REPORTER GOES TO BAT FOR DODGERS' REWARD PLAN.

Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer

The piece of paper taped to the batting cage in Dodger Stadium on Wednesday listed the batting practice schedule for the afternoon. It was wrong.

The first group -- Furcal, Lofton, Kent, Loney and Garciaparra -- should have read like this: Andrews, Simers, Merfeld and Kleinbaum.

Three hours before the Dodgers stars took their practice cuts, a ratty collection of reporters had the chance to show off their batting skills, living out dreams festering since Little League.

It wasn't pretty. But it certainly was fun.

I dug my feet into the batter's box just after 2 p.m. and stepped into a time machine. Suddenly, as I cocked the David Justice-model wood bat behind my head, I was reliving a childhood Dodger Stadium memory. I was 10 years old again, coming in to face Orel Hershiser in the 1988 National League Championship Series, trying to lead my hometown Mets past the Dodgers.

I swung and missed at the first two pitches, then hit a slow dribbler to shortstop. On the fourth pitch, though, I heard that crack, the sweet sound a baseball makes when it's hit squarely by a wooden bat.

The ball shot into left field, and a Little Leaguer's dream came true, nearly 20 years later.

It was the same for the others in this lucky crew.

``I was really excited and really nervous at the same time,'' said Kevin Merfeld, sports editor of the Daily Trojan, the student newspaper at the University of Southern California. ``It's great to walk out on the field, play around with the dirt, take in the whole stadium. It's totally awesome.''

The Dodgers invited members of the press to Chavez Ravine to promote the Think Blue Rewards program, a frequent flier-type effort that lets fans accumulate points by buying tickets or Dodgers merchandise, or shopping at affiliated stores. Fans can then redeem those points for anything from game tickets to a batting practice session at Dodger Stadium.

Dodgers officials promised that if any of us cleared the fence, the team would have a contract waiting. None of us came close.

It wasn't perfect. The Dodgers couldn't spare a real batting-practice pitcher, so Casey Haakinson, a 26-year-old account executive in the team's front office, stood in. His pitches seemed better suited for a beer-league softball game than a Major League Baseball stadium, and being heckled by Los Angeles Times columnist T.J. Simers couldn't have helped.

``I've been called a lot of things,'' Haakinson said. ``But David Wells? No, that's a first.''

The Think Blue Rewards program gives fans a long list of potential prizes, including a strategy session with Manager Grady Little (25,000 points), lunch with Tommy Lasorda (50,000 points) and a round of golf with a Dodgers player (250,000 points). For 5 million points, a group of fans can rent out the stadium for its own game.

``Once we have all of our partners in, you should be able to earn points by buying gas, getting groceries or coming to the stadium,'' Dodgers Chief Marketing Officer Tagg Romney said. ``A typical person should be able to get 10,000 to 15,000 points per year.''

The program, designed by Sports Loyalty Systems, is free for season ticket holders. Others can join for $19.95 -- a price that includes two free tickets to a Dodgers game.

A few thousand fans have already joined, Romney said. About a dozen retail partners participate in the program, and 76 others were scheduled to attend Wednesday's game against the Chicago Cubs and get the sales pitch.

On Wednesday afternoon, the sales pitch worked on this reporter.

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Daily News reporter Josh Kleinbaum takes a swing at batting practice Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. The team introduced Think Blue Rewards, a frequent flier-type program rewarding fans for going to games and buying Dodgers merchandise.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer