Alou gets MRI on bad shoulder  —  Moises Alou is headed for an MRI today on his right shoulder.  If he is deactivated, the Mets are considering promoting speedy 21-year-old outfielder Carlos Gomez from Triple-A New Orleans.  —  Alou's shoulder has barked since he dove in Washington over the weekend.

Mets notebook  —  Orlando Hernandez adjusted his shirt.  He put on his sunglasses.  What he really needed was his crystal ball.  —  "I don't know the future," the 41-year old said, admitting he didn't know how long the bursitis in his shoulder will keep him out.

If It Ain't Broke  —  Here's how it all started.  —  THT author John Beamer is currently working on an article on Phil Hughes.  He asked me take a look at Hughes' mechanics.  I had briefly seen Hughes pitch before, but I needed a closer look.  So I went to YouTube, found some video, broke it down and got back to him.

NTSB presents results in Lidle crash investigation  —  WASHINGTON — New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's plane crashed in New York because the pilot misjudged a narrow U-turn before veering into a Manhattan high-rise.  —  National Transportation Safety Board investigators presented …

Latest Developments in a Crosstown Rivalry  —  Home plate at Citi Field in Flushing is marked by a patch of Astroturf.  In the Bronx, an outcropping of New York schist was leveled by chisel hammers attached to earth movers to clear the land for the future home plate at the new Yankee Stadium.

Mets fan banned at Shea for 3 years for shining flashlight at opponents  —  NEW YORK (AP) — A New York Mets fan has been banned from Shea Stadium for three years after pleading guilty on Tuesday to shining a high-powered flashlight at a pair of Atlanta Braves players last month.

A Mouse, and a Wizznut, and the End  —  The Wizards lost last night.  Their season is over.  I think back to so many things.  The first day of training camp, when Gilbert told me about reading the Harry Potter books: … Or the week before, when I got an email from a Wizznut, our first communication since I became a blogger:

Phone calls can hang up HGH players  —  To view 31-page search warrant affidavit click here  —  Over the course of the past year, several major league baseball players got phone calls from steroid dealer Kirk Radomski and noted to themselves or others that the calls seemed "strange."

BIKIN-E-MAILS RATTLE TV WIFE  —  FOXY Philadelphia TV reporter Alycia Lane is in hot water after a series of private e-mails and saucy snapshots she sent to handsome NFL Network anchorman Rich Eisen were intercepted by his wife.  —  Suzy Shuster, a sideline reporter for ABC's college football broadcasts …

Down in a hole  —  Odds stacked against Yankees making postseason  —  The Milwaukee Brewers are a good team, one likely to stay afloat through the summer, but I don't know that the city of Milwaukee should be planning a parade route just yet.  Championships aren't won in April.  But can they be lost?

Tavarez wants to be on cutting edge  —  Julian Tavarez, who has made an effort to befriend Daisuke Matsuzaka (and Hideki Okajima), is now asking Matsuzaka for a favor.  He wants Matsuzaka to show him how to throw a cut fastball.  —  "I told him, 'I think you're one of the greatest pitchers I've ever seen,' " Tavarez said.

ZIM PUTS BLAME ON  —  General manager Brian Cashman says if you are looking to blame somebody for the Yankees being in last place and 61/2 games behind the Red Sox, he is your guy.  —  And Don Zimmer agrees with him.  —  "To me, Cashman is the problem," Zimmer said yesterday without going into detail.

Pap not hurtin' for cash: Sox closer knows deal  —  Jonathan Papelbon wants to make one thing clear: Talk of a new contract isn't at the forefront of his mind these days.  What is?  Pitching and staying healthy.  —  "For me, it's going to come when it comes," Papelbon said of any potential new deal.

There is Good in the World: Sal's Pals Lives in Canada  —  Once every couple decades there are events that bring the world together and we like to report on these events every couple of months.  Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, the Beatles came to America, Bob Dylan plugged in at Newport …

Pitcher had close call days before death  —  Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was in a potentially serious traffic accident less than three days before the one that took his life Sunday, according to police reports.  —  Hancock walked away from that early Thursday morning crash uninjured …

An Era to Forget  —  Welcome to the latest chapter in Major League Baseball's ongoing nightmare: steroids, steroids and more steroids.  —  Last Friday's revelation that a former New York Mets clubhouse kid — now apparently all grown up as a 37-year-old drug dealer had named names …