While Junior Lake was preparing for his first day as an Oriole in the Los Angeles Angels' visiting clubhouse, a line of familiar faces greeted him.
Lake and Jimmy Paredes played with and against each other for years in their native Dominican Republic. Lake spent three seasons rooming with infielder Ryan Flaherty in the Chicago Cubs minor league system. Gerardo Parra and Lake became friendly during their years in the National League Central. Third base coach Bobby Dickerson was in the Dominican with the Cubs when they signed Lake as a teenager in 2007.
So the Orioles might be Lake's third team in a week, but he already feels at home.