Revised Batting Order Changes Dynamic for Mets  —  Carlos Beltrán had seen enough.  So in a quiet moment Tuesday afternoon, he pulled a chair beside José Reyes's locker and offered some unsolicited advice.  Recalling their conversation Wednesday night after the Mets' 5-2 victory …

The Business Of Baseball  —  The key numbers show that the national pastime is more popular than ever.  In 2007, baseball broke its attendance record for the fourth consecutive season when 79.5 million fans hit the turnstiles.  A big plus: Interleague games, where teams in the American …

Rocky start puzzles Pirates' Morris  —  TRIBUNE-REVIEW  —  LOS ANGELES — Every time Matt Morris takes the mound, he's hoping to discover why he has struggled so much this year.  —  Three starts into the season, and all he and the Pirates' coaching staff have are more questions.

Tejada acknowledges age discrepancy  —  Shortstop is actually two years older than previously believed  —  PHILADELPHIA — Miguel Tejada just aged two years.  —  Astros general manager Ed Wade was recently informed that Tejada was actually born on May 25, 1974, as opposed to May 25, 1976, as listed in the club's media guide.

Pedro optimistic about return date  —  Injured Mets pitcher expects to come back ahead of schedule  —  NEW YORK — One day after Mets general manager Omar Minaya suggested Pedro Martinez might not return to active duty until late May or early June, Martinez was quoted as having said his recovery may be shorter instead of longer.

Zambrano solid on mound, plate in win  —  With wind playing a role, Cubs pound Reds again  —  How windy was it Wednesday night during the Cubs' 12-3 victory over Cincinnati at Wrigley Field?  —  So windy the Cubs took down the ceremonial flags for Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo …

Contact rate can be more revealing than batting average  —  By Ron Shandler, Special for USA TODAY  —  What do Pat Burrell, Joe Crede and Xavier Nady have in common?  —  All three are major league veterans who have established a performance baseline during their respective careers.

Ten things I didn't know last week  —  Win Shares and Loss Shares  —  A couple of weeks ago, I talked about the essential place wins and losses have in the sabermetric universe.  There are a lot of stats that track a player's contribution to his team's wins (you can probably come …

The benefit of batting eighth  —  Baseball's conventional wisdom suggests that batting eighth in the National League—that is, in front of the pitcher—has its pros and cons.  With an extremely weak hitter on deck, opposing pitchers would seem less likely to throw strikes.