Johnson Knows His Job Is on the Line Right Now

Manager Davey Johnson knows the rules.

He is under the spotlight because the high-priced Dodgers haven’t met expectations after another expensive off-season make-over, and Chairman Bob Daly expects a big second-half turnaround.

General Manager Kevin Malone said Johnson got the players he wanted, and it’s his responsibility to get more out of them.

Daly and Malone said the Dodgers must do more of the “little things,” and that’s Johnson’s area too.

The strong statements surprised some in the organization, but not Johnson. He accepts that his job is tied to the team’s performance the rest of the season because that’s a manager’s life.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Johnson said of the seemingly poor internal reviews of his performance. “I can’t let that bother me because my job is to play the hand I’m dealt, and just make it work.

“The bottom line is, whatever the situation, I have to keep us going. Like I told the [players], ‘You guys win ballgames . . . and managers lose them.’ That’s the philosophy you have to go by. Hell, that’s the philosophy I’ve lived by as long as I’ve been in this game.”

Johnson, who managed the New York Mets to the 1986 World Series title, shuffled the lineup frequently in the first half because many key players were on the disabled list. Shouldn’t the club’s injury problems be considered when evaluating his performance?

“Nobody is going to feel sorry for you about having injury problems, that’s just the way it is,” Johnson said. “The thing is, you’d like to be in a position where you feel you can give other guys opportunities and they will play well.

“We’re in a better position to handle adversity this year, and we still can get through this thing. But to really put it together, and to run off a good string, we need to get healthy.”

Daly has already decided to retain Malone next season. He will wait until after the season to determine whether Johnson, under contract through 2001, will manage the team again.

Johnson said he is focused only on the task at hand.

“I went through this for six years in New York,” he said. “It didn’t kill me, and it didn’t make me age 20 years in one year, which it can do.

“After the number of years I’ve been managing, I’m not going to let it happen to me in L.A. Believe me, it’s not going to happen.”

*

On second thought, Mark Grudzielanek isn’t going on the disabled list.

The Dodgers planned to put the second baseman on the list because he has been sidelined by a viral infection.

But the plan changed Friday because Grudzielanek told team physicians he felt better. Moreover, roster rules would have forced Grudzielanek to sit out longer than physicians believe he must.

Grudzielanek, batting .303, is expected to return to the lineup Sunday or Monday.

*

The Philadelphia Phillies plan to trade pitcher Curt Schilling, and the Dodgers are willing to include promising rookie pitcher Eric Gagne in a package for the hard-throwing right-hander.

But Schilling, who will make $6.5 million next season in the final year of his contract, has a no-trade clause, and the Dodgers are not among six teams currently on his list.

*

The commissioner’s office might resolve Gary Sheffield’s suspension situation without a second appeal hearing, baseball sources said. . . . Right-hander Mike Judd is expected to be recalled Tuesday from triple-A Albuquerque to start in place of Carlos Perez, who is serving a five-game suspension, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Catcher Paul LoDuca is expected to be optioned to Albuquerque to make room for Judd on the 25-man roster.

TODAY

DODGERS’

CHAN HO PARK

(9-6, 4.17 ERA)

vs.

ANGELS’

SETH ETHERTON

(3-1, 4.98 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 1

TV--Channel 11

Radio--KXTA (1150), KLAC (570),

KWKW (1330), XPRS (1090)

* Update--Park, who has established himself as the No. 2 starter, pitched seven strong innings in a 2-0 interleague loss July 9 against the Seattle Mariners. The right-hander worked 5 2/3 innings June 3 in an 8-3 victory against the Angels at Edison Field. Overall, Park is 2-0 with a 3.64 ERA against the Angels. Etherton is making his first career appearance against the Dodgers.