Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Zumaya once reached the outer limit but his speed caught up with him

Physiology can only take us so far. Throwing a ball is not a normal motion that can be repeated infinitely. And once you're on the outer limits of just how fast that ball can be thrown, the body will react.

That seems a plausible explanation for the right arm of Joel Zumaya.

Zumaya in 2006 for the Detroit Tigers threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by a radar gun: 104.8 mph. He hasn't been the same since. He's had his elbow reconstructed twice and had myriad other injuries since then (one sustained, famously, playing "Guitar Hero"). He missed the entire 2011 season with a broken elbow, and was signed to an incentive-laden deal by the Minnesota Twins in the offseason.

After 13 pitches in the Twins camp on Saturday, he left with elbow pain. And an MRI showed he had a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the same elbow, ending his 2012 comeback before it even began.

While the human body finds ways to break records in track and field and swimming all the time, peak velocity seems to have been reached in baseball. A story in Slate back in 2005 quoted experts in biomechanics why.

"Why do sprinters keep getting faster while baseball pitchers seem to have maxed out? Because track athletes don't approach the limits of what human tendons and ligaments can handle. When you run the 100-meter dash, no single stride represents as violent a motion as the arm makes during a single overhand pitch. Sprinters can build up their muscles without worrying that the extra force will rip their ligaments apart."

Science 2.0 also has an interesting article on the science of how fast a human can throw a baseball.

Zumaya left camp without speaking on his injury, which might require Tommy John ligament transplant surgery if Zumaya wants to keep going.

"The kid's a really good kid," manager Ron Gardenhire said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "You get to know people from the other side, and he looks like some monster out there pitching against you. But you get him in your clubhouse, and you realize there are special people, and he's a special person, and it's a really sad day for him and his family and our baseball team, too. We were all hoping this guy would be able to get back on this thing and make it through. Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

Zumaya, 27, might be done as a major-league pitcher. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer, 49, is still pitching in camp with the Rockies.

One threw the hardest; the other one of the softest.

Step by Step: How to Throw Four Kinds of Fastballs

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Zumaya once reached the outer limit but his speed caught up with him

Physiology can only take us so far. Throwing a ball is not a normal motion that can be repeated infinitely. And once you're on the outer limits of just how fast that ball can be thrown, the body will react.

That seems a plausible explanation for the right arm of Joel Zumaya.

Zumaya in 2006 for the Detroit Tigers threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by a radar gun: 104.8 mph. He hasn't been the same since. He's had his elbow reconstructed twice and had myriad other injuries since then (one sustained, famously, playing "Guitar Hero"). He missed the entire 2011 season with a broken elbow, and was signed to an incentive-laden deal by the Minnesota Twins in the offseason.

After 13 pitches in the Twins camp on Saturday, he left with elbow pain. And an MRI showed he had a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the same elbow, ending his 2012 comeback before it even began.

While the human body finds ways to break records in track and field and swimming all the time, peak velocity seems to have been reached in baseball. A story in Slate back in 2005 quoted experts in biomechanics why.

"Why do sprinters keep getting faster while baseball pitchers seem to have maxed out? Because track athletes don't approach the limits of what human tendons and ligaments can handle. When you run the 100-meter dash, no single stride represents as violent a motion as the arm makes during a single overhand pitch. Sprinters can build up their muscles without worrying that the extra force will rip their ligaments apart."

Science 2.0 also has an interesting article on the science of how fast a human can throw a baseball.

Zumaya left camp without speaking on his injury, which might require Tommy John ligament transplant surgery if Zumaya wants to keep going.

"The kid's a really good kid," manager Ron Gardenhire said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "You get to know people from the other side, and he looks like some monster out there pitching against you. But you get him in your clubhouse, and you realize there are special people, and he's a special person, and it's a really sad day for him and his family and our baseball team, too. We were all hoping this guy would be able to get back on this thing and make it through. Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

Zumaya, 27, might be done as a major-league pitcher. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer, 49, is still pitching in camp with the Rockies.

One threw the hardest; the other one of the softest.

Step by Step: How to Throw Four Kinds of Fastballs

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Zumaya once reached the outer limit but his speed caught up with him

Physiology can only take us so far. Throwing a ball is not a normal motion that can be repeated infinitely. And once you're on the outer limits of just how fast that ball can be thrown, the body will react.

That seems a plausible explanation for the right arm of Joel Zumaya.

Zumaya in 2006 for the Detroit Tigers threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by a radar gun: 104.8 mph. He hasn't been the same since. He's had his elbow reconstructed twice and had myriad other injuries since then (one sustained, famously, playing "Guitar Hero"). He missed the entire 2011 season with a broken elbow, and was signed to an incentive-laden deal by the Minnesota Twins in the offseason.

After 13 pitches in the Twins camp on Saturday, he left with elbow pain. And an MRI showed he had a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the same elbow, ending his 2012 comeback before it even began.

While the human body finds ways to break records in track and field and swimming all the time, peak velocity seems to have been reached in baseball. A story in Slate back in 2005 quoted experts in biomechanics why.

"Why do sprinters keep getting faster while baseball pitchers seem to have maxed out? Because track athletes don't approach the limits of what human tendons and ligaments can handle. When you run the 100-meter dash, no single stride represents as violent a motion as the arm makes during a single overhand pitch. Sprinters can build up their muscles without worrying that the extra force will rip their ligaments apart."

Science 2.0 also has an interesting article on the science of how fast a human can throw a baseball.

Zumaya left camp without speaking on his injury, which might require Tommy John ligament transplant surgery if Zumaya wants to keep going.

"The kid's a really good kid," manager Ron Gardenhire said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "You get to know people from the other side, and he looks like some monster out there pitching against you. But you get him in your clubhouse, and you realize there are special people, and he's a special person, and it's a really sad day for him and his family and our baseball team, too. We were all hoping this guy would be able to get back on this thing and make it through. Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

Zumaya, 27, might be done as a major-league pitcher. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer, 49, is still pitching in camp with the Rockies.

One threw the hardest; the other one of the softest.

Step by Step: How to Throw Four Kinds of Fastballs

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Zumaya once reached the outer limit but his speed caught up with him

Physiology can only take us so far. Throwing a ball is not a normal motion that can be repeated infinitely. And once you're on the outer limits of just how fast that ball can be thrown, the body will react.

That seems a plausible explanation for the right arm of Joel Zumaya.

Zumaya in 2006 for the Detroit Tigers threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by a radar gun: 104.8 mph. He hasn't been the same since. He's had his elbow reconstructed twice and had myriad other injuries since then (one sustained, famously, playing "Guitar Hero"). He missed the entire 2011 season with a broken elbow, and was signed to an incentive-laden deal by the Minnesota Twins in the offseason.

After 13 pitches in the Twins camp on Saturday, he left with elbow pain. And an MRI showed he had a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the same elbow, ending his 2012 comeback before it even began.

While the human body finds ways to break records in track and field and swimming all the time, peak velocity seems to have been reached in baseball. A story in Slate back in 2005 quoted experts in biomechanics why.

"Why do sprinters keep getting faster while baseball pitchers seem to have maxed out? Because track athletes don't approach the limits of what human tendons and ligaments can handle. When you run the 100-meter dash, no single stride represents as violent a motion as the arm makes during a single overhand pitch. Sprinters can build up their muscles without worrying that the extra force will rip their ligaments apart."

Science 2.0 also has an interesting article on the science of how fast a human can throw a baseball.

Zumaya left camp without speaking on his injury, which might require Tommy John ligament transplant surgery if Zumaya wants to keep going.

"The kid's a really good kid," manager Ron Gardenhire said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "You get to know people from the other side, and he looks like some monster out there pitching against you. But you get him in your clubhouse, and you realize there are special people, and he's a special person, and it's a really sad day for him and his family and our baseball team, too. We were all hoping this guy would be able to get back on this thing and make it through. Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

Zumaya, 27, might be done as a major-league pitcher. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer, 49, is still pitching in camp with the Rockies.

One threw the hardest; the other one of the softest.

Step by Step: How to Throw Four Kinds of Fastballs

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Zumaya once reached the outer limit but his speed caught up with him

Physiology can only take us so far. Throwing a ball is not a normal motion that can be repeated infinitely. And once you're on the outer limits of just how fast that ball can be thrown, the body will react.

That seems a plausible explanation for the right arm of Joel Zumaya.

Zumaya in 2006 for the Detroit Tigers threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by a radar gun: 104.8 mph. He hasn't been the same since. He's had his elbow reconstructed twice and had myriad other injuries since then (one sustained, famously, playing "Guitar Hero"). He missed the entire 2011 season with a broken elbow, and was signed to an incentive-laden deal by the Minnesota Twins in the offseason.

After 13 pitches in the Twins camp on Saturday, he left with elbow pain. And an MRI showed he had a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the same elbow, ending his 2012 comeback before it even began.

While the human body finds ways to break records in track and field and swimming all the time, peak velocity seems to have been reached in baseball. A story in Slate back in 2005 quoted experts in biomechanics why.

"Why do sprinters keep getting faster while baseball pitchers seem to have maxed out? Because track athletes don't approach the limits of what human tendons and ligaments can handle. When you run the 100-meter dash, no single stride represents as violent a motion as the arm makes during a single overhand pitch. Sprinters can build up their muscles without worrying that the extra force will rip their ligaments apart."

Science 2.0 also has an interesting article on the science of how fast a human can throw a baseball.

Zumaya left camp without speaking on his injury, which might require Tommy John ligament transplant surgery if Zumaya wants to keep going.

"The kid's a really good kid," manager Ron Gardenhire said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "You get to know people from the other side, and he looks like some monster out there pitching against you. But you get him in your clubhouse, and you realize there are special people, and he's a special person, and it's a really sad day for him and his family and our baseball team, too. We were all hoping this guy would be able to get back on this thing and make it through. Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

Zumaya, 27, might be done as a major-league pitcher. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer, 49, is still pitching in camp with the Rockies.

One threw the hardest; the other one of the softest.

Step by Step: How to Throw Four Kinds of Fastballs

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Adam Dunn is swinging hard coming back and closing in on an odd record

Adam Dunn was a punching bag and a punch line last season, his first with the Chicago White Sox and his first in the American League.

It wasn't pretty at all. He hit .159 and struck out 177 times, perhaps the worst performance by an established hitter in a full-time role ever. His batting average was the lowest in MLB since 1900 among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. After hitting 38 homers or more in seven consecutive seasons in the National League, he hit 11 in 2011, and none in his final 28 games. His OPS was more than 300 points below his career average.

But Chicago stuck with him this season - they had little choice because they still owed him $44 million - and the old Dunn has returned. Dunn belted his 10th homer of the season on Wednesday night in Cleveland in the White Sox's 8-2 victory.

Fangraphs has an interesting look at Dunn's resurgence, and the stats suggest that the familiarity with the American League has finally kicked in. He's been more aggressive, which has helped his power numbers.

But then there's this staggering stat: Dunn has stuck out at least once in his last 36 games. The White Sox are off Thursday. With a strikeout at home against the Royals on Friday, he'll tie a modern major league record set by Bill Stoneman in 1972. Stoneman -- a pitcher -- struck out at least once for the Montreal Expos in 37 consecutive games he played in.

So there's some bad with the good. But you know what? The White Sox will take it.

Angels first baseman could be wild card in AL West and its not Pujols

With the expanded playoffs, the American League West might have room for two teams in the postseason this season, because there are two big-time teams that will go for the division in 2012. And very little separates the two-time pennant winners (Rangers) from the team that used to dominate the division (Angels).

One has a good shot at the wild card, and the biggest wild card in the division is on the Angels: Kendrys Morales.

Morales hasn't played in almost two seasons since getting hurt in a freak accident, breaking his leg in a home-plate celebration early in the 2010 season. He wasn't even known as Kendrys Morales then - he was Kendry. But he was a blossoming star as the team's first baseman, hitting .306 with 34 homers in 2009. Barring a major injury he won't be the Angels' first baseman -- that's Albert Pujols' job now -- but Morales could be the designated hitter.

In a workout Sunday, Morales ran the bases in cleats for the first time since the injury. He believes he could play in a spring training game this week.

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, to the Los Angeles Times: "There's still hurdles. You can't simulate adrenaline, secondary leads. It was his left foot [injured], though, so the right foot should be fine. The quick twitch, things you can only see in playing, is what we'll watch to get a guide."

If Morales is healthy and hitting close to the way he did three years ago, the Angels could put a great lineup together to go with a solid rotation, setting up an intriguing AL West race.

2012 Preview: American League West

Jamie Moyer on cusp of incredible feat Making a team at age 49

Granted, it was the 2012 San Francisco Giants. Their hitters are not likely to ever be compared favorably to the 1927 Yankees.

But Jamie Moyer, 49, no-hit them for four innings last week. And it certainly appears that he's going to make the Colorado Rockies roster as their No. 5 starter.

It's an amazing story, and writers all over are digging up facts. One of them is the fact that Moyer is older than any Rockies starting pitcher from their expansion season in 1993. Moyer was 30 then, and the oldest man to start a game for the 1993 Rockies was Bruce Ruffin, who was 29 then and is now 48. (Ruffin's son, Chance Ruffin, is a pitcher in Class AAA for the Seattle Mariners.)

Jim Caple of ESPN.com researched 49 incredible stats about Moyer. The most incredible one:

"At 49 years and four months, Moyer not only is older than Robert Redford was when he played Roy Hobbs in 'The Natural' (46 when filming began), he's older than was Wilford Brimley (48 at start of filming), who portrayed old manager Pop Fisher."

Another: "The major league minimum was $60,000 when Moyer made his debut. Alex Rodriguez made more than that every time he stepped up to the plate last season ($74,000)."

Roughly a third of the Rockies 40-man roster wasn't even born when Moyer made his debut in 1986. The Cubs cut Moyer in 1992, when he was 29. He had 34 wins. Since he turned 30, Moyer has won 233 more. Since turning 35, he's won 178 games. That's two-thirds of his career total.

Related: 2012 NL West preview

Zumaya once reached the outer limit but his speed caught up with him

Physiology can only take us so far. Throwing a ball is not a normal motion that can be repeated infinitely. And once you're on the outer limits of just how fast that ball can be thrown, the body will react.

That seems a plausible explanation for the right arm of Joel Zumaya.

Zumaya in 2006 for the Detroit Tigers threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by a radar gun: 104.8 mph. He hasn't been the same since. He's had his elbow reconstructed twice and had myriad other injuries since then (one sustained, famously, playing "Guitar Hero"). He missed the entire 2011 season with a broken elbow, and was signed to an incentive-laden deal by the Minnesota Twins in the offseason.

After 13 pitches in the Twins camp on Saturday, he left with elbow pain. And an MRI showed he had a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the same elbow, ending his 2012 comeback before it even began.

While the human body finds ways to break records in track and field and swimming all the time, peak velocity seems to have been reached in baseball. A story in Slate back in 2005 quoted experts in biomechanics why.

"Why do sprinters keep getting faster while baseball pitchers seem to have maxed out? Because track athletes don't approach the limits of what human tendons and ligaments can handle. When you run the 100-meter dash, no single stride represents as violent a motion as the arm makes during a single overhand pitch. Sprinters can build up their muscles without worrying that the extra force will rip their ligaments apart."

Science 2.0 also has an interesting article on the science of how fast a human can throw a baseball.

Zumaya left camp without speaking on his injury, which might require Tommy John ligament transplant surgery if Zumaya wants to keep going.

"The kid's a really good kid," manager Ron Gardenhire said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "You get to know people from the other side, and he looks like some monster out there pitching against you. But you get him in your clubhouse, and you realize there are special people, and he's a special person, and it's a really sad day for him and his family and our baseball team, too. We were all hoping this guy would be able to get back on this thing and make it through. Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

Zumaya, 27, might be done as a major-league pitcher. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer, 49, is still pitching in camp with the Rockies.

One threw the hardest; the other one of the softest.

Step by Step: How to Throw Four Kinds of Fastballs

Jose Canseco has some regrets believes he can still play in majors

Jose Canseco likes being in the public eye. Celebrity boxing, mixed martial arts, "Celebrity Apprentice," you name it. And when the Bash Brother first wrote his book "Juiced" in 2005, it was initially thought it was full of half-truths and augmented stories, but it blew the lid off the performance-enhancing drugs problem in baseball. And since then, he's never really gone away, and even played in the Mexican League last year. He'd like to play this season, but refused to take a drug test. At age 47 and 10 years removed from his final big-league season, he still believes he could play in the majors, and even hit 25 or 30 homers.

Yeah, right. If you believe that, then you believe a 49-year-old coming off major arm surgery can still compete for a big-league rotation spot. Oh, wait...

Anyhow, Canseco told the Associated Press that he has some mixed feelings about writing the book.

"I do in a way, because I suffered a lot. My family suffered a lot. I'm still suffering because of it. I can't get a job in Major League Baseball managing, coaching, whatever. I paid the price to tell the truth. But if it fixed the game, if it saved a kid's life along the way, it's worth it. It's a constant back-and-forth battle. When you look at it, in the big picture, it did fix Major League Baseball. It did correct everything. I believe there is no more steroid use in baseball. It changed the game for the better."

Bonds believes hes a Hall of Famer but is apathetic about it

Barry Bonds did an interview this week from MLB.com, and while it wasn't all that hard-hitting, it didn't avoid the issue, either.

No, Barry Bloom didn't ask him if he believes he cheated. He did ask him some open-ended questions that would have allowed Bonds to talk about the controversy, but Bonds didn't take that bait. Bloom did ask him about the Hall of Fame, and whether Bonds thought he belonged.

"I respect the Hall of Fame, don't get me wrong. I really, really, really respect the Hall of Fame. And I think we all do. I love the city of San Francisco and to me that's my Hall of Fame. I don't worry about it because I don't want to be negative about the way other people think it should be run. ... If [the voters] want to put me in there, so be it, fine. If they don't, so be it, fine."

So, unlike Pete Rose, he doesn't really care about making the Hall of Fame. He does think he belongs there, of course.

"Oh, without a doubt. There's not a doubt in my mind," he said.

Bloom hits on other topics -- Bonds would like to be some kind of coach, but not a full-time one, and he wishes he could have played one more season.

One thing that is a little surprising: ESPN.com's SportsNation gets a lot of reaction, so their polls tend to be fairly scientific. And 45 percent of the voters (as of Aug. 8) believe Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. That's a lot higher percentage than Bonds will get from baseball writers in their official ballots this winter.

What do you think? Should Barry Bonds be in the Hall of Fame?

A Giant 80 win in the AllStar Game for NL

San Francisco Giants fans voted with enthusiasm for the National League All-Star team, pushing Pablo Sandoval and Melky Cabrera into surprise All-Star starts.

Looks like they knew what they were doing.

Sandoval had a bases-loaded triple in the first inning and MVP Cabrera hit the game's only homer as the National League pushed their winning streak in the All-Star Game to three in a row with an 8-0 victory, the first All-Star Game shutout since 1996.

And Matt Cain was the winning pitcher, capping an evening that was a San Francisco treat for the NL.

It also made Tony La Russa a winner in his final game. The retired Cardinals skipper is 4-2 as an All-Star Game manager.

Home Run Derby champions

All-Star Game results all-time

All-Star Game MVPs

Pirates front office pro makes the best catch of the spring

On Wednesday, new Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett was hit in the face by a ball and was sent to Pittsburgh for tests on his right eye.

That came a day after the team's director of Florida operations made a much better play. Trevor Gooby delivered a baby at the team's spring training field in Florida during an open house for season-ticked holders and sponsors.

Bradenton resident Latasha Kirk, who was eight months pregnant, starting having contractions in the picnic area at McKechnie Field. Just minutes later, before an ambulance could arrive, Gooby essentially caught a baby boy, using training he had when his wife delivered. "We had 10 minutes, 15 tops," Gooby told the Bradenton Herald.

The baby was five weeks early. And his name is appropriate: McKechnie, after the Pirates' stadium.

Somebody will try this someday and they have nohitters as ammo

Some team that's a little desperate is going to try this someday: A staff of 12 or 13 pitchers, all designed to throw 3-4 innings or fewer. It will save wear and tear on the "starting pitchers," allow teams to plug holes more efficiently and -- perhaps the real reason -- keep their salaries in line.

Sound a little kooky? Sure. But look at what the Seattle Mariners did on Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After starter Kevin Millwood was injured after six innings, five Seattle relievers picked up the slack and threw a no-hitter, the fourth of the season already. The Mariners won 1-0.

Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen put their names in the record book. And a decent baseball fan probably has ever heard of just a couple of them.

Wilhelmsen, a substitute teacher and bartender a couple of years ago, didn't even know he finished a no-hitter.

"He was surprised," Mariners catcher Jesus Montero said to the Associated Press. "He didn't know. ... I jumped on him and I was like, 'Hey, it's a no-hitter!' And he went, 'What?!" And then he was so happy after that. He was so focused on the game. That's what happened."

It's Milwood's second no-hitter - he threw a more conventional one in 2003 for the Phillies.

The six pitchers ties a big-league record for a no-hitter. On June 11, 2003, the Astros threw a no-hitter with starter Roy Oswalt throwing just one inning, then leaving with an injury. Five relievers "finished" the job in perhaps the most bizarre no-hitter ever, and it came against the Yankees, too.

One day an odd couple of signings Yu Darvish and Jamie Moyer

One pitcher signed to a contract Wednesday was born on Aug. 16, 1986. Another pitched in 19 games before that date.

It's an odd couple, but Yu Darvish and Jamie Moyer both agreed to pitch this season on separate deals.

The Texas Rangers are paying the most a team has ever spent on a Japanese player through the posting process, agreeing to a six-year, $60 million deal with a 25-year-old potential ace in Darvish. The Rangers also had to pay a record a $51.7 million posting fee. That adds up to $11.7 million, and a lot of pressure, from a pitcher who was no doubt the best in Japan the last five years. He will fill the vacancy created when C.J. Wilson left for the Angels last month.

"The Rangers are getting an exceptional pitcher who has both the physical attributes and the mental makeup to be one of the great pitchers in baseball," said Darvish's agent, Arn Tellem, to the New York Times.

On the other end of the signing spectrum is a veteran with a minor-league deal. The Colorado Rockies signed Moyer, 49, who wants to give pitching another shot coming off arm surgery. It's a low-risk proposition for the Rockies - a minor-league deal with an invitation to the big-league camp in Arizona. Pitchers often see a boost in their velocity after the ligament transplant surgery, but that isn't likely to be the case for the lefty Moyer. No pitcher has ever tried to come back from the surgery at such an advanced age, either.

Moyer has won 267 big-league games. If Darvish wins half of that total, his big-league career will likely be considered a big success.

Short fence big leap One of the best outfield catches ever

A viral video is making the rounds featuring Derrick Salberg of Lower Columbia College. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning in a league championship game, Salberg saved a home run with this incredible catch.

We can't embed video here, so you'll have to click the link to YouTube. It's worth it.

Money doesnt buy happiness and this year it doesnt buy wins

The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, giving them a new title: The only team in the top five in payroll in Major League Baseball with a winning record as of today. And they're 22-21.

Aaron Gleeman of HardballTalk.com pointed that out in a post today. The five teams who pay out the most in player salaries (opening day) are:

1. New York Yankees ($200.2 million): 22-21, 4th in AL East

2. Philadelphia Phillies ($174 million): 21-23, last in NL East

3. Boston Red Sox ($173.2 million): 21-22, last in AL East

4. Los Angeles Angels ($154.9 million): 18-25, last in AL West

5. Detroit Tigers ($132.2 million): 20-22, third in AL Central

And on the other side:

30. Oakland A's ($52.9 million): 22-21, 2nd in AL West

29. San Diego Padres ($55.9 million): 16-28, fourth in NL West

28: Houston Astros ($60.7 million): 20-23, third in NL Central

27. Kansas City Royals ($62.6 million): 17-25, fourth in AL Central

26. Pittsburgh Pirates ($63.4 million): 20-23, fourth in NL Central

Guess the answer is to be somewhere in the middle. But I like the chances of the first five down the stretch.

Indians Carmona or Heredia arrested in Dominican charged with using false identity

I remember the first time I saw Fausto Carmona pitch. It was 2003 in Eastlake, Ohio, in the inaugural season of the Single-A Lake County Captains.

He was dominant for that level, a 19-year-old Cleveland Indians ace in the making who pitched with the velocity and temperament of a player who was much older.

And there's now a logical explanation: He apparently was 22 at the time. And he allegedly wasn't named Fausto Carmona, either. Carmona -- or, Robert Hernandez Heredia -- was arrested in the Dominican Republic while trying to renew his visa. He reportedly was 20 when he signed with the Indians, not 17.

Carmona/Heredia is the second big-leaguer arrested this offseason in the Dominican. Marlins reliever Leo Nunez was arrested on a similar offense, with the given name of Juan Carlos Oviedo.

Why do they these players do it? Because a 17-year-old prospect is worth more than a 20-year-0ld prospect to big-league clubs, and tracking the paperwork in a foreign country can be tricky for big-league clubs, so players rarely are caught. Who knows how many other current and former players out there have similar stories? (Maybe some kind of amnesty program can be worked out.)

So Carmona/Heredia is now suddenly 31 instead of 28, and the Indians are on the hook for $7 million this season. The Marlins are paying Nunez/Oviedo $6 million. Looks like they did OK, right? They can change the names on the backs of their jerseys if they'd like, but they'll have to get their paperwork in order first.

Yankees swung and missed on Yu Darvish in December and April

After the New York Yankees were outbid by the Texas Rangers on Yu Darvish in the posting process last fall, they traded for Michael Pineda. It's still early, and Pineda could turn out to be everything the New York Yankees hope for him to be despite his shoulder injury that's lingering on longer than anticipated.

But the Yankees saw first-hand the guy they missed on. Darvish shut out the Yankees on Tuesday night in a way few pitchers can.

In the seventh-ever matchup of Japanese pitchers in the majors, Darvish threw 119 pitches and 82 strikes in 8 1/3 shutout innings and outdueled Hiroki Kuroda as the Rangers won 2-0. Darvish struck out 10 with an array of pitches that's just about unmatched now that Pedro Martinez is retired.

"We didn't really know what to expect," Derek Jeter said after the game, according to ESPN.com. "It's a challenge any time you face someone the first time, but he had a fastball, two-seamer, cutter, four-seamer, curveball, slider, change, split. He's got pretty much everything, and he pitched ahead in the count most of the game."

Update: Pineda is out for the season with a torn labrum.