Touched by the Angels

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- There is a team that Dodgers Manager Joe Torre frequently references when talking about what he wants to see from his own: the Angels.

“Very distracting,” Torre called their style.

Torre would know. During his 12-year stint managing the New York Yankees, the Angels were the only American League team to post a winning record against them, beating them in 61 of 116 regular-season games. He remembers the kind of pressure put on Yankees pitchers when Chone Figgins or Howie Kendrick would gallop from first to third on a single.

What Torre hopes is that the Dodgers can torment their opponents the same way.

“We want to be sure that we go into the season with the mind-set that we’re going to be an aggressive ballclub,” he said. “We’re trying to encourage them to be more instinctive players.”

That means looking to run when a ball is thrown in the dirt. Or looking for the extra base. Or, in the cases of Juan Pierre and Rafael Furcal, looking for any chances to swipe a bag.

“There’s definitely been an emphasis put on baserunning early in spring training,” Russell Martin said.

Pierre and Furcal, who figure to start the season as the Dodgers’ 1-2 hitters, like what they’re hearing. But the approach is not only the right one for them, but also for the team, Furcal said.

“We have a lot of young players and we don’t have many batters who can hit 30 or 40 home runs,” Furcal said.

The only Dodger to hit more than 20 home runs last season was Andruw Jones -- and he did so with the Atlanta Braves. In part because of the absence of a designated hitter in the National League and in part because of the makeup of the team, Torre has predicted that the Dodgers will be in many low-scoring games this season. “We’re going to have to manufacture some runs,” he said.

Even with Furcal hobbled by a sprained ankle for all of last season, the duo managed to combine for 89 steals. The thinking in the Dodgers’ front office is that it isn’t unreasonable to expect Furcal and Pierre to increase that total to more than 100 if they remain healthy. The threats they pose on the bases could result in fewer breaking pitches and more fastballs for the hitters in the middle of the lineup -- Jones, Martin and Jeff Kent.

But even if that part of the order can improve the team’s power production, Torre doesn’t want his team to become overly reliant on that facet of the game. Torre said he stressed taking the extra base even when managing the Yankees, his belief being that every team will eventually run into a pitcher who will shut them down.

“When that happens, you can’t decide this is when you run,” he said.

While several players are noting that the Dodgers’ youth-laden lineup has a decent amount of speed -- Martin, the catcher, stole 21 bases last season -- Torre has repeatedly reminded them that physical gifts alone don’t make solid baserunners.

“I considered myself a good baserunner and I couldn’t beat anyone in a race,” said Torre, recalling his own playing days as a catcher.

What Torre lacked in speed, he made up with awareness, knowing what the score was, how many outs there were, who was in the outfield.

Informing the players of what to do in certain situations has been an emphasis of the spring, starting on the first day of full-squad workouts. The moment the team was done with its closed-door meeting that morning, the position players marched to the practice field to listen to third base coach Larry Bowa lecture them on the subject.

“It’s all about preparation,” Bowa said.

But Bowa and Torre acknowledged that information by itself isn’t sufficient education because, as Martin said, “Game situations are always different.”

That is the purpose of spring. For players to get a sense of what they can and can’t do, Torre has given everyone a green light to steal in exhibition games.

Torre said he understands that mistakes will be made, particularly by the young players, even when the regular season starts. But whatever happens, he doesn’t want them to become tentative. That Bowa isn’t shy about sending runners home on potentially close plays and is willing to admit to a player when he makes a mistake, Torre added, often emboldens players.

Matt Kemp, the 23-year-old physical marvel whose blunders on the basepaths have been well-documented, appears to be listening.

“It’s not OK to make mistakes,” Kemp said. “But you can change ballgames by taking that extra base and being aggressive. You can’t be afraid to make a mistake. I’m going to be aggressive, but controlled.”

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