Opinion

The injuries just keep on coming for the Minnesota Twins.

In March, the club lost All-Star closer Joe Nathan for the year after he underwent Tommy John surgery.

Last week, reigning American League MVP Joe Mauer sat out with a heel injury that threatened to land him on the disabled list.

Is there a Dr. Jack Kevorkian for baseball?

Someone you go to if you want a career euthanized?

I have a candidate for Doctor Death, but bear with me first.

I’m getting flashbacks, and they aren’t good.

I’ve been remembering Willie Mays lately, but not in the way you’d think I would remember him.

No, I'm not saying he always did. Just that he does now.

I, like many Phillies fans, barely stifled a sigh of disappointment when old "Carlos Ruissss"(as PA Announcer Dan Baker refers to him) steps into the batter's box. A dribbling grounder seemed inevitable, and then the pitcher was up. How thrilling.

At the end of last season however, an entirely new player had filled the squat, stubby body of the Phils' starting catcher. He even called himself Carlos Ruiz. The nerve.

I can hear Yankees Featured Columnist Joseph Del Grippo saying somewhere, "another Javier Vazquez article from Doug."

Yes it is, because tonight could be a major night in deciding the future of the Yankees right-hander.

The Yankees will send Vazquez out to pitch in the second game of their four game series with the Tigers at Comerica Park.

This will be the first time since May 1 that Vazquez will be stepping on a mound for the Yankees to start a game.

New York Yankee Designated Hitter Nick Johnson has been placed on the Disabled List for 15 days.

I am not going to pretend to not be the guy who says, "I told you so". But you know what, I told you so!

In an article here on Bleacher Report, I wrote that I couldn't imagine why the Yankees with all of the money in the baseball universe, would want to throw $5.5M down the toilet.

Alright, I'm finally ready to talk some baseball.

Not that I haven't been paying attention, quite the opposite actually. Because of my line of work, I find myself watching more baseball than ever before—on Mondays and Thursdays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, not to mention the nationally televised games on Saturday and Sunday.

I see more of Buster Olney and John Kruk then I do of my own family. I even hear Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan's voices in my dreams, which as you might guess, very quickly become nightmares.

Pedro Martinez was a better pitcher than Roger Clemens. The basic premise is that the pitcher's job is to prevent the opposition from scoring. Pedro did that better than Roger.

On July 22, 2009 the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox, opening up the first base position. The next day they called up Steve Pearce and on the 29th they traded Ian Snell and Jack Wilson to the Seattle Mariners for Jeff Clement and Ronny Cedeno, creating a competition at first between the two college superstars.

Whitaker and Trammell. Morgan and Concepcion. Tinker and Evers. Maz and Groat.

So often, the 2B and SS are linked together on great teams. Why should they not be? What part of baseball more encompasses teamwork than the ability to turn a double play?

While top defensive pairings are not exactly a dime a dozen, the majors definitely have their fair share of talent at the pivot. Let's take a closer look at the best.

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When I was growing up, I learned everything I know about baseball from watching TV. My dad was more of a football guy. He still is.

He knows the basics when it comes to baseball, how to throw, catch, camp under a fly ball, etc. But baseball has a lot of little things in it that can really make the difference between winning and losing. Things that are not really obvious, but make a lot of sense once you learn them. When these situations came up, the TV announcers knew them, and would always point them out.