Spring Training

Orioles manager Buck Showalter leaves for spring training today, a week before pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota, Fla., on Feb. 12. Expect everything to be set up exactly to Showalter's liking by that date. He ignores no detail, especially when it comes to the team's spring training set up. But Sarasota is already buzzing with activity. About 23 players in the organization are already training there. They're being overseen by Double-A Bowie manager Gary Kendall. Players are beginning to flow into the Ed Smith Stadium complex.

Now that football season is officially over - and Baltimore is planning a parade for its Super Bowl champion Ravens on Tuesday -   the city's sports focus will quickly turn to baseball. On Sunday night, Joe Flacco starred, Beyonce gyrated, Jacoby Jones dashed, the electricity failed and Baltimore celebrated. Now, as you wake up Monday morning, it is just eight days until the Orioles' pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Sarasota, Fla. Yes, it seems like just yesterday when the Orioles' season ended in Game 5 of the American League Division Series in Yankee Stadium.

Major League Lacrosse announced today that the defending champion Chesapeake Bayhawks and the Rochester Rattlers will play a regular-season game at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Saturday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. MLL returns to the Sunshine State for the second time, after a successful All-Star Game in Boca Raton last season, as it contemplates future expansion. The game will serve as the Rattlers' home opener. Al Lang Stadium was the past spring training home to the Orioles, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays.

The Orioles have added to their outfield surplus by announcing the minor league signing of Chris Dickerson. The 30-year-old Dickerson, who will receive a spring training invite, joins a crowded Orioles roster of veteran outfielders not on the 40-man roster:  holdovers Steve Pearce and Lew Ford, as well as Jason Pridie and infielder/outfielder Conor Jackson. In addition, Adam Greenberg, who made headlines last year with one at-bat for the Miami Marlins, was signed to a minor league deal.

WBAL Radio will broadcast 16 of the Orioles' spring training games on 1090 AM, the team announced today. The schedule includes the spring opener against the Minnesota Twins from Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla., on Feb. 23. MASN previously announced that it will broadcast six Orioles spring training games. ESPN will broadcast the March 25 game against the Boston Red Sox. WBAL Radio will also broadcast all 162 regular season games, with Joe Angel and Fred Manfra back on the call.

Individual game tickets for the Orioles' 18 home spring training games at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla., will go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. Spring training tickets can be purchased several different ways, but the team recommends purchasing them online or by phone to ensure the best game and seating options. Tickets can be purchased on at www.orioles.com or by calling 877-222-2802. Season ticket packages, group tickets, suites and other specialty areas are available by calling 941-893-6300.

Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts had surgery in December to repair a sports hernia but says he is fully recovered and is already back doing baseball activities. The 35-year-old Roberts, who underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip in August, had been rehabbing since September in preparation to start the 2013 season. His rehab in Sarasota, Fla., had been going well, he said, but he began feeling some discomfort and inflammation in his abdomen area. On Dec. 19, he was examined by Dr. William Meyers, a sports hernia specialist in Philadelphia who has performed surgeries on the Orioles' Nick Markakis, Brian Matusz and Ryan Adams, among others.

Steve Johnson's journey to becoming an Oriole had its twists and turns. It had its share of doubters, too, including Johnson, who didn't know whether he would ever get a chance to make a big league roster. The 25-year-old right-hander was a four-time All-Metro selection at St. Paul's, but even as a high school pitcher, he fought the stigma that he didn't throw hard enough to have a lasting future in the game. After Johnson spent parts of the past eight years in the minor leagues, the door of opportunity finally opened in 2012, as he made the most of a series of second-half call-ups from Triple-A Norfolk, shining as both a starter and reliever for the Orioles.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Orioles added their latest reclamation project Wednesday, agreeing to terms with first baseman Conor Jackson on a minor league deal with an invitation to major league spring training, executive vice president Dan Duquette announced. Jackson, a 2003 first-round draft pick of the Diamondbacks, put together three straight seasons of at least a .294 average, .368 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 60 RBIs from 2006 to 2008 with Arizona. But he's played in more than 60 big league games in a season just once since 2008, shuffling between the majors and minors within four different organizations during that span.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Orioles are confident that their five-month wait for Cuban defector Henry Urrutia, stuck in Haiti unable to play because of visa issues, will end within the next two weeks. Urrutia, a 25-year-old corner outfielder, has established residency in Haiti and has been awaiting a visa there for since the Orioles signed him to a minor league contract in July. The club paid Urrutia a $778,500 signing bonus. Fred Ferreira, the Orioles executive director for international recruiting, said that Urrutia recently made huge strides toward obtaining a visa with the help of the United States ambassador to Haiti.