Cody Ross was hit on the left wrist during last night’s game against the Mets at Port St. Lucie. He left the game after the first inning and returned to Vero Beach. X-rays were negative and Ross said this morning he should be OK. Ross is out of minor league options, so the Dodgers must decide his status this week. In 17 games this spring, Ross is batting .360 with four home runs and eight RBI.

We now have just a little over a week left in Vero Beach before we head west, which means that the process of getting our roster down to the 25 players we will have for Opening Day is in full throttle. Since in the course of my 15-year career I was sent down during Spring Training six times and sent down during the season three times, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on what it feels like.

The most important element to know is what the players know — there is nothing like the big leagues. Nothing even close. Being a big league player is what you dream about your entire life. The money, the lifestyle, the notoriety, the competition, even the pressure is intoxicating. When that is taken away, for whatever reason, it is a blow. In Spring Training, there are generally three types of players that are sent out. There are the young prospects like Andy LaRoche who are on the 40-man roster and are being optioned. There are veterans such as Joe Beimel who have previous big league service time with other clubs and have signed minor league contracts with the understanding that they will have the chance to make the big league team. The third is the Major League veteran who is older that either makes the team or is released. In all cases there is a severe sense of disappointment.

Even in LaRoche’s case where he is a young player with a bright future and without a great chance to make the team, there was disappointment. If nothing else, you now have to spend the rest of Spring Training on the minor league side of the complex, where the uniforms just don’t seem as white and the games are played in front of empty stands. Plus, you have to watch the big league team work out in the morning and while they are only feet away, it may as well be 1,000 miles.  In the veterans’ case, it is a failed opportunity to get back to the big leagues, which is the ultimate goal. No one plays with the idea of making a good living in Triple-A. You play to play in the big leagues and in some instances, your window is closing. You know how different the big leagues are from the minors and your hunger to get back is even greater. But you also know that you better get over that disappointment quickly because your goal now shifts to being the first guy up when the season starts.       

For today’s afternoon game against the Cards, we’ll have: Furcal, SS; Cruz, CF; Drew, RF; Kent, 2B; Guzman, LF; Choi, 1B; Aybar, 3B; Martin, C; Seo P

Last night was one of the unique experiences that this job sometimes affords us PR guys. After the game against the Marlins, I went to dinner with dodgers.com beat writer Ken Gurnick and our Hall of Fame broadcaster Jaime Jarrin. While I’ve gotten to know both of these gentlemen quite well over the years, it was the guests who joined us that made last night’s dinner a little different.

Ken Gurnick is longtime friends with Craig Kelly, who happens to be the U.S. Ambassador to Chile. Craig was in Miami for a conference so he joined us for dinner along with Colonel Jeffrey Smith, the Military Group Commander at the embassy in Chile. Needless to say, it was an interesting dinner, but what makes Craig different than most ambassadors is his passion for baseball and specifically, the Dodgers.

Craig grew up in Los Angeles and in his office in the embassy, he has a photo of the day he came to Dodger Stadium and spent an inning on the air with Jaime (he speaks five languages, incredibly). But he’s also one of the main reasons that baseball as a sport is growing in Chile.

When he arrived as ambassador there nearly two years ago, he and his wife, Kim, began starting Little Leagues around the Santiago area and their hope is that someday, that country will feed Major League Baseball the kind of talent that you see from the Dominican, Venezuela, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

On the embassy’s website, there’s some interesting articles about some Latin Little Leaguers who recently met George Bush. Even more impressive is an article written about Craig and Kim’s efforts to bring baseball to Chile.

Craig also mentioned that the ambassador in Argentina is a big Dodger fan, so both men now have their own copies of the Dodger media guide to bring back to South America.

Safe to say, the global reach of Dodger baseball never ceases to amaze me.

Here is the Dodgers’ starting lineup for tonight’s game vs. the New York Mets at Port St. Lucie:

Rafael Furcal, SS; Kenny Lofton, CF; Nomar Garciaparra, 1B; Ricky Ledee, LF; Sandy Alomar Jr., C; Bill Mueller, 3B; Cody Ross, RF; Oscar Robles, 2B; Brett Tomko, P.

Ballplayers taking their leads from first base … "chalk talk" sessions in the dugout … taking hacks behind home plate during soft-toss batting practice … pregame stretching in the outfield … a series of pitchers warming up in the bullpen.

Ordinary scenes from Spring Training in March, but on this evening at Holman Stadium, the ballplayers were actually participants at the 5th Annual Ladies Spring Training at Dodgertown.

A large staff of Dodger coaches and prospects assembled to stage a series of baseball clinics on the field, followed by a postgame meal in the picnic area behind the left-field grandstands at the ballpark. You’d be surprised to find how many "post-collegiate" athletes still brought along a glove and were ready to run the basepaths, at least from first to second base. Coach Tarrik Brock and minor league catcher Eric Langill gave signals and alternated between pickoff moves and pitching motions toward home plate to challenge the runner’s decision when to dash from the base.

Other Dodger instructors included Mac Singleton, Fernando Arroyo and Ramon Martinez. The minor leaguers were T.J. Nall, Derek Thompson, Heath Totten, Joel Hanrahan, Xavier Paul, Matt Paul, Brandon Carter and Wesley Wright. Los Angeles coach Dave Jauss also participated, along with staff members of the Dodgers’ SIngle-A Vero Beach affiliate from the Florida State League.   

Here is the Dodgers’ starting lineup for their game this afternoon vs. the Florida Marlins at Jupiter:

Jason Repko, LF; Oscar Robles, SS; Jose Cruz Jr., CF; Olmedo Saenz, 1B; Ricky Ledee, RF; Bill Mueller, 3B; Russell Martin, C; Ramon Martinez, 2B; Aaron Sele, P.

After two weeks in Los Angeles, helping get Dodger Stadium ready for Opening Day, I’ve returned to Vero Beach for the final 10 days of Spring Training. Grady Little has been giving me a lot of grief for being away from the team, but he’s only kidding…at least I hope he is.

For those wondering what we all do during this time of year, the last couple weeks have been busy with all sorts of meetings at Dodger Stadium. We’ve met with KCAL, our new TV partner, exchanging ideas for features that you’ll see on their pregame show. We met with Telemundo and with Latino Sports TV about increased coverage this year, as you’re probably noticing that we’re really reaching out to the Latino fans with our new website losdodgers.com. And, we met with the the company that printed our media guide, which recently came out. These are just a few of the things that keep the PR department busy in the final weeks before Opening Day.

If you’re a die hard Dodger fan, I’d actually recommend picking up one of our media guides this year from the Top of the Park Gift Shop.  I know I’m biased in thinking that our department has put together one of the more informative guides in the league, but these are no longer for the media alone. There’s great information about each player and you can actually learn quite a bit about the team, its players, community efforts, history, records, executives and a lot more.

Anyway, enough shameless promotion for one night. We just got back from a night game in Viera where Brad Penny, Tim Hamulack and D.J. Houlton set down 17 guys in a row at one point and Russell Martin had four RBI, including a three-run homer. Nomar Garciaparra had a couple hits, too, which is good to see, as he spent some extra time in the cage this morning just trying to get into a groove. An 11-5 win gives the Dodgers an 11-5 record. A nice touch.

Tomorrow we’re on ESPN, with Aaron Sele continuing his impressive battle to make the team. Lance Carter and Hong-Chih Kuo will follow him to the mound. We’ll post the lineup first thing in the morning.

Here is the Dodgers’ starting lineup for their night game at Viera vs. the Washington Nationals …

Rafael Furcal, SS; Kenny Lofton, CF; Nomar Garciaparra, 1B; Jeff Kent, 2B; Joel Guzman, LF; Jason Repko, RF; Ramon Martinez, 3B; Russell Martin, C; Brad Penny, P.

Veteran umpire Bruce Froemming is getting ready to begin his 36th Major League season in 2006, tying the all-time record for longevity set by Hall of Famer Bill Klem. Froemming, who will be at first base for today’s game at Holman Stadium, broke into the Majors on April 6, 1971 at New York’s Shea Stadium. The other umpires that afternoon were Al Barlick, Ed Vargo and Harry Wendelstedt, whose son, Hunter Wendelstedt, is today’s home plate umpire.

This morning, Froemming was on a minor league field, tossing a flying foam disc to his beloved hunting dog, Blue. It’s one of the best sights of Spring Training and those who are used to the voice of authority when umpiring a ballgame, Bruce speaks to the dog in kind tones and is very proud when others give compliments.

One day, Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti drove by on his golf cart and yelled, "Open your eyes, Blue!" Colletti claimed he was talking to the dog.