Dodgers Get Bushwhacked by Mets Again : Baseball: They get booed and drop into first-place tie. Butler, Piazza have rough nights.

OK, it’s not as if the Dodgers agreed to embrace Mike Busch, much less talk to him, play catch with him or even permit him to eat in their dining room.

Yet, realizing they’re not going to change management’s mind, they figured they might as well learn to live with Busch rather than allow it to ruin their season.

Manager Tom Lasorda told his team before Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the New York Mets that he can’t change their views toward playing with a former replacement player, but if they want to continue earning a paycheck, they must learn to coexist on the playing field.

The players, many of whom still are upset with Dodger management for its stance this spring when it openly embraced replacement games, agreed that they no longer will discuss Busch and the replacement-player issue.

The Dodgers then stepped onto the field together, listened to the boos from the paid crowd of 40,394--who let them know whose side they’re taking in this bitter controversy--and lost their fifth in a row to the last-place Mets.

The loudest cheer came when Busch made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning and got a standing ovation. Busch struck out on three pitches but received an even louder ovation as he walked back to the dugout.

“It was unreal, it was unbelievable,� Busch said. “I felt like I was on top of the world. I’ll always remember it.�

The crowd, which chanted, ‘We Want Busch,� in the eighth and ninth innings, earlier witnessed something not believed possible:

All-star catcher Mike Piazza struck out three times with the bases loaded and stranded 10 baserunners. When he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning with the bases empty, he was loudly booed. The boos grew even louder after he singled.

First baseman Eric Karros, who twice had the chance to bail out Piazza, grounded out to shortstop both times with the bases loaded. He too was booed after the last groundout.

In all, the Dodgers stranded 15 runners and were one for nine with runners in scoring position. They scored their run courtesy of Dave Mlicki’s bases-loaded walk to Jose Offerman.

Just like that, the Dodgers (60-56) have fumbled away their lead in the National League West and dropped back into a first-place tie with the Colorado Rockies. And if they look over their shoulders, they’ll see that the San Diego Padres are only three games back and the San Francisco Giants have climbed within 5 1/2 games.

“Everything is just chaos right now,� said losing pitcher Tom Candiotti (6-12). “I don’t know what to say.�

The fans, incensed with the Dodgers’ failures, directed most of their anger toward veteran center fielder Brett Butler. He was booed during pregame introductions, and when he walked to the plate in the first inning, he was booed louder and louder with each step.

Butler’s crime was that of acting as the team spokesman Tuesday when the players called a meeting and decided they didn’t want to play with Busch.

“I was just expressing the sentiments of the team,� said Butler, who had three hits, “and I got hammered. Hey, I’ve got feelings too. I want to be liked. I don’t want to be booed and hated.

“As a person, I have nothing against Mike Busch. I don’t even know the kid. It’s just the concept I’m against.

“I love this game, that’s why I got involved [in labor negotiations]. That’s the thing that’s so hard. All I wanted to do was help get an agreement, and it backfired on me.�

Said third baseman Tim Wallach: “If they boo him, they should boo all of us.�

Busch clearly appears to have won the support of the fans. He was cheered by union concessionaires and stadium ushers when he hit home runs during batting practice. There was a line of fans waiting when he signed autographs before the game. And he drew more cheers when he flipped a foul ball into the stands in the third inning.

Yet again, there was little difference in the way he was treated by his teammates. When the team gathered for pregame stretching, no one was within 10 feet of Busch. When Busch shagged balls in the outfield, no one was within 20 feet.

Most painful, when Busch fielded ground balls at third base, there was no one to throw to at first base. He couldn’t even find a player willing to stand at first base to take his throws.

“Hopefully, the booing on [Butler] will stop,� Busch said. “I don’t think the hometown fans should boo their team like that. We’re trying to win a pennant.�