LOS ANGELES -- While the Los Angeles Dodgers, spurred by 'Fernandomania,' have jumped off to the best start in the major leagues, the player many consider the team's best has spent most of the season sitting on the bench.
Reggie Smith peered out from the home team dugout at Dodger Stadium toward the field, where his teammates were taking batting practice before a recent game, and said, 'I think I've handled this situation quite well.'
The 36-year-old Smith was thrust into the situation last September, when Dr. Frank Jobe cut open the outfielder's right shoulder to staple together a major muscle that had shredded with wear.
'I knew when I conceded to the operation that my career might be over, but I had no choice,' said Smith, who made his major league debut when Fernando Valenzuela, the Dodgers' rookie pitching sensation, was 5 years old.
While his teammates frolic, Smith uses pregame practice to strengthen the shoulder that now bears a mean-looking scar.
'I'd say I'm about 70 percent back,' he estimated. 'I'm OK once I get warm, but it (the shoulder) hurts when I stand around for two or three minutes. I'm hoping the warm weather will help it.'
In good health, Smith, whom Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda has unabashly called a 'superstar,' had one of the strongest arms in the major leagues. Despite the injury, Smith said he has no trouble swinging a bat.
In token pinch-hitting appearances this season, the switch-hitting Smith has driven in the winning run on a couple occasions.
'I've had to resign myself to part-time duty, at least for the time being,' he said. 'And the experience I've gained by playing in the big leagues 15 years has helped me as a pinch hitter.
'I get involved in the ballgame as far as strategy and when I may be asked to bat. I'm in a unique situation because they're aren't too many switch hitters coming off the bench.'
Smith, whose 295 career home runs is second to Mickey Mantle on the all-time list of switch hitters, said it has not been difficult for him to accept a spot on the bench.
'You adjust every year,' he explained. 'I'm older and near the end of my career, so it's made it easier to accept.'
Older, but not less dangerous. Smith was enjoying an MVP-style season until he injured his shoulder last July against Chicago. He had taken the league lead in hitting with three hits the previous day and his .322 average was the best of his career.
In his absence, the Dodgers have reconstructed their outfield, with Dusty Baker, the lone holdover in left, joined by Ken Landreaux in center and Pedro Guerrero in right.
With the triumvirate performing so well, the Dodgers hesitate to tamper with a winning formula, if Smith is able to return on a full-time basis.
But the articulate outfielder, who played with Boston and St. Louis before returning in 1976 to Southern California where he was reared, does not feel threatened.
'This is a team game, meaning we all have to pull together,' he said. 'That's why I don't feel threatened, because when the time comes, I'll play.'
Smith, who says the current Dodger club is among the best he's been on, would like to play another two to four years, but only on a full-time basis.
'I don't want to be a designated hitter. That's no fun,' he said, closing the door on a possible trade to the American League.
The interview ended, Smith got up from his seat in the dugout and headed to the Dodger clubhouse where a trainer would tend to his shoulder while he bided his time.
