Thursday, July 3, 2003 | 11:29 a.m.
Some of us don't sweat. The dog days have visited the 51s, however, as they're trying to find themselves. They haven't won consecutive series since May 1. Where have you gone, Wilson Alvarez?
Tucson touched him for two earned runs in two innings. Then Fresno collected two against him Monday, when he threw for four innings. He yielded nine hits in those six innings.
On the plus side, he has walked none and whiffed five. And manager John Shoemaker might want to select him as an emergency pinch-hitter instead of hurler Scott Winchester, because Langone hit .338 as a senior DH at BC.
Thurston, hitting .267, has fared well since the 51s shifted him from first to second in the batting order in late May. He scored 12 times in one 12-game stretch, and he drove in 14 runs over another 17-game span.
Closer Steve Colyer had thrown in 22 consecutive games without allowing a run until Tuesday, when he allowed two to cross home plate against Fresno. Still, he buckled down to earn his 17th save.
After steadily improving in Pittsburgh's minor leagues for four years, Chad Hermansen was, in 1999, billed as the most talented player in the Pirates' system since Barry Bonds.
During parts of the last four seasons in the majors, though, he toiled, never hitting better than .233. In 174 games in the big leagues, including 35 with the Chicago Cubs at the end of 2002, he hit .200.
Hermansen heard what many were saying, knew what many were thinking and read the scouting reports -- one dubbed him a "longtime prospect."
"Like, 'He's washed up,' " he said. "I think that's what people thought in the past. It was hard to deal with, when I heard those comments. At the same time, I have gotten opportunities in the big leagues.
"I've had some success, and I've had some failure. I think people forget that I'm still 25 years old."
The Dodgers showed they believe in him by summoning Hermansen to Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Hermansen and fellow 51s outfielder Wilkin Ruan were both pulled from Wednesday's game against Fresno before it started, and both hopped on a midnight flight from McCarran International Airport to LAX.
A day before leaving, Hermansen stood outside the Las Vegas clubhouse at Cashman Field and talked about getting into the groove of his life before a regular rotation of friends and family after being traded twice in 2002.
He hit .399, his first flirtation with a plus-.300 season average since he batted .304 in two dozen rookie-league games in 1995, for the 51s.
He played every outfield position and added first base to his repertoire in his debut there Tuesday night, when Dodgers outfielder Brian Jordan was placed on the disabled list with a knee injury that might threaten his career.
"I guess there's a need there, with (Dodgers first baseman Fred) McGriff only signed through this year," Hermansen said. "That will just add to my stock."
To stay in the majors, being more selective at the plate and handling a big-league curve ball will be most important for Hermansen, who is being paid $312,500 by the Dodgers this season.
At the Triple-A level, there are some mediocre curves and a few knee-bucklers. The only way he can display an improved ability to hit that pitch will be when he slips on a Dodgers uniform.
Los Angeles finishes a three-game series against San Diego tonight at Dodger Stadium, then the Arizona Diamondbacks visit this weekend.
Hermansen is confident that he has made more than marginal improvement with his bat, with help from Las Vegas hitting coach George Hendrick and manager John Shoemaker.
"I feel I have a consistent approach," Hermansen said, "and I've taken that same approach every day, instead of saying, 'Well, if I go 0-for-4 with that approach, then I'll try something completely new the next day."
"I guess, when you hit well (in Triple-A) and you don't succeed up in the big leagues, automatically, they say, 'Well, he can't hit the breaking ball.' The only way to work on it is to recognize those pitches and try to do what you can to put it in play."
Born in Salt Lake City, Hermansen was 10 when his father, Bruce, moved the family to Green Valley when he foresaw a construction boom in 1988.
Bruce and his brother, Randy, formed Hermansen Builders, which has prospered and is now known as Arrowhead Development.
Like Chad, younger brother Shaun and younger sister Alysha are both graduates of Green Valley High. Friends from his prep days, even a Little League coach, have already visited Cashman to watch Hermansen.
His mother, Lisa, has updated him often about the vast number of people who inform her that they've been keeping close tabs on his career developments.
"There are a lot who follow me," Hermansen said. "People care enough to follow me and wish for my success, and that makes me feel good."
He felt well last season when, after the Pirates dealt him to the Cubs just before the July 31 trading deadline, he hit a home run at PNC Park in Pittsburgh off Kris Benson.
"It was a good feeling for me," Hermansen said. "Not in the sense like 'Stick it' or 'Take that.' More like, 'You guys made a mistake' kind of thing. I was at a standstill with them and felt I needed to move on to another organization."
Even though he was woozy, from having just come out of shoulder surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, he said his spirits soared when his surgeon told him of his trade to Los Angeles on Dec. 4.
The Dodgers rid themselves of Eric Karros, Mark Grudzielanek and $2 million, receiving Todd Hundley and Hermansen.
"I was half-drugged up, not knowing what was going on," Hermansen said. "My doctor comes in with a cell phone and says, 'You're not going to believe what just happened ... you've just been traded to the Dodgers.' I'm like, 'Ohhhh kayyyy.'
"I think I just fell back to sleep. Once I woke up again, I'm like, 'That's the Dodgers, only four hours from Vegas!' I thought, with surgery, I wouldn't be healthy in time to start the season and that it would be pretty cool to play at home."
Hermansen spent an extended spring session in Vero Beach, Fla., ensuring that his shoulder had properly healed, then joined the 51s in the middle of May.
He produced two 5-for-5 efforts, slugged four homers over a three-day stretch in late May and hadn't scored at least one run in consecutive games in nearly three weeks. Shoemaker moved him to the cleanup spot in the order last Tuesday.
During today's first hour, Hermansen was soaring toward L.A., back to the majors.
"My inconsistencies, obviously, have been the key, and that's what I've been trying to work on," Hermansen said. "A fire was lit under me, and there's a lot left in me ... I have to show that I belong in the big leagues.
"And I want to stay there."
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