Pujols Elbows out Howard for NL MVP

Albert Pujols played with a bad elbow all season that eventually led to surgery, but it didn't stop him from winning the second NL MVP award of his career. Pujols, who has finished in the top 10 in voting in all 8 years of his career, defeated the Phillies' Ryan Howard by 61 votes.

It was originally thought that Pujols would need Tommy John surgery on his left, non-throwing elbow, but it turned out doctors were able to simply move a nerve that was irritating the elbow. You wouldn't have known anything was wrong based on Pujols' numbers. He hit .357, the second highest average of career and put up a 1.115 OPS. Pujols slugged 37 doubles, 44 doubles, drove in 116 runs and scored 100. On top of walking 104 times, he struck out just 54 times. Pujols slugged .653, nearly 30 points higher than his career average.

Howard help drive the Phillies to their first World Championship in 28 years by driving in a major league leading 146 runs as well as hitting a high of 46 home runs. Last year's MVP also finished second to Pujols in 2006. Howard received 12 first place votes, while his teammate Brad Lidge received the remaining 2 first places votes.

Two American League players had a significant impact on the race, with LA's Manny Ramirez finishing 4th and CC Sabathia ending up 6th. Our pre-season prediction, Jose Reyes, finished third from the bottom with 3 votes.

2008 NL MVP Award Voting
Player, Club	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points
Albert Pujols, STL	18	10	2	1			1				369
Ryan Howard, PHI	12	8	6		1	1	2			1	308
Ryan Braun, MIL		2	3	5	5	2	2	3	2	1	139
Manny Ramirez, LAD		2	4	7	2	3	2		1	2	138
Lance Berkman, HOU		2	4	4	1	3	3	4	1	1	126
CC Sabathia, MIL		4	5	1	2	2	3		1	2	121
David Wright, NYM		2	1	4	3	3	2	5	2	1	115
Brad Lidge, PHI	2		2		4	3	2	3	1	2	104
Carlos Delgado, NYM			5	1	2	5		2	3		96
Aramis Ramirez, CHC				2	4	1	1	4	3	1	66
Hanley Ramirez, FLA				2	2	2	1	2	2	5	55
Chipper Jones, ATL		1				2	4	1	2	2	44
Geovany Soto, CHC				3	1		3		1		41
Johan Santana, NYM		1		1		1	1		2	1	30
Chase Utley, PHI				1	1	1	1		3	2	30
Ryan Ludwick, STL							1	2	3	1	17
Brandon Webb, ARI					2				1		14
Adrian Gonzalez, SD							1	1	1	4	13
Matt Holliday, COL						1	1	1		1	13
Prince Fielder, MIL						1		1	1	1	11
Derrek Lee, CHC					1		1				10
Carlos Beltran, NYM					1			1		1	10
Tim Lincecum, SF						1			1	2	9
Jose Reyes, NYM								1			3
Jose Valverde, HOU								1			3
Stephen Drew, ARI									1		2
Nate McLouth, PIT										1	1

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The Daily Yankeeland - 10/28

Needless to say the conclusion of the World Series was put off until Wednesday night due to more crappy weather in Philly. And even that is in doubt, with a 20-30% chance of rain all day and a game time temperature expected to be 33 degrees.

Yahoo's Jeff Passan takes Bud Selig and MLB to task.


Meanwhile back on the Yankees, and ex-Yankees beat...

Brian Cashman spoke to MLB's Anthony DiComo about Joba Chamberlain's DUI arrest.

Ken Davidoff sat down with former Yankees coach Don Zimmer to discuss the surprising success of the Rays.

Mike Mussina's agent Arn Tellem says his client still has not decided whether or not to continue his career.


And around the rest of MLB:

The Cubs hot corner man Aramis Ramirez has won the Hank Aaron Award.

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols garnered the Roberto Clemente Award.

The Angels picked up their 2009 options on Vlad Guerrero and John Lackey.

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K-Rod and Pujols Reach New Heights

Yesterday was a big day in both the American and National Leagues. Francisco Rodriguez, aka K-Rod, tied Bobby Thigpen's major league record with his 57th save of the season. And yes, he pranced around on the mound afterwards like he always does.

Albert Pujols joined Hall of Fame members Ted Williams and Al Simmons as the only player to drive in 100 runs in each of his first eight major league seasons. Quite an amazing accomplishment.

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The Pennant Race - 9/10

We're back from vacation, tanned, rested, and ready to get back to full posting. The races in four of the six divisions continue to be exciting. The Angels have a magic number of two to clinch the AL West, and the Cubs aren't losing any ground, because the Brewers are losing as much as the Chi-town team.

Things have really gotten crazy out in the NL West. The Dodgers lost eight straight in August before winning their final two of the month. They've since won seven of their first eight games in September to, remarkably, pick up five games on the Diamondbacks. LA has gone from 2.5 games out to 2.5 in front. Last night they trailed the Padres 2-0 in the sixth inning when Manny Ramirez's solo home run ignited a comeback. Andre Ethier drove in four runs, including a back breaking 3-run double in the ninth inning.

The Diamondbacks meanwhile lost for the 12th time in 15 games. Chris Snyder hit a game tying, 2-run home run in the ninth against Giants closer Brian Wilson, but Eugenio Velez singled in the game winner in the home half of the ninth.

The Blue Jays continue to muck up contending team's plans. Yesterday they out pitched and out hit the White Sox in a doubleheader sweep to extend their winning streak to 10 games. A.J. Burnett won his 17th game in the opener, allowing just one hit over seven innings in a 3-1 Blue Jays win.

The Jays won the nightcap 8-2 behind seven strong innings from Jessie Litsch and three home runs. News also got worse for the White Sox, already without Carlos Quentin, when Paul Konerko went down with a sprained MCL. He'll be further evaluated today.

The Twins took advantage of the White Sox double demise with a 7-2 win over the Royals. The victory moved the Twins back to within one game of the AL Central lead. Justin Morneau continued his run at another MVP award with his 23rd home run and RBI, 118 and 119.

When Jason Bay hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning last night, it appeared the Red Sox would overtake Tampa for first place in the AL East, but the Rays had more up their sleeve. Dan Johnson took Jon Papelbon deep for a game tying home run in the ninth. One out later, pinch-hitter Fernando Perez and Dionner Navarro stroked back to back doubles to give the Rays a 5-4.

Troy Percival came on in the ninth and faced a two out challenge when pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury stole second base and moved to third base on Navarro's throwing error. But Percival got Coco Crisp to pop out to end the game and push the Rays lead back to 1.5 games.

10-8. Important numbers in the NL East. The Mets blew a 5-2 lead to the Nationals and then had to rally from an 8-7 deficit to beat Washington, 10-8. Carlos Delgado went from first half boos to second half chants of 'MVP' with games like last night's in which he slugged two home runs.

The Phillies trailed the Marlins 9-1 before rallying behind Ryan Howard's 41st home run. They fell short though and the Marlins emerged with a 10-8 win, dropping the Phillies 2.5 games behind the Mets.

The Cubbies struggles continue. They led the Cardinals 3-0 last night before Albert Pujols hit a game tying 3-run home run in the sixth inning. The game would remain tied until the ninth when pinch-runner Bo Ryan came home with the winning run on Caesar Izturis' grounder. The victory moved the Cardinals to within 4.5 games of the Brewers in the NL wildcard race.

The Cubs didn't lose any of their lead though as the Brewers rallied back from a 4-1 deficit, only to lose to the Reds, 5-4, in 11 innings. Ray Durham hit the game tying 3-run blast in the seventh. The Brewers remain 4.5 back of the Cubs in the NL Central, while maintaining their 3.5 game lead over the Phillies in the wildcard.

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Around the Horn - 6/12

Willie Randolph must have been thinking things couldn't get much worse. His team was saddled with a 5-game losing streak, but had a 3-0 lead against the Diamondbacks in the 9th inning. Mike Pelfrey may have been pitching his best game in a Mets uniform. Then he allowed a base runner and Randolph pulled him for his closer Billy Wagner. Moments later Wagner was hanging his head after Mark Reynolds hit a game tying 3-run home run. But Carlos Beltran saved the day and his manager's stomach with a 13th inning walk off 2-run home run.

The Mets won 5-3, but the news wasn't all good. After 2 games back, it looks like Moises Alou is headed back to the DL.

Talk about tough losses in a win. The Cubs rolled over the Braves 7-2, but lost Alfonso Soriano for at least 6 weeks with a broken hand after he was hit with a Jeff Bennett pitch. Kosuke Fukudome belted a 3-run home run to help Ryan Dempster improve to 8-2.

Milton Bradley is nuts unstable. It's been documented on several occasions. Last night Bradley added to his resume by trying to go after KC Royals announcer Ryan Lefebvre in the press box when Bradley found otu that Lefebvre had spoken despairingly about him. Teammates stopped him and he returned to the clubhouse in tears.

"All I want to do is play baseball and make a better life for my kid than I had, that's it," Bradley said. "I love all you guys. I'm strong, but I'm not that strong."

Lefebvre said, from what he remembers, that he was complimenting Josh Hamilton and how he's been accountable for his mistakes and said "it doesn't appear Milton Bradley has done the same thing in his life."

"It is an interesting contrast between the two guys," Lefebvre said. "We also spent a lot of time complimenting Milton Bradley, but that's not what he heard when he was in the clubhouse."

Seriously, this guy needs meds if he's not on them already. Meanwhile his teammates came back from a 5-1 deficit for the second straight night to beat the Royals 11-5. Rookie David Murphy homered twice and drove in 5 runs.

Justin Verlander won his first game since May 20 and pitched in the 9th inning for the first time all season in Detroit's 5-1 win over the White Sox. Marcus Thames gave the Tigers offense a jolt with a 2nd inning 3-run home run.

Felix Hernandez won his third straight game as he moved down the Blue Jays over 8 innings in the Mariners 2-1 win. Closer J.J. Putz had to leave the game with a sore arm after facing just one hitter in the 9th inning.

The pitching match up of the night featured the Giants Tim Lincecum and the Rockies Ubaldo Jiminez. Each throw shut out ball for 7 innings and the game was scoreless in the 9th. The Rockies loaded the bases and Yorvit Torrealba's sac fly brought home the game winner.

Maecir Izturis' 2-run single in the 7th gave the Angels a 4-2 win over the Rays. John Lackey picked up his 3rd win in defeating Scott Kazmir. Rays starter James Shields dropped the appeal of his 6-game suspension stemming from the brawl with the Red Sox on June 5.

Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel combined for 5 RBI in the Twins 8-5 win over the Indians. Nick Blackburn won his first game since getting drilled by a Bobby Abreu line drive on June 1. Indians catcher Victor Martinez had to leave the game with a sore elbow and will be going for an MRI today.

The Padres won for the 5th time in 6 games, beating the Dodgers 4-1. Randy Wolf improved to 5-4 with 7 stellar innings, supported by home runs from Khalil Greene and Edgar Gonzalez. Jake Peavy comes off the DL today for the Padres and will start the finale of the series.

Baseballs were flying out of Minute Maid Park in Houston. 8 home runs in total in the Brewers 10-6 win. Corey Hart lead the way with a pair of home runs and 4 RBI. The Astros, who started out so surprisingly, have lost 10 of 13.

Bartolo Colon improved to 4-1, 3.41 with a 6-inning, 7 strikeout performance against the Orioles. Jason Varitek's 3-run home run capped a 5-run 1st inning in the Red Sox 6-3 win. Dice-K threw his first bullpen session since going on the DL on May 30.

Dan Uggla gave the Marlins a 6-2 with a 9th inning walk off grand slam, his 19th home run of the season. Chase Utley drove in both Phillies runs including a game tying RBI in the top of the 9th. That got Cole Hamels off the hook. Incredibly, he stood to take the loss after pitching 3-hit ball for 8 innings with 13 strikeouts. Two of those three hits were solo home runs by Jorge Cantu. The Marlins also ended the Jacques Jones experiment, designating him for assignment.

In case anyone cares, the Pirates beat the Nationals 3-1. 'nuff said. Bad news though for Nats fans, Ryan Zimmerman will miss at least another 4-6 weeks with his cranky shoulder.

The Cardinals played their first of many games without Albert Pujols and pounded the Cincinnati Reds 10-0. Rick Ankiel, Jason LaRue, and Ryan Ludwick all went deep. Braden Looper threw a complete game shutout to improve to 8-5. Pujols is expected to miss at least 3 weeks with a calf strain (our imagination or is the calf strain the new hamstring injury?).

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Around the Horn - 5/22

The Cardinals beat the Padres 11-3 last night, but the Padres are less concerned about the game itself. Albert Pujols was literally a one man wrecking crew. No, Pujols didn't hit 3 home runs or drive in a 7 runs. He just injured the Padres starting pitcher and catcher within a matter of minutes.

The Padres had a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning when Pujols hit a line drive off of the face of Padres starter Chris Young. The 6'10" right hander was bleeding profusely and was obviously a bit dazed. He ended up with a broken nose and a cut. Pujols was visibly shaken and prayed with Padres 1st Baseman Adrian Gonzalez while Young was tended to. But Pujols wasn't done yet. Two batters later there was a play at the plate. Pujols slid into catcher Josh Bard who was blocking the plate with his left leg. Nowhere good to go, right? Bard was down for the count for several minutes and had to be helped off the feel with a badly sprained ankle. Thanks to the Big Lead for finding video of the Pads rough night.

The heat is getting hotter and hotter in the Mets dugout. While Willie Randolph continues to back track from his racially motivated comments from the other day, his team went out and lost to the Braves for the 3rd straight game. Atlanta clobbered Mike Pelfrey and the Mets 11-4 behind Jeff Francoeur's 4 RBI. Chipper Jones hit career home run number 398.

Ben Sheets (5-1, 2.92) pitched an 11-hit complete game. Not a stat that you see to often. He allowed only 1 run in the Brewers 4-1 win over the Pirates. Ryan Braun drove in his 19th run in 19 games in May.

The Giants were very happy to see Rockies starter Ubaldo Jiminez leave after 7 innings. The 2nd year man limited the Giants to 3 hits and no runs over 7 innings, but the Giants rallied for a pair in the 9th against closer Brian Fuentes and then won it in the 10th on Omar Vizquel's sacrifice fly, 3-2.

It took Shawn Chacon 10 starts, but he finally got a decision. He's now 1-0 after the Astros beat the Cubs 5-3. Carlos Lee's 3rd inning 3-run home run put the Astros ahead for good. Early MVP candidate Lance Berkman stole his 9th base, already tying his career high.

Ryan Howard homered twice and drove in 4 in the Phillies 12-2 rout of the Nationals. Jamie Moyer threw 6 shutout innings for his 234th career win. With the start in Nationals Park, Moyer has now pitched in 46 ball parks.

Brandon Webb is human after all. He got out pitched by Ricky Nolasco last night as the Marlins won their 2nd straight from the Diamondbacks, 3-1. No starter has begun the season 10-0 in 90 years and it will remain that way for now.

Hiroki Kuroda tossed 5-hit ball for the Dodgers in their 5-2 win over the Reds. Rookie sensation Johnny Cueto took the loss after allowed 4 runs, 2 earned, in 5 innings.

Vlad Guerrero was the Angels offense in their 4-3 win over the Blue Jays. Big Vladdy hit a pair of home runs, but just as his teammates are, he's below his norm - .266-6-27 - in offensive production.

Jack Cust homered twice and drove in 4 runs, and Dana Eveland threw his first career complete game in the A's 9-1 thumping of the Rays. Jonny Gomes spoiled Eveland's shut out bid with an 8th inning home run. Rays closer Troy Percival was unavailable and is day-to-day with a strained hamstring.

Bartolo Colon made a triumphant return to the big leagues, picking up the win after allowing 2 runs in 5 innings. The Red Sox topped the Royals 6-3 behind Jacob Ellsbury, who homered and scored 3 runs. The Royals announced the signing of pitcher Horacio Ramirez to a minor league deal.

Paul Byrd was breezing along with a 1-hitter into the 6th inning last night when he ran smack dab into Jermaine Dye. Moments later the White Sox had the lead on Dye's 3-run blast. The right fielder later added solo shot and the White Sox topped the Indians 7-2. Jim Thome also added his 516th career blast.

3-0, 2.95 ERA. Pretty good pitching stats, huh? Believe it or not they belong to Sidney Ponson. The portly right-hander threw a complete game last night in the Rangers 10-1 drubbing of the Twins. It was his first 9 inning performance in over 3 years.

Marcus Thames 5th career grand slam highlighted a 7-run 3rd inning as the Tigers beat up the Mariners 9-4. Kenny Rogers was ineffective, but picked up the win to even his record at 4-4.

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Around the Horn - 5/20

Quite a night for the Red Sox Jon Lester. The cancer survivor had already been the winning pitcher in last year's World Series clincher, but last night he accomplished something for his own game- a complete game no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. Lester threw a career high 130 pitches, issuing 2 walks while striking out 9 as the Sox won 9-0. He walked the lead off man, Estaban German to start the 9th, but retired Tony Pena Jr. and David DeJesus on ground outs, and struck out Alberto Collaspo to seal the deal. He was mobbed his teammate and coaches while a jubilant Fenway Park crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Evan Longoria's 2-run home run in the 13th inning gave the Rays a 7-6 win over the A's. Daric Barton tripled in a run in the bottom of the 13th, but was left stranded at 3rd.

Howie Clark, A-Rod's "HA" guy, singled in the game winner in the Twins 7-6 win over the Rangers in 12 innings. Joe Mauer tied the game off of closer C.J. Wilson in the 9th with an RBI single.

Alfonso Soriano didn't drive in any runs, but rookie stand out, Geovany Soto came through with an inside the park 3-run home run against the Astros. Replays showed the Soto's should have been called a home run (seems to be an epidemic of this going on), but he made it the hard way anyway. The Cubs won it 7-2.

Yorvit Torrealba's 2-run double in the bottom of the 6th rallied the Rockies to a 4-3 win over the Giants. Jason Grilli earned his first win since being acquired by Colorado.

Blake DeWitt came up with a walk off RBI single in the Dodgers 6-5 win over the Reds. Adam Dunn homered for the 5th straight game for Cincy.

Tim Redding and 3 relievers shutout the Phillies 4-0. Lastings Milledge drove in 2 runs for the Nationals.

The Cardinals banged out 16 hits in an 8-2 win over the Padres. Red hot Ryan Ludwick hit his 4th home run in the last 3 games, and Albert Pujols smacked a pair.

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Around the Horn - 4/10

The city of Detroit is breathing a sigh of relief this morning. The Tigers won themselves a ball game last night, 7-2 over the defending champion (ugh) Boston Red Sox. The Tigers scored almost half their total for the entire season up to that point. Jeremy Bonderman got the much coveted victory.

Mike Lowell left the game in 2nd inning with a sprained thumb. Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez picked up his 2,500th career hit.

The Angels slugged 4 home runs, including Mike Napoli's 1st career grand slam, in their 9-5 win over the Indians.

The A's rallied for 4 runs in the 9th against Jeremy Accardo to beat the Blue Jays 6-3. Mark Ellis had himself a nice day- 4 hits, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, and 2 stolen bases. Oh, if Bobby Crosby can stay healthy. He's hitting .306 and drove in 3 runs last night.

The Mariners pounded the Rays 7-1. Jamie Burke's 3-run home run, the 2nd long ball of his career, put the game out of reach.

Jason Kubel hit a grand slam and drove in 6 in the Twins 12-5 pasting of the White Sox. Chisox starter John Danks gave up 7 runs in 2.1 innings pitched.

The Orioles and Rangers were rained out. They'll play a twi-night doubleheader today.

The Mets finally snapped the Phillies dominance, 9 straight wins, of them with an 8-2 win at Shea. 4 Phillies errors lead to 6 unearned runs and a Mike Pelfrey win.

Micah Owings improved to 2-0 in the Diamondbacks 4-3 win voer the Dodgers. Eric Byrnes had 3 hits, 2 RBI, and run scored.

Kerry Wood blew his first save, allowing a game tying home run to Jason Bay in the 9th, but the Cubs went on to beat the Pirates, 6-4 in 15 innings. The Cubs had a chance to win it in the 14th with a pair of runs, but Adam LaRoche hit a game tying home run off of Kevin Hart. Hart finally picked up the win on Felix Pie's 2-run single.

Youngsters Justin Germano and Jonathan Sanchez hooked up in a pitchers duel as the Padres and Giants put up goose eggs through 8 1/2 innings. Dan Ortmeier finally doubled in the game winner in the bottom of the 9th.

Mike Jacobs homered twice and drove in 4 in the Marlins 10-4 drubbing of the Nationals. Jorge Cantu hit his first home run in a Marlins uni. It was the 6th straight loss for the Nats.

Adam Dunn and Corey Patterson homered in the Reds 12-4 rout of the Brewers.

One more blow out- the Rockies handed one to the Braves, 12-6. Ryan Spilborghs and Yorvit Torrealba combined for 9 RBI.

The Cardinals beat the Astros 6-4 behind Albert Pujols' first two home runs of the year.

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Around the Horn - 4/1

The Yankees may have been rained out yesterday, but plenty of other teams did get their seasons under way.

American League

Wild one in Cleveland, that saw the Indians blow a 7-2 lead against the Chicago White Sox before winning 10-8. Mark Buehrle lasted on 1.2 innings and allowed 7 runs as the Tribe hammered him. The bad news for Cleveland- catcher Victor Martinez injured his hamstring and was sent for an MRI. So far he's listed as day-to-day. White Sox slugger Jim Thome homered twice.

It only took Miguel Cabrera two at-bats to his first AL home run, but Justin Verlander blew a 3-0 lead and the Detroit Tigers lost to the Kansas City Royals 4-3 in 11 innings. The victory made it a successful debut for new manager Trey Hillman. But Hillman lost spark plug David DeJesus to an ankle injury.

The Tampa Bay Rays have a modified name and are hoping to reach .500 for the first time. They got off to a good start yesterday with a 6-2 win against the hapless Baltimore Orioles.

Former Oriole Erik Bedard gave up just 1 run in his Seattle Mariners debut. But the left-hander issued 4 walks in 5 innings. Seattle pulled out a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers.

The Twins ruined Torii Hunter's homecoming with a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. New Twin Livan Hernandez went 7 strong innings and Hunter went 0-4 in his return to the homer dome.

National League

Johan Santana's NL debut was a successful one. The much sought after left-hander allowed just 3 hits and struck out 8 in 7 innings. David Wright drove in 3 runs at the Mets rolled over the Florida Marlins 7-2.

Jake Peavy matched up against Roy Oswalt last night as the San Diego Padres and the Houston Astros met. Peavy allowed just 3 hits in 7 innings and the Padres blanked the 'stros 4-0.

Break up the Nationals. The Washingtonians improved to 2-0 with an 11-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. One night after christening their new ball park with a Ryan Zimmerman walk-off win, the Nats scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th with the help of 4 doubles.

Brandon Webb picked up his first win as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-2. The Dbacks slugged 3 home runs.

Great starting pitching and bad closing marked the Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers game. Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets put up goose eggs in front of the Wrigley faithful into the 7th inning. The Brewers finally got to Kerry Wood in the 9th for 3 runs, but Kosuke Fukudome gain instant fan favorite status with a game tying 3-run HR off of Eric Gagne. The Brewers got Gagne off the hook in the 10th the game winning run.

Joe Torre's LA debut was a triumphant one as the Dodgers thumped Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants, 5-0. Zito once again proved what a mistake the Giants made signing him by giving up 4 runs in 5 innings.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves played the first ugly contest of the season, a 12-11 non-pitcher's duel. The Braves blew 3-0 and 4-1 leads and the Pirates squandered an 8-4 advantage. Finally the Braves blew a 9-8 lead in the 9th before their 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th fell just short. Tom Glavine had a semi-successful return to Atlanta with 5 innings of 2 run (1 earned) ball. Xavier Nady smacked 2 HRs for the Pirates.

Albert Pujols overcame his elbow problems to slug his 1st home run, but the St. Louis Cardinals couldn't fight off the rain too. The Cards 5-1 lead over the Colorado Rockies was washed out by heavy rains. Jeff Francis must be grinning from ear to ear today. He allowed all 5 runs in 1+ innings.

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Around the Horn - 3/6

Serious news out of Cardinals' camp. Team doctor George Paletta says Albert Pujols has a high grade tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The tear seems to have also caused bone spurs, inflammation and arthritis in the joint. Pujols will need Tommy John surgery if and when the ligament finally gives out.

Rondell White earned the nickname RonDL because of his frequent inactivity due to injuries. Well, pretty soon Moises Alou may be known as Moises DLou. The Mets left fielder didn't even wait until the regular season to make his 1st trip to the disabled list this year. Alou is set to undergo hernia surgery and is out 4-6 weeks. The Mets HAVE to be looking for a right-handed bat.

Bartolo Colon had his 2nd positive bullpen throwing session and is on track to make his first spring start for Boston March 15.

When will the Rays finally cut bait with Rocco Baldelli? Baldelli was too sore to DH today after playing last on Tuesday. Is there such a thing as a hamstring transplant?

According to SI's Jon Heyman, the White Sox and Giants continue to discuss a Joe Crede deal, but so far can't agree on the players involved.

According to a source of Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, White Sox 1st Baseman Paul Konerko can still be had in a trade.

The Mets' Johan Santana bounced back from a rocky 1st outing with a solid 3 inning performance on Wednesday. The ace left-hander allowed a run on 2 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 4.

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Around the Horn

Around the Horn - our recap of what's going around major league baseball - is back. In case you missed it, Carlos Beltran took a pre-emptive strike at the Phillies' Jimmy Rollins, by saying the Mets were the team to beat this year. Rollins of course made that proclomation about the Phillies last season, and thanks to a monumental Mets collapse, he was right when it came to the NL East crown. It's also highly unusual for Beltran to speak louder than a whisper.

K-Rod is quite upset with the Angels over his pending arbitration case. After seeing the deal Mariano Rivera got, K-Rod wants a big multi-year deal of his own. But so far Angels management has not been forthcoming. So while K-Rod may not be planning his exist from Anaheim/LA/that area, he was clearly upset when asked if he thought he might be elsewhere next season.

"Yeah, probably. Probably," he said. "If they wanted me here, they would have done something a long time ago. But, in the meantime, I have to put that out of my head. I can't be thinking they don't want me here or anything like that. Just do my job."

The Marlins have taken a hit already. Anibel Sanchez has been shut down after complaining of discomfort in his surgically repaired shoulder. And the Cardinals are being very cautious with Albert Pujols who is complaining of elbow pain in his right arm.

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The Fallout Continues

While some players continue to deny steroid and HGH use (Roger Clemens), others have come forward, albeit with half-hearted apologies (Andy Pettitte). There are those who have given full disclosure and co-operated (Dan Naulty) with the Mitchell investigation, but they are in the minority. And there are those players like Johnny Damon and Albert Pujols who are furious about their names being mentioned in a premature and false report produced by NBC news.

Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger had an excellent piece in today's paper on Naulty. It's the story of a player who took the easy route to get what he wanted, and has lived with regrets- and physical and mental ailments- ever since (photos to the left are Naulty in '89 and '97).

Naulty was a 6'6" stringbean who used steroids to bulk up and help him to gain entry to major league baseball. Later, he switched to HGH to help the numerous injuries that occurred as a result of too much muscle mass on his frame. Naulty actually received a World Series ring from the 1999 Yankees, though he wasn't much of a contributor. His career was taking a downward spiral at that point. Ironically, he credits a new faith that he gained by participating in Christian-based meetings with several Yankees. The ironic part? Andy Pettitte and Mike Stanton, both named in the Mitchell report, were also part of that group.

Today, Naulty is a pastor and tries to counsel youth to stay away from drugs and alcohol. If only more players would learn from his mistakes. Click here to read more of Naulty's story.

The more you re-read Andy Pettitte's statement, the more you realize his apology rings hollow. It's not even really an apology. "If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize." Those words don't exactly say, "I'm really sorry for what I did and I was stupid."

We're huge Andy Pettitte fans and have always admired and respected him. Anyone who has ever dealt with him speaks glowingly of him. Joe Torre once said, "If you have a son, you'd want him to be like Andy Pettitte."

Okay, maybe not completely. We are still Pettitte fans and we think it was great that he came forward. But, at the same time, he could have been a little more sincere with his words. Dan Graziano and Peter Abraham sum up our feelings quite nicely.

As for Roger Clemens, now that his buddy Pettitte has come forward it kind of puts him in an awkward position. His reputation is already tainted. He's in the Mitchell Report as a repeated steroid user. And if he did want to come forward, he made it even harder by having his attorney blast the report and defend his honor. Of course, he could just claim that his lawyer spoke on his own without consulting him.

But, how do you remove the taint when you haven't done anything wrong? That's what Johnny Damon is wondering right now. Damon's name appeared in that erroneous NBC report. He considered suing the station, but his agent advised against it.

"I woke up and my brother is telling me there are reporters at my father's house," Damon told The Post. "My dad told them, 'My son isn't a liar, my son doesn't lie.'"

"It sucks. I am wondering if there is any legal course to turn to", Damon said. "I walk around with my shirt off. If I had anything to hide I wouldn't do that. I really don't know what to say. There seems to be some people who don't like me..."

"I asked my agent about legal action, but he said it wasn't worth it. Maybe the president [of NBC] will write me a nice letter."

Damon was one of 41 players listed in the NBC report that were not included in the Mitchell report. Pujols was also on the erroneous list and worried about his family's reaction.

"What concerns me is the affect this has had on my family and that my character and values have now been questioned due to the media's lack of accuracy in their reporting."

MLB wants to pull a Mark McGwire and move forward, but this is all far from being over.

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