El Duque hopes new windup will work out  —  Moises Alou found out Wednesday of a hernia in his hip that will cause him to miss the start of the season.  (Newsday/David L. Pokress)  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Orlando Hernandez, with a revamped lower leg kick, may not look the same on the mound.

Chat wrap: Frank Coonelly  —  Bucs' new president answers fans' questions … scubevol: Do you really think you can compete for a championship against the big-market clubs?  —  Coonelly: Absolutely.  The Pirates will not use economics, our financial resources or the economic system of baseball as a crutch.

Murcer's biopsy shows no cancer  —  Broadcaster plans to rest before returning to Yankees' booth  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Bobby Murcer received “great news” on Wednesday, as a biopsy performed on his brain revealed only scar tissue and no signs of cancer.  —  “We are very excited about this news,” Murcer said.

Yankee Stadium set to begin its final season  —  Plans to raze Yankee Stadium and auction off some of its contents are being put in place by the team and New York City, but don't make any plans for a big haul of memorabilia.  —  Once the Yankees are settled into their new Yankee Stadium …

Stop the revolution . . . I want to get off  —  So Jeremy Brown has called it quitskies, huh?  You'd think that the retirement of a guy who is built somewhat like me would make me sad, but it doesn't.  Instead, I danced a hora when I heard it.  —  At least, I did the dance after the person …

He's Worry Free, Too  —  Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester delivers a throw while working out on the mound at the teams baseball spring training facility, in Fort Myers, Fla. (STEVEN SENNE / AP / February 24, 2008)  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Jon Lester hasn't had a normal spring for three years.

GB's Olympic baseball dream ends  —  British Baseball has called UK Sport short-sighted after being forced to pull out of a final Olympic qualifying tournament which starts on Friday.  —  Team GB have been unable to raise the £40,000 needed to fund the trip to the competition in Taiwan …

Cano plans on Star turn in first half  —  TAMPA - Robinson Cano has hit .342 and .306 in the past two seasons, but he believes there's a lot of room for improvement.  —  Last season, Cano batted .274 before the All-Star break, then hit .343 in the second half.

Taking Control of His Future  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Ian Kennedy was not the kind of kid who taped a strike zone to the side of a wall and threw at it all day long.  He did not pester friends or family to catch him in the backyard.  Kennedy loved to pitch, but there was no need to practice.

JOHAN REBOUNDS; PEDRO IS UP NEXT  —  Some vintage Johan Santana gave the injury-ravaged Mets an emotional lift yesterday.  —  They're hoping they can say the same about Pedro Martinez tonight.  —  Redeeming himself after a rocky Mets debut last Friday against the Cardinals …

Notes: Lannan turning heads this spring  —  Lefty extends scoreless-innings streak, get first Grapefruit win  —  JUPITER, Fla. — Nationals left-hander John Lannan pitched three shutout innings in a 6-5 victory over the Cardinals on Wednesday and continues to show that he belongs in the starting rotation.

Sox have rhetoric, but what's behind words?  —  The new ad campaign for the White Sox is “Share the Passion, Show the Swagger,” and it hits all the right notes, as far as those things go.  —  But I would like to go on record as saying “Show Some Life, For Crying Out Loud” didn't get a fair shake.

Marlins' painful season gives way to hope  —  JUPITER - The toughest part last season was sitting in the dugout between innings and feeling his elbow tighten, like someone was inflating a blood pressure cuff around it.  —  Ricky Nolasco already had been on the disabled list once.

NY congressman asks FBI to drop Clemens probe  —  WASHINGTON — A Democratic congressman asked the FBI on Wednesday to drop its investigation of Roger Clemens because the pitching great had suffered enough from the probe into steroid use.  —  Rep. Anthony Weiner, a candidate for New York mayor in 2009 …