Notes: Andruw could clean up KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Braves manager Bobby Cox says he hasn't decided how he's going to shape his batting order. But Andruw Jones is pleased to know he's in good position to begin the regular season in the cleanup spot. "If I hit good in Spring Training and show them that I deserve to be there, I'm sure [Cox] is going to let me [hit] there," Jones said. "When I get to hit cleanup, I just get excited. It's just like when I get a chance to play shortstop. It's just something I don't get too many chances to do." Jones hasn't gotten too many opportunities to prove himself as a cleanup hitter, batting .316 with 19 homers in only 237 career at-bats in the fourth spot of the lineup. But this year could be different. Cox would rather not announce his intentions until later in March. But when the exhibition season begins on Wednesday against Georgia Tech, he'll display a batting order that could possibly be the same one he uses when the regular season begins on April 5 against the Marlins at Dolphins Stadium. "I know Bobby probably wants to hit Andruw fourth because you can pretty much count on him hitting 30 homers," said Chipper Jones, who once again is lobbying for the chance to hit in the third spot of the order. News and features: • Notes: Hampton offers reward • Braves' A. Jones not satisfied with his efforts • Braves notes: Hudson talks progressing Multimedia: • MLB.com's Mark Bowman from Braves camp • MLB Radio's Ben Platt reports from camp • Mazzone on the Braves' pitching success Info: Schedule | Ballpark | Tickets MLB.com's complete coverage Chipper has been forced to bat cleanup most of the past three years, while Cox opted to use Gary Sheffield and then J.D. Drew in the third spot. Once again this year, there really isn't a prototypical cleanup hitter on the roster. Raul Mondesi has struggled throughout his career in run-producing situations and seems better suited to fill the fifth spot, if Andruw -- who has averaged over 30 homers the past five seasons -- indeed is ready to prove himself in the cleanup spot. Andruw appears to be in good shape and determined to bounce back from last season, when he hit .261 with 29 homers. The 91 RBIs he provided are impressive because 66 of them came when he was batting sixth or lower in the lineup. Committed to turning things around, Andruw widened his stance in September last year and saw results with a productive Division Series. He's still utilizing this same stance that helped him find so much success during his minor league days. "It's working right now, but when the games start, we'll see what happens," Andruw said. "When the games start it's totally different. You can do anything in batting practice." Gryboski optimistic: Right-handed reliever Kevin Gryboski has no problem with the plan to ease him into action this spring. He did the same thing last season when he had considerably more shoulder pain. He still managed to make a career-high 69 appearances. Kevin Gryboski / P Born: 11/15/73 Height: 6'5" Weight: 225 lbs Bats: R / Throws: R More info: Player page Stats | Splits Gallery Team Site | Shop "This is something I've dealt with for the past few years," Gryboski said. "They told me I might have to deal with it the rest of my life." Gryboski, who has been the team's double-play specialist the past three seasons, was diagnosed with a partially torn labrum in September 2003. He continued to feel discomfort during Spring Training last year, but he was able to throw throughout the season without discomfort. When he began long-tossing drills in January, he found the discomfort had returned to his right shoulder. He plans to throw off a mound by next week and believes he'll have plenty of time to make the necessary five or six exhibition appearances to prepare for the regular season. "It's not nearly as bad as it was last year and it's gotten a lot better since I got here," Gryboski said. "I'll be ready for the season." Eyes on the youngsters: Cox has been spending the first two days of workouts watching the some of the youngest members of the 40-man roster on the back fields. He's been impressed with Kelly Johnson's bat, shortstop Luis Hernandez's glove and the power displayed by top prospect Andy Marte. "Until the games start, it's really my only opportunity to see them," Cox said of the youngsters. Braves bits: Tim Hudson will be part of a commercial shot for Major League Baseball Charities on Friday afternoon at Cracker Jack Stadium. The right-hander is one of 10 civic-minded players from around the Majors selected to take part in the PSA campaign that highlights the relationship between MLB and the Boys and Girls Club of America ... Andruw Jones has been battling a sore left pinky toe the past few days. But he's still participating in every drill ... Catcher Johnny Estrada jammed his left thumb on Thursday morning, but still felt strong enough to take batting practice. Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Sample Heading 2 It’s already that time of year again as 49ers head coach Mike Nolan and his entire coaching, player personnel and medical staff have arrived safely in Indianapolis for the kickoff of the annual NFL Scouting Combine. Considered to be the most important pre-draft stop for potential draft picks, the Combine will feature more than 300 college football hopefuls from around the nation. Players will try to establish solid test scores while scouts, coaches and general managers will look to address their most pressing needs. “As the whole army goes down to the Combine, each team has specific areas they will try to hone in on so when you pull the whole thing together at the end, we get the best answers as far as who is the best player coming out,” Nolan said. “I would say there is probably a little more focus for us on the offensive side of the ball, but certainly not exclusive to that side because there are a lot of good players that we would love to have on both sides.” Newly-hired strength and conditioning coach, Johnny Parker, will be used by Nolan and his staff as a valuable asset to the evaluation process. “Johnny does a great job of looking at the guys and figuring out where they can put weight on, who can, who can’t, who’s overweight, who’s not and all of those kinds of things,” Nolan said. Nolan believes the Combine will be valuable in terms of obtaining a general feeling for each player, but feels the follow-up interviews in the next few weeks will be just as important. “I think the Combine is going to be very valuable from a standpoint of just getting an introduction to each guy and getting familiar with them,” Nolan explained. “The problem with the Combine is that you can’t put too much stock into the interview process because they are only 15 minutes long. I think the follow-up with the campus visits we do in the weeks to come will have an awful lot to do with what our selection will be.” COMBINE FACTS The event is run by National Football Scouting, which is headed by Gene "Duke" Babb, a former NFL player of six years. Babb does an unbelievable job of organizing this weeklong extravaganza. More than 200 people from 32 teams, including San Francisco scouts Todd Brunner and Oscar Lofton, help pull it all together. The 12 group leaders make sure players are up on time and where they are scheduled to be over the three-day period. Shawntae Spencer was the first player taken in the 2004 NFL Draft who hadn't been invited to the NFL Combine. The printed results and tapes of what takes place during the week are received by teams within a matter of hours so they can evaluate each player and what they did in the on-field drills (running, jumping and coaching drills). Also included is an interview with each player. Last year, there were 327 players invited to the combine. Offensive players made up 171 of those invites and defense called 156 athletes to attend. Even with extra selections due to "compensatory picks" awarded by the NFL for players lost during free agency from the year before, there are about 260 players drafted every year. So not every player in attendance is going to be selected. In the 2004 NFL Draft, the 49ers very own CB Shawntae Spencer (2nd Round/58 Overall) was the first player to be selected who had not been invited to the NFL Combine. The only other player not invited to the Combine last year but was chosen on the first day of the NFL Draft was DE Tony Hargrove (3rd Round/91 Overall) by the St. Louis Rams. Since 1993, a total of 3,913 players have been invited to the combine in which 2,487 of them have been drafted (64 percent). If you include the players that were signed as free agents, the total becomes over 95 percent. The last player picked No. 1 overall in the draft for a non-Division I school was Ed "Too Tall" Jones of Tennessee State in 1974 by the Dallas Cowboys. Over the past 10 years, players taken with a top-10 pick in Round 1 have come from 45 schools. Five schools -- Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Ohio State, Penn State and Texas each have had six players taken in the top 10 in that span. Oklahoma will have the most players at the 2005 combine with 12; Florida State will have 11. National champion USC has five. Speaking of USC, the Trojans have had the most first-round draft picks in NFL history with 62. Since 1998, the most players drafted from a position is wide receivers (193). On defense, the most-selected position is cornerback (151). WATCH FROM HOME For the first time ever, fans will be able to check out the workouts for themselves on NFL Network (live coverage). Starting at noon ET on Saturday, Feb. 26, and continuing through Tuesday, March 1, you will be able to watch two hours daily of live workouts of players running the 40-yard dash during position drills. In addition, NFL Total Access will be on the scene with news, analysis and interviews featuring host Rich Eisen and Terrell Davis. If you are a fantasy football player, this is a must-watch event. Coverage: February 26 – Offensive Linemen, Running Backs February 27 – Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers, Running Backs February 28 – Tight ends, Defensive Linemen March 1 – Linebackers, Defensive Backs For additional Combine information, visit NFL.com (Information from NFL.com was used in this report.) Sample Heading 3 Billups scored 23 points through the first three quarters as the Detroit Pistons maintained their dominance of the Lakers with a 111-90 victory. NBA TV highlights from Pistons-Lakers: 300k Last season, the eighth-year star averaged 26.5 points in two regular-season games against Los Angeles and was the MVP of an easy triumph over the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals, posting an average of 21.0 points in the five-game series. Billups' effort helped the Pistons kick off a season-high six-game road trip with one of their most complete games this season. "It was important for us to get off to a good start on this long road trip coming up," Billups said. "We just want to use it as a stepping stone and keep the momentum going better." Billups was one of four Pistons in double figures in the first half, scoring 12 points to help Detroit to a 58-45 lead. He had the first basket of the second half and added back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the third period to give the Pistons a 73-56 lead. "I just look to be aggressive all the time," Billups said. "I don't know why they back off on me, but I like it. I'm glad they do, but I really don't know why they do." Tayshaun Prince scored 26 points for Detroit, which never trailed and led by at least 10 points after the opening moments of the second quarter. The Lakers got within 85-75 early in the fourth period, but the Pistons responded with six points in 63 seconds. "I feel great the way we are playing right now on both ends of the court," Billups said. "I think we are better right now than we were last year at this time. We know each other a lot better and we know what we have to do to get back to where we were last year." Detroit shot 54 percent (44-of-82) from the field and had 24 assists against just five turnovers. The effort came three games after the club had 32 assists and matched a franchise low with only four turnovers. "We definitely moved the ball early and got some easy baskets," Prince said. "But we missed some easy ones as well. We did a good job with the pick-and-roll and got the ball to guys for open shots." An 18-4 run later in the fourth quarter turned it into a rout, sending Detroit to its seventh win in eight games vs. Los Angeles, including the Finals. The Pistons matched a season high with their sixth straight win and have won 11 of 12 overall. Kobe Bryant had 20 points and 11 assists but was held scoreless with four turnovers in the fourth quarter as the Lakers suffered their worst home loss this season. "They are clicking right now," Bryant said. "They are playing like the Pistons of last year. It's too early to tell if they are playing better than they did last year, but it does seem to be starting to rev up their engines. "They made some great individual plays tonight. Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace just made some great individual plays. I felt like we got a hand up in their face and contested their shots. You know, sometimes you have extremely talented basketball players who make extremely difficult plays look easy." Detroit coach Larry Brown was pleased with his team's all-around performance. "We did a lot of good things," Brown said. "We defended well, got out on the break for a great team effort. For this road trip and what we've got ahead, this was a big game for us." Prince came into the game expecting a strong showing by the Lakers, who had their first three-game winning streak this season snapped. "You never expect a game to be like the way it was tonight," Prince said. "You expect it to be a barnburner, especially when you have an L.A. vs. Detroit rivalry game. We caused some turnovers and made some easy baskets." Sample Heading 4 This is where you tell your story or provide information to your visitors. Be sure to include changes or new information in a timely fashion. By keeping your Web site up to date, visitors will have a reason to return often. You may add text or HTML code to this field and make it as complex as you want. Or, you may erase the content of this field causing it to be hidden when people visit your site.