The Orioles are two weeks into spring training and the newness of it all still hasn’t worn off.
It probably won’t for a while.
During the eight springs of the Buck Showalter era, the back fields were a beehive of drills, instruction and little else. The budding Brandon Hyde era has a musical soundtrack, with outdoor speakers blaring the favorites of a new generation of Orioles players and a vibe that seems to project that business and pleasure are not mutually exclusive.
Of course, this is the honeymoon period for everyone at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, as Grapefruit League play just got underway Saturday with a 7-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.