DODGERS NOTEBOOK: GIANTS SERIES HAS SUBSTANCE WHERE YANKS HAD STYLE.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

The New York Yankees were to leave town Sunday night, taking the hype with them. The Dodgers were set to leave, too, on a charter flight to San Francisco, where tonight they will begin a four-game series that figures to loom much larger than their just-completed, interleague glamour match.

This one pits not only two teams whose rivalry approaches that of the Yankees and Boston Red Sox in intensity, but two teams who are separated by a razor-thin margin atop the National League West. It all adds up to a monumental series, easily the biggest of the season thus far for the Dodgers.

The Giants got off to a miserable start, going 10-14 in April, a month when they also lost five of six to the Dodgers. At the time, every regular except one in the Giants lineup was struggling, and the result was that teams were pitching around Barry Bonds without consequence.

But the Giants sizzled for most of May, enough that they were able to crawl back into the race, and they finally managed last Wednesday to leapfrog San Diego into second place.

``I think a lot of (the Giants' early struggles) had to do with a couple of things,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. ``First, it was the stability of their starting rotation. And offensively, some of the guys in their lineup hadn't found their niche, which is very similar to our situation.

``But they have some very capable offensive players, and they also have one guy in particular who changes the complexion of the game in a way that you don't experience when you're facing any other club.''

That would be Barry Bonds, who not surprisingly is the runaway, major- league leader in walks. In an attempt to raise money for charity, the Giants will be selling rubber chickens, at $10 each, at SBC Park this week, the idea being that fans can wave them whenever Bonds is walked.

--Father's Day: Tracy, whose dad is battling advanced prostate cancer, said this Father's Day took on a special significance for him.

``I do look at it differently, but in the same way I looked at opening day differently and in the same way Thanksgiving and Christmas will be different this year,'' Tracy said. ``You look at every significant day differently because you wonder if you're going to have another one.''

Tracy said that although his father has had his ups and downs, there has been no significant change either for the better or for the worse since his parents visited him during the Dodgers' season-opening homestand in April. Tracy also urged all men to get checked regularly for the disease, saying his dad waited too long after he first experienced symptoms to see a doctor.

--New tradition: Dodgers owner Frank McCourt estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 people showed up at the ballpark early Sunday for a Father's Day promotion in which fans were invited to play catch with their dads on the outfield grass.

Among them were celebrities Jimmy Kimmel and Alyssa Milano, and Dodgers legends Steve Garvey and Ron Cey also participated.

The event was McCourt's brainchild. McCourt, who also participated with three of his four sons, said he hopes to stage it every year.

Tony Jackson, [phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com