BRADENTON, Fla. -- Jim Tracy met for a while with the Pirates' brass yesterday morning, stepped out into the sunshine shortly after noon, chatted briefly with the media, smiled, waved and headed off for a round of golf.

A fairly breezy day.

When Tracy returns to work today, much will be different.

For one, he will be in uniform for the first time since becoming manager. For another, the pitchers and catchers, who reported to the team's spring training facilities yesterday and did little more than exchange pleasantries and place equipment orders, will be on the field for a busy first day of workouts.

Another change will take root today, too, if Tracy has his way. One that transforms a 67-95 team into a winner for the first time in the past 13 years.

"I've been looking forward to this for a while," he said of the first workout. "But I'm not so revved up that I'm looking at this as my most important day as manager of the Pirates. I'm looking at the big picture. I'm looking at how tomorrow translates day to day over the next seven months. That's what's important to me, to get this club to a level where it hasn't been for a while."

The first steps aimed at that goal begin at noon today -- after morning physicals -- and will include:

15 of the 32 pitchers in camp throwing 30-40 pitches in the bullpen. The rest of the healthy pitchers will throw tomorrow.

A reinforcement of bunting and fielding instruction taught in minicamp last month.

Conditioning drills capped by running around the four-field complex.

Possibly an extra session. Tracy would not specify what he would do with this, but he also described it as unlikely because of the late start.

One element the day will not include is a speech from Tracy. He prefers to wait until the full squad is on the field, which will happen when position players participate in the Wednesday workout.

"I want everyone to hear the same message," he said.

Tracy does, however, plan to advise his pitchers today that he wants them to build gradually toward the Grapefruit League schedule rather than try too hard to impress the staff in the early going.

"As we get deeper into the spring, that will be the opportunity to show me what you're all about. But I also make sure they understand that the time we have leading up to games, you've got to use that to prepare yourself to play and to use this wonderful coaching staff we have."

"Actually, we want them all to throw 100 mph on the first day," pitching coach Jim Colborn said, stifling a grin. "We want to teach them how to throw from both sides, too. I think that would help the team, a bunch of ambidextrous pitchers."

Buried treasure

There were 32 pitchers and six catchers required to report, but it will not be known until today if all of them did because they have the entire 24-hour period to do so. Reliever Giovanni Carrara, who lives in Venezuela, informed team officials he might be delayed.

Outfielder Craig Wilson, an emergency catcher, reported on his own.

Colborn said all pitchers were cleared to throw except Bryan Bullington, who is out until June because of shoulder surgery. Colborn added that Sean Burnett and John Van Benschoten, each recovering from multiple arm surgeries, will not lag behind the pack in any way.

Pitcher Oliver Perez and catcher Humberto Cota have received word they will be on Mexico's 30-man roster for the World Baseball Classic, although that has not been formally announced.

Bill Mazeroski and Bill Virdon, members of the 1960 World Series champions, will be back as instructors this spring.

The Pirates completed a two-year extension of the agreement with their high Class A affiliate in Lynchburg, Va., through 2008. That relationship began in 1995.