OF Rocco Baldelli is back with the Tampa Bay Rays, not as a player but as a special assistant to general manager Andrew Friedman. He is unable to play this season because of a shoulder injury, the latest in a long string of physical ailments that have derailed what once was a very promising career. At 28, he is not yet ready to call it quits, but is preparing a fall-back in case he cannot return to the playing field. He will retire definitely after playing in only a handful of games at the end of this season.

OF Rocco Baldelli is back with the Tampa Bay Rays, not as a player but as a special assistant to general manager Andrew Friedman. He is unable to play this season because of a shoulder injury, the latest in a long string of physical ailments that have derailed what once was a very promising career. At 28, he is not yet ready to call it quits, but is preparing a fall-back in case he cannot return to the playing field. He will retire definitely after playing in only a handful of games at the end of this season.

At the Red Sox’s spring training in Fort Myers, FL, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield meets one of his greatest fans, 18-year-old Eri Yoshida of Japan. The 5′ 1″ righthander taught herself to throw the knuckleball by mimicking Wakefield in her backyard and is on a quest to become the first female player in Nippon Pro Baseball. She is still undecided as to whether she will pitch this season in the Japanese minor leagues, or accept a contract offer from the Chico Outlaws of the independent Golden Baseball League.

At the Red Sox’s spring training in Fort Myers, FL, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield meets one of his greatest fans, 18-year-old Eri Yoshida of Japan. The 5′ 1″ righthander taught herself to throw the knuckleball by mimicking Wakefield in her backyard and is on a quest to become the first female player in Nippon Pro Baseball. She is still undecided as to whether she will pitch this season in the Japanese minor leagues, or accept a contract offer from the Chico Outlaws of the independent Golden Baseball League.