FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons said his surgically repaired left shoulder feels good enough that he could play today. The wait, however, will be much longer.
Gibbons took part in the club's first full-squad workout yesterday, but he'll begin serving a 15-day suspension once the season begins because he received shipments of human growth hormone.
"You know, it's just one of those things where you look in the mirror, and I have no excuses," he said. "I blame myself. It's definitely something that's out of character. I took a shortcut and I'm paying the price with the 15 days.
"It's something I have to live with the rest of my life, and it's something I think about a lot. I wish I could take it back, but I can't. I've asked my family and friends for forgiveness, and they've given it to me. I go on from here."
But where is he headed? Gibbons has two years and $11.9 million remaining on his contract, but he's not assured a spot on the 25-man roster. The outfield has become crowded after the Orioles traded for Adam Jones and Luke Scott, and they're well-stocked with first basemen and designated hitters. Also, injuries have kept Gibbons from appearing in 100 games in four of the past seven seasons.
"It's obviously a little different situation for me this year," said Gibbons, who batted .230 with six homers and 28 RBIs in 84 games last season. "The last few years, you come in knowing you have a spot. Now it's going out there and trying to win a spot. I know I have a lot to prove. I know last year was a disaster in so many ways. I'm just going to go out there and work hard and see what happens."
Millar optimistic
Losing Miguel Tejada's presence in the clubhouse isn't putting pressure on Kevin Millar to assume more of a leadership role.
"Nothing changes for me," he said. "I'm going to come here and have fun on a daily basis, I'm going to try to play the game as hard as I can, without a whole lot of ability, and try to lead by example. I'll also do a lot of leading vocally - if you wear the wrong shirt or something, you have a bad outfit on."
Though the Orioles appear to be rebuilding, Millar isn't conceding the season.
"It's not going to be a 130-loss season and all this baloney you read about," he said. "If everybody in this locker room stays healthy and does what they're capable of doing, this team's not as bad as people want it to be. If Aubrey Huff hits 30 home runs and Brian Roberts is capable of hitting .330 and all of a sudden Kevin Millar hits 28 home runs and all of a sudden [Daniel] Cabrera turns a corner and wins 18 games, things can [go] in the right direction."
Video board work
Workers began installing the first piece of the new video board at Camden Yards yesterday, which went from a Mitsubishi plant in Tokyo to New York's JFK Airport and was driven to Baltimore. Two more portions of the board will be shipped separately.
The upper board will serve as the main video board at Camden Yards, reversing the placement of the old system. Demolition of the previous scoreboard was completed last month, and the out-of-town scoreboard in right field and the auxiliary scoreboards in the club and upper levels were removed in December.
Around the horn
Manager Dave Trembley gave the traditional clubhouse speech that comes before the first full-squad workout. "My expectations are that we were conceding nothing," he said. "We were going back to pitching, defense and fundamentals. We were going to establish an identity of the kind of player that we think fits what a Baltimore Oriole should be. We emphasized team baseball." ... Ravens return specialist Yamon Figurs, who lives in Stuart, Fla., took batting practice and fielded fly balls for a future segment on Rave-TV.
roch.kubatko@baltsun.com