BASEBALL : Boone Kept Calling, so Mauch Finally Said Yes

HAINES CITY, Fla. —  Gene Mauch was perfectly content to stay home in Palm Springs, play 18 holes of golf each day, and relax with a couple of cocktails in the evening.

Life was good, and after stepping down as Angel manager after the 1987 season, Mauch had absolutely no desire to put on another uniform.

Then, Bob Boone called.

Boone had become manager of the Kansas City Royals, and desperately needed a bench coach. He wanted Mauch, and kept calling until Mauch finally relented, joining the Royals on Jan. 13.

“He’s the best baseball mind I’ve ever been around,” Boone said before the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory over the Royals on Saturday in front of 944 at Baseball City Stadium. “I’m tickled to death he’s here, and proud of the fact that I don’t think he would have done it for anybody else.”

Mauch, 69, said he had gotten used to life away from baseball.

“I missed it,” he said. “But I was getting to the point the last couple of years (where) I managed that I was missing it. The majority of baseball players weren’t playing the game the way I thought it should (be played).

“That’s part of the reason I came here. We’re going to play old-time baseball.”

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Royal hitting coach Greg Luzinski said he advised his son Ryan not to become a replacement player this spring.

Ryan Luzinski was the Dodgers’ first-round pick in the 1992 draft.

“I was in the union, and the union did a lot for me,” Luzinski said. “If (Ryan) were to make it to the big leagues, he wants to make it with the big leaguers on the field.

“If you go across now, and the strike ends after a couple of games, you’ll always be labeled a strikebreaker. That’s something you’ll have to live with.”

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The Dodgers finally confirmed that pitcher Darren Dreifort will undergo season-ending elbow surgery March 14 at Centinela Hospital Medical Center. . . . The Dodgers plan to reward their replacement team today with regulation Dodger uniforms to wear in games instead of warm-up tops. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids,” Manager Tom Lasorda said. “They play the game with enthusiasm and self-confidence. Don’t get me wrong, I still want my (major league) players back, but I’m having a lot of fun. . . . Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo played long toss again Saturday, but has yet to throw off a mound since straining his right shoulder last season in Japan.