Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ? As a way of introducing himself to his new teammates, Sammy Sosa slammed about two dozen baseballs far over the center-field wall during his first workout with the Baltimore Orioles.

Before he was done, nearly half the squad interrupted their drills to watch the show.

“Sammy, we’re going to run out of balls!” joked outfielder Larry Bigbie, who watched in awe as one shot after another soared onto an airfield behind the practice field.

“They’ll be parking the planes in the hangars from now on,” Bigbie said later.

The Chicago Cubs were relieved to get rid of Sosa after his troubled 2004 season, and the Orioles are delighted to have him.

“I’m in a new house with a young team that I can help,” he said. “I’m very happy to be here, no question. And I can see in their faces that they’re really happy for me to be here.”

Sosa came to the Orioles earlier this month in a trade that sent Jerry Hairston Jr. and two prospects to Chicago. Sosa once was a hero in the Windy City, but his 13-year stay soured after he was caught using a corked bat, had a rift with Cubs manager Dusty Baker and left early during the 2004 season finale.

“That page is closed, and I don’t want to touch that page no more,” he said. “We’re here to move on and go forward.”

During his stay in Chicago, Sosa battled with Mark McGwire in a memorable home run duel in 1998, went to the All-Star game seven times and was the 1998 NL MVP. But he contends that the corked bat and his early departure from the ballpark ruined an otherwise wonderful relationship.

“For the 13 years I was in Chicago, I only made two mistakes. That’s pretty good,” he said. “If I had known that leaving early last year would have caused such a controversy, I would have never done it. My manager told me I had a day off. But what can I say?”

When the Cubs fell out of playoff contention last season, Sosa received much of the blame. He spent a month on the disabled list because of a bad back and finished with a .253 batting average, 35 homers and 80 RBIs — his fewest since 1994.

Still, 35 homers is more than anyone on Baltimore hit last season, so the Orioles think he’ll be a perfect fit in their tiny ballpark at Camden Yards.

Upon arriving in Baltimore three weeks ago, Sosa requested that the Orioles send him a stretch limo at the airport. On Wednesday, he found his way to camp without the aid of a limousine.

He emerged from his white Range Rover at 9:38 a.m., slipped into the clubhouse and had a quick chat with manager Lee Mazzilli before joining his new teammates on the back fields of Fort Lauderdale Stadium.

“I told him, ‘I don’t want you to just fit in. Be Sammy. I don’t want you to change,'” Mazzilli said.

Sosa created a stir in Chicago with a boom-box that ultimately was destroyed by a teammate. That won’t be a problem in Baltimore; Mazzilli does not allow the players to listen to music before games, except through headphones.

Braves

Kissimmee, Fla. — Atlanta shortstop Rafael Furcal hustled off the field, ignoring several television crews that wanted to speak with him. At his locker a few minutes later, he responded tersely to an interview request: “Are you going to ask me about baseball?”

He spent 13 days in jail during the offseason and four weeks in an alcohol treatment center following his second conviction for drunken driving. The 26-year-old Furcal gave up alcohol after his latest arrest, but also said he didn’t believe he had a drinking problem.

“Just bad luck,” he said.

Giants

Scottsdale, Ariz. — Manager Felipe Alou said he thought he probably would be back with the San Francisco Giants for a fourth season in 2006.

His contract ends after this season and Alou turns 70 in May, but he has shown he still has enough energy to lead the Giants for 162 games. He also wants to manage his son, Moises, for another season.

“I believe if the team asked me to come back, I would come back,” Felipe Alou said. “And if I asked the team to come back, they’d probably let me come back. But we’re not there yet.”

Pirates

Bradenton, Fla. — Pittsburgh said catching prospect J.R. House underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum and torn rotator cuff in Birmingham, Ala. House will miss the entire season.