Dodgers bid fond farewell
His eyes red, his steps slow, Tom Lasorda waved to the fans for the final time at Dodgertown. Down in the right-field corner, his players and coaches silently gathered and formed two lines.
They had their own way of helping him say goodbye to an old friend.
Crossing bats overhead in a sacred baseball tradition, they formed an arch to let Lasorda close this special place the Dodgers called their spring home in Vero Beach Fla., for 60 years.
“These guys want me to cry,” the Hall of Fame manager said.
He didn’t, but chances are a few people in the overflow crowd did. Some stood in the bottom of the ninth, bidding farewell to their team as Los Angeles fell to Houston 12-10.
So long, Dodgertown.
“We’re going to leave, but we’re not leaving our memories,” Lasorda told them in a pregame address, pausing between sentences. Later, he reflected: “In all probability, I’ll never be here again.”
The Dodgers will move their spring training camp to Glendale, Ariz., next year.
Relievers pitch M’s to win
Long reliever Cha Seung Baek allowed only one hit while pitching the first four innings for the Mariners in a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers in Surprise, Ariz.
After Baek got his work in, with one strikeout and one walk, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey threw three scoreless innings for Seattle. Dickey gave up three hits and got the victory.
•Milwaukee scored seven runs in the fifth inning on its way to a 17-3 rout of Seattle in Peoria, Ariz. Two came on a double by Corey Hart, who had two hits and two RBIs. Two more on a home run by Eric Munson, who had three hits and three RBIs.
Ichiro Suzuki, batting .105 this spring, struck out three times.
Pettitte feeling fine
Andy Pettitte gave the New York Yankees exactly what they wanted: a pain-free start.
Pettitte allowed three runs and three hits over 3 1/3 innings in the Yankees’ 8-4 win over the Boston Red Sox in Tampa, Fla. The left-hander was scratched from his previous start Wednesday due to minor muscle irritation on the outside of his throwing elbow.
•Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka will start the Boston Red Sox’s regular-season opener against the Oakland Athletics in Tokyo on March 25.
Hampton encouraging
Mike Hampton is back on track to open the season in the Atlanta Braves’ rotation.
Hampton allowed a run and two hits over 4 1/3 innings in a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The left-hander’s encouraging performance came 10 days after he had to leave a start with a slight right groin pull.
Gonzalez still out
Juan Gonzalez missed his seventh straight spring training game and is losing ground in his effort to win a spot on the St. Louis Cardinals.