Will Their Names Be Worth Remembering in October?

NEW YORK —  Observing batting practice on the field at Shea Stadium on Saturday, Tom Lasorda tried to get the attention of one of his players.

“Mark,” he said.

“Mark,” he repeated when the player didn’t respond. “Mark.

“That’s his name, right? Mark?”

Team chemistry remains an issue with the Dodgers. They plan to address it right after they learn one another’s names.

Of the 25 players on the Dodger roster as of game time Saturday, only 12 started the season in Los Angeles. Others started in Florida, New York, Cincinnati, Montreal, Albuquerque, even San Antonio.

Obviously, assembly was required.

But, barring deals like the Dodgers made last season for Eric Young and Otis Nixon after the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline, this is the team that either will or won’t carry them into the playoffs as the National League wild-card team.

By then, we presumably will know the answer to some other questions, how to pronounce Grudzielanek (it’s GRESS-UH-LAWN-ick), whether Lasorda can have the “interim” removed from his title and return as general manager and whether Glenn Hoffman is manager enough to be asked back next year.

Hoffman had a more pressing question when he arrived at the ballpark Saturday.

Who would be his starting pitcher against the New York Mets?

He wanted it to be Carlos Perez, the left-handed starter the Dodgers acquired Friday night from the Expos with shortstop Mark Grudzielanek. But while Grudzielanek arrived at Shea Stadium even before the Dodger team bus after flying into New York with Perez from Montreal at about 4 p.m., the pitcher was missing.

Perez, unaware the Dodgers expected him to pitch, went for an early dinner with family members who met him at the airport.

Lasorda said he hoped one of them wasn’t Carlos’ older brother, Pascual, who missed a start for the Braves once because he couldn’t locate the freeway exit for Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

“I hope it’s not a family trait,” Lasorda said.

Just in case, Hoffman told right-hander Mike Judd, called up from Albuquerque 10 days before, to warm up in case he was needed for his first major-league start.

“He’ll be ready,” Lasorda said. “He’s a rookie, but how do you get to be a veteran if you don’t start out as a rookie?”

You can bet, however, the Dodgers wouldn’t have wanted any rookie not named Kerry Wood to start for them on the first day of their stretch drive.

Perez strolled into the visitors’ clubhouse to meet his new teammates at about 6 p.m., an hour and 10 minutes before game time.

The first person he met identified himself as the manager.

When Hoffman walked away after a short conversation, Perez read the name on the back of the jersey and hoped he would remember it.

He didn’t.

“The last three letters, I think, were M-A-N,” he said after the game.

He did know, however, that his new manager wanted him to pitch. Although his nose was bleeding even as he spoke to Hoffman, the result of an injury suffered in a car accident eight days ago that was supposed to keep him out of Montreal’s rotation through this weekend, Perez agreed.

“He told me he’s the kind of manager who, if you say you’re ready to play, he lets you play,” he said. “I said, ‘Give me the ball.’ ”

It was a good call by Hoffman. Perez pitched seven strong innings, allowing two hits and no runs with four strikeouts and an uncharacteristically high six walks, which he blamed on his broken nose.

But when Perez left with a 1-0 lead, the Dodgers’ spell over the Mets ended.

Grudzielanek, who had two hits and made a nifty play at shortstop in the third to save a run, committed his first error as a Dodger in the eighth. It was, however, his 24th of the season, leading the league among shortstops.

It was suggested to Hoffman later that perhaps he should have made a late-inning defensive move, inserting Juan Castro. Hoffman said he hasn’t seen enough of Grudzielanek to make that decision.

Antonio Osuna relieved Scott Radinsky with two baserunners on in the eighth and retired the side. Even so, Hoffman called for closer Jeff Shaw to start the ninth.

That decision should not be open for second-guessing, right? Since arriving in Los Angeles on the day after the All-Star break, he had appeared in nine save situations and converted them all.

There is a question, though, about whether he is being overworked after appearing in 12 games since July 9, including two nights in a row before Saturday.

Hoffman said he considered that, asking Shaw on Saturday whether he felt like working.

Shaw told him he could go one inning.

He couldn’t. The Mets scored two runs in the ninth to win, on a home run by pinch hitter Matt Franco and a double by Edgardo Alfonzo.

Shaw said that wasn’t the result of fatigue.

“It was just two mistakes,” he said.

Was he telling the truth? Would he have made those mistakes if he had been more rested? Is he one of those closers who wants the ball every night, one who won’t admit it even when he’s tired?

Until he knows Shaw better, Hoffman will have to trust him.

So much to learn, so little time to prove himself as a manager.

One concern he shouldn’t have is the amount of money the Dodgers have spent to assemble this team. They’ll make that back by selling scorecards.