DODGERS ANALYSIS: PRESSURE POINT : LASORDA MUST FIND WAY TO WIN TO STAY.

Byline: Matt McHale Daily News Staff Writer

Whether you like Tom Lasorda or hate him, know this. If anyone can make something of this Dodgers season, he is the man.

It's not the hellfire and brimstone that so endeared him to fans and players for most of his 20 years as manager. This team is far too smug for that approach. Lasorda, back now as interim general manager, is gone if he doesn't turn around this dreadful season and he knows it.

It doesn't matter how many Fox people he schmoozes. It might not even matter how many games the Dodgers (43-44) win the rest of the way. Many think the firing of manager Bill Russell and executive vice president Fred Claire was the first step - and not the last - in a radical overhaul of the club.

But Lasorda is a fighter and he desperately wants to keep his job. Long before he was passed over for the spot when Al Campanis was fired in 1987, he dreamed of building his own team. He has never been an interim anything.

He can't go to Rupert Murdoch in November and say, ``Hey, look at the way I cut San Diego's 13-1/2-game lead in the West to four.'' That isn't going to work the way it did with Peter O'Malley. That sends him back to kissing babies, and someone like Pat Gillick pulling the strings.

For Lasorda, the future is now, beginning tonight with the second-half opener against the Padres. The deal to acquire closer Jeff Shaw from Cincinnati cost the Dodgers two players who could have helped down the line. Shaw, however, can close out games Scott Radinsky and Antonio Osuna couldn't.

If Shaw remains the league's top save man the way he was with the Reds, the Dodgers will pick up some games. Shaw also will build a confidence in the starting rotation and the team in general.

Lasorda now needs to go out and get a fifth starter. The team needs a winning streak and they aren't going to do that with a hole in their rotation.

Lasorda talks a lot about 1983, when the team gained 10 games on Atlanta in 11 days. What he doesn't say is that feat was the Halley's Comet of comebacks. The Dodgers also used so much energy getting back in the race, they fizzled in the final two weeks. And that team was much younger than this.

The 1998 Dodgers are so banged up, an $18.5 million player might have trouble finding a training table.

They are hoping to get back shortstop Jose Vizcaino, their steadiest defensive player and valuable No. 2 hitter. His absence, because of a badly sprained right ankle, put added pressure on leadoff man Eric Young, who should have gone on the DL 10 days ago when he strained his right quad for the third time.

Divisions are won at the top of the order. The Dodgers learned that last year with four hitters who had 30 or more home runs but a second-place finish in the West. Young is to be applauded for his grit, a rare virtue on past Dodgers teams, but leading the league in stolen bases is not enough.

Gary Sheffield, who replaced Eric Karros 10 days ago in the cleanup spot, needs protection. Raul Mondesi, moved to the third spot during the same shuffling, had a great road trip before the break. He probably is the best all-around center fielder in the National League.

In the second half last year, Mondesi batted .326 with 13 homers and 39 RBI. But he also batted .251 overall with runners in scoring position. That can't happen again.

Karros, wounded by the demotion from fourth to fifth in the order, won't have the same opportunities on offense, but the knee injury that cost him 22 games at the beginning of the season is much improved.

Bobby Bonilla, the left-handed bat acquired in the May 15 Mike Piazza trade, had a miserable first half. Even if he recovers completely from the intestinal infection that zapped much of his strength, Bonilla is not the same player who drove in 97 runs last year for the Florida Marlins.

Bonilla is coming off surgery to his left wrist and left Achilles' tendon. Both injuries require at least a year to recover fully. He also is 35 and is due $15 million over the next 2-1/2 years.

It's unlikely the team will change his position unless it moves Karros. Bonilla is too slow to play the outfield. The Dodgers liked youngster Adrian Beltre during his brief trial at third, but they want him playing every day, which means Triple-A.

The Dodgers have a favorable schedule in the second half with 14 of their first 18 at home. Between Aug. 7 and Sept. 6, they play 21 of 28 games at Dodger Stadium. They close the season with six straight and nine of 12 at home.

But will it matter? Will a veteran team respond to this challenge when most have multiyear contracts? The Baltimore Orioles, predicted by many to win the American League East are 38-50, 26-1/2 games behind the New York Yankees. Their roster is filled with potential free agents, anxious for new contracts but not anxious enough show they are worth more money.

Lasorda has all that to deal with in the final three months of the season. The big trade for Mike Piazza failed to produce the leadership they have been missing for years.

He knows he has to allow new manager Glenn Hoffman to establish a new identity, but it's difficult because Lasorda has waited so long for this position.

How long will he keep it? It still is worth coming to the ballpark to find out.

DODGERS MIDSEASON REPORT CARD

43-44, third place

13 1/2 games back in NL WEST

OFFENSE: C-

It all starts with Eric Young, but he's been out of the lineup too much. Gary Sheffield has been superb but needs support from Bobby Bonilla and Raul Mondesi.

DEFENSE: B

Adding catcher Charles Johnson and shortstop Jose Vizcaino plus the switch of Mondesi to center are improvements. Bonilla needs to have consistent second half.

STARTING PITCHING: C

No one has stepped up to take Ramon Martinez's place. Ismael Valdes had two brilliant starts lately but has not shown ace tendencies. Neither has Chan Ho Park.

BULLPEN: C

Bringing in Jeff Shaw not only means saves, it means putting Scott Radinsky and Antonio Osuna back where they pitch best, in setup roles.

BENCH: F

Except for Matt Luke, this group has not shown up. Jim Eisenreich acknowledges he has been a flop the past two years. Too many guys just happy to be here.

MANAGER: Inc.

Depends who you are calling the manager. Is it Lasorda, who walks through the clubhouse trying to pump guys up, or is it Glenn Hoffman, who has gotten good marks for game management?

OVERALL: C-

Veterans blamed the moves for the first-half mediocrity. No one looked in the mirror. Shaw will add confidence because the team knows he will close out victories.

SECOND HALF SURGE?

The Dodgers' 43-44 record through 87 games this season is two games behind last year's pace, when the team was 45-42. Here is a look at the past three seasons in which the Dodgers have had second-half surges:

Year First 81 gms Second 81 gms Finish

1995 41-40 37-26 78-66, 1st - Division Champs

1996 42-39 48-33 90-72, 2nd - Wild Card.

1997 39-4249-32 88-74, 2nd - No Wild Card.

1998 39-42 4-2 ????

CAPTION(S):

Photo, 2 Boxes

PHOTO (Color) Raul Mondesi and the Dodgers must win if interim GM Tom Lasorda is to keep his job.

Phil McCarten/Daily News

BOX: (1) DODGERS MIDSEASON REPORT CARD (see text)

(2) SECOND HALF SURGE? (see text)