Yankees call up Claggett  —  TORONTO — Right-handed reliever Anthony Claggett has joined the Yankees for their game tonight against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.  —  Claggett, 25, was 4-6 with a 3.02 ERA in 32 games (two starts) for Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Triple-A).

Man stricken with ALS who met Yankees dies at 38  —  TORONTO (AP) — The former Army paratrooper who was stricken with Lou Gehrig's Disease and had an emotional meeting with several members of the New York Yankees two weeks ago died Tuesday.  He was 38.  —  George Murray, who was diagnosed …

Prince Fielder of Milwaukee Brewers tries to charge Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse after beaning … LOS ANGELES — Not even Prince Fielder really knows what he might have done if a phalanx of security guards and teammates hadn't prevented the furious Milwaukee Brewers slugger from entering …

Pedro Martinez strikes out 11 in Double-A rehab start  —  READING, Pa. — Pedro Martinez recorded nine of his first 12 outs by strikeout and worked six innings for the Double-A Reading on Wednesday night, in what could have been his final rehab start before joining the Philadelphia Phillies.

25 things you didn't know about baseball  —  Buzz up!  —  I have found baseball nerd heaven, and it is a place called FanGraphs.  —  Earlier this year, the invaluable repository for statistics unveiled its pitch-type linear weights.  Do not be scared by the math jargon.

Niese, Sheffield leave game with injuries  —  took a shocking turn Wednesday when pitcher Jon Niese collapsed on the mound with a hamstring injury while attempting a warmup pitch in the second inning.  —  Niese had covered first base on the back end of an attempted 3-6-1 double play on a ball hit by Joe Thurston of the Cardinals.

Spring Training a financial boon to Florida  —  Study: Camp made more than $750 million for state's economy  —  Spring Training in the Grapefruit League in 2009 was an unprecedented financial success, according to a new study commissioned by the Florida Sports Foundation in conjunction …

Suddenly, that famous Volquez-for-Hamilton deal has lost its luster … The rarest occurrence in baseball isn't a perfect game, a cycle, or even an afternoon without New York sports talk radio ranting that [Joba Chamberlain] Phil Hughes is the most irreplaceable relief pitcher of all time.

Jays GM Ricciardi looks like a lame duck after botching Halladay talks … Call them the Blew Jays.  Because they blew the Roy Halladay trade talks big time.  —  Sure, the Jays still have Halladay, the best pitcher in baseball.  But by all appearances it's a disappointed Halladay, who expected to be gone from Toronto by now.

Steps for attaining baseball happiness  —  1. Buy a pack of baseball cards.  For best results, pay no more than a quarter and make sure the pack has a hard stick of gum sliding around loose inside.  If packs long ago stopped costing a quarter or less and no longer include flour-flecked sticks …

Baseball Gives Topps an Exclusive Deal  —  The Topps Company will become the exclusive trading card maker of Major League Baseball next year in a multiyear deal that appears to seriously hurt Upper Deck, its primary competitor in the once-vibrant business.  —  By dropping Upper Deck …

Union will not file order for Ortiz results  —  While David Ortiz assured that he will soon address last Thursday's New York Times report that he failed a test for performance-enhancing substances in 2003, the reasons behind Ortiz's delay in addressing the matter remained uncertain today.

Doug Davis, Heath Bell and Lyle Overbay among players who could move in August waiver trades  —  The July non-waiver trade deadline has passed, and Major League Baseball's August trade deadline is approaching.  —  It's the same thing, only with more gamesmanship, smaller names in play and no real sense of anticipation.

Red Sox' Trop woes grow as Rays finish sweep  —  Same sad story  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It hasn't reached the level of the Patriots [team stats]' old Orange Bowl jinx, but the Red Sox [team stats] keep flopping at the Trop.

Avila and Lambert up  —  It's almost like the Tigers got a bulk discount on a shuttle between Toledo and Detroit.  Wilkin Ramirez's stay in the Detroit was very brief and expressly for the purpose of facing Brian Matusz.  Chris Lambert will replace him on the roster.  But that's not all my friends.