Nationals pay tribute to American military  —  WASHINGTON — The timing of the Nationals' annual Military Appreciation Night was fortuitous Monday against the Giants, falling one day after American troops killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Indians outfielder Choo arrested on DUI charges … CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has been charged with drunken driving.  —  The team said Choo was arrested early Monday in Sheffield Lake, Ohio.  Choo traveled with the Indians and is with the team in Oakland …

Longoria returns from strained left oblique  —  Tampa Bay Rays all-star third baseman Evan Longoria has been reinstated from the 15-day disabled list.  —  The move was made before Tuesday night's game against Toronto.  Longoria had been sidelined since April 3 with a strained left oblique.

Sky Sox's Stewart earns return to Coors Field  —  3rd baseman regained his swing in Springs  —  The Colorado Rockies third baseman of the future has been stuck in the past.  —  That's about to change.  On Monday night, the Colorado Rockies recalled third baseman Ian Stewart, ending his highly successful return to the Sky Sox.

The Jon Matlack Trade Tree and His Legacy on the 2011 Mets  —  By The Commmon Man  —  This went over very well last week, when The Common Man put up the transactional family trees of Chuck Knoblauch and Glenn Davis, so it's going to become a regular feature here on The Platoon Advantage.

The good — and bad — news about MLB's attendance figures … Commissioner Bud Selig has an attendance problem.  It's not a problem with the actual attendance, but a problem with perception people take from the snapshot of a wet, dreary April and extrapolate into doom and gloom for the sport.

Clutch Performance Does Exist and is Tangible  —  One of the topics of debate on this site is “clutch” performance.  Often, the statistically inclined cite “small sample size” to excuse the poor performance of a player in key spots.  Alex Rodriguez was the center of this debate for many years …

Raissman: Fans, media on verge of mutiny against the Captain  —  When it comes to media attention there are now officially three baseball entities in New York: the Yankees, Mets, and Derek Jeter.  —  Whispers about the Captain losing his way at the plate have turned into screams.

BoSox deliver Weaver's first loss  —  BOSTON (AP) — Dustin Pedroia just wouldn't give in.  Facing the top pitcher in the AL, he kept fouling off pitch after pitch.  —  In all, Pedroia fouled off nine pitches in a 13-pitch at-bat against previously unbeaten Jered Weaver before lining a go-ahead …

One game in the bigs: 10 short baseball careers  —  1. Moonlight Graham: This was probably the first name I knew on this list, seeing as Graham comes up in Field of Dreams.  The author of the book that inspired the film noticed Graham in The Baseball Encyclopedia and wrote of how he played …

Prospects Will Break Your Heart  —  U Got the Look: Pitchers, Part I  —  If you have ever listened to the BP podcast, you have no doubt heard the always-fedora'd Kevin Goldstein and me identify what we look for in a prospect.  Every player is unique, but there are certain attributes …

Will Indians hold up and win AL Central?  —  Cleveland has run out to a sizable division lead, but the race is a long way from over  —  We're not sure if we've mentioned in the last 30 seconds that gambling on baseball is a really, really, really shaky idea.

The Giants And Jose Reyes  —  After being shut out by Tom Gorzelanny last night, the Giants rank second to last in the NL with 3.54 runs scored per game.  “We're awful right now,” manager Bruce Bochy told reporters last night.  Pablo Sandoval, Andres Torres, and Mark DeRosa are currently on the disabled list.