Guerrero Delayed; Excuse Is Valid, but Passport Isn’t

VERO BEACH, Fla. —  Send home the welcoming committee. Disband the band. Organize the search party. And above all, cross your fingers.

Pedro Guerrero is missing.

The rest of the Dodgers reported to training camp here Wednesday. For that matter, so did the Samsung Lions, although their plane from Korea wasn’t due to arrive until 1:30 this morning.

Guerrero, however, didn’t make it from the Dominican Republic. Passport problems, Dodger officials said.

Guerrero’s passport apparently expired, Vice President Al Campanis said, and he didn’t realize it until just before he was planning to leave.

“I’m not surprised,” said one Dodger, perhaps recalling Guerrero’s delayed arrival of a year ago. That, Guerrero said at the time, was caused by a leaky roof. If it ain’t one thing, it’s another.

Guerrero is now scheduled to arrive in Miami this afternoon at 2:29. Dodger scout Ralph Avila was at the airport in Miami Wednesday waiting for Guerrero and the other players--German Rivera, Mariano Duncan and Jose Gonzalez--who were flying in from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

“Pedro went to the airport with the other kids,” Avila said. “That’s when they told him his passport was overdue. He didn’t have time to change it.”

Technically, Guerrero isn’t late. According to the basic agreement between management and the players’ union, a player does not have to report until March 1. By then, though, the Dodgers’ first full-scale workout will be history, and their highest-paid player will have missed it. So much for making a good first impression.

But if Dodger officials are upset, they’re not saying so publicly. If anything, they went to great lengths Wednesday to express understanding and sympathy for the plight of their absent star.

“He just made a mistake,” Campanis said. “I don’t aim to defend him . . . but it’s not the end of the world. It’s not an earth-shaking thing for a man not to have checked out his passport. I almost made the same mistake once.

“I’m not as disappointed about this as I was last year, when he came in overweight. I understand he’s in shape.

“I’ll put my arms around him and tell him I hope he has a great year. He’s one of my boys, and I think he can be an outstanding third baseman.”

Campanis, who got word from the Dodgertown staff that someone had called to say Guerrero would be delayed, called Guerrero’s home and spoke to Guerrero’s wife, Denise.

“She said, ‘Mr. Campanis, I’m really sorry.’ She was very nice on the phone. She was blaming herself,” Campanis said.

Manager Tom Lasorda had made a special trip to the Dominican Republic just to tell Guerrero how much they needed him at third. Lasorda apparently forgot to warn him about red tape, however, which can entangle even a national hero whose face is on billboards advertising El Presidente beer throughout the country.

“If it had been Landestoy, nobody would be saying anything,” Lasorda said.

True enough. Rafael Landestoy is no longer on the team--he was released after the ’84 season. And Landestoy never signed a five-year, $7-million contract.

“I’m not trying to defend the guy,” Lasorda said. “I know he’s under the microscope, but if he has a legitimate excuse. . . . To err is human, to forgive divine.”

Fred Claire, the team’s executive vice president, saw no reason to be alarmed.

“Last year really tormented him,” Claire said. “He doesn’t want to go through that again. The man has an enormous amount of pride. I’m sure he learned something about himself, the fans and everybody else last year.

“I don’t really want to jump to anything. He’s going to have to show me that’s he not ready.”

But like everyone else, Claire will have to wait. The control tower in Miami has been alerted.

For better or worse--and without Guerrero--here is the 40-man roster at Dodgertown:

Pitchers (12): Bobby Castillo, Carlos Diaz, Orel Hershiser, Rick Honeycutt, Steve Howe, Ken Howell, Tom Niedenfuer, Alejandro Pena (injured), Jerry Reuss, Fernando Valenzuela, Bob Welch, Larry White.

Catchers (4): Jack Fimple, Gilberto Reyes, Mike Scioscia, Steve Yeager.

Infielders (11): Dave Anderson, Bob Bailor, Sid Bream, Greg Brock, Mariano Duncan, Pedro Guerrero, Al Oliver, German Rivera, Bill Russell, Steve Sax and Franklin Stubbs.

Outfielders (13): Ed Amelung, Tony Brewer, Ralph Bryant, Cecil Espy, Jose Gonzalez, Jay Johnstone, Ken Landreaux, Candy Maldonado, Mike Marshall, Lemmie Miller, Mike Ramsey, R.J. Reynolds and Terry Whitfield.

Dodger Notes Apparently Pedro Guerrero wasn’t the only Dominican player to have problems getting out of the country Wednesday. Four Atlanta Braves also failed to report, citing visa problems. Compounding the situation, Wednesday was a holiday in the Dominican Republic and government offices reportedly were closed. . . . Dodger scout Ralph Avila said he saw Guerrero playing softball last week in the Dominican Republic. He predicts that Guerrero will be no more than three or four pounds overweight, if that. “He’s in shape,” Avila said. Guerrero reported last season at 218, according to trainer Bill Buhler, and finished at 192. . . . Sandy Koufax, as trim as ever as he nears his 50th birthday, pitched batting practice to Mike Scioscia in Holman Stadium. Koufax, ever the competitor, cursed himself as he struggled with his curve ball. “I was wilder than hell,” Koufax said to Dixie Howell, a former teammate on the 1955 Dodger team. “I can’t break into the rotation. He won’t let me pitch more than once every 12 months,” Koufax said, gesturing at Manager Tom Lasorda. . . . Lasorda on Scioscia after watching him execute the hit-and-run play: “If he could run a little, he’d be my ideal No. 2 hitter.” . . . The Samsung Lions of the Korean Professional League are here for two weeks of workouts. The Lions will play the Dodgers in an exhibition game here March 9.