Revisiting some of the most memorable moments in camp

The Ed Smith Stadium complex remains open to non-roster players. The rehabbing, the recovered, the recent international signing.

Media and fans aren't allowed inside. One way we can relate to the 40-man crew.

The minor league camp opens on Feb. 28 for pitchers and catchers - and perhaps media and fans. All of the details haven't been worked out.

We're stuck waiting to find out whether major league spring training already will be in motion. Commissioner Rob Manfred stated it must run a minimum of four weeks to prevent a delay to the regular season, which begins March 31. No rush jobs.

I've been covering Orioles camps since 1997 in Fort Lauderdale, when I was pulled off the local college beat and headed down to Florida after Buster Olney and Jason La Canfora took jobs in New York and Detroit, respectively. I'd back up Joe Strauss, who covered the Braves for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and didn't switch to the Orioles until workout day at Camden Yards, our first meeting.

Olney offered some advice before leaving Lauderdale, how I needed to be the first one in camp each day and the last one to leave. Sweep the clubhouse. Keep close tabs on the competition, especially at The Washington Post. This is how he operated and he was a beast, among the best in the business.

Sun columnist Peter Schmuck, who would become a good friend and my yearly spring roommate, arrived after Olney's departure, pulled me aside and said, "It's baseball. Have fun."

I eventually settled on my own routine.

Anyway, I flew home from the Sarasota camp on March 14, 2020 after its closure due to the pandemic and didn't return in 2021 for health and safety reasons, stuck on Zoom calls and tracking live box scores in exhibition games. Hardly an ideal way to cover a team and build relationships and trust, or to get a feel for what's happening.

My trips down memory lane have changed a little over the years. There are times when I need to stop and ask for directions, a concession to my age. Lot of laughs, tragedy, tears, a few near fights.

The Orioles moved to Sarasota in 2010 and it's been a wonderful relationship, a top-notch facility and a town embracing them after the many years of indifference in South Florida. I wonder if people down there have noticed that the team left.

I may pass the downtime by periodically rehashing some unforgettable camp moments, both for good and bad reasons. Stories that broke unexpectedly. Players who arrived unexpectedly. Players who didn't arrive when they were supposed to, which is where I'll begin this morning.

Dexter Fowler takes detour to Arizona

The free agent outfielder was supposed to sign a three-year, $33 million deal with the Orioles, bat leadoff and play right field. I posted a story about it at 7:22 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2016. I had the years and estimated salary.

What I didn't have was Fowler choosing a few days later to leave the Orioles' offer on the table and accept a one-year deal with the Cubs that included a mutual option. He broke his own news by showing up at their spring training camp, stunning his teammates and media on both sides.

I heard about it while standing inside the Orioles clubhouse. Read the tweets and felt a knot in my stomach.

"This is where my heart is," Fowler said.

Mine was in my throat.

Fortunately, Fowler didn't send his bags ahead to Sarasota.

To make matters worse, agent Casey Close slammed the club and reporters in a Tweet released by Excel Sports Management:

"In my 25 years in this business, never before have I witnessed such irresponsible behavior on so many fronts. Both the Orioles front office and members of the media were so busy recklessly spreading rumors that they forgot or simply chose not to concern themselves with the truth. The Orioles' willful disregard of collectively bargained rules governing free agency and the media's eager complicity in helping the Orioles violate those rules are reprehensible. Dexter Fowler never reached agreement with the Orioles and did not come close to signing with the club; any suggestion otherwise is only a continuation of an already disturbing trend."

I got the story while driving back to my hotel, receiving a text from a high-ranking source and pulling my rental car into a nearby gas station to tweet it. Others on the beat confirmed it. Adam Jones told us the next day that he spoke to Fowler, who was excited to join the team and might already be on his way to Sarasota.

Sounds like an agreement, right?

(I was trying to track down results of pitcher Yovani Gallardo's follow-up physical and the status of his agreement, which would be restructured later due to concerns about his shoulder, and stumbled upon the Fowler news, which multiple sources confirmed.)

There was a breakdown along the way - fortunately, not with my car. Fowler wanted an opt-out clause in his contract, causing a late snag that the sides didn't see coming. Perhaps Fowler thought the clause already was in the agreement, found out it wasn't and called an audible.

Whatever. It was done until it wasn't.

I wrote the following on Feb. 25:

Do the Orioles stay in-house and leave the right field competition to Nolan Reimold, Dariel Alvarez, Henry Urrutia, L.J. Hoes and Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard, or do they sign one of the remaining free agents, such as David Murphy or Will Venable? The Orioles have talked to agent Scott Boras about Pedro Álvarez, who could serve as the primary designated hitter, but Mark Trumbo would have to play right field.

Trumbo played right field on opening day while Álvarez, who signed on March 10, served as the designated hitter. Machado batted leadoff. Rickard played left field.

Nelson Cruz versus Kendrys Morales

The Orioles wanted one of them in spring training 2014.

The club was in full throttle signing mode, landing pitchers Ubaldo Jiménez and Suk-min Yoon in February and pitcher Johan Santana in March. And they weren't done.

Reports came out that they preferred Morales but had Cruz as a fallback option.

I wrote less than 24 hours before the Cruz agreement that there was a divide within the organization regarding the two players. What I'll remember is suggesting in one article that Morales seemed more likely and then receiving a text from a team source saying that I had it backward.

I called an audible and wrote Cruz a little harder.

The Orioles reached agreement on a one-year, $8 million contract and Cruz emerged as an important clubhouse leader while also hitting 40 home runs with 108 RBIs and finishing seventh in Most Valuable Player voting in the American League. A tremendous bargain. A huge reason why they won the division.

Morales didn't sign with the Twins until June 8, batted .234/.259/.325 with one home run in 39 games and was traded to the Mariners on July 24.

Reports also surfaced that the Orioles still held interest in Morales after signing Cruz, but that never made sense to me. There also were rumors that they still wanted veteran starter Ervin Santana at the right price.

Full throttle.

The 2014 camp ranks among the most interesting I've covered based on the activity and rumors. Also the most exhausting.

I pulled over after leaving the gym and tweeted how the Orioles were on the verge of reaching agreement with Jiménez on a four-year deal. On the same day that they signed Yoon.

I wrote a short story from the passenger seat of my car, returned to the hotel and updated it with exact terms.

There's more room without the steering wheel.

Blistering heat in Sarasota

I made a rare visit to Twin Lakes Park on March 31, 2013, with the freedom to do so because nothing was happening on the major league side.

It was an important morning.

Jake Arrieta and Jair Jurrjens each tossed five innings in the same game. Zack Britton and Kevin Gausman pitched on another field. Wei-Yin Chen had a side session. Freddy García passed his physical, threw a bullpen session and reached down to adjust his protective cup at the exact moment that I snapped a photo of him.

I still have it stored in my iPhone. I break it out at parties.

I don't have photographic evidence of a crazy coincidence involving Arrieta, Britton and Gausman. They each came down with a blister on their pitching hand on the same day.

Gausman had three more innings to go, but the Orioles stopped him as a precaution. Arrieta threw 75 pitches, none of them sliders or curveballs because they put pressure on the finger.

Britton was slated to start the third game at Triple-A Norfolk after a few bullpen sessions. He went four innings at Twin Lakes and threw more than 60 pitches despite a blister on the side of his thumb, which he fixed by applying Super Glue.

The Orioles completed their last order of business that day by placing Tsuyoshi Wada, Wilson Betemit and Steve Johnson on the disabled list, but I'll remember it for a bunch of blisters. And for García's untimely adjustment.