DODGERS NOTEBOOK: VENTURA DECIDES TO END HIS CAREER.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

Dodgers infielder Robin Ventura announced his retirement after Sunday night's National League Division Series loss to St. Louis, ending a 15- year career that included six Gold Gloves, two All-Star selections and four postseason appearances.

Ventura, who had been reduced to a role player since being traded midway through last season to the team he grew up rooting for, had been leaning toward retirement all season. But he had been noncommittal when pressed on the subject, saying he might not make a final decision until well into the offseason.

Instead, Ventura said he decided late last week.

``Physically, it gets tougher all the time,'' Ventura said. ``It wouldn't have been fair to come back and not be able to play in the field as much as I should. It wouldn't be fair to (manager Jim Tracy) to have to put up with that.''

Ventura said he was completely at peace with his decision. Although he left the door open for a possible return to the game sometime in the distant future, he said he plans to stay home and enjoy his family for now and probably for the next few years. Ventura plans to settle permanently on the West Coast, somewhere north of Los Angeles.

``This was a fun year,'' said Ventura, who batted .243 with five home runs in 28 RBI in 152 at-bats this season. ``I had a lot of time to sit and watch and talk to guys, which was really different but satisfying. I had time to get to know people. This was definitely a people year.''

Ventura leaves the game with a career average of .267, with 294 home runs and 1,182 RBI. Before his professional career, he was one of the most decorated college players in NCAA history during a legendary career at Oklahoma State.

--Beltre struggles: Tracy said before Sunday night's game that he didn't believe Adrian Beltre was in a slump, despite the fact Beltre hadn't gone deep since tying the single-season record for home runs by a third baseman two weeks ago today.

Beltre's struggles continued in the final, when he went 0 for 3 but finally drove in his first run in two weeks with a third-inning sacrifice fly. He went 4 for 15 in the series.

Since his grand slam off Colorado's Shawn Estes, Beltre's 48th of the year, he went 7 for 37 (.189), with just the one RBI. All seven hits had been singles.

``If you look at how he is being pitched, I think that might factor into it,'' Tracy said. ``They're making sure that if he's going to hit home runs, it's going to be as hard as possible for him to do so. He's getting hits, but he's just not getting those really big pitches that he can hit a long way.''

Beltre admitted the Cardinals pitched him tough.

``They worked me in and out,'' he said. ``They were trying to get groundballs from me. They basically pitched me the same way they did during the regular season.''

Beltre went 7 for 25 in six regular-season games against the Cardinals, with two home runs.

--Cora OK: Dodgers second baseman Alex Cora was in the lineup Sunday night and said he would be fine after being hit by a pitch on the outside of his right hand in the third inning of Game 3. Cora grimaced upon impact, bringing Tracy and a trainer out of the dugout, but stayed in and played the rest of the game.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com