Ventura told teammates of his decision last week, but waited until the Dodgers' postseason run ended Sunday night to make his announcement public.

"I'm absolutely positive. I've realized that it's time to go, and that's it," Ventura said after the Dodgers lost to St. Louis 6-2, eliminating them from the NL playoffs.

Ventura, 37, played nine years with the Chicago White Sox, two with the New York Mets and 2 1/2 with the Yankees before finishing up with 1 1/2 seasons in Los Angeles.

He was used mostly in a utility role with the Dodgers, hitting .243 with five homers and 28 RBI in 152 at-bats this season. He hit two grand slams - raising his career total to 18. That's tied with Willie McCovey for the third-most in baseball history. Ventura, a .267 career hitter, leaves with 294 home runs, 1,182 RBI and six Gold Gloves for his work at third base.

YANKEES: Mariano Rivera flew home to comfort relatives Monday after two family members were electrocuted in his pool, but plans to be back in New York when the Yankees open their playoff series with the Boston Red Sox today.

"I have to comply with my family obligations, and I will return to New York on Tuesday," he told the newspaper La Prensa upon arriving in Panama late Sunday.

Rivera's agent, Fernando Cuza, told the AP in an e-mail Monday the pitcher "should be back in time" for Game 1 of the AL championship series tonight. The team arranged for a private plane to bring him back.

"It's possible he'll be here for tomorrow night. We're not going to expect it," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.

• Yankees fans will need more than a T-shirt to taunt the Red Sox.

A day before Boston and New York started the AL championship series, Major League Baseball recalled a T-shirt it had sanctioned upset Red Sox fans.

The message on the shirt: "Hey Red Sox ... Who's your daddy?"

The shirt bears both a Yankees logo and a picture of a red pacifier with the letter "B" on it - a reference to remarks Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez made after a recent loss to Boston's longtime rivals.

"Call the Yankees my daddy. I can't find a way to beat them at this point," Martinez said.

On Monday, the few thousand shirts that were made were recalled from retailers and took it off the Web site.

DIAMONDBACKS: Bob Melvin spoke to Arizona about becoming the team's manager, joining Mark Grace and Al Pedrique as candidates interviewed for the job.

General manager Joe Garagiola Jr. said interviews are scheduled for three others, and he expects to talk with two more.

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