Chip on His Shoulder Now Bat in His Hands

A bum hamstring, sore back and painful bumps on the back of his right hand slowed Dodger second baseman Mark Grudzielanek in the first half, but an even bigger deterrent may have been that helmet-sized chip on his shoulder.

Grudzielanek, who has hit dramatic home runs against the Philadelphia Phillies the last two nights, said Saturday that his second-half surge has been as much the result of an attitude adjustment as any adjustments at the plate.

A No. 2 hitter for much of his career, Grudzielanek opened the season in the eighth spot, and he stewed so much about the demotion that it affected his play during a first half in which he hit .245 with four homers and 28 runs batted in.

“There was a lack of communication early, and we didn’t handle it the right way,” Grudzielanek said of Manager Jim Tracy. “I don’t want to say I lost my drive [to play], but I had a relaxed attitude. I wasn’t professional. I had a chip on my shoulder.”

It took several phone calls around the All-Star break from friends, family members and his agent to snap Grudzielanek out of his funk. Each message had a familiar refrain: You only play this game once; don’t leave it with any regrets.

“That woke me up a bit,” said Grudzielanek, who hit a three-run, eighth-inning homer to beat the Phillies on Friday night and a two-run, game-tying shot in the seventh inning Saturday. “I was letting things slide a bit, and I’m usually never like that. I usually get after it every day. I was kind of going through the motions, trying to step up when I could. But you can’t turn it on and off in this game....

“I had to move on, be a man. It took me a while to realize what I had to do on and off the field to help the team. Now, I have that fire to go out and play. I love the game, and I started playing it like I was a kid again. I’m not worried about politics. I’m just enjoying the game with my teammates, having fun.”

The result has been a more spry Grudzielanek, 32, who has made several diving catches and turned some impressive double plays in recent weeks. And offensively, Grudzielanek, hitting mostly in the seventh spot, has been locked in for almost a month.

Before Saturday night’s game, Grudzielanek was batting .354 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 27 games since the All-Star break, lifting his average to .274.

His biggest hit of the season came Friday, when he countered Pat Burrell’s grand slam in the top of the eighth with his game-winning homer in the bottom of the inning off Mike Timlin.

“I didn’t notice any change of intensity, but he’s a much more successful player now,” Tracy said. “What we’re seeing is consistency, day in and day out.... We’ve also seen a healthier looking player. Just before the All-Star break, his legs started getting up and under him, and his lateral quickness improved. He wasn’t in the best physical condition in spring training, and it took longer to get into the condition he’s in now.”

Grudzielanek, who said he had “five or six” closed-door meetings with Tracy during the first month of the season, would say the same about his mental condition.

“I like to be in the middle of everything, I wasn’t put in that situation, and it was a strange thing,” said Grudzielanek, a former Expo infielder who was in Montreal (1995-98) while Tracy was a bench coach there.

“I handled it improperly. I was chapped about things and trying not to let it show. But Trace and I go back a long way. We were not on the same page that first month. It took a little time to get back on track, and hopefully it continues.”