Dodgers And Angels Open The Second Half As Contenders, But Do They Have Staying Power?

By JASON REID

July 13, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Dodger Chairman Bob Daly, the former Warner Bros. studio boss, knows big-budget productions, and he is disappointed in the high-priced club that was supposed to be improved after two turbulent years under Fox.

The Dodgers (44-42) begin the second half in fourth place in the National League West, six games behind the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

Chavez Ravine has been quieter with Daly in charge, but the team hasn’t performed much better despite another expensive off-season make-over.

The Dodgers are struggling, and even the internal reviews are mixed. Injuries have been a factor, but not enough to explain the club’s overall shaky performance.

Daly anticipated immediate progress after approving a $90-million payroll, and still expects a big return on the investment. Or else.

“I understand there are some things that have happened that have hurt us, but we need to perform better,” said Daly, who will evaluate his management staff after the season. “I am a little disappointed that we haven’t done better with the caliber of players we have on this team. I’d like to see everybody kick a little more butt.

“We haven’t played as well as we’re capable of playing, but we should be in contention come September, for the division or the wild card, because we have the players we need on this team. As I said, I am a little disappointed now. But if we’re only two games over .500 at the end of the season, unless we have major injuries, I would be very disappointed.”

Many key players were on the disabled list in the first half, including third baseman Adrian Beltre, pitcher Kevin Brown and catcher Todd Hundley. And the continuing fallout from a May 16 brawl with fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago hasn’t helped.

But that’s not why the Dodgers are foundering again, left fielder Gary Sheffield said.

“You can’t make excuses, we just haven’t played well as a team,” said Sheffield, leading Dodger regulars with a .334 batting average, 27 home runs and 71 runs batted in.

“You look at where we’re at in the season, and you would think we would be playing with a lot more [urgency]; we should understand from the last couple of years that we got ourselves in holes that we couldn’t get out of in the second half. We’ve made some improvement [from last season], but it’s not going to matter unless we fix what we’re doing wrong.”

The Dodgers were 39-47 at the All-Star break last season, 10 games behind the Diamondbacks, in fifth. That’s not much progress considering Daly bumped the payroll almost $10 million, and General Manager Kevin Malone revamped the roster according to Manager Davey Johnson’s wishes.

“We made a lot of personnel changes in the off-season with trades and free-agent signings . . . we worked real hard to provide Davey with the players he requested,” Malone said. “We have the talent. We went out and got the right players, we’ve just got to get more out of the guys we have.”

Johnson likes the group too.

“There are a lot of good things happening here,” he said. “With all the injuries, I was happy with what they [the players] gave me in the first half. We just have to get everybody back healthy and we’ll be all right.”

Daly and Malone hope so, but they are concerned.

They said the team has been too dependent on home runs. The Dodgers are second in the league with 129 homers, but only fifth in runs, averaging 5.33.

“The frustrating part is that you would like to see the Dodgers win more ballgames when we don’t hit home runs,” Daly said. “The problem is, when you look at our record, we’ve had problems scoring a lot of runs if we don’t hit homers.

“You’d hope we could manufacture a few more runs. You’d hope we could improve our defense a little bit, and win some of those closer games when we don’t have the two- or three-run home run.”

That would mean doing more of the “little things,” and the Dodgers don’t do them well.

“That has to change,” Malone said. “We need to work harder in the second half, and that means executing better and not totally depending on the home run.

“We have to move runners over, get bunts down, advance on balls in the dirt and tag up on long fly balls. We have to play sound fundamental baseball. We have to improve.”

Daly hopes to see progress quickly.

“We can no longer say, ‘Well, the season is still young,’ ” he said. “Every game is an important game. We have to go for it every game, and win when it’s in our grasp.

“That means pinch-running, defensive switches . . . everything we have to do to win a ballgame. And I hope that’s what our game plan is. That’s what we have to do.”

Daly will be watching.

BIGGEST FIRST-HALF SURPRISE

Surprisingly, reliever Matt Herges has anchored the bullpen.

The 30-year-old rookie is 6-0 with a 3.27 earned-run average, and has struck out 51 in 52 1/3 innings. With a salary of $205,000, Herges is the Dodgers’ best bargain.

Every penny helps for a club with the second-highest payroll in the game.

Other candidates:

Hundley has been a force offensively despite sitting out 24 games because of a rib cage injury; Mike Fetters has been effective closing with Jeff Shaw on the disabled list; and shortstop Kevin Elster has 10 homers after being out of baseball in 1999.

BIGGEST FIRST-HALF DISAPPOINTMENT

Right-hander Darren Dreifort is 4-7 with a 5.14 ERA. Dreifort works hard, is respected in the clubhouse and wants to win, but the right-hander isn’t getting it done.

Other candidates:

Utility player F.P. Santangelo is batting .183 with a .306 leadoff on-base percentage; right fielder Shawn Green is struggling under the weight of his six-year, $84-million contract; and Beltre has regressed defensively and swings at too many bad pitches.

DEFINING MOMENT

The melee in the Wrigley Field stands. It seems even more bizarre in retrospect--as does the Dodgers’ season to this point.

AT THIS PACE

First baseman Eric Karros will have a career year. Karros had his best first half, batting .265 with 25 homers and 70 RBIs. He needs 10 homers and 43 RBIs to establish personal bests.

REASONS TO BE EXCITED

Brown, Hundley, Karros, Sheffield and second baseman Mark Grudzielanek.

Brown (8-2, 2.38 ERA) has been typically dominant. Hundley, Karros and Sheffield provide power and Grudzielanek is batting .303.

REASONS TO BE CONCERNED

Green’s power outage could become a big problem. Will Dreifort get it together? Is rookie pitcher Eric Gagne good enough to remain in the rotation? If he isn’t, who will take his spot?

MOVES TO PONDER

Daly and Malone want to add another dominant starter.

With Andy Ashby and Denny Neagle traded Wednesday, get in line.

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER

If they score more without hitting homers and Dreifort and Gagne improve. Otherwise, Daly will make big changes.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NL RACES

WEST

*--*

W L GB Arizona 51 37 -- San Fran. 46 39 3 1/2 Colorado 45 40 4 1/2 Dodgers 44 42 6 San Diego 38 49 12 1/2

*--*

WILD-CARD RACE