Sarasota

The Orioles announced that they will wear green-and-black caps during their split-squad games Sunday as part of their "Go Green" Day at Ed Smith Stadium and St. Patrick's Day. The Orioles host the Minnesota Twins and also play against the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater. Afterward, the caps will be autographed and auctioned online at www.orioles.com/spring , with proceeds to benefit the Mote Marine Laboratory Animal Hospitals. The Sarasota-based hospitals treat animals that have been harmed due to damage to the environment.

Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy has been shut down after experiencing some mild elbow tightness in his throwing arm. "He's going to rest it for a few more days until it goes away, and we expect that to be in a couple of days and then at that point he would resume his throwing," Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said. "He's had some tightness for a couple of days. I think it came to light last week. " Duquette said Bundy complained of the tightness a few days after his final minor league spring start. Bundy had an MRI taken on the elbow and the results were negative, showing mild tightness in a muscle in the area of his elbow.

Isn't this supposed to be South Florida? The temperature at the Ed Smith Stadium Complex on Monday morning was 36 degrees, which apparently is not far from being a record low for this time of year. Not expecting much sympathy from the great white Mid-Atlantic area, but there's a reason why people come down here this time of year and it's not to strike the layered look on Siesta Beach. Temperatures are expected to rise throughout the week and eventually reach my preferred personal comfort level, at which time all will again be right with the world.

Steve Johnson, as is his nature, isn't going away quietly in the fight for the fifth spot in the rotation. Johnson, who has earned a reputation as a never-give-up battler, threw four scoreless innings to lead the Orioles to a victory over the Minnesota Twins, 7-1, Sunday at Ed Smith Stadium. Johnson gave up three hits, one walk and hit a batter, but always made the pitch to get out of trouble. He threw 67 pitches, 40 of them for strikes. "I was behind a lot of hitters, but I battled back.

There was a lot of media buzz in the Orioles clubhouse this afternoon that Deion Sanders, former NFL and MLB player and NFL Network analyst, is here and will take batting practice. But we're all baseball here - so the big news is that outfielder Bill Hall has been brought up from Sarasota, Fla. He was activated when the Orioles placed lefty Randy Wolf on the 60-day disabled list with a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. “I was in Sarasota [working out]

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles president Larry Lucchino said yesterday that the club will take a new look at the possibility of turning Twin Lakes Park into a permanent all-purpose spring training facility."

One popular former Orioles pitcher will be replacing another as a minor league coach at short-season Single-A Aberdeen in a restructuring that is designed to give the club's pitching prospects a better foundation. Former Orioles reliever Alan Mills will be the new pitching coach at Aberdeen, replacing Orioles World Series winner Scott McGregor. McGregor, who spent time in September as the Orioles' interim bullpen coach and coached at Aberdeen for four years, will now work out of Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla., dealing with both injury-rehabbing pitchers and pitchers who are selected in the June draft.

The big news coming out of Buck Showalter's press briefing today in Arlington is that designated hitter Jim Thome is ahead of schedule and will head down to Sarasota, Fla., on Wednesday to begin rehab. Thome, who hasn't played since July 27 due to a herniated disk in his neck, was initially told by doctors that he needed to rest for 30 days, meaning he wouldn't be able to begin any baseball activities until September. “That was as much to slow him down,” Showalter said of the initial 30-day prognosis.

Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen became the first Orioles starter to throw five innings this spring and was one wind-aided home run ball away from a scoreless effort against the Red Sox's split-squad team Saturday afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium. Otherwise, the Orioles tied the Red Sox 3-3 after 10 innings, Baltimore's third tie in eight days. Chen yielded six hits and struck out three in his five innings (75 pitches) but allowed a three-run homer to Nate Spears, a fifth-round pick of the Orioles' in 2003.

SEATTLE -- The Chicago White Sox announced yesterday that they will move their spring training home to Tucson, Ariz., in 1998, leaving open the very real possibility the Orioles will assume Chicago's former home in Sarasota, Fla.Orioles owner Peter Angelos said last night that the team is "very much interested" in exploring the possibility of a move to Sarasota. The Orioles will train in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., next year, but negotiations with that city have been hurt by the fact that the facility is not large enough to accommodate the club's minor-leaguers.

The Orioles play split-squad games today in Sarasota versus the Minnesota Twins and at Clearwater against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Orioles have dispatched bench coach John Russell and Rick Adair to Clearwater while Buck Showalter will stay in Sarasota. Showalter gave us a few notes during his press briefing today. He said Adam Jones' first game back will be Wednesday. No matter what Jones says. Wei-Yin Chen will pitch roughly 5 innings tomorrow in a Class A game at Twin Lakes Park.

Winter skiing, springtime on the links, summer sailing and autumn leaf-peeping - the weather forecast is the driving force behind the planning of many vacations. But when it comes to predicting the weather, WBAL meteorologist Tony Pann takes it all in stride. Pann grew up in the blustery, changeable climate of Chicago, and has since delivered the weather report for television stations in New York and Washington, as well as Baltimore. "I've seen it all," he says good-naturedly.

The Orioles announced that they will wear green-and-black caps during their split-squad games Sunday as part of their "Go Green" Day at Ed Smith Stadium and St. Patrick's Day. The Orioles host the Minnesota Twins and also play against the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater. Afterward, the caps will be autographed and auctioned online at www.orioles.com/spring , with proceeds to benefit the Mote Marine Laboratory Animal Hospitals. The Sarasota-based hospitals treat animals that have been harmed due to damage to the environment.

Buck Showalter remembered sitting in the Orioles clubhouse as a driving rain delayed the first playoff game Baltimore had hosted in 15 years. "Do you think the fans will stay?" asked a relatively new Oriole. "Hell yes," replied closer Jim Johnson. The Orioles manager told the story to illustrate the connection between his team and Baltimore. And that bond, which Showalter helped restore, was a big reason why he received The Baltimore Sun's 2012 Marylander of the Year award on Monday.

For Baltimore baseball fans inspired by the Orioles' surprising success last year, spring training couldn't have come soon enough. Those who never wanted that magic season to end along with newbie Birds fans are already flocking in droves to the team's Grapefruit League home at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. I had some genuine Smalltimore moments during the first two days of a recent five-day visit to the Gulf Coast of Florida, where the Orioles roost from February to the end of March.

Isn't this supposed to be South Florida? The temperature at the Ed Smith Stadium Complex on Monday morning was 36 degrees, which apparently is not far from being a record low for this time of year. Not expecting much sympathy from the great white Mid-Atlantic area, but there's a reason why people come down here this time of year and it's not to strike the layered look on Siesta Beach. Temperatures are expected to rise throughout the week and eventually reach my preferred personal comfort level, at which time all will again be right with the world.

The Chicago White Sox may be only weeks away from deciding whether to move their spring training camp fromSarasota, Fla., to a Phoenix suburb."We could go to the City Council as soon as next Tuesday," Glendale, Ariz., Mayor George Renner said yesterday.White Sox board chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who has homes in Arizona, was traveling and unavailable for comment. But Doug Abel, the team's director of media relations, confirmed the White Sox had "had preliminary discussions with officials in Arizona."

The Orioles hope to combine their major league and minor league operations soon, but the minor leaguers continue to train at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota. The major leaguers trained there for a couple of springs in the early 1990s, and there was some talk about building a permanent facility there before the team moved back to the East Coast of Florida. Now, there's talk that the Cincinnati Reds will soon vacate the nearby Ed Smith Stadium complex and head for Arizona - which would make that facility available to another team - but the Orioles seem unlikely to head back in that direction, even if the tentative deal in Fort Lauderdale falls through.

The Orioles' spring training begins with pitchers and catchers reporting to Sarasota, Fla. on Feb. 12, position players arriving by Feb. 15 and the first game at Ed Smith Stadium against the Minnesota Twins on Sat. Feb. 23. It's all a little earlier this year due to the World Baseball Classic. The club's spring training schedule, which was released this morning, features 34 games. The Orioles will play 18 home dates against eight teams -- three against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox, two against the Twins, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays and one against the New York Mets on March 30, which will conclude the Orioles' official Grapefruit League schedule.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter spoke to the media before tonight American League Division Series Game 1 at Camden Yards, the first postseason game in Baltimore since 1997. Here's a full transcript of Showalter's pregame news conference: Would you start by giving the lineup today? BUCK SHOWALTER:  Let's say, we've got McLouth leading off, Hardy, Jones, Wieters, Reynolds, Machado, Davis, Ford and Andino.  Hope I got that right. We just got the roster for the series, and the decision to leave off Steve Johnson, Arrieta and Britton obviously, you had to add some of the starters, but was it a difficult decision, particularly with Johnson because he has been a starting option for you?