Baseball

The shortstop position has been ever changing since Cal Ripken Jr. first stepped on a major league field.

The position that used to have only the smallest players and lightest hitters is now filled with tall and powerful baseball players who use their size to extend their defensive range rather than pure speed.

The trend of big, filled-out shortstops has developed so much that it now has branches of styles stemming from it.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that no matter what Endy Chavez accomplishes in the major leagues from here on out, he will always be remembered for one spectacular catch in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS when he was with the New York Mets.

That catch, which robbed Scott Rolen of a home run, will be on MLB Network’s Prime Nine: Best Post Season Catches from now until that program goes off the air. It was that good.

Here is the catch from a fan’s prospective in case you want to see it again or missed it somehow the first time around:

With the news of Travis Ishikawa going down with a freak foot accident, I had to ask myself a question that came out of left field.

What if the Giants No. 1 prospect Buster Posey became the backup catcher as well as the backup first basemen for the Giants? 

Although Travis Ishikawa isn't on the DL, there is a possibility of having to do surgery on the torn ligaments, which would mean that he would be out for a significant amount of time.

The "Aughts" have come and passed already, with plenty of great baseball played. Between reversing the curse in Beantown, the White Sox finally getting their title, Barry Bonds breaking the single-season home run record, the retirement of players like Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, and Greg Maddux, and the demise of the careers of the steroid-era stars, there has been no shortage of headlines in the past ten years.

The Braves got the best news possible on Jair Jurrjens’ ailing right shoulder.

An MRI that was conducted on Wednesday showed no signs of structural damage in Jurrjens’ throwing shoulder and the Braves right-hander was instead diagnosed with a mild case of inflammation.

The Braves' team orthopedist, Dr. Xavier Duralde, has recommended a week of rest for Jurrjens before he can start throwing again.

By any measure, the Pirates' Jason Bay was a superstar in 2006. But he injured his knee in 2007, and was never quite the same again.

In that year, his batting went downhill to "league average," and his crippled fielding pulled his overall usefulness down to that of a replacement player. Bay has since regained his star batting ability, but his continued weak fielding makes him worth perhaps $5 million less than he might have commanded were he a free agent in 2006.

Ths is one of the happiest days of the year, as Spring Training opens. It makes all of us kids again, remembering the snap of ball into mitt and the unique sound of a well struck ball off a wooden bat.

As has been so often said, "Hope Springs Eternal."  Even the fans of perennial cellar dwellers can find some invigoration in Spring Training as we look to the future.

I just can't get enough of the Topps Million Card Giveaway.

Today, my travels took me to the Modell's by Grand Central Station where I scooped up 11 packs of "2010 Topps Baseball series 1" in search of Million Card Giveaway redemption cards, hoping to pull that elusive 1952 Mickey Mantle.

Out of the 11 packages, I scored three redemption cards (none of which was the Mantle (sigh)), and was lucky enough to "unlock" this 1958 Enos "Country" Slaughter, then of the New York Yankees.

A long time ago, I remember that when I was going to write my annual column of the Boricuas in spring training, the list used to be a very long one.

It was not only quantity, but also quality.

They used to take a few pages. Most teams had at least one Puerto Rican on their 40-man roster, and most of them at the end of March were ready for the majors.

Like Babe Ruth calling his shot, so do I now set forth ten bold predictions for which the Internet will forever hold me accountable.

Actually, there's very little similarity there, but so much of the Babe's appeal is in his name. Hopefully, I can similarly mask the actual substance of my predictions in a cloud of stylish hyperbole.

This is that time of year nearly all baseball fans can enjoy. The first pitch yet to be delivered, the first out yet to be recorded, each fan can boast of future victories and records, however possible or impossible.

The Spring breathes life into us.