Boz pays homage to the gritty, gutsy, scrappy, first place 2013 underdog Yankees:

Perhaps for the first time in their history, the Yankees now epitomize exactly the kind of team that always used to try to beat them: a group of inspired-by-adversity, too-old-or-too-young, one-last-chance players who band together to prove that baseball is a team game, not just an aggregation of talent and fat contracts.

Put a few all-star seasons, such as Cano’s 31 RBI, Kiroda’s 1.99 ERA and Rivera’s 16 ...

At age 22 in 1941, Reiser finished second for National League MVP. In just 137 games, he had 70 extra-base hits and led the league in runs (117), batting (.343), doubles (39), triples (17), total bases, getting hit by pitches and, if they’d kept track of on-base plus slugging back then, that, too (.964).

He was as good in reality as Harper dreams of being.

Then Reiser started running into walls. He never led the league in anything again, except stolen bases a couple of times….

“In two ...

I’ve got a field reserved in Central Park for August 17th. Time to get out of the basement and pick up a glove, if any of you even know how…

A running calculation, updated daily, of what major league baseball teams are paying players who are on the disabled list.As of May 13, there were 148 players on the disabled list, accounting for $588 million in salaries, or 18.4 percent of payroll.

Alas, Tulowitzki left Sunday’s game against the Diamondbacks in the third inning after injuring his left shoulder in an awkward slide into home plate, and his availability going forward isn’t known.

According to the Denver Post‘s Troy Renck, the Rockies said Tulowitzki suffered a mild strain of the rotator cuff in his non-throwing shoulder and will be re-evaluated on Monday. If he goes on the disabled list, it will mark the fourth straight year that he’s missed significant time due to ...

“He looked as good as at any point in spring training,” Girardi said.

This is not good news.

An MRI taken of Cardinals closer Jason Motte’s right elbow on Tuesday revealed a low-grade tear of the ligament, which, if it doesn’t show improvement over the next three weeks, will require season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Ouch!

Players injured during the World Baseball Classic will have their salaries paid by the WBC organization while they are unable to play for their major league teams, according to an MLB source.

That would mean that players such as Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez will be paid by the WBC during their respective absences.

And yet, for all the increased importance of pitching, pitchers are getting hurt more often than they used to. In 2011, according to research by FanGraphs.com, pitchers spent a total of 14,926 days on the disabled list. In 1999, that number was 13,129. No one is sure why this is happening, or what to do about it, but what is certain is that teams are trying desperately to divine answers to those questions. Figuring out which pitchers are least likely to get hurt and helping pitchers keep from ...

Given his diagnosis and the “it’s basically all over” comments from Mike Matheny and John Mozeliak last month, it’s not a terribly surprise to hear Chris Carpenter say this when he paid a visit to Cardinals’ camp today, but he said it all the same. Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch:

Asked if he sees a way back to the ballpark as a player, Carpenter did not sound hopeful.

“I do (want to keep playing),” Carpenter said. “I don’t think I can.”

More wins than Rich Gossage, ...

We can blame this on Bobby V. somehow.

Red Sox DH David Ortiz, following a pair of MRIs on Saturday, has been shut down for what is expected to be at least five to seven days due to inflammation in both of his heels, manager John Farrell said after the Red Sox’ 6-2 spring training win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The 37-year-old is experiencing more inflammation in his right heel than his left, though Farrell said that the current condition is distinct from the right Achilles injury that left ...

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If the players who compete in the WBC work out and play the way they do with their own teams, they are no more susceptible to injury than if they play for WBC teams. Injury developments from the first two Classics (2006, 2009) bear this out.

In fact, Major League Baseball statistics show that players participating in the WBC have been less likely to be injured than those who are in spring training with their own teams.

Of the 73 major leaguers ...

New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira will miss eight to 10 weeks due to his injured wrist, manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday.

Teixeira strained his wrist Tuesday while taking batting practice with the United States’ World Baseball Classic team.

The Yankees initially estimated Teixeira would miss just two weeks. But Wednesday’s update indicates that Teixeira will miss the entire month of April and could possibly be sidelined into mid-May.

Hey, at least he’s still playing and not assistant to the general manager-ing.

Free-agent right-hander Carl Pavano doesn’t figure to be signing with a new team anytime soon.

Pavano, 37, recently suffered a ruptured spleen that will sideline him for 6 to 8 weeks, according to major-league sources.

The injury occurred when slipped and fell while shoveling snow on his driveway in Vermont, one source said.

An update on why the negotiations between the Red Sox and their new Tower of Power took so long.

When Napoli arrived in Boston for a physical on Dec. 10, he expected the procedure to be routine. Certainly, he had no way of knowing that an MRI on his hips — regions that had never hindered him, and that had come up clean as recently as his physical with the Rangers last March — would lead to a renegotiation, a host of medical consultations and the ultimate revelation that he has avascular ...

The choices say more about the mores of the respective sports than the men making them. Football is brutal and vicious, and players are pumped with all manner of painkillers and drugs to get them through Sunday. You wonder if ANY coach would have pulled Griffin if he thought Griffin gave them the best chance to win. Baseball keeps counts on the number of pitches thrown. Baseball players are tough, but they can also walk when they are 60.

Both Griffin and Strasburg faced their dilemma with the ...

The best way to keep your pitchers from getting hurt is to not pitch them. Bring on the Iron Mikes!!

The Orioles — and to some extent, the Royals — have sworn off the cutter. Now it looks like the Red Sox are eschewing the slider. The curveball is probably bad for you. If you throw the changeup one way, you might be at risk for injury. We’re years ahead of a stream of knuckleball copycats, and there’s only one screwball pitcher in the big leagues. Maybe one day we’ll find those pitches ...