Stubbs Strikes Out and Strikes Fear : Pitchers Will Get Him Swinging, but He’ll Hit Back, Too

There were his two strike outs, then his two-run, seventh inning homer that propelled the Dodgers to a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants Sunday.

It was a microcosm of Franklin Stubbs’ first week as the left-handed half of the platoon with which the Dodgers are attempting to replace Pedro Guerrero.

It was also an indication that Guerrero himself is having an impact on Stubbs.

Forget the strike outs, the setbacks, the temporary frustrations, Guerrero has told Stubbs.

Forget everything except the belief that you’re better than the pitcher.

Guerrero leaned on his crutches in a corner of the Dodger clubhouse Sunday and said:

“I’ve told Franklin that every time he goes up there he has to think that he’s better than the pitcher. I’ve told him that he can’t worry about anything else.

“He’s ready, I’ve told him that. He just has to lay off the high pitch. Make them bring it down and that’s when he’ll hit.

“He hit over 30 homers in Albuquerque (32 last season), so he has the power. I’m sure he’s going to hit a lot here.�

Stubbs has hit six in nine games since arriving in Los Angeles on the eve of the Freeway Series.

He hit three in those three games with the Angels, winning the Most Valuable Player Award he received prior to Sunday’s game with the Giants.

The seventh inning homer that he hit off Scott Garrelts to break a 1-1 tie was his third in six regular season games and his third in the three games with San Francisco. He has struck out 9 times in 18 at bats, but he leads the National League in runs batted in with nine and leads the Dodgers with those three home runs.

Sunday’s was a 2-iron drive that carried over the 395 mark at the most distant corner of the right-field pavilion, snapping a 1-1 tie.

Stubbs said he wasn’t sure what the pitch was, but he thought it was the same split-fingered fastball on which he struck out in the first and third innings, the latter a called third strike that Stubbs thought was wide of the plate.

“Pete has me thinking that it’s just like an ego trip out there,� Stubbs said of his frequent talks with Guerrero. “The pitcher is going to win most of the time, that’s the way the game is, but hopefully you’ll get your share. I believe it now.

“I mean, the guy today went back to the pitch he’d been getting me out with, but I stayed back, waited and was more patient.

“I had a feeling he’d throw it again, and it just kind of hung there.�

Stubbs responded to it in the manner with which he has responded to Guerrero’s injury.

He hit .341 in the spring, but he seemed headed for another summer in Albuquerque, a loser to Greg Brock in the battle for first base.

Then Guerrero went down, leaving Stubbs in an alien position, platooning first with Bill Russell, now Cesar Cedeno.

Pressure?

“I’m comfortable and having fun,� Stubbs said.

“I feel I belong, so I’m not surprised by what I’m doing. It was more a matter of getting the chance.

“I’m sorry it took an injury, but that’s how it happens sometimes.�

A year ago it happened for Mariano Duncan. Two years ago it almost happened for Stubbs.

Brock broke a wrist in April. Stubbs, at 24 and after only two years in the minors, was summoned from Albuquerque. He hit .194 in 87 games before going back.

“I’m relaxed now,� he said. “I’ve matured. I’m more confident. I know what’s going on. I know I’ll have a chance to play again even if I go 0 for 4. I also think its easier to start the year here because then you feel as if you belong.

“When you’re called up later it’s as if it’s only temporary.�

Stubbs said it would take a five-year contract to truly guarantee his belief that he is here to stay, “but I’m now thinking that way anyway. Sometimes you have to take two steps back to take one forward, and that what I did (during the last two years in Albuquerque). I think it helped.�

Now Stubbs can continue to help himself--and the Dodgers--by laying off the high pitch.

“My swing isn’t geared to handle it,� he said, “but staying away from it is easier said than done. Right now, I’m helping ‘em, I’m doing more to strike myself out than the pitcher is.

“The more I play, the more discipline I’ll develop, but even if I strike out 150 times I’m not going to sacrifice my aggressiveness. I can live with it (the strikeouts) as long as I keep getting the clutch hits. I’m not thinking ‘strikeout’ when I go to the plate the next time.�