Tom Niedenfuer

Tom Niedenfuer, former Dodgers reliever, made thousands of pitches over a 10-season major league career. Baseball fans probably remember only two. Ozzie Smith lined the first over the Busch Stadium wall 25 years ago this week, his improbable walk-off home run giving the St. Louis Cardinals a Game 5 victory over the Dodgers in the 1985 National League Championship Series. Two days later, Jack Clark crushed a Niedenfuer offering into the left-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.

Tom Niedenfuer, former Dodgers reliever, made thousands of pitches over a 10-season major league career. Baseball fans probably remember only two. Ozzie Smith lined the first over the Busch Stadium wall 25 years ago this week, his improbable walk-off home run giving the St. Louis Cardinals a Game 5 victory over the Dodgers in the 1985 National League Championship Series. Two days later, Jack Clark crushed a Niedenfuer offering into the left-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.

When Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia came walking out to the mound on that Wednesday afternoon in October, he was stalling for time. "We were waiting for the shadows," Tom Niedenfuer said Saturday. "They were almost all the way across the plate." In the next moment, Jack Clark would step out of those shadows and eclipse a Dodger season. But first, Scioscia and Niedenfuer caucused. "Mike came out and said, 'I don't know what they want us to do,' " Niedenfuer said. "Then he looked into the dugout.

Jonathan Broxton descended to a place on Monday night visited by only a select group of players in Dodgers history. Ralph Branca was there in 1951 when he gave up a pennant-winning three-run home run to Bobby Thomson in a series-deciding playoff game against the Giants that came to be known as "The Shot Heard 'Round the World." Terry Forster was there on the final day of the 1982 regular season when he served up a home run to Joe Morgan that cost the Dodgers the National League West title.

Jonathan Broxton descended to a place on Monday night visited by only a select group of players in Dodgers history. Ralph Branca was there in 1951 when he gave up a pennant-winning three-run home run to Bobby Thomson in a series-deciding playoff game against the Giants that came to be known as "The Shot Heard 'Round the World." Terry Forster was there on the final day of the 1982 regular season when he served up a home run to Joe Morgan that cost the Dodgers the National League West title.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed free-agent pitcher Tom Niedenfuer to a triple-A contract.

Actress Judy Landers and Seattle Mariner pitcher Tom Niedenfuer, formerly of the Los Angeles Dodgers, have announced the birth of their first child. Lindsey Ann Landers Niedenfuer weighed in at 7 pounds, 9 ounces, when she was born Monday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Niedenfuer and Landers were married in November 1987.

If Tom Niedenfuer does well, then trade Tom Lasorda. Or trade him anyway. If he balks, he can retire to his restaurant and eat ribs and pasta all day while gazing at his own pictures on the wall. Time for a new era, not old errors. NANCY SPEAR Hermosa Beach

Why does Tom Niedenfuer get all the flack for Jack Clark's infamous homer when Orel Hershiser couldn't hold a 4-1 lead going into the seventh inning? After all, Orel had been invincible at Dodger Stadium and looked like money in the bank. How sad. ANDREA SANDAK Van Nuys

One day after the most celebrated meltdown of a Dodger closer in 18 years, you'll never guess who showed up at Dodger Stadium. Yeah. Him. Tom Niedenfuer sighed. "I drove into the parking lot and the guard said, 'Every time I see Jack Clark drive past, I think of you,' " he said. The juxtaposition was eerie, the symbolism startling. Eric Gagne blowing the All-Star game in Chicago on Tuesday night. Tom Niedenfuer standing behind the batting cage at Chavez Ravine on Wednesday afternoon.

If the Dodgers continue to play the way they've been playing lately, I am sure they will make the playoffs. If Bill Russell continues to manage the way he's been managing lately, I am sure he will turn to Todd Worrell to save some of the postseason games. If Todd Worrell then pitches the same way he has been pitching lately, I am sure that Bill Russell and the rest of the Dodgers will be watching the World Series on TV. Maybe then Russell can also catch up on some old Dodger highlight reels--and learn about a fellow named Tom Niedenfuer.

With the exception of a few oblique references to Tommy Lasorda's weaknesses, Bob Nightengale's piece on the Dodger manager [Feb. 18] could easily be inserted into the Dodger yearbook. Such one-sided praise should be unworthy of a Times reporter, particularly when Lasorda's managerial flaws are so glaring. As for Nightengale's reference to Lasorda outmanaging Davey Johnson in 1988, who can forget Johnson's comment at the time that he would never have used his young pitchers the way Lasorda had, even if it cost him the championship--a reference to Orel Hershiser's overuse during the playoffs and World Series.

The Dodgers make no apologies for their previous decade, during which they won two World Series championships, kept stadium turnstiles whirling and promoted the manias--Fernando, Orel and Gibson. It is interesting to wonder, though, what more there might have been had it not been for the Dodger bullpen, scarred by trauma and long overshadowed by the team's starters.

Tom Niedenfuer appreciates the irony but is more appreciative of the opportunity. Released by the Seattle Mariners just before the 1990 season, Niedenfuer has been thrust into a pivotal role in the St. Louis Cardinal bullpen, helping replace injured Todd Worrell. He was promoted from Louisville Monday and accompanied the Cardinals to Los Angeles Tuesday. His presence in the visitors' clubhouse at Dodger Stadium is a strange twist, indeed.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed free-agent pitcher Tom Niedenfuer to a triple-A contract.

What do you call an object that travels at 90 m.p.h., stays on a straight course without any movement and looks like a beachball to opposing National League batters? That's right--a Tom Niedenfuer fastball. When will the great minds of the Dodger hierarchy wake up before it's too late? LARRY N. CRAWFORD Coalinga

How long is Tom Lasorda going to inflict the game-losing combination of Jerry Reuss and Tom Niedenfuer upon us long-suffering Dodger fans? That overpaid, under-producing dismal duo are the worst bad-news twosome since Nixon and Agnew. WALKER A. TOMPKINS Santa Barbara

Actress Judy Landers and Seattle Mariner pitcher Tom Niedenfuer, formerly of the Los Angeles Dodgers, have announced the birth of their first child. Lindsey Ann Landers Niedenfuer weighed in at 7 pounds, 9 ounces, when she was born Monday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Niedenfuer and Landers were married in November 1987.