Gibson Is Not So Hot, Which Is Not So Bad

Let’s be honest here. Kirk Gibson has been a major disappointment as a Dodger. After an encouraging start in spring training, when he did his volcano act after a teammate sabotaged his cap, Gibson really hasn’t exploded, not once. He hasn’t torn apart any clubhouses or dugouts or teammates.

All the guy has done is strike fear in opponents hearts with his aggressive hitting and baserunning. All he has done is become one of the National League’s most effective hitters and the key guy--who else can you point to?--in the Dodgers’ return to respectability.

Still, anyone who was expecting Gibson to be Billy Martin West, to make headlines with his temper or irrational behavior, has to be very disappointed.

Not that Gibson has contracted Palm Tree Disease and become an easygoing West Coast-type dude. Take Sunday, for example.

In a 2-1 loss to the Cubs at Dodger Stadium, Gibson batted four times. A synopsis:

1. Strikes out to end the first inning. Throws bat. Throws batting helmet. Seems to be talking to self.

2. Strikes out to open fourth, on curveball in dirt. Calmly strolls back to dugout and slams bat against bat rack, only time all day he makes solid contact.

3. Comes to bat with runners on first and third, drooling to make Rick Sutcliffe pay for those two strikeouts. But Franklin Stubbs steals second, so Cubs intentionally walk Gibson. Muttering, head-shaking, teeth-clenching.

4. In eighth, facing reliever Pat Perry with a runner on first, bounces a 2-2 pitch weakly to second base. Kicks infield dirt. Coming off field after next half inning, slams glove cruelly onto the dugout steps.

Still, after the game the Dodgers didn’t have to throw a net over Gibson or shoot him with a tranquilizer dart. His was angry, but his conscience was clear. He had given full effort and he could look himself in the mirror, although not to shave. It’s not Kirk’s week to shave, and besides, he forgot to bring his chain saw to the ballpark.

“I’m trying to keep my cool more,” Gibson said. “That just comes with experience. It (losing temper) can be a detriment if you do it too much.”

Not that Kirk Gibson will ever be anything more than marginally under control. He approaches the game with an intensity more commonly associated with football, or Mike Tyson. He is baseball’s last angry man. When he strikes out, he does not go gently into that dugout.

“I get frustrated, and I release it,” he says, simply.

Twenty minutes after Sunday’s game, Gibson was composed.

“I wouldn’t say I had some real good at-bats against him (Sutcliffe),” he said. “I’m capable of laying off that--(balls outside the strike zone) . . . Give Sutcliffe credit, but I was impatient. (Cub catcher Jim) Sundberg knew that. He probably went out to the mound and said, ‘Hey, this stupid idiot’s swinging at everything, why throw him a strike?’ ”

Then Gibson shrugged. Hey, this one’s over. Bring on the next game.

Picking up free agent Gibson in the off-season, a guy with a short fuse and long medical history, was second-guessable at the time. But so far the move is making Fred Claire look like the executive of the year.

Gibson seems to have brought a hard edge to the Dodgers, to have subtly influenced the personality of the team without resorting to Schwarzenegger-type tactics.

Maybe his intensity rubs off. Watch Gibson in the on-deck circle. He mentally places himself in the batter’s box on every pitch, studies the pitcher.

“It’s hard to explain,” Gibson said of his on-deck routine. “I’m trying to time him, get his release point. You’re always watching. I always pay attention to what’s going on around me.

“I’m an alert person. I notice what goes on around me. When I first came to the team, I tried to be the first one to get to the clubhouse and the last to leave. Just sit around and watch, observe. I knew I was new, and I can watch things from across a room and get a good idea what’s going on. If I meet someone, shake his hand, I look right in his eye. I can tell a lot about him, immediately.”

After the hat trick in spring training, a lot of people foresaw a stormy Dodger season, with Gibson playing Captain Bligh to the Dodgers’ Bounty crew.

It hasn’t happened that way at all. Nobody messes with Gibson’s cap and Gibson doesn’t mess with anyone’s face.

“When I came here, I heard a lot about certain people, certain situations,” he said “To this point, all those theories have been proven wrong. We have some great personalties, some great character on this team.

“I feel real comfortable here. The fans have been great, the coaches, the players. The way I play is a reflection of the way I feel.

“I’m an easygoing guy to get along with. I can get along with anybody. Fundamentally, I get along.

“I’m not as big an . . . as people think.”

Like I said, the man has been a terrible disappointment.