Florida Marlins

The Orioles will open their 2004 spring training schedule on March 4 against the World Series champion Florida Marlins in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. at 1:05 p.m. The Orioles will play 14 games at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, their spring base for the ninth season. Baltimore will play its first night game at Fort Lauderdale Stadium in two seasons against Florida on March 27 at 7:05 p.m. The Orioles will conclude spring training on April 3 with a game against the Cincinnati Reds in Chattanooga, Tenn.

NEW ORLEANS - Two days into the winter meetings, the Orioles still haven't made a move, but they are getting a better sense of the market for free-agent outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and shortstop Miguel Tejada. And while opposing teams were falling in and out of the running for those two sluggers yesterday at the New Orleans Marriott, the Orioles were trying to decide which free-agent catcher they wanted most, Ivan Rodriguez or Javy Lopez. The Orioles met with agent Scott Boras yesterday to discuss Rodriguez, and they were scheduled to have another meeting last night.

Baseball's free-agent market opens today, and Orioles vice presidents Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan look like two kids who just won a $1,000 spending spree in a toy store. They will walk into the Arizona Biltmore Hotel this afternoon for the start of baseball's general manager meetings as the envy of their peers. While teams across baseball keep talking about trimming payroll, even if it means trading away star talent, Beattie and Flanagan have millions burning a hole in their pockets.

MIAMI - Florida Marlins shortstop Alex Gonzalez isn't out there because of his bat, but he delivered one of the biggest swings in franchise history last night to get his team even in the 99th World Series. Gonzalez lined a full-count pitch over the left-field fence in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Marlins a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees and an opportunity to take control of the best-of-seven Fall Classic in Game 5 tonight at Pro Player Stadium. It was the first postseason home run for the veteran infielder, whose struggles at the plate earlier in the postseason prompted speculation that he might lose his place in the starting lineup.

MIAMI - Brian Cashman became the New York Yankees' general manager in February 1998, a few months after the Orioles went wire-to-wire and won the American League East. Since then, the Yankees have won six division titles. Cashman is 6-for-6. But as he stood watching batting practice last night, before Game 4 of the World Series, Cashman acknowledged that the balance of power could soon shift in the AL East. "I see Tampa Bay catching up," he said. "A lot of those players that [GM] Chuck LaMar has been drafting are starting make an impact: Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli.

MIAMI - Former Orioles outfielder Jeff Conine felt like he was going home when he was traded back to the Florida Marlins on Aug. 31, but it took him a while to feel like old times. The deal that sent Conine back to his roots was widely considered a clutch front office move at a critical time for the Marlins, who had just lost top run-producer Mike Lowell and - some thought - any realistic chance of winning the National League wild-card berth. The Marlins needed help so badly that they gave up two good young pitching prospects and renegotiated Conine's contract to guarantee him an extra year.

MIAMI - Florida Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez may be a one-year, $10 million rental. But he earned every penny in Florida's wild 4-3 victory in 11 innings yesterday at Pro Player Stadium, which has the mighty San Francisco Giants dangling on the precipice of elimination. Rodriguez drove in all four runs, including a two-run homer in the first inning off starter Kirk Rueter that staked the Marlins to a 2-0 lead that held up until the Giants' two-run sixth. The Giants were seemingly cruising to a 3-2 victory after Edgardo Alfonzo's RBI single in the top of the 11th.

SEATTLE - The Orioles and Florida Marlins have discussed a potential trade that would send Jeff Conine back to Florida for Derrek Lee, baseball sources confirmed yesterday. The Marlins first approached the Orioles about swapping the first basemen last week, but the talks have cooled, with Florida starting to play better. Orioles officials say they also have reservations about parting with one of their clubhouse leaders. Conine, 37, is batting .287 with 12 home runs and a team-high 63 RBIs.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Rodrigo Lopez pitched five solid innings in his final tuneup of the spring yesterday, and Larry Bigbie hit the go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning, as the Orioles defeated the Florida Marlins, 4-2. Lopez, the Orioles' Opening Day starter, held the Marlins to one run on two hits. Florida starter Brad Penny held the Orioles scoreless until the seventh, when B.J. Surhoff hit a leadoff single and advanced to second base on an error. Jeff Conine singled and Jay Gibbons walked to load the bases.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Orioles fell out of the running for Ivan Rodriguez last month when the Florida Marlins tripped them with a surprising $10 million offer to the free-agent catcher. Their quest for a cleanup hitter, someone who makes opposing managers nervous instead of his own, would have to continue. So, too, would their close scrutiny of the position. "If we can upgrade," said vice president of baseball operations Mike Flanagan, "we'll upgrade." With Syd Thrift no longer in the front office, holdovers Geronimo Gil and Brook Fordyce - players he acquired in waiver-deadline trades - lost their most avid supporter.