Dwight Evans

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Baltimore Orioles would like to know how much Dwight Evans will be able to play in the outfield this season, but they were happy yesterday just to see him spend a few innings out there.Evans, whose presence in the defensive lineup would significantly improve the club's offensive potential, made his 1991 outfield debut in the Orioles' 9-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox yesterday at Ed Smith Stadium.It was not very eventful, but that didn't matter. This is not &L another Randy Milligan experiment.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Sitting on a training room table he looks like the leading candidate for a "M*A*S*H" unit. He has an ice park on his right knee, a supportive bandage around his back and a smile on his face."

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Left-hander Jeff Ballard continues to give every indication that he is ready to rebound from a painful and frustrating 1990 season.Ballard pitched four innings last night, giving up one run on four hits in the Baltimore Orioles' 7-2 loss to the Texas Rangers at Ed Smith Stadium. He has given up just one run in seven innings of exhibition competition."I'll take that," Ballard said. "It was a little bit more of a struggle than the first game, but I made it through four innings."

Eddie Murray, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Most Valuable Player last season, has been denied a request for a contract extension, and Murray is considering leaving the team when his contract expires at the end of the season.Murray's representatives told the Dodgers that if the team did not grant him an extension by the end of spring training, he would be unwilling to negotiate this season and probably would test free agency next winter.Murray, 35, is in the final year of a five-year contract that will pay him $2.8 million this season.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Jim Palmer is already in the Hall of Fame. Cal Ripken is so accomplished, he's virtually guaranteed entry on the first ballot.Dwight Evans isn't in the same class as his two new teammates. He's a borderline candidate right now, but his chances could improve dramatically if he gives the Orioles a good year, and preferably two.No doubt, this last-minute push by Evans will be an intriguing subplot to the final season at Memorial Stadium, and possibly the first season in the new downtown ballpark at Camden Yards as well.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Baltimore Orioles third baseman Craig Worthington agreed to terms on a one-year contract yesterday, accepting the same salary for 1991 that he earned last year.Worthington, who batted .226 with eight home runs and 44 RBI in 1990, will make $207,500. He had more than doubled his salary the year before with a rookie season that featured 15 homers and 70 RBI, but reported to camp late last year and struggled from start to finish.His bargaining position was diminished further by the presence of third-base prospect Leo Gomez, who was the most dangerous hitter in the International League last year and added to his credentials with a solid performance in the Dominican Winter League.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The northern chill that descended on Twin Lakes Park yesterday sent the snowbirds home to change out of their shorts, but it did nothing to cool the boyish enthusiasm of Cal Ripken on the Baltimore Orioles' first day of full-squad workouts.He bounced around the field, acting every bit the 20-year-old rookie who showed up in camp 10 years ago hoping to prove he could be a major-league player. At one point, he paused to consider what veteran Dwight Evans might think of such behavior and later admitted to a twinge of embarrassment, but he could not contain himself.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- For the first time in 11 years, Cal Ripken didn't show up at spring training with the pitchers and catchers. By his standards that made him a week late, but for a very practical reason.The Orioles' All-Star shortstop reported as scheduled yesterday, delayed" because his wife, Kelly, has been ill.But once on the grounds, nothing had changed. It was like Ripken never left. He admitted to "sometimes being embarrassed about how I feel about this game," but didn't try to hide his enthusiasm."

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The first few days of spring workouts are supposed to be devoted to pitchers and catchers, but the Baltimore Orioles already have set to work on their defensive alignment.The recent acquisition of Glenn Davis has made it very crowded around first base, so a couple of other first basemen spent yesterday getting acclimated to the outfield.Randy Milligan, who thought he had a firm hold on the first-base job after a 20-homer season, took flyballs from coach Curt Motton. Promising David Segui, who originally figured to back up Milligan at first, was working right beside him."

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The busiest off-season in baseball history has come and gone, leaving a major-league landscape so new and different that spring training figures to be an adventure in itself.That adventure begins today, when hundreds of pitchers and catchers begin reporting to the 26 spring-training camps in Florida and Arizona. The rest of the position players will report next week, but it will take the better part of two months to sort through all the new faces.Thanks to the latest free-agent free-for-all, almost every team has undergone significant transformation since the Cincinnati Reds swept to the 1990 world championship.