Terrible news  —  I want to let all of THT's readers know that one of our most prolific writers and favorite people, John Brattain, just passed away.  —  Many of us got to know John through the Baseball Think Factory, where his good humor was always on display.

Tabata's wife arrested on kidnapping charge  —  JOHN PERROTTO  —  LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. _ The wife of Pirates outfield prospect Jose Tabata has been arrested for kidnapping a 2-month-old girl in Plant City, Fla.  —  Amaila Tabata Pereira was found with 10-pound Sandra Cruz-Francisco standing …

Freddy Garcia assigned to minor-league camp  —  Mets assistant GM John Ricco just informed us that Freddy Garcia, who was fighting a losing battle with Livan Hernandez in the competition for the No. 5 starter role, has accepted an assignment to minor-league camp.

Dodgers' Manny Ramirez prefers running to trotting  —  Ramirez hits his first home run of the spring, but he's more encouraged about being able to run the bases full speed on a fly out.  His hamstring feels fine, he says.  —  Reporting from Phoenix — Manny Ramirez belted his first home run …

Strasburg is on the all-time fastest track  —  Buzz up!  —  SAN DIEGO - The radar gun blinks wildly.  It's not used to this.  No one makes it strain to read out a third digit.  It looks like binary code, not the speed of a pitch from a 20-year-old kid: 101.

170,000 tickets sold Tuesday  —  The Yankees put individual game tickets on sale for the first season of their new ballpark and said they had sold 170,000 by midday Tuesday.  —  Yankees chief operating Lonn Trost said the sale began with full-season equivalents at just under 36,000 for the 52,000-capacity ballpark.

Audi Becomes Official Luxury Vehicle of the Yankees  —  Audi today announced that the brand is now the official luxury vehicle of the New York Yankees.  The new relationship also includes the naming of the Audi Yankees Club, an exclusive viewing location and membership restaurant, located on the H&R Block Suite Level in left field.

Mike Piazza: The Back Acne Was The Least Of It  —  This is a new weekly column from Leitch.  It has words, and pictures.  It's called Ten Humans Of The Week.  It might or might not work.  But here it is.  —  There has been a lot of talk this week about Mike Piazza, from Murray …

Cubs reduce spring roster to 37 players  —  The Chicago Cubs today sent five players to minor league camp, reducing their spring roster from 42 to 37 players.  —  Additionally, the club outrighted outfielder Richie Robnett to Triple-A Iowa.  Chicago's 40-man roster now stands at 38 players.

Cardinals will start season without naming closer  —  The Cardinals have not yet designated a closer, but Jason Motte leads all contenders.  He has earned a save in four of his past five appearances this spring.  (Chris Lee/P-D)  —  ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Tim Wakefield passes test  —  Strong outing vs. Yankees  —  TAMPA - If Tim Wakefield [stats] wanted a late-spring test to measure his preseason progress, he got one last night and passed easily.  —  Facing the same lineup the New York Yankees will use on Opening Day …

Willis pitches with sense of urgency  —  Left-hander doing what he can to leave camp with Tigers  —  LAKELAND, Fla. — If Tuesday was Dontrelle Willis' last chance to impress Tigers officials, at least he can say he gave it what he had, whatever happens.  —  With a week and a half until …

Love him or hate him, Curt Schilling stood out in the modern game … No getting away from it: There is too much baseball.  When the spring training game is over the international one follows, and afterward there is an interview with a disgraced player at pains to convey contrition.

Rockies Recap: Cubs rough up Smith, bullpen  —  Cubs 9, Rockies 8  —  At the plate: In his first game back from the WBC, Chris Iannetta didn't miss a beat.  Iannetta went 2-for-4 with an RBI single.  —  “I think when I left I was a little jumpy at the plate,” he said.

Danks looks to future for long-term deal  —  Pitcher advised that recent offer was not ‘at the right time’  —  GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Back in January, the possibility of signing a multiyear deal with the White Sox was broached to 23-year-old starter John Danks.

Yanks, A-Rod discussed tabloid antics … Top Yankees officials are apparently giving Alex Rodriguez a pass on his latest appearance in the tabloids, but they were annoyed and concerned enough about his extracurricular activities and a spate of often unflattering celebrity news stories …