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SARASOTA, Fla. - The meeting came about a week into Buck Showalter's tenure as Baltimore Orioles manager.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Brandon Inge knows what it's like to be ignored. Even worse, he knows what it's like to be mocked.

LAKELAND, Fla. - This is a crucial spring training for Brennan Boesch, whose spot on the Detroit roster is far from certain. After tweaking an oblique muscle, the 27-year-old outfielder knew better than to take any chances.

PHOENIX - Yoenis Cespedes has no plans to start speaking English in public — "2015," he joked in Spanish. No plans to grow one of those bushy, scraggly beards sported by several of his Oakland teammates, either — "I don't like that.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Paul Konerko doesn't need any reminders that his days as a big leaguer are dwindling — quickly. His body has plenty of baseball mileage, making it much harder to get through a full season without injury.

JOHANNESBURG - For the rich or poor, famous or unknown, violent crime is a fear in South Africa, a nation of 50 million where some 50 people are killed each day — one of the world's highest murder rates.

JOHANNESBURG - The family of Reeva Steenkamp said Sunday her body was back in her hometown of Port Elizabeth after the model and reality TV contestant was shot dead inside the house of Oscar Pistorius. A private funeral will be held on Tuesday.

It’s not quite March, but bring on the madness.

CALGARY 3 VICTORIA 1 The rigours of the road may be starting to wear on the Victoria Royals.

Everybody knows what Islander and two-time Olympic medallist Ryan Cochrane can do in the pool as he looks to samba on the podium at Rio 2016.