Pope Benedict XVI may be in the news lately for his resignation, but did you know his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was a major league slugger? Well, OK, not really. But he did take batting practice once.

And lucky for you, there were cameras on hand to record the entire thing. The YouTube clip, first uploaded in 2006, summarizes the events as thus, "Footage of Pope John Paul at an indoor batting cage during his 1987 visit to California. This video has just been released by the Vatican."

This will be it. This will be the year when the New York Yankees are finally undone by their age. Their collective geezerness will finally get the better of them.

Get ready Atlanta Braves fans.

Pitchers and catchers, along with early arrivals (Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Freddie Freeman, Chris Johnson, Dan Uggla and Ramiro Pena), have reported to spring training.

The season doesn't officially begin until April 1, but spring training games offers fans an early glimpse of the 2013 squad and wets their appetites in anticipation for baseball.

Spring training games begin in a week, and the Red Sox still have work to do.

Boston is likely finished adding star players and major coaching personnel, but the team still has several tasks to complete before the games start on Feb. 21.

The Red Sox don’t have to figure out their rotation just yet. After Lester and Buchholz, the third, fourth and fifth spots are fair game. The order of the bottom half of the rotation will be determined during spring training.

You have to possess a certain level of patience if you are a fan of the New York Mets these days.

They haven't had a winning season since 2008 and have actually taken a step back each of the past two years.

Better days are ahead, however, judging by their minor league system, which was recently ranked No. 14 overall in the major leagues.

General manager Sandy Alderson is not one to be persuaded by public opinion, as he has been slowly but surely improving the edges of the roster and, more importantly, the farm system.

According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, the Cleveland Indians are close to finalizing a minor league deal with former Rockies slugger Jason Giambi.  The contract would also include an invitation to spring training.  

It's been a busy offseason for the Cleveland Indians, and even with spring training coming up fast, it seems general manager Chris Antonetti has no intentions of slowing down.

The newest move: signing Jason Giambi.

The Oakland A's had a busy winter stocking up on talent in order to defend their AL West title.

Spring training is around the corner, and in only a couple days, the Pittsburgh Pirates will once again begin the quest to break their streak of what is now 20 consecutive losing seasons.

On February 11, pitchers and catchers will report to Bradenton as the Bucs start preparing for their 2013 campaign.

Major League Baseball has been given an excuse to pursue some unfinished business with Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun, but a renewed pursuit may not lead to the result the league wants.