Coming Up (at) Short : A Season’s Experience, Even One With 42 Errors, Is Expected to Help Offerman

VERO BEACH, Fla. —  He showed moments of brilliance in the field last season, but unfortunately for Jose Offerman, nobody remembers them. All anybody seems to remember is his errors--all 42 of them.

He says maybe if he hadn’t pressed so hard, if he hadn’t tried to be so perfect, he wouldn’t have ended up the target of ridicule from the fans and media. Maybe he wouldn’t have heard so many boos and gone home from the games feeling so angry, if only at himself.

But Offerman doesn’t offer this as an excuse.

He made plays few shortstops could have made, but balls hit right at him left fans shaking their heads.

How could he fumble those?

Reasons are offered by supporters, the most common being Offerman’s lack of major league experience and the different players who platooned at second and third base, and for a while, at first.

Others say that Offerman picked up some bad habits. Some point to the pressure that snowballed as the errors piled up. Some even say that as Eric Karros gets better at first base, he will be able to dig balls out of the dirt better. Offerman shakes his head at that one and says he simply needs to throw better.

But nobody will say Offerman isn’t good enough to play shortstop. His ability is called exceptional, his athleticism outstanding. That is why the Dodgers are sticking with him, saying unequivocally that Jose Offerman is their starting shortstop. It doesn’t matter who else is in camp--not even if it’s Kevin Elster, not even if Elster gets healthy.

Let the exhibition games begin.

“You may come back and check with me in a week, after we start playing games, but right now Jose appears to be more confident and relaxed,” said infield coach Joe Amalfitano, who has spent countless hours working with Offerman. “We will see what happens when the games start. When he has some miscues, we will see how he reacts to that.”

With this in mind, it would have been difficult not to stare at Offerman and second baseman Jody Reed when they worked together last week for the first time.

Reed wasted no time in taking charge, talking with Offerman on the bag and motioning to him about certain plays. It seemed to go smoothly, but it wasn’t until Amalfitano summoned Offerman’s mentor, Ralph Avila, that anyone knew for sure.

Yes, Amalfitano said, Offerman is looking good.

“I have talked with Avila (the Dodger vice president of Latin affairs) at various times about Jose, and to have Jose come in here this spring and do what I was trying to get him to do last year, and to bring it in here the first few days, well, it made me very happy,” Amalfitano said.

Few can relate to Offerman’s situation better than former Dodger shortstop Bill Russell, who drew criticism after making 34 errors in his rookie season. Offerman played for Russell in the Dominican Republic over the winter, and Russell said the 24-year-old has matured.

“Nobody can help Jose now,” Russell said. “It’s up to him to retain everything that he learned and everything he knows and start playing the way we know that he can play. He knows it, too.

“If you break it down, he has everything it takes to be an outstanding shortstop--speed, quickness, a good arm.

“The pressure is there. The fans want to see defense, and that’s what they are going to be looking for (on) opening day. I know what he went through last season, believe me.”

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Offerman is quiet, in the clubhouse and out, and he likes to spend time alone, finding it even in a crowd. When he completes his infield work before games, he stands alone in shallow left field.

Last season, Offerman would go home after games and not say a word. His girlfriend, Alexi Rivera, would make him dinner and then wait for him to talk. Sometimes she waited a long time.

“I never like to talk, and when there is something wrong like (an error), I try to think about what I can do the next day,” Offerman said. “I really feel bad, because I never like to make an error and do something wrong for the team.

“I tried to be too perfect, and that’s when the errors came. The people booed me when I did something wrong, and it made me feel bad. But when I did something good at the plate, they gave me applause. After a while I understood it all better. Alexi helped me a lot.”

Offerman’s errors came in bunches. He would go five or six days and then suddenly he would commit three. “This guy didn’t mess around,” Amalfitano said. “I know when I watched him from the bench, I don’t care what he says, I know it bothered him. I could see it in his eyes.”

Offerman doesn’t deny it, but he didn’t carry it to the plate, where he hit .260 in 149 games, with one home run, 30 runs batted in and had 23 stolen bases. Offerman also had eight triples and 20 doubles.

“I didn’t want to mess up on both,” he said. “What kept me going is that I wanted to do better. The players that have more experience than me helped me a lot, and I tried to listen.”

Offerman spent a lot of time talking with Ramon Martinez, his closest friend on the team. “Even during games when I was pitching and Jose would make an error, I would go over to him and tell him not to worry about it and try to take off the pressure,” Martinez said.

“I know it was a tough year for him, especially with him being so young. He was so confused last year, and this year I see him more relaxed than the year before.

“Jose is very, very quiet, which is not good sometimes. When you feel down a little bit you need to talk with someone. If you keep it inside it gets worse and worse. We talk a lot, but he keeps a lot in.”

Offerman has always been hesitant to change, but Reed says he has found Offerman to be receptive.

“I felt it was a situation where someone needed to take the lead here, and I didn’t think Jose was going to do that,” said Reed, who broke in with the Boston Red Sox as a shortstop four years ago. “On plane rides, bus rides, on the road with the team, he can ask me questions and I’ll ask him questions, because we need to get to know each other as quickly as possible. There will be instances where you need to know--is this guy going to be there? Does he know to be there?”

The Dodgers often point to Russell as an example of a shortstop who fumbled through his rookie season, but was successful. Or they mention the rookie seasons of Pee Wee Reese, who made 47 errors, or Maury Wills, who made 40.

“I will always remember Bill Russell talking to Jim Brewer in Bill’s rookie season,” said Fred Claire, the Dodgers’ executive vice president. “The media and the fans were on Bill and Bill was upset about it, and Jim gave him pretty good advice and I happened to be there. Jim told Billy, ‘If you are going to let it bother you, then take your uniform off and go home.’ And Billy kept his uniform on for a long time and is still wearing it and survived it.

“This season, we will have an infield that goes out there as a group. Tim Wallach will have a large hand in our defensive signals and (the) defensive setup of our infield. In Jody, you have a second baseman who has played shortstop and understands the position. And another year by Eric (Karros).”

But the Dodgers also invited Elster to camp and are giving him a chance to make the team. Elster, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, has impressed the Dodgers with his smooth fielding. Offerman and Elster have had idle conversation in the clubhouse, but they haven’t talked about the position. Offerman says he has heard the talk about Elster, but he knows the job is his to lose, not win.

“I don’t have to worry about Kevin. I don’t think about that,” he said. “I have my job, and all I have to do is have a good spring and when the season starts I think I will be the guy.”