DODGERS NOTEBOOK: MURRAY BRINGING DIFFERENT MIND-SET.

Byline: Tony Jackson Staff Writer

The Dodgers formally introduced their new coaching staff on Wednesday, and with special coach Manny Mota and bullpen catcher Rob Flippo the only holdovers, the underlying but overwhelming theme was change. Eddie Murray, who by virtue of his Hall of Fame induction three summers ago brings unsurpassed credibility to his role as hitting coach, might represent the biggest change of all.

Former hitting coach Tim Wallach, who left the club for personal reasons after last season, loved to preach the gospel of massaging the count and making the opposing pitcher work. Murray says he didn't swat his way to 504 home runs in a 21-year, big-league career by taking pitches.

``I didn't always believe in working the count,'' said Murray, a Locke High School graduate who has lived in the Los Angeles area all his life. ``I think I hit over .400 off the first pitch in my career. It's about selection. Talk to pitchers. That's how you learn to hit, by talking to the other animal. Every pitching coach tells their pitchers the most important pitch is strike one. That's the pitch they want to come the closest to home plate with. After that, they work the corners and off the plate.''

If nothing else, that philosophy should make for shorter games. But that will only happen if the Dodgers hitters buy into Murray's philosophy more readily than they bought into Wallach's last season. The none-too-patient Dodgers batted a collective .253, which was next to last in the majors, and went 71-91.

Besides Mota and Flippo, Murray will be joined on the staff by bench coach Dave Jauss, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, third-base coach Rich Donnelly, first-base coach Mariano Duncan and bullpen coach Dan Warthen.

If the Dodgers struggled offensively last season, so did the Cleveland Indians - at least until June 4, when manager Eric Wedge fired Murray midway through his fourth year as the Indians hitting coach. The club quickly recovered and stayed in the hunt for a playoff spot until the season's final day.

For his part, Murray has little to say on his unceremonious departure.

``You don't want to know,'' he said. ``It had nothing to do with anything on the field.''

And it was of little concern to Dodgers manager Grady Little.

``I didn't ask him about it,'' Little said. ``Just like he didn't ask me why I left Pedro (Martinez) in that game.''

Little was referring to Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series, when he was widely criticized and ultimately fired in Boston for sticking with a tiring Martinez before the Red Sox blew a three-run lead and lost.

--Furcal surgery: Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal had a torn meniscus removed from his right knee Wednesday at the Kerlan-Jobe clinic, a procedure that is expected to alleviate periodic fluid buildup that has plagued Furcal in recent years.

Tony Jackson, [phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

As manager Grady Little looks on, Eddie Murray, right, is introduced as the Dodgers' new hitting coach.

Nick Ut/Associated Press