Warming Words: Pitchers, Catchers Report to Camp : Baseball: Spring training is a time of rebirth for players, teams and fans, a time when everyone is dead even in the standings.

All over, it’s been one of the worst winters ever. Bitter cold, whipping winds and snow, sleet and slush that just won’t quit.

The bad weather isn’t finished yet, but this forecast will warm up anyone stuck inside watching the Olympic luge competition: Pitchers and catchers will report to spring training this week.

If you’re buried by a blizzard in Boston or Baltimore, don’t fret. In just a few days, there will be photos from Florida of the Red Sox frolicking in Fort Myers and the Orioles stretching in St. Petersburg.

If you’re caught in a deep freeze in Chicago or Colorado, cheer up. Soon there will be shots on television from Arizona of the Cubs working out in Mesa and the Rockies loosening up in Tucson.

Officially, camps can officially open Wednesday. But the bats and balls will be broken out before that, because on Tuesday morning, Michael Jordan will begin his first real workout with the Chicago White Sox in Sarasota, Fla.

Most baseballers say Jordan has no chance--some have even gotten on their high horses to say he’s making a mockery of the game--but this is part of what spring training is all about.

It’s a time of rebirth for players, teams and fans, a time when everyone is dead even in the standings.

Sure, the Toronto Blue Jays may be favorites to become the first team to win three straight championships since Oakland in 1972-73-74 and Barry Bonds may become the first to win four MVP awards.

But who would’ve thought last spring that the Philadelphia Phillies would reach the World Series, or that Andres Galarraga would wind up winning a batting championship?

“I know it’s easy to say positive things this time of year, but I think truthfully we could surprise people,” said manager Dallas Green of the New York Mets, the worst team in the majors last season.

“Everybody wants to say you can go last to first. It’s happened before,” he said. “So I’m looking forward to spring training, I tell you.”

Not everyone is so enthusiastic, at least not yet.

“I don’t look forward to spring training,” said Joe Carter, whose home run ended the 1993 season. “The only thing I look forward to is going down to Florida to play golf. You can’t play golf in the snow.”

By the time Carter leaves his home in Kansas City and arrives in Dunedin, Fla., to start workouts with the Blue Jays, baseball will be entering a new era.

From now on, teams do not have to finish first to make the postseason. Instead, with each league split into an East, Central and West division, a wild-card winner will join the playoffs.

There were other changes, too. For the first time in decades, Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount will be missing. They’ve all retired after Hall of Fame careers.

As always, trades and free agents have reshaped teams, although not nearly like last winter, when the likes of Bonds, Greg Maddux, Paul Molitor, Jim Abbott and David Cone found new homes.

Besides Baltimore, which added Rafael Palmeiro, Sid Fernandez, Chris Sabo, Lee Smith, there wasn’t much major movement. Will Clark signed with Texas, Terry Mulholland was traded to the New York Yankees and Delino Montreal’s DeShields was swapped for Los Angeles’ Pedro Martinez.

Mitch Williams, who gave up Carter’s three-run homer in the ninth inning in Game 6 of the World Series, was sent to Houston. He’ll play for rookie manager Terry Collins; Tom Trebelhorn was hired by the Cubs in the winter’s other managerial move.

As for the camps, the Seattle Mariners will play in their new spring home in Peoria, Ariz. They’ll share the site this year with the San Diego Padres--in fact, the Mariners and Padres play March 2 in the first major league exhibition game of the spring.

On March 4, the White Sox, with or without that rookie outfielder named Jordan, play their first game, against Texas. The next day, the Blue Jays and Phillies play the first of their five spring meetings.

Early March is the time to watch rookies like first baseman J.R. Phillips of the Giants, third baseman Tim Costo of the Reds and outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds of the Orioles.

Mid-March is the time to see whether Bo Jackson is able to play full time in left for the Angels, whether Jose Canseco’s elbow has healed for the Rangers, and whether Darryl Strawberry’s back is better for the Dodgers.

Late March is the time Carter waits for.

“The only week I look forward to is the week before the season starts. That’s when I get serious,” he said. “You don’t want to peak too early and leave your stroke down there.”

Managers Cito Gaston of Toronto, Tom Lasorda of Los Angeles and Sparky Anderson of Detroit usually let their veterans work at their own pace, meaning their exhibition records don’t mean much.

Believe it or not, however, studies show that teams that seem to show dramatic results in spring training, like the Phillies last March, often make surprising progress once the season starts.

At least, it’s happened that way in the past.

And it all starts for real on April 3 when St. Louis plays at Cincinnati in a rare Sunday night opener.