Mondesi Cleans Up

They chanted it late into Monday afternoon, loudly, hopefully, cutting through the chill and shadows and all that was 1998.

Don’t be alarmed if, by today, it has spread from Dodger Stadium to the streets.

How are you doing?

Rauuuuul.

How’s the traffic on the 110?

Rauuuuul.

You wanna do lunch?

Rauuuuul.

After a long last summer of whining, baseball in this town is howling again today, at Raul Mondesi’s two moon shots, at the Dodgers’ 8-6 comeback victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a grand season opener.

“It obviously feels tremendous, but remember, it’s one game,” said Eric Karros, who has been around long enough to understand these things. “It’s just. . . one. . . game.”

But what a game.

And what the heck.

Good opening days are like weddings, emotional enough to make everyone believe in tomorrow, exhausting enough to make everyone forget about tomorrow.

That was this.

The Dodgers may fall short of fulfilling their great promise--and the way Kevin Brown pitched, one supposes anything is possible--but Monday was still a good day to hoot and holler.

And remember things like Gregg Olson’s bald head.

The Arizona reliever twisted his neck around so fast after Mondesi knocked his fastball into the left field seats to tie the score with two out in the ninth inning. . . his cap fell off.

“I had to take a good swing,” Mondesi said, thrilled that he finally has a manager who will let him take those swings on 3-and-0. “That was the only chance we had.”

And, also remember things like Mondesi’s outstretched arms.

When Mondesi hit his second homer, with a crack that could probably be heard in parking lot B, he celebrated by simply thrusting his fullback-sized biceps into the air.

That says something, you know.

When a guy hits a game-winning home run by accident, he dances. When a guy hits one because he knows he can hit one, and is supposed to hit one, he does what Mondesi did.

“The expectations for this team are obviously great, and they’re warranted,” said Karros. “So this is the best thing that could have happened.”

For many reasons, most of which involve the fact that this last-breath victory held off an angry Dodger Stadium mob that is justifiably going to pinch this team over every last penny.

One moment, everyone was prepared to jump Kevin Brown for losing the sort of battles he is being paid handsomely to win.

In the sixth inning, he allowed one home run on the fifth pitch (Bernard Gilkey) and another on the ninth pitch (Jay Bell). Usually that deep into a count, Brown’s toughness wins.

But now, well, Brown will be remembered for being professional enough to hang around the clubhouse long afterward to answer his critics and, thereby, face his fans.

“The booing didn’t bother me,” he said. “I would have booed myself.”

One moment, everyone was ready to jump Todd Hundley (four strikeouts and one stolen base allowed) or Gary Sheffield (failing with five guys on base).

But now, well, how about Sheffield drawing that walk on a seven-pitch plate appearance to set up Mondesi’s game-winner?

One moment, the bullpen looked shaky with Pedro Borbon failing to clean up Brown’s mess and putting the Dodgers in a deeper hole.

But now, well, nobody will remember anything but that Onan Masaoka, Alan Mills, Mel Rojas and Jeff Shaw combined to hold Arizona hitless in the final five innings.

“I was sitting here in front of my locker when Mondy hit the home run to win the game, everybody was jumping around, it was like a World Series,” Rojas said.

It felt like one, and that was before the game even started.

The day began with appearances by some former Dodger stars--Duke Snider and Steve Garvey among others--whose photos grace an outfield fence that seems strangely untainted by three blue advertisements.

Then they were joined by two bigger stars, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Roxy Campanella. Perhaps nowhere does the Dodger tradition continually glow brighter than in their strength.

The gala continued with a first pitch by our golden anniversary boy, Vin Scully. The toss was hilariously, and appropriately, cut off and relayed to Todd Hundley by Eric Karros.

Then the game began, and the most important person did the most important thing of the afternoon.

It was Manager Davey Johnson, and he did nothing.

Allowing Mondesi to hit on 3-and-0 was only the highlight of a day when he showed that we may finally have a Dodger manager who will allow the players to be themselves, and face the consequences.

He let Eric Young run, and Young ran into the game’s first run. He told closer Jeff Shaw that he would be pitching even if the score was tied, and Shaw turned that confidence into two scoreless innings.

“To see a manager do some of those things, that lets the team know he has confidence in them,” Young said. “That’s huge.”

So, what are you doing this summer?

Rauuuuul.