If you're keeping score, that's 1 for Joba in pen  —  News flash: New Yorkers can be brusque, impolite and sometimes even rude.  Joba Chamberlain reporting.  Film at 11.  —  Thanks, Joba, for restating the obvious for those of us who can be honest about ourselves.

Skeptics' heat is on Sabathia … BALTIMORE - The Yankees insist CC Sabathia is healthy, but the heating pad, a dip in velocity and his awful results on Opening Day are causing some knowledgeable baseball observers to wonder what was happening when the lefty got rocked by the Orioles.

Webb will miss next start  —  Arizona ace dealing with right shoulder stiffness  —  PHOENIX — Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb will miss his scheduled start on Saturday against the Dodgers with stiffness in his right shoulder.  —  Webb told reporters after his Opening Day start …

The World Series Rings of the 21st Century  —  This afternoon, for the first time since 1981, the Philadelphia Phillies presented their players and staff with some Bling.  —  Specifically, World Series Championship Bling.  —  And there it is.  That puppy is loaded with diamonds.  Holy crap.

Projecting politics & baseball with Nate Silver  —  Until last year, Nate Silver was a minor celebrity among the sorts of baseball fans who value VORP far more than say, RBIs (shady characters such as myself, in other words.)  Then, Nate started a little Web site called fivethirtyeight.com.

YES, Verizon reach Video-on-Demand agreement  —  Verizon FiOS TV First to offer YES' Yankees Games On-Demand in New York Area  —  NEW YORK - The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country for the past six years, and Verizon, the only major provider that delivers …

Glavine sharp in simulated game in Gwinnett  —  The Gwinnett Braves travel to Charlotte today to open their inaugural season Thursday against the Knights with prospect Tommy Hanson on the mound.  —  He'll be followed in the rotation by Jo-Jo Reyes, James Parr, Charlie Morton and Todd Redmond.

Red Sox's Baldelli Revels in (and Braces for) His Homecoming  —  BOSTON — Throughout his decade of crouching behind home plate in Fenway Park, Rich Gedman still saw himself as a kid in the center-field bleachers.  Lou Merloni set major league records for utilityman popularity.

Triple-A notes: Tomko as closer, Jackson hitting sixth  —  Just to triple check, I sent Dan Giese another text message this afternoon.  —  “Heard anything yet on waivers?”  —  “Not yet”  —  Some other notes from today's Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees media day...  Brett Tomko will be the Triple-A closer

Oakland claims Giese  —  This release from the Athletics:  —  The Oakland A's claimed right-handed pitcher Dan Giese off waivers from the New York Yankees and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento, the club announced today.  To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the A's designated right-handed pitcher Chris Schroder for assignment.

Baseball payrolls drop by $47 million from Opening Day 2008  —  NEW YORK — The recession has hit baseball salaries.  —  Teams cut payrolls for their active rosters and disabled lists by $47 million from Opening Day in 2008 to the first day of this season, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

Let's Debate: Who won Yahoo! Sports Build-a-Ballclub feature?  —  Kudos to my columnist-side colleagues here at Yahoo! Sports MLB for putting together a fantastic “Build-a-Ball Club” feature that's one of today's absolute must-reads in the baseball world.  —  If you haven't read it yet …

Average MLB spring training attendance down 7.7 percent  —  NEW YORK - Major League Baseball set an overall spring training attendance record boosted by an increase in games, but the average attendance declined by 7.7 percent as the recession kept crowds down.

Open for business  —  Behind Beckett, workmanlike Sox get the job done  —  Nothing makes the chilly temperature rise like an Opening Day win, and with it a pristine record that evokes idyllic hopes of 162-0.  It came yesterday, a near-perfect performance in the Red Sox' second stab at game No. 1 …

It won't be around much longer  —  They're started dismantling the old Yankee Stadium, stripping out the grass and now they're taking down the outfield walls.  This part of the wall had very little wear and tear as Bobby Abreu rarely touched it.  —  They also knocked part of a wall on 161st St …

Welcome to my blog on MASNsports.com!  —  Thanks to MASN and CAA, I'm going to be doing something that, to be honest with you... I've never done before.  —  This is going to be new to me, and I hope I can help a lot of you understand the game a little better and what we go through during spring training and the regular season.