Washington Post: Tom Boswell: Yankees Are Monuments To Baseball Success

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 saves and 1.56 ERA, at the center of a truly inspired group effort, and you can get shocking results for quite a long time. But the Yankees’ current 102-win pace, with nine victories in their past 12 games, is simply not possible for a full season. At some point, the real Yankees have to return.

Until then, if it’s novelty you want, root for the Nine Old Men, and all the unknown kids who are helping them. Just once in a lifetime, everybody should be able to say they cheered for the Yankees.

Try it, you’ll like it.

Washington Post: Boswell:  Reiser Offers Harper A Cautionary Tale

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 and a half years in the minors, three seasons of Army ball and 10 years in the majors, Reiser was carried off the field 11 times. Nine times he regained consciousness either in the clubhouse or in hospitals. . . . Seven times he crashed into outfield walls, five times ending up in an unconscious heap on the ground.. . . Three times Pete sneaked out of hospitals to play. Once, he went back into the lineup after doctors warned him that any blow to the head would kill him. . . . In the ’47 World Series, he stood on a broken ankle to pinch-hit.”

BBTF SOFTBALL GAME IN NEW YORK—AUG 17

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…

NY Times: Money on the Bench

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.

Rockies Hope Tulowitzki Injury Won’t Cool Hot Start

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 injury.

Yankees notes: Joe Girardi optimistic on Derek Jeter’s return after shortstop runs for the first time since suffering a setback to his ankle last month - NYPOST.com

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

Cardinals closer Jason Motte shut down until May, surgery an option | cardinals.com: News

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.

Angels righty Jered Weaver has broken left elbow, will be out 4-6 weeks | angels.com: News

Ouch!

ESPN: Olney:  Source: WBC to cover salaries

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.

New York Magazine: Leitch: The Glass Arm

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 getting hurt is the game’s next big mystery to solve, the next market inefficiency to be exploited. The modern baseball industry is brilliant at projecting what players will do on the field. The next task is solving the riddle of how to keep them on it.

Chris Carpenter says he’s likely to never pitch again

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, more strikeouts than Babe Ruth, lower ERA than Red Ruffing. PUT HIM IN THE HALL.

DAVID ORTIZ SHUT DOWN AT LEAST 5-7 DAYS; OPENING DAY IN DOUBT

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 him able to play just one game after last July 26.

The MRI did not reveal any issues with the previously injured Achilles. It is not known if the issues with the heels was due to overcompensation from his original injury….

With the time off, and the fact that Opening Day getting closer and closer, Farrell didn’t sound optimistic that Ortiz would be ready for April 1.

“I mean, we’re three weeks away. He’s going to need at-bats,” the manager explained. “We’re not forgoing Opening Day right now, but we’re starting to get into an area where … depending on how many days we need to shut him down, that’s going to have a direct affect, a direct bearing on where we are come Opening Day.”

Muray Chass: DON’T BLAME TATTOOS ON WBC

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 who opened the 2009 season on the disabled list, only two (Ichiro Suzuki and Rick VandenHurk) played in the World Baseball Classic. And Ichiro had a stomach ulcer, which presumably didn’t result from the WBC.

Of 786 non-WBC players, 140, or 17.8 percent, visited the disabled list in April 2009. Only 9.5 percent of WBC players (11 of 115) needed DL time that first month.

In addition, MLB reports, the lowest percentage of active roster players starting the season on the disabled list over the last eight years occurred in 2006 and 2009, the same years as the first and second Classics.

Mark Teixeira out 8-10 weeks

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.

Robothal: Carl Pavano suffers ruptured spleen

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.

WEEI.com: Speier: Offseason Odyssey of Mike Napoli Comes to an End as Red Sox Deal Becomes Official

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 necrosis (AVN) in both hips, a degenerative condition in which a lack of blood flow to the region creates the potential for arthritis or even the destruction of the hip joint.

“I didn’t know I had it. It was definitely a shock to me,” said Napoli. “I’m able to put things behind me, and there’s nothing I can really do about that. I put it behind me, and I’m going to do whatever I can to keep myself healthy and move forward. I’m just going to have to deal with it and put it behind me and try to do the best I can to keep myself on the field and help us win in any way.”

[...]

Still, Napoli and his agent, Brian Grieper, suggested that at this stage of the condition, it should not be an impediment to his ability to stay on the field. Given that an MRI of the hips 10 months ago did not reveal evidence of AVN, that the catcher was asymptomatic during the season and even the offseason (he has been unhindered in his offseason workouts) and that Napoli is now being treated by Dr. Joseph Lane of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York (and receiving medication intended to slow the progress of the condition), both had an optimistic outlook while discussing the now-official one-year, $5 million deal with the Red Sox that includes incentives that could increase Napoli’s earnings to $13 million in 2013.

Kilgore: Stephen Strasburg and Robert Griffin III: The inevitable and cloying comparison

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 same rub-dirt-on-it ethos. Shanahan said he based his decision on what Griffin told him – that he was “hurt” and not “injured.” Strasburg raged at the decision to shut him down and repeatedly told Nationals brass he felt fine. Players always want to play.

When Rizzo made his decision, he took all competitive considerations out of play and made what he believed was a purely medical decision. When Shanahan made his decision, he placed victory above all and, if Dr. James Andrews’s quotes to USA Today tell the full story, may have willfully ignored medical opinion.

Every Pitch Is Bad For You | FanGraphs Baseball

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 lead to injury, too.

Maybe using any pitch too much is a problem?