It Takes a Hospital Visit for Drew to Show Life

By T.J. Simers

Aug. 30, 2006 12 AM PT

If dog bites man, no big deal.

If man bites dog, Jeff Kent might be involved, so that’s possibly a story.

I mention this because when the Dodgers sent out a press release announcing that two of their players were going to visit with the kids at White Memorial Medical Center -- no big deal. Happens all the time, maybe not as often as it should, but the Lakers, Clippers, Angels and Dodgers all do it -- especially when they know TV camera crews are going to be there.

But when the Dodgers announced that a dead man was going to visit the hospital Tuesday morning, that was a story.

“Oh, come on now,” said J.D. Drew, showing me a sign of life and saving me the embarrassment of holding his hand in public to see if he had a pulse.

Just imagine having to put your child in a hospital, watching them suffer, then getting a knock on the door to learn the Dodgers have sent J.D. Drip to the room to lift everyone’s spirits.

It gets worse. Drew knocked on the door, went inside and found a 12-day-old baby boy sleeping. At least it can’t be said he put him to sleep.

The girl in the next room was nine months old, her mother didn’t speak English, but Drew seemed fine with that since it meant he didn’t have to say much.

Nomar Garciaparra had arrived with Drew, and together they were followed by five camera crews, a few microphone-toting reporters and a couple of still photographers as they went room to room.

Two boys, who were old enough to know the baseball players, were dressed in hospital gowns and playing Nintendo in the end-of-the-hall playroom. When Garciaparra asked them what they were playing, their gaze never left the TV monitor, while one of them said, “I don’t know.” Then he asked them how the game was played, and he got another, “I don’t know.”

“Now you know what it’s like when we interview you at the ballpark,” I said, and as hospital visits go, I was having a great time.

The Dodgers officials, who brought along baseball caps and shirts to give to the players to pass out, seemed disappointed when the hospital ran out of sick kids to visit. But fortunately one of the hospital big-wigs was able to make a call and come up with some more patients on another floor.

One hospital official told the players they had a patient who was a real serious die-hard Dodgers fan who came for treatment every day dressed in Dodgers gear. She asked the players to autograph a cap for him since he couldn’t be there.

I asked how old the die-hard Dodgers fan was, and she said, “Jordan is 2.”

Drew took his place, as Garciaparra did later, before the cameras and microphones to explain how meaningful the visit had been.

“It’s [medical center] close to the field and easy to get down here,” Drew said, “and it’s a lot of fun for us to spend an hour or an hour and half here and brighten the day for these families.”

Then they left. Thirty-seven minutes after they arrived, they were pulling out of the parking lot, everyone’s day a little brighter.

Just before the start of Tuesday night’s game, the Dodgers showed highlights of the medical center visit on the scoreboard for the fans in Dodger Stadium. Now there’s no question the players did what they could with the young patients, while also giving the medical center lots of publicity. But because of the circumstances, it was difficult again to determine if there’s much life to Drew.

“So you think I’m a dead man?” Drew said, and at least I know he can hear.

I believe people pay money to be entertained, and here Drew is telling me before the game he’s not going to exercise an option to leave the Dodgers at season’s end, which means three more years with the guy.

“I just want to give you some fun for the next few years,” Drew said with a grin, and I think he was teasing, but holy Lazarus, how’s that for progress?

In fact I saw him a few minutes later in the Dodgers dugout, and he was styling with Hollywood sunglasses, while joking with Page 2 and GM Ned Colletti about being called a dead man. That’s right, I said, “joking.” What next? A clap of the hands and big smile when he hits a home run?

Of course, if he hits another home run.

I’M SURE the 37-minute Dodgers visit was productive, but it was the sign on the building adjacent to the medical center entrance that really speaks to the impact an athlete can make in the local community.

The Cecilia Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center at White Memorial, named in honor of Oscar De La Hoya’s mother, received a $1-million donation from the boxer for the purchase of state-of-the-art cancer-treating machinery. He also donated another $1 million to help build the Labor & Delivery Recovery Center and the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit at the medical center.

A COUPLE of weeks ago Brad Penny offered his No. 31 to Greg Maddux, but Maddux told him he was just fine with No. 36.

“No reason for the clubbies to have to change things,” Maddux said. “If I wanted another number, it would’ve been No. 54 because that’s what my brother wore (for the Dodgers in 1990). But I’m sure Giovanni Carrara will be back.”

Carrara wore No. 55 for the Dodgers in 2001-2002 and again in 2004-2005, but when he rejoined the team this season, rookie Russell Martin was wearing No. 55 and apparently felt no reason to give it to Carrara, who settled for No. 54.

T.J. Simers can be reached at

[email protected]. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.