Dodgers and Beckwith Bury Hatchet, Reunite

Proving that some burned bridges can be rebuilt, especially if a pennant might be on the other side, Joe Beckwith became a Dodger again Thursday afternoon.

Beckwith, who dumped some dirt on Dodger blue after his first, stormy go-round here, will have a freshly laundered uniform tonight after signing a contract in the office of Dodger Vice President Al Campanis.

The outlook, too, may be fresher for the 31-year-old Beckwith, especially after spending much of this season in the minor leagues. Deep down, bygones may never completely be bygones, but at least Beckwith should have as few illusions about why he is wanted back as he does about wanting back.

“Not many guys get a second chance,” said Beckwith, who was bought by the Dodgers from Syracuse, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate. “I’m just happy to be back, and I want to take full advantage of that chance.”

For both sides, this appears to be a short-term marriage of convenience. The Dodgers needed a right-handed long relief man--a role Beckwith filled before in Los Angeles and in Kansas City--to finish out this season. The Alabama-born Beckwith wanted a job back in the majors.

The past was something less than happy for Beckwith here, especially during his last season with the Dodgers. That was 1983, when he had a loud falling-out with Manager Tom Lasorda in the dugout, followed by another in Lasorda’s office the next day.

A few days later and in front of teammates, Beckwith demanded to be traded, a wish the Dodgers had tried to fulfill before, only to have deals with Detroit, the Chicago Cubs and Boston break down.

Finally, during the 1983 winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., the Dodgers sent Beckwith to Kansas City for three minor leaguers who have never seen the inside of a Dodger uniform: pitchers John Serritella and Jose Torres and catcher Joe Szekely.

“I’m just happy to be going somewhere where I’m wanted,” Beckwith said that night, and in the months that followed he gave voice to the frustrations he had felt since the Dodgers had made him a No. 2 draft choice in 1977.

Some examples:

--”I was a Dodger . . . but I wasn’t into all that rah-rah Dodger blue stuff. I’ve always been low-key, and that just wasn’t my style. The Dodgers are just as much Hollywood as movie stars. I’m glad I’m out of there.”

--”When I first came up, (the Dodgers) put a mark on me. I don’t know why. I never even knew why I wasn’t being used, especially when I was pitching really well and not being used.”

--”I didn’t care what happened. I didn’t care if I was traded, or sold, or even released.”

--”Dick Howser and Tommy Lasorda are totally different and I don’t just mean in temperament. . . . The main difference is that Dick comes up and tells you straight out how he’s going to use you, when he’s going to use you, and why. And then he goes out and does it.”

But that’s all in the past, Beckwith said Thursday.

“I started with the Dodgers, I loved being a Dodger, and I always hoped to finish with the Dodgers,” he said.

” . . . When I left here in ‘83, I didn’t come down on the Dodgers. How can you come down on this organization?”

Yes, he had his problems with Lasorda, who showed a tendency to bury Beckwith in the Dodger bullpen, but he said those are past, too.

“We’ve had our differences, and everybody knows it,” Beckwith said. “But I’ve seen him (Lasorda) several times since I left here. We have a good relationship, and I want to continue it.”

Lasorda is a “great manager,” Beckwith said Thursday.

“Look at what he did last year with a team that didn’t look like it had a lot of talent, and he won a division,” Beckwith said. “He’s been in the World Series.

“And they’ve seen what I can do, too, with the Royals in 1984 and ’85. It’s great they picked me back up.”

Beckwith said he never expected to be discarded by the Royals, even though his numbers last season in Kansas City--1-5, 1 save, 4.07 earned-run average--didn’t approach his record in ‘84, when he was 8-4 with 2 saves and a 3.40 ERA.

He signed a contract for a reported $400,000 in January, had a new house built in Kansas City and was involved in a much-publicized drug-prevention program there during the winter. But on March 30, the Royals, who had Steve Farr to fill Beckwith’s role, released Beckwith.

Beckwith’s money with the Royals was not guaranteed, and he wound up signing a split contract with Toronto. In Syracuse, he said, he was making “peanuts.”

But even though the Blue Jays had pitching problems of their own, Beckwith never got the summons from Toronto. A month ago, however, he heard that a Dodger scout had come to watch him. Last Sunday, a Dodger scout was there again to watch Beckwith pitch for Syracuse, and two days later Beckwith heard from his agent, Dick Moss, that the Dodgers wanted him.

The 6-foot 2-inch, 200-pound right-hander, who had a record of 9-10 in parts of four seasons with the Dodgers, expects to be used in long relief, and possibly as a spot starter.

“I’ll fill whatever role Tommy puts me in,” he said. “And if I pitch well enough--well, only time will tell, but I’d like to stay.”

The prodigal son, redux.