Pirates backstop Russell Martin doesn't want to be a catcher. It's boring. You have to crouch all game. You never get to run around. You rarely get to throw the ball beyond returning it to the pitcher. Rather than getting to enjoy a sunny afternoon on the diamond, you have to spend every moment going I think we should…

We thought last week's minor kerfluffle, on Bobby Valentine's game of employment chicken, would be the last Red Sox update we'd have to do this season. No sense piling on. But the Red Sox can't seem to stop doing terrible things.

Ivan Nova's season has been a colossal disappointment. Last year he was a breakout star, 16-4 and the Yankees' No. 2 starter, and things were only looking up. Now he's 12-8 with an ERA over 5.00, won't even be in New York's playoff rotation, and looking like yet another of the Yankees' vaunted crop of young arms that…

Today's petty tyrant is Laz Diaz, who worked home plate during last night's Yankees-Angels game in Anaheim. Diaz exchanged words with Yankee catcher Russell Martin over balls and strikes, which is a no-no on Martin's part. But according to Martin, Diaz responded in a unique and passive-aggressive way: he refused to let …

The Yankees came from behind to beat the Orioles 6-5 in ten innings of play last night. Joe Girardi called this play "the difference in the game."

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