DODGERS NOTEBOOK: Torre: Furcal to get rest.

Byline: Tony Jackson [e-mail] Staff Writer

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal, who arrived at spring training for the first time on Thursday, probably will be out of the starting lineup for about one game a week this season as part of a plan by manager Joe Torre to keep Furcal healthy.

The Dodgers lost Furcal for 41/2 months last season with a back injury that ultimately required surgery. The injury occurred on May 6, a point at which Furcal had played in all but one inning of the Dodgers' first 32 games of the season.

"We're going to keep an eye on him for sure," Torre said before the first full-squad workout of the spring. "We'll probably have to slip in a day off once in a while ... maybe once a week. It's going to be a feel thing. The big part is going to be how Raffy feels, not (whether) Raffy wants to play."

That is the tricky part. When he met with reporters before the workout - and well before Torre let it be known he plans to give him regular rest - Furcal made a proclamation that was more figurative than literal, but it also spoke to his reluctance to come out of the lineup unless he is forced to do so.

"I want to play 162 games," Furcal said. "And then 11 more for the championship."

Torre was asked if he will simply accept Furcal's word as to how he feels on a given day.

"I think we have to have a plan," Torre said. "Later on, we might discover that it may not be necessary, although I doubt that to be the case.

"Last year, after he went onto the (disabled list), he got teased a couple of times thinking he was feeling better. I think for everybody involved, this is probably the safest thing to do."

Furcal has a specifically prescribed core-strengthening program designed to keep his back healthy, and his new three-year, $30 million contract includes a provision that will pay him an additional $1 million each year if he adheres to that program.

Baserunning 101

The Dodgers spent the first hour of their first full-squad workout of the spring, as they usually do, on baserunning fundamentals. Third-base coach Larry Bowa was in charge of the presentation, and he began with a universal baseball truth.

"The easiest thing to do on a baseball field is to run hard and hustle," Bowa said. "It's about doing little things to win baseball games."

It's also about avoiding injuries.

"If you're in doubt, slide," Bowa said. "The worst thing you can do is stand up and then at the last second decide to slide. That is how we break ankles."

No vacation

Non-roster infielder Luis Maza, who made his major-league debut for the Dodgers last season and wound up hitting .228 in 45 games, hasn't really gotten a break since. Immediately after the season, he went home to Venezuela and suited up for Tigres de Aragua, a club that went on to win the championships of both the Venezuelan Winter League and the Caribbean World Series.

Maza was the starting shortstop for that club.

"It was great to be a part of something so big," Maza said, with Dodgers publications director Jorge Martin translating. "I had about four days off in October before I started playing winter ball, and I came straight here from the Caribbean World Series."