FISH STICK

By LON EUBANKS

Aug. 13, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

When Mark Kotsay was growing up in Santa Fe Springs, most of the games he watched in Dodger Stadium were from high in the upper deck.

“My dad would take me, but we didn’t know anyone to get the good seats,” Kotsay said, smiling. “Most of the time, the tickets were ones my dad got at work at the police department. But I watched a lot of Dodger games on TV. You could see the game better anyway.”

Given a choice, Kotsay preferred getting a new bat or glove to a day at the ballpark. “But it was always my dream to wear a Dodger uniform, or to some day be able to play there,” he said.

Kotsay, who was the college baseball player of the year in 1995 when he led Cal State Fullerton to the College World Series title, realized part of that dream this week. He is playing his first series in Dodger Stadium, starting in right field for the Florida Marlins.

And you can be certain his father, Steve, a retired LAPD motorcycle patrolman, isn’t watching from the cheap seats.

Kotsay, 22, is playing his first full season in the majors in only his second full season of professional baseball. He is hitting .271 with seven home runs and 43 runs batted in. His average is fourth among National League rookies.

Marlin Manager Jim Leyland sees Kotsay as a potential .300 hitter. “He’s going to be a fine player, and he’s done a very good job for his first year,” Leyland said. “I like him a lot.”

Kotsay, the ninth overall pick in the 1996 draft, was called up for 14 games last season to fill in when center fielder Devon White was injured. When White returned to the lineup, Kotsay was sent back to double-A Portland, Maine, to finish the season.

While he was up, Kotsay made a good impression on Leyland and General Manager Dave Dombrowski. In his third game, Kotsay hit a bases-loaded triple against Philadelphia’s Mark Leiter. A few days later, he made a diving catch in center field to preserve a one-run victory over the visiting Dodgers.

After the fire sale that dismantled last season’s World Series champions, Kotsay was a perfect fit for the new Marlin mold: a talented young player without a big salary.

“Our ownership is committed to rebuilding with young players, and it’s provided Kotsay with a good opportunity,” Dombrowski said. “He’s taken advantage of it.”

Kotsay, one of 14 rookies on the team’s 25-man roster, has been among the Marlins’ leading hitters while batting mostly in the No. 3 spot. Kotsay is third among NL rookies in runs scored (57) and leads in stolen bases (nine) and outfield assists (12). He also has ranked among the league’s most difficult batters to strike out.

His batting average, which was as high as .310 on May 20 and in the .290s in late June, has slipped some in the last month. Kotsay and Leyland blame that, to some degree, on the demands of playing almost every day.

“The toughest thing I’ve found about being in the big leagues is the day-in and day-out grind,” Kotsay said. “And the heat and humidity in Florida makes it that much more of a grind.”

Leyland rested Kotsay for a few games before the Marlins’ recent series against San Diego, and it seemed to help.

“One of the things he has to do is get stronger,” Leyland said. “There have been a few times lately when I noticed his bat had slowed a little, and that’s just from being tired. He’ll be able to use this off-season to develop physically and strengthen himself. He doesn’t need any more winter ball.”

Kotsay has been playing almost nonstop since his last season at Fullerton. He went from there to Team USA and the Atlanta Olympics. He played in the minors, the instructional league and a winter league after that.

“I knew I would have a lot to learn this season,” Kotsay said. “I’m still learning what’s right for me in the weight room. In college, I would hit early every day and after practice, but I’ve had to shut down a lot of that extra work and save my body for the games.”

The transition of the Marlins from a team of highly paid veterans to one of promising young players also has put extra pressure on Kotsay.

Tony Perez, who played in the majors for 23 years, managed the Cincinnati Reds and is now a special assistant in the Marlin front office, said of Kotsay: “It’s not easy when you have to be one of the top players on the team in your first year up. He’s been trying to do a lot, and that’s tough on a young guy. But he’ll be fine. He’s going to be a regular player for a lot of years.”

When Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Gary Sheffield and Charles Johnson were traded to the Dodgers for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile, Kotsay lost a large part of the support system he had relied on as a rookie.

“Bobby was a good friend to me, and I felt like he was sort of grooming me,” Kotsay said. “Eisenreich is more of a quiet kind of leader, while Bobby is more outspoken, but he helped me a lot too. I tried to pay as much attention to the way both of them did things as I could.”

Kotsay said Eisenreich in particular helped him when he was batting against pitchers he hadn’t faced.

“He knew every pitcher like the back of his hand,” Kotsay said. “When he’d talk to me before a game or before an at-bat, it felt like I was going into a test with a cheat sheet. He helped me a lot. Now I have to rely on the coaches and ‘Skip’ more than I did before. These pitchers don’t make many mistakes, and you have to be able to hit their best pitches.”

The transformation to instant also-rans has been difficult for the Marlins, but Kotsay also has seen it as an opportunity.

“I might have still been in triple-A this season, but I’ve had the opportunity to be here for a full year,” he said. “When I was up for 2 1/2 weeks last year, I wasn’t around long enough to even know what it was like. But this year has been a good experience for me.”

Kotsay said he has generally been pleased with his transition.

“But I’m still learning what kind of hitter I’ll be,” he said. “You know, will I be a pull hitter or a spray hitter on this level? I’ve always been a spray hitter, and I probably still will be.

“I’d like for my average to be higher, but I still hope I can finish the season strong. If I had set goals for this season, it probably would have been to hit over .270 with around 10 home runs and 25 doubles or so, and I feel I’m still on track for those numbers.”

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1998 Stats

1998 statistics for Florida Marlin outfielder Mark Kotsay:

Average: .271

Runs: 57

Doubles: 22

Home runs: 7

RBIs: 43