Pro Baseball

Reporting from St. Louis -- There are certain numbers related to Albert Pujols that should concern the Angels. The first is 32, the slugger's age this season, the first in a 10-year contract. Then there's the set that shows a steady decline in production the last two years in every major offensive category. And finally, there are the figures at the back half of his $240-million contract. Starting in 2017, when he'll be 37, Pujols will make $26 million, with million-dollar raises due in each of the final four years of the deal.

SAN DIEGO - Kenley Jansen should be able to attend his newborn daughter's graduation and wedding ceremonies. No longer does the Dodgers' hard-throwing setup man have to worry that playing baseball could cost him his life. His heart now functions normally. Nearly six months ago, Jansen underwent a cardiac operation that scared him out of his usual laid-back persona. "It's finally fixed," Jansen, 25, said with a smile. Heading into the Dodgers' series opener against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Tuesday, Jansen has pitched three times.

Somebody is going to get killed out there. I've said it a hundred times, thought it a thousand. The only question was, what ballplayer would have to die on the mound before something was done to protect pitchers? The issue, in the news again after Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ was felled by a line drive Tuesday night, is personal with me because it happened to my son Matt. Twice. He was struck in the face by a line drive in a high school game and on the side of the head during a scrimmage in college.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly held outfielder Carl Crawford out of the lineup Wednesday and he plans to do the same with Andre Ethier on Friday, when the team opens a six-game trip in Atlanta. Only Matt Kemp has played in more games or had more at-bats than Crawford and Ethier, both of whom, the manager said, were in need of a break. "The [body] language tells you kind of where he's at. And then you see it on the field in his energy level," he said. "You can kind of feel it with guys.

ATLANTA - There is a new-age school of thought that believes teams should use their best relievers the way the Dodgers are using Kenley Jansen - in potentially game-altering situations, often in innings other than the ninth. But Manager Don Mattingly said his decision to use Jansen in this manner is based on his team's needs rather than a desire to revolutionize the modern bullpen. Even with Brandon League struggling, Mattingly has hesitated designating Jansen as the closer because doing so would severely limit his options leading up to the ninth inning.

After watching Brandon League struggle through another tough outing in the series finale with the Miami Marlins, Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly was asked Monday whether the right-hander was still his closer. His answer wasn't exactly a vote of confidence. "Yeah, for now he is," Mattingly said. "I hate to say it like that. But yeah, for now. " League has given up runs in six of his last seven appearances and has just two hitless innings in the last month.

On the morning that would deliver to the Dodgers their greatest arm in two generations, Clayton Kershaw awoke with a thought. The baseball draft was not televised in 2006. Each team made its picks on a secure conference call line with the league office. If you wanted to know which team had drafted you, then you could wait for a phone call or follow along on the Internet. "I thought I was going," Kershaw said, "to the Tigers. " How he ended up with the Dodgers is a compelling tale.

Dave Landaker's victory came last week, when he performed the simple task of fielding a ground ball and throwing it to first base. The routine play during a rookie league game last week was momentous for Landaker. The Royal High graduate had played fewer than 10 minor league games in the field since the Houston Astros made him a second-round pick in 1992. Years of sidearm throws from shortstop had turned his right shoulder into mush. Landaker's 1994 season began in mid-June with Kissimmee, Fla.

I had never met Mark McGwire before Tuesday night, but I knew of his reputation and the fact he has struck out so far as the Dodgers' hitting coach. So given the Dodgers' lack of power, I asked, "Is it time to introduce the players to steroids?" McGwire laughed and I wondered why. "You're funny," he said before finally adding, "No. No. " What a bummer, I told him, I thought you might have the magic potion to get the Dodgers going. "The magic potion is in between the ears," he said.

He first appears in the movie as he first appeared with the Dodgers, a wallflower pulled reluctantly into the spotlight, a nerd suddenly tapped on the shoulder by the cool kids. The character that is supposed to be Paul DePodesta is a rumpled and bespectacled figure leaning against a wall whispering trade vetoes to a Cleveland Indians colleague. The character that is supposed to be Billy Beane openly wonders who he is, and why everyone thinks he's so smart, and so begins a journey that Dodgers fans will instantly and painfully recognize.