And for the first time since Harry Truman was president, pitchers and catchers are reporting Friday not to Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., but to shiny new Camelback Ranch-Glendale. And the organization is fired up, expecting the proximity to Los Angeles to create more of a hometown feel than what they left behind in Florida.

The 141-acre shared facility is a joint venture with the White Sox and the city of Glendale, developed at a cost of $80 million and built at a furious pace to be ready for Saturday's first-workout unveiling, barely a year after ground was broken.

Manager Joe Torre, engulfed by controversy since the release of his book about his Yankees years, opens his second Dodgers Spring Training on Friday hoping media questioning finally shifts back to his current club and away from his former club.

Torre, who meets with the media Friday afternoon, at least is expected to stay put this spring after last year's nomadic journey from Florida to China to Arizona and California. He'll welcome position players Wednesday, with the first full-squad workout a day later. The only player not expected on time is non-roster pitcher Ronald Belisario, who is having visa problems in Venezuela.

Torre will have an even younger club than last year's with the departure of 15 free agents, including starting pitchers Derek Lowe, Brad Penny and Greg Maddux; relievers Takashi Saito, Joe Beimel and Chan Ho Park; infielders Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra; and outfielder Andruw Jones.

Topping the short list of acquired players are Randy Wolf, Mark Loretta, Brad Ausmus, Guillermo Mota and Claudio Vargas.

And topping the list of players whose situation is a mystery is Ramirez. Presumably, the club is saving a choice corner locker for the outfielder.

Based on the most recent information from the club, those reporting are relatively healthy. Chad Billingsley, who suffered a broken left leg in a slip-and-fall on ice in November, is healed and already throwing bullpen sessions.

Jason Schmidt, who hasn't pitched in a Major League game in 20 months, is said to be healed from a second shoulder operation and also ready for bullpen sessions. He'll compete for the fifth starter spot again.

Joining the pitchers and catchers are shortstop Rafael Furcal and outfielder Delwyn Young, granted permission because they are technically rehabbing from injuries, Furcal from back surgery and Young from elbow surgery. Furcal played winter ball and is said to be 100 percent; Young had elbow surgery and said last week it still limits his range of motion while batting left-handed.

The Dodgers consider the opening of a Cactus League facility completion of the franchise move west that Walter O'Malley undertook in 1958. The only real baseball aspect being shared by the clubs is the 10,000-seat sunken stadium, because both franchises have dedicated practice fields and batting cages, Minor League complexes, executive offices and Major League clubhouses. The Dodgers already have begun calling the facility a "campus."

The site is 15 miles west of downtown Phoenix and, oddly, isn't in Glendale but within the western portion of Phoenix city limits. The slice of land -- just beyond the final approach of F-16 fighters returning to Luke Air Force Base -- is owned by the city of Glendale, which retained hyphenated naming rights as part of the deal after watching the NFL's Cardinals sell the name of Glendale's nearby football stadium to University of Phoenix. The area has been called Camelback Ranch, although ranching has long since given way to the overproduction of tract houses.

While Camelback Ranch-Glendale can't possibly match the nostalgia of Dodgertown, you can't beat the convenience. In Florida, the Dodgers had only one other Major League team training within an hour's drive. Now there are eight Phoenix-area teams within a 20-mile radius, 14 teams overall in the Cactus League with the Reds arriving next year.

And the convenience to fans was even more important to club chairman Frank McCourt, who made it happen despite the pushback from fans devoted to the Dodgers and their folklore.

"There is tremendous, tremendous history embedded there," McCourt said of Vero Beach, "and that's what made the decision [to move] so difficult. But at the end of the day, we wanted to give our fans a great experience. Spring Training is one of the great parts of baseball, where fans can bond with the players and vice versa.

"And our fans just couldn't get to Vero Beach. It was not affordable and took a huge time commitment. You can fly here in an hour, or drive here in five hours from Los Angeles."

That being said, McCourt conceded that Dodgertown is "so much in our DNA" that fans walking around the grounds at Camelback Ranch-Glendale will run into reminders of Vero Beach, including the close access to players.

"There will be no fences or barriers," he said.

The first Cactus League game at the facility is scheduled for March 1, a 1:05 p.m. MT game between the Dodgers and White Sox. The Mariners face the Sox on March 2 and a game will be played every day in March (and April 1) except for March 3 and 23.

Camelback Ranch-Glendale is located at 111th Avenue, west of the Loop 101 between Camelback Road and Glendale Avenue. Plans call for the two-team facility to eventually include residential, restaurant and retail development, a four-star hotel and an 18-hole golf course.

Among the current elements:

Water feature -- A 1,300-foot lake system with river serving the dual purpose of irrigation for fields and site landscaping, and aesthetic enhancement of the campus by physically creating a natural barrier between the two teams' practice facilities while offering interconnecting walking trails and a park-like feel. The lake utilizes reclaimed water and is stocked with fish (bass, bluegill, carp, catfish) and turtles.

Architecture -- Mixture of architectural finishes: natural stone veneers, tri-color faux staining, rusty metal panels, gabion wall systems, earth-tone (caramel) stadium seat color, and other appointments that blend with the natural desert colors of Arizona. Construction utilizes sweeps and angles (no level panels) instead of a big-box look.

Placement -- Recessed stadium and team support buildings and secluded parking in the back (north) of the property create open space at the front (south) of the property off Camelback Road.

Main entrance -- Center-field (plaza) main entrance.

Sightlines -- Stadium playing field sunken 12 feet below grade. Stadium seating elevated 12 feet above grade to provide unobstructed sightlines.

Walking paths -- Fans will take natural walking paths of decomposed granite from parking lots along the water feature and between practice diamonds en route to the main entrance in center field.

Walk of Fame -- The future Walk of Fame runs along the water feature.

Team buildings -- Asymmetrical team support buildings of over 50,000 square feet apiece. Separate buildings for Dodgera Major and Minor leaguers, and one building that combines White Sox Major and Minor leaguers.

Practice diamonds -- Twelve practice fields (four Major League, eight Minor League) including replica fields with exact dimensions of Dodger Stadium and U.S. Cellular Field. Three additional infields also have been built.

Orange grove -- A touch of Dodgertown, Southern California and Arizona, the new orange grove is located on the east side of the property beyond the left-field wall of replica Dodger Stadium.

Tunnels -- Players access the stadium via tunnels from their clubhouses.

Capacity -- Largest seating capacity in the Cactus League (10,000 seats, access for 3,000 on the outfield berm).

Bandstand -- Music will be offered daily outside the plaza on a permanent water-side bandstand.