Let’s Get Off Mike Marshall’s Back--He Might Strain It Again

When Mike (Mauler) Marshall and Phil (The Thrill) Garner mixed it up in last Wednesday’s Brawl in the Hall, Dodger fans cringed.

The last thing the ballclub needs in the thick of a late-summer stretch run is this kind of distraction. You don’t see the San Diego Padres fighting one another, do you?

On further inspection of the incident, however, it is possible to see the scuffle in a more encouraging light. Optimists note:

--Marshall was not injured.

--The fight put the Dodgers back in the headlines. They have been drifting steadily rearward in most newspaper sports sections, closing in on the want-ads. Sunday, after three fight-less games, three major L.A. newspapers played the Saturday Dodger game story on Pages 2, 7 and 11.

--It was fun reading. Admit it: You don’t condone violence, you believe adults should behave in a civilized manner, but hey, nobody got hurt and what a great scrap. Much better than the Steve Garvey vs. Don Sutton hair-pull and face-scratch of 1978.

--The fight cleared the air. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but sports people always use that expression after a noisy disagreement between teammates. If there’s anything this city can use, it’s clearer air.

--The fight provided Marshall with a sense of purpose. “I won’t be run out of town,” he vowed the next day. To which several teammates probably muttered under their breath, “No, he’d pull a hamstring before he ran as far as the Golden State Freeway.”

Through it all, Marshall remains a mystery man. His many injuries are so mysterious that the Dodger trainers have given up on him, or vice versa. Mike now relies on outside medical help. And it’s a mystery to Marshall why so many of his teammates have turned on him.

“My willingness to play has been questioned by quite a few guys on this team, that isn’t any secret,” Marshall said Sunday, before contributing a key base hit and a nice outfield catch to the Dodgers’ extra-inning victory.

“All I know is, when I’m able to play, I’m out there. But when it (an injury) gets to the point where you’re jeopardizing yourself, getting worse and not being able to perform, it’s time to sit back and get healthy so you can.

“I have no animosity or dislike for anyone on the ballclub. I pretty much stay to myself . . . You get caught between caring because you want your teammates to like you and respect you and work together to win ballgames, and being in a situation where you’re more frustrated than anyone else. . . .

“This (missing games) has cost me a lot of money the last two years. I had nothing to gain by not playing.”

What about the gripe that Marshall was leaving the ballpark early while he was on the disabled list?

“It wasn’t the right thing to do,” Marshall admitted. “But I can honestly say it got to the point I was tired of the allegations. It got to be so ridiculous that I didn’t want to be sitting next to some people (in the dugout). It gets to the point where enough’s enough. It (leaving early) was for two nights. But I can honestly say that’s the only way I have not been a team player, contributing to the Dodgers.”

Marshall’s problem has been not the frequency of injuries, but the type. This year: Wart on index finger . . . Food poisoning . . . Viral (not China) syndrome . . . Sprained wrist . . . Strained back . . . Common cold (missed one game) . . . In past seasons: Appendix problem . . . Nerve removed from between toes. . . .

Most of these things you can’t see , even with X-rays. Marshall never actually breaks anything, or bleeds. Imagewise, this is a mistake. His teammates can’t relate to the long string of invisible injuries, and they paste on him the ugliest label in sports--wimp.

This grumbling has been going on since last season, yet Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda has not come forward either to challenge Marshall to get his duff off the bench, as New York Yankees Manager Lou Piniella did with Rickey Henderson, or to defend Marshall publicly against all the petty grumbling.

So the situation festers, then results in a scuffle, and now a lot of people cry out for the Dodgers to trade Marshall. Which raises two questions:

--For what, a couple of Billy Hatcher-model corked bats?

--Why?

Why trade a guy who one of these years might accidentally get healthy and win a home run or RBI title? Odds are in Mike’s favor. He’s had so many parts and pieces removed, there’s less of him to be injured. Besides, it’s not like the Dodger roster is bursting with big sticks.

Then there is the matter of team chemistry and harmony to consider. For about four seconds. When ranking factors that contribute to winning baseball games, team harmony is just below having fluffy towels in the shower room.

No, what the Dodgers should do now is thank Marshall for the ink, install a hall monitor in the dugout runway because someone could get hurt, and then get back to the business of desperately trying to fend off the dreaded Padres.