Lo Duca has risen to the top in LA

Victoria Sun

Friday, March 29, 2002 | 10:30 a.m.

The day that Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca signed a three-year, $7.25 million contract in February, he went home and had a Halle Berry moment.

No, the 29-year-old didn't grab a Valentino couture gown out of his closet in an attempt to imitate the actress.

He was simply in awe of the fact that after nine years with the Dodgers -- eight of them toiling in the minor leagues -- he had finally made it in the manner of Berry, who became the first black actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in "Monster's Ball."

So he shed a few tears -- just as Berry did as she stood in a daze during her acceptance speech.

"It just took a long time for me to get here," Lo Duca said in the Cashman Field dugout as the Dodgers got ready to face the Arizona Diamondbacks in a major league exhibition game Thursday night. "I don't think it really hit me until I got home and saw my wife.

"It was just one of those things where I broke down because if you would have told me I was going to be in that situation a couple years ago, I probably would have laughed at you."

Lo Duca went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored during the Dodgers' 7-5 victory over Arizona in a split-squad exhibition game before a sold-out crowd of 12,422.

He earned the starting job out of spring training last year and put up impressive numbers during his first full season in the big leagues, hitting .320 with 25 home runs, 71 runs scored and 90 RBIs.

Before that, he appeared in 76 major league games, hitting .241 with five home runs and 20 RBIs.

"Paul is just such a vital part of the club for so many reasons," said Dodgers bench coach and former Las Vegas Stars skipper Jim Riggleman. "He's a great guy for us to hit anywhere (manager) Jim Tracy needs him to hit.

"He can hit one, two, three, four or five. He's just such a unique guy. To get this kind of offense out of your catcher, a guy that you can start runners in front of, who doesn't strike out a lot, is a huge asset."

Lo Duca's journey to the big leagues began when he was drafted by the Dodgers out of Arizona State in 1993.

Standing a slight 5-foot-8, not exactly the size of a prototype catcher, Lo Duca found himself buried in an organization which already had All-Star backstops Mike Piazza, Charles Johnson and Todd Hundley.

Feeling hopeless and unnoticed, he hoped to be traded and thought about quitting.

"I didn't think there was a shot for me," Lo Duca said.

Lo Duca's saving grace arrived in the form of new Dodgers manager Tracy, who was hired before last season as part of a major team overhaul. Tracy took a shine to Lo Duca and awarded him the job.

Lo Duca thanked him by batting .382 the first two months of last season and finished with the eye-opening numbers that resulted in the three-year contract.

Now that the Dodgers don't have the power of outfielder Gary Sheffield in the lineup, they will be counting on Lo Duca to support outfielder Shawn Green and newcomer Brian Jordan.

Despite the 25 home runs he hit last year, Lo Duca isn't putting pressure on himself to do it again.

"I'm not really a numbers guy," he said. "I didn't even really feel that I hit that many home runs, to be honest.

"I'm just trying to go out the same way as last year and have fun. When you lose a guy like Sheff, one of the most feared hitters in the game, things change.

"But Brian Jordan is no slouch. We are going to have to get guys over, bunt guys over, run. We're just going to have to manufacture runs that way."

"It's a great place to manage," Riggleman said. "Don Logan and his staff were so good to me here.

"I really have great memories."