Afternoon Baseball

Mariano Rivera may be making his way back to better health. Yankees fans tend to forget that this is his 9th year as a closer, an eternity for that position, and he's in his mid-30s on that wiry frame. He's been around so long that last season's woes against the Red Sox won't even damage his reputation, mostly because it was a clear case of (necessary) overuse in an otherwise career year.
The Yanks are an old, old team, however. Expect nagging injuries to be commonplace.

Todd Helton was accused of using steroids, a claim that was later retracted. The accuser? Former Rockies broadcaster Wayne Hagin, soon-to-be a former Cardinals announcer, one would think. Hagin recounted a conversation with former Rockies manager Don Baylor -- unfortunately, Baylor had talked about Helton's brief, long-ago use of creatine, not steroids.
This is one of the possible downsides to the steroid accusations. However, just because Hagin is an uninformed fool doesn't mean that real inquiries aren't justified. It does demonstrate that caution needs to be taken, and off-hand accusations without investigations or any facts are almost as damaging to the game as a discovery of a steroid user.

And as promised, Jessica Alba.