By Jim Peltz
March 17, 2012, 8:31 p.m.
Reporting from Phoenix—
Vin Scully, entering his 63rd season as the Dodgers' broadcaster, said he plans to ease his workload a bit more this year by no longer calling games in Colorado.

Scully, 84, will broadcast all home games and road games only in California and Arizona, which means he'll still announce more than 100 games this season televised on Prime Ticket and KCAL Channel 9 in Southern California.

"No big, earth-shattering reason, just to cut back a little more on the traveling," Scully told reporters Saturday night before calling the Dodgers' Cactus League game against the San Francisco Giants at Camelback Ranch, his first visit to the Dodgers' spring home this season.

The Hall of Fame announcer already had pared his travel schedule in recent years to the Dodgers' 81 home games at Dodger Stadium and cities mostly west of the Rocky Mountains.

This year, he also plans to skip an interleague series the Dodgers play in Seattle against the Mariners on June 8-10.

"I remember telling [Dodgers owner] Frank McCourt years ago, I said, 'Frank, I would like to disappear like the Cheshire Cat, all of a sudden the only thing left is his smile,' " Scully said. "So this is just another disappearing act."

Eric Collins and Steve Lyons again will broadcast the Dodgers' other road games that are not nationally televised.

Asked why he was announcing a couple of spring-training games, Scully said, "It's as simple as this: The last baseball game I did was Sept. 28, and I thought, 'My gosh, all these highly talented players, they have to come here and practice for a month to get ready. I want to do a couple of games just to kind of get the feel of them again. It's batting practice for me."

Scully also said he did not expect the Dodgers' planned ownership change this year to affect the team's performance.

"The things that happen in the front office, I don't believe have any effect whatsoever on the players or on us," he said. "It's like on a ship. We're down there shoveling coal and the big discussion is up on the bridge. I can't see any change in ownership have any effect at all."

Ethier's early clout

Right fielder Andre Ethier slugged two more doubles and walked earlier Saturday in a split-squad game against the Colorado Rockies, so eight of Ethier's nine spring-training hits have gone for extra bases.

"And a bunch of them have been down the left-field line, which is really a good sign for me that he's staying on the ball and he's using the whole field," Manager Don Mattingly said of Ethier, a left-handed batter who was hitting .474. "He looks really good right now."

james.peltz@latimes.com