said with a smile. “But my arm is not for the bullpen. When I pitch in the bullpen, one or two innings feels like nine or 10 innings.�

Manager Tom Lasorda knows that and hopes he will not have to face a difficult decision.

“Fernando has been such a great pitcher here . . . We’re hoping he can turn it around,� he said. “We’re really hoping he can do the job for us.�

The Dodgers are hoping that a rare spring trip to Mexico will get Valenzuela off to a good start. Their two-game series in Monterrey in mid-March will mark the first time Valenzuela has pitched in his home country in a decade.

Even so, Valenzuela said he is going to be all business.

“I know I have to pitch there and that is fine,� said Valenzuela, who Monday pitched from a mound for the first time this spring. “But I told the writers down there that I will probably only pitch one or two innings. This is spring training, and I will have to stick to my schedule.

“I hope nobody feels bad. I hope nobody comes to the game late and misses me. But this is what I have to do.�

The holdout by pitcher Ramon Martinez went into its sixth day Wednesday, with the incident growing more confusing.

Martinez apparently told Dodger officials that he was going to report to camp Tuesday, and Ralph Avila, the team’s Dominican Republic coordinator, drove to the Miami airport to meet him,

“But the son of a gun did not get off the plane,� Avila said. “I wait, and he does not show! I said, ‘The hell with it.’ I don’t know what he is doing anymore.�

Avila knows Martinez, 22, better than any club official, having nurtured his development since the pitcher signed with the Dodgers out of a poor Santo Domingo neighborhood in 1984.

Avila said that since Martinez gave him no hint of a holdout, he initially blamed the incident on Martinez’s agent, Jim Bronner. But Avila’s feelings have changed.

“Now I know, it is all Martinez,� he said. “Ramon does not want to be here. It is obvious. It is all him. Everybody agrees he should be here, even his two brothers (both pitchers in the Dodger organization), but he does not listen.

“I have carried him since 1984. I will carry him no more. He is doing this to us, so he is on his own.�

Other Dodger officials are beginning to agree with Avila in blaming the holdout on Martinez, who they worry is not staying in shape.

“To my knowledge, he does not even have a real catcher over there,� Avila said.

Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, said he spoke with Bronner Wednesday. Claire has offered about $425,000 to Martinez, who is holding out for more than $500,000.

Dodger Notes

Orel Hershiser threw 62 pitches in batting practice, the most since his shoulder surgery. After one pitch, batter Lenny Harris shouted, “Hellacious, hellacious, hellacious sinker!� Hershiser, who does not need the pressure of everyone thinking he is ready, put his finger to his lips to quiet Harris. Later, Harris said: “Who said that man hurt his arm? He looked great to me!� Hershiser may advance to his first simulated game in a few days, remaining on schedule to start the season with the team.

In Darryl Strawberry’s first batting practice, he hit six home runs--one estimated at 500 feet that cleared the scoreboard in center field at Holman Stadium and another that banged off the scoreboard and nearly struck construction workers. . . . On Brett Butler’s second swing of the spring, he laid down a perfect bunt.