CHOI DISCOVERS THE POWERS OF GLOVE DODGERS 6, METS 5.

Byline: Tony Jackson Staff Writer

NEW YORK - Several weeks ago, when it became obvious to Hee-Seop Choi that he was becoming a pariah among the ever-increasing number of Dodgers pitchers who had been burned by his maddening inability to field groundballs, the strapping first baseman asked infield coach Glenn Hoffman for some individual tutoring. Choi didn't make the request from his knees, but Hoffman soon put him there anyway.

``He couldn't dive for balls,'' Hoffman said. ``I told him it was just like diving into a pool, but he said he didn't swim.''

So, one early afternoon at Dodger Stadium, Choi went to his knees while Hoffman hit grounders to either side of him. The result: He slowly became comfortable with diving, to the point that it eventually became instinctual. The one-on-one instruction stopped a month ago, after Hoffman was hit in the head by a ball during batting practice and suffered a concussion. By that time, Hoffman's teachings had started to take root, and they would continue to do so in the weeks that followed.

On Friday night, in a 6-5 victory over the New York Mets before a sellout crowd of 50,273 at Shea Stadium, Choi's new-found defensive skills manifested themselves to an almost-unthinkable extent. His four stellar plays included three to his backhand side, one that saved a run when he was screened by a baserunner and, saving the best for last, a beautiful stop of a one-hop smash by Miguel Cairo on which Choi then fed Yhency Brazoban to end the game.

Choi's plays came behind three different Dodgers pitchers, including grateful starter and winner Jeff Weaver (8-8).

``I asked him if he got a new glove,'' Weaver said. ``He has been working really hard. Especially with the throws to second base on the double play, you can see a little more velocity on those. When you start making plays like he did, it builds a lot of confidence.''

Those are easily the kindest words spoken about Choi by a Dodgers pitcher this year. The not-so-kind whispers began April 23 at Colorado, when Choi was out of position on two consecutive plays in a four-run bottom of the first. It reached a peak during a four-game series in St. Louis in May, when the Cardinals got several gift singles by hitting routine grounders past the 6-foot-5 Choi, who seemed utterly incapable of getting low enough to field them. It was shortly thereafter that Choi approached Hoffman, who now admits he has never coached an infielder whose defensive skills were so raw.

``Not at this level,'' Hoffman said. ``But he wanted to (improve), and if a young man wants to improve when he's out there, he's not going to just go through the motions.''

It was Jim Tracy's 400th victory as manager of the Dodgers.

``It's pretty special,'' Tracy said of the milestone. ``I would like to think I have a lot more in me. When I started back in 2001, there was a lot of sentiment that I might not get to 50 (wins) before someone else would be sitting in this chair. So this is pretty gratifying. I owe it all to (the coaches) and five years worth of baseball players who have given me all they've got.''

The third-place Dodgers (44-52), who have won three in a row for the first time since June 4-6, moved within 5 1/2 games of division-leading San Diego in the pathetic National League West, in which the Padres are just three games above .500.

Weaver was staked to a 6-0 lead with a rare series of timely hits by the Dodgers against Victor Zambrano (4-9), but he gave almost all of it back, allowing a two-run homer to Doug Mientkiewicz in the fifth and a three-run shot to Carlos Beltran.

Tony Jackson, [phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, 4 boxes

Photo:

Mike Rose, left, Cesar Izturis, center, and Jeff Kent celebrate after the Dodgers beat the Mets to move within 5 1/2 games of San Diego in the NL West.

Gregory Bull/Associated Press

Box:

(1) DODGERS at N.Y. METS

- Tony Jackson

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(4) ALMANAC