DODGERS NOTEBOOK: OROSCO'S HOPE: DODGER TO THE END.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Dodgers left-hander Jesse Orosco has pitched in a major-league-record 1,134 games. He's not sure how many games, or seasons, remain in his pitching arm, but he said Tuesday the Dodgers will be the last organization for which he pitches.

``This is where I want to end my career,'' Orosco said. ``This is going to be my last team. I told my wife in spring training that if I got hurt, I didn't want to go through the rehab again and that would be it.''

Ironically, the rehab is what kept Orosco going last season. Though he entered into semi-retirement when he didn't make the Dodgers roster out of spring training, Orosco was coming off elbow surgery and didn't want an outstanding career to end without another chance to pitch for L.A.

When former Dodgers general Kevin Malone resigned, Orosco signed a minor-league deal shortly thereafter and joined the Dodgers on May 25.

``People keep asking, 'Why do you keep playing?' Why not?'' Orosco said. ``If I'm successful at something, do I quit?''

He will turn 45 on April 21. He's already pitched in parts of four decades, is in his second stint with the Dodgers and has pitched with five other organizations.

Orosco, in his 23rd season in the major leagues, is unsure whether this will be his last. He thought his career was over when he was pitching in Baltimore in the late 1990s. He talked about retirement with his wife, Leticia, after he didn't make the Dodgers' opening-day roster in 2001.

Orosco was 0-1 with a 3.94 ERA in 35 games last season but pitched only 16 innings. Part of it was the Dodgers' unwillingness to pitch Orosco with any consistency because he was coming off elbow surgery, but that won't be a concern this season.

Orosco had better life on his fastball this spring than any time last year. He pitched in three games entering Tuesday's series opener against San Francisco, allowing one run in two innings.

``I'd like to throw 60 or 70 innings,'' said Orosco, who hasn't done that since 1990 with Cleveland. ``If I get that many innings, I'm doing my job, and if I do that, it's taking a lot of wear and tear off the other pitchers, too.''

--Bottom feeders: Mark Grudzielanek moved from second to eighth in the batting order, in part to provide more production for the bottom of the lineup. It is something sorely needed given Alex Cora didn't have an RBI the last month of the 2001 season. Grudzielanek is off to a slow start, batting .143 with from the eighth spot, but has an RBI.

However, he's worked a couple of walks and has a .286 on-base percentage.

``We didn't have that a year ago,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. ``What we had was a three-month period when the middle of the lineup took turns driving each other in.

--Odds and ends: Dodgers left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii had a 12.96 ERA in spring training but pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his major-league debut against Colorado. It drew this response from Tracy: ``If he was laying in the weeds, then it'd be comparable to Chief in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' because we didn't know he liked Juicy Fruit. We didn't know he could talk,'' Tracy said. ... Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia sat out with a sore groin and is questionable for the last two games of the series.