His eyes red, his steps slow, Tom Lasorda waved to the fans for the final time at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla. 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 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 of them stood in the bottom of the ninth, bidding farewell to their team — and a piece of paradise lost — as Los Angeles fell to the Houston Astros, 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."

Set to move next year into an $80 million complex that they'll share with the Chicago White Sox in Glendale, Ariz., the Dodgers will take away more than a team from this town of 30,000 on Florida's east coast.

In an era when spring training has become big business, this complex was more like baseball's petting zoo, where players were encouraged to chat with fans and sign their balls. To many visitors, Vero Beach was a true field of dreams.

"It is a special place," former Dodgers ace Carl Erskine said.

His white hair ruffling in the breeze, Erskine played the national anthem on his harmonica. He threw the first pitch at cozy Holman Stadium when it opened in 1953, back when grassy embankments served as the outfield walls. Even now, there are just 17 rows of stands and no roofs on the dugouts.

The popular "Oisk" first arrived in 1948, when the Dodgers touched down at the converted naval air station a year after they trained in Havana.

The Dodgers are scheduled to play one more exhibition in Florida, against the Marlins down in Jupiter today, and then finish spring training out West.

If they don't come back, the Baltimore Orioles are poised to move up from Fort Lauderdale.

Eileen Conneely stopped to snap one last picture of the markers at the corner of Don Drysdale Drive and Vin Scully Way. She grew up going to games in Brooklyn and traveled down from Long Island to see the finale.

"We came just for this day," she said.

RED SOX

MATSUZAKA WILL START SEASON OPENER IN JAPAN

Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka will start Boston's regular-season opener against the Oakland Athletics in Tokyo on March 25.

"I think that will be a ton of excitement," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said before yesterday's exhibition game against the New York Yankees. "I know he's honored."

Jon Lester will pitch the second of the two-game series with the A's in Japan on March 26.

Clay Buchholz and Tim Wakefield will be on the hill for exhibition games in Japan prior to the regular-season contests.

Matsuzaka was scheduled to return to camp yesterday after missing the previous two days following the birth of his son Saturday.

Right-hander Josh Beckett, who will not travel to Japan because of a back injury, threw from 120 feet yesterday.

"Another good day," Francona said. "So probably he's going to come along fairly quickly."

ELSEWHERE

Twins: Francisco Liriano said he's making progress, even if his spring numbers have yet to catch up to how he feels. Liriano allowed three runs and five hits over three-plus innings in the Minnesota Twins' 5-3 loss to the Florida Marlins yesterday at Fort Myers, Fla. He walked two, struck out one and threw 33 of his 59 pitches for strikes. "I think I'll be good enough to start the season," said Liriano, 15 months removed from "Tommy John" surgery on his left elbow. Liriano has an 8.10 ERA in three starts this spring and could get three more before the start of the regular season.

Cardinals: St. Louis outfielder Juan Gonzalez missed his seventh straight spring training game yesterday and is losing ground in his effort to win a spot on the team. Gonzalez underwent an MRI exam Friday for an abdominal injury and was waiting for it to be read by a specialist. The 38-year-old slugger, attempting a comeback after getting only one at-bat the previous three seasons, said he was told by team doctors that the injury is not serious.

New York: Joba Chamberlain could be headed back to the bullpen officially this week. Chamberlain said he expects to meet with New York manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland tomorrow to discuss his role. The right-hander went 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA out of the bullpen last year during his first season. Chamberlain has worked as a starter this spring, and eventually will join the rotation.

Brewers: Milwaukee left-hander Chris Capuano walked off the mound in the fourth inning with pain in his left arm at Peoria, Ariz. After allowing three runs and five hits, Capuano motioned to a trainer that he could feel something in his arm when he tried to extend on his pitches. Capuano said he'd be shut down for a few days to see if his sore elbow calms down.