Fort Lauderdale

Thomas Franklin Zink Sr., a retired mechanical contractor and World War II veteran, died Sunday of heart failure at his Mays Chapel home. He was 86. Mr. Zink was born in Baltimore and raised in the city's Lakeside neighborhood. He was a 1940 graduate of Polytechnic Institute, where he had been a state champion ice skater. He attended the Johns Hopkins University, where he was a three-time All-American lacrosse player. In 1944, Mr. Zink left Hopkins and enlisted as a lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.

Vero Beach, Fla., and Indian River County officials are hopeful that Orioles owner Peter Angelos and the team's upper management will meet as early as next week and approve an agreement that would make Dodgertown the team's long-term spring training home starting in 2010. Representatives from the Orioles and Indian River County and Vero Beach spent Wednesday and Thursday meeting in Orlando, Fla., trying to complete a deal that has been discussed for more than a year. A negotiation agreement between the Orioles and the county expired yesterday, but government officials are prepared to give the team time to review the offer.

Orioles reliever Matt Albers has decided to forgo surgery on his right shoulder and attempt a rehabilitation program that would allow him to pitch this season with a torn labrum. Albers made the decision after meeting yesterday with renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Andrews provided a second opinion for Albers, who stated his desire before Tuesday's game at Camden Yards to avoid surgery. Orioles team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens earlier made the same recommendation as Andrews.

Officials from the city of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the Federal Aviation Administration met again yesterday in Washington, with an Orioles attorney participating via conference call. And we know about as much today as we did a week ago. The Orioles want to keep their spring training home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. That has always been their preference, or they wouldn't have signed a 15-year lease with a 15-year option, predicated on being able to tear down and rebuild the 48-year-old stadium they've used since 1996.

BOSTON -- The Orioles' matchup last night against the Boston Red Sox's Jon Lester started a stretch of four straight games when they will face a left-handed starting pitcher. Luke Scott was held out of the starting lineup last night as manager Dave Trembley continued to sit the hot-hitting outfielder against lefty starters. That will soon change. Trembley said yesterday that Scott will likely get the start tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates' Phil Dumatrait, the first of three left-handers the Orioles will face in the interleague series.

A ruling yesterday by the Federal Aviation Administration in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., could lead the Orioles to find another spring training home next year. The city administration issued a news release saying it has been notified that the FAA would not approve the use agreement between Fort Lauderdale and the Orioles unless the annual payments made to the airport fund, provided by the Orioles and the city, are increased to $1.3 million, compared with $70,000 to $120,000 in previous years.

Almost two months after the Orioles expected to gain approval to begin construction of a new spring training complex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., they appear to be drawing closer to a resolution. A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman confirmed this week that officials are reviewing documents submitted by the city of Fort Lauderdale, which could be the final step in making a decision. The Orioles want to tear down and rebuild 48-year-old Fort Lauderdale Stadium, which has served as their spring home since 1996, but they need the FAA's consent because it sits on airport property.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. -- The Orioles are scheduled to play their last game of spring training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium this afternoon, meeting the New York Mets. Where they will host spring training permanently is far less clear. The team has signed an extension to return in 2009 and has had an agreement for more than a year to overhaul 46-year-old Fort Lauderdale Stadium, its spring home for 13 years. That agreement is contingent on approval the city of Fort Lauderdale has to receive from the Federal Aviation Administration.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A day after expressing some mild frustration that he still doesn't know where he'll play in 2008, Brian Roberts and his agent met with Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail yesterday at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. Both sides were mostly mum about the 20-minute meeting, with MacPhail saying it was just the latest conversation between him and Roberts this spring, where he has tried to update the All-Star second baseman on the status of trade talks involving him. MacPhail has been talking to the Chicago Cubs for several months about Roberts, who has made it clear that he'd prefer not being on a rebuilding team.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.-- --For established major league veterans, dodging the long exhibition road trips is one of the rites of spring. That's why Orioles manager Dave Trembley found it so refreshing when Melvin Mora came into his office last week and asked for permission to make the 130-mile trek down Alligator Alley to play against the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, Fla. "I wasn't taking him on that trip," Trembley said. "He saw Luis Hernandez was on the trip, and he said, `I'll go to Fort Myers, but I don't want to take the bus. I want to drive myself and take Luis with me so I can talk to him.' " Hernandez is the leading candidate to start at shortstop this year, but it hasn't been a happy spring.