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Entering the 2013 season, hardly anyone chose the Colorado Rockies or New York Yankees to contend for pennants. Both have shocked the baseball world by overcoming depth and injuries concerns, but we’ve seen plenty of that throughout MLB history.

The teams featured on this list made journeys all the way to the World Series despite being perceived as underdogs prior to Opening Day. Each slide reflects on previous seasons to explain why there was pessimism, identifies the difference-makers who made the pennant possible and states whether or not the team was victorious in the Fall Classic.

Every generation has had its unlikely successes.

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Nate McLouth’s 10th-inning, walk-off home run led the Baltimore Orioles (24-21) to a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees (28-17) on Tuesday night at Camden Yards.

For the second straight game, relief pitching decided things between these AL East contenders. Baltimore’s Jim Johnson earned the win for his scoreless inning. He had allowed eight earned runs his three previous appearances (all blown saves).

Travis Hafner put the Yankees ahead initially with a two-out single in the first inning. Journeyman outfielder Chris Dickerson evened the score with a solo blast off Hughes in the third. Then Hafner regained the lead for New York with another single through the right side. But guess who? Dickerson went deep again, a no-doubter to right field, to make it 2-2.

The Orioles stayed with Miguel Gonzalez through seven. In his first start back from the disabled list, the right-hander threw 62 of his 92 pitches for strikes (67.4 percent). Tommy Hunter set the Yankees down in order during the eighth and ninth, and Johnson followed suit in the 10th.

Phil Hughes lasted six innings and allowed two runs on five hits. It was an improvement from last week’s embarrassing effort (0.2 IP, 7 ER), as Baltimore failed to take advantage of pitches over the middle and up in the zone. Relievers Boone Logan, Shawn Kelley, David Robertson and Preston Claiborne took the reins from there.

Finally, Vidal Nuno slipped up. In his third career major league appearance, the 25-year-old served up a solo shot to McLouth, the leadoff man and left fielder.

His 92nd career home run was only his second off the walk-off variety. The other came against Jose Contreras on April 20, 2010.

The rubber game takes place tomorrow evening with probable starters Hiroki Kuroda (6-2, 1.99 ERA) and Jason Hammel (5-2, 5.72 ERA).

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After enduring a truly brutal week of umpiring, Major League Baseball intends to expand the use of instant replay in time for the 2014 season, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). 

“My opinion has evolved,” Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday, acknowledging that there was a time when the sport prided itself on “the human element.” Remember that for years, as the other major sports embraced technology as a means to confirm and refute pivotal calls, this sport continued to rely on four pairs of middle-aged eyes.

Selig consented to the first regular-season reviews in 2008, pertaining to potential home runs (whether they were fair/foul, over the wall/in play or interfered with). Then last season, he announced that trapped balls and “bullets” down either baseline would be made reviewable in the near future.

This blueprint recommends even more usage of instant replay and a different review process. It borrows elements from the systems that exist in other major sports and blends them with original ideas that suit baseball’s design and pace.

The purpose, ultimately, is to ensure that controversial calls can be corrected quickly. That way, the Angel Hernandezes and Jim Joyces of the world don’t become household names.

Foul-line television screens

Currently, umpires disappear into the bowels of a ballpark to review any disputed call. They re-emerge minutes later after seeing various replays and reaching a consensus.

This is both time-consuming and overly dramatic.

The screens that the umps use should have greater proximity to their field positions to expedite the process. And by keeping them visible to the players, coaches and crowd (a la the NBA system), we learn the verdict immediately.

During game action, the television(s) would stay protected behind the fence on the first-base line. Stadium personnel would simply uncover them when necessary and provide ample security to protect the umps from rowdy fans.

Automatic reviews of all run-scoring plays

The NFL rule change made in 2011, according to NESN, makes just as much sense on the diamond, where usually, no more than a handful of plays lead directly to scoring.

Have the umpires jog over to the nearby review station. They’ll make sure the runner touched home plate, beat the tag/force, etc.

Regardless of what stage a game might be in or the disparity on the scoreboard, it’s important to verify whether or not a run was scored and do so without making managers trek out onto the field to complain.

Very simple.

“Replay chief” on site

Craig Calcaterra of HardballTalk advocates assigning a fifth trained official to each regular-season game in addition to the on-field quartet. This person would oversee everything from a private booth with replays readily available. 

Now back to the specifics of this proposal.

Through an IFB device, the replay chief should communicate a conclusion and rationale to the crew chief. After watching for themselves, the umps can discuss. However, unless there is unanimous opposition to his/her decision, they have to enforce it.

This is another time-saving modification because the replay chief can get a head start on the review process and work from a more secure location.

Challenging safe/out calls

Bleacher Report’s own Zachary D. Rymer explored this in greater depth this past January, and his explanation is quite convincing.

He wants to allow managers one challenge during the first nine innings because “they’d therefore have to be strategic with it. They’d have to pick their battles.” Rymer and I also agree that a second challenge should be granted to each in extra innings.

But we diverge when it comes to other gimmicks. This blueprint doesn’t incorporate his rule that someone who “makes a challenge in a pressure situation and wins” should get another challenge for the eighth and ninth innings.

Rather, how about a rule to empower the poor umps so that their influence doesn’t disappear entirely? They should reserve the right to strip a team of its challenging ability for the remainder of a game in case of a managerial ejection. This deters skippers from belittling/cussing out umpires about balls and strikes and other judgement calls.

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Popular 2013 World Series picks like the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays have stumbled out of the starting gate, but we have come to expect MLB disappointments over the past 10 years. Read on to refresh your memory.

It would be premature to criticize anybody at the quarter pole, so this list only includes teams from the past decade of full seasons. All the following underachievers made their supporters suffer sometime from 2003-2012. They were ranked by the disparity between spring training expectations and actual awfulness.

Either because of injury, aging, dysfunction or a combination of three, they didn’t validate the preseason hype.

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Boston Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz, the American League Pitcher of the Month for April, has been accused of doctoring baseballs during his victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday night.

Buchholz tossed seven scoreless innings in the series opener and limited the Jays to two hits as Boston won convincingly, 10-1. He improved to 6-0 on the season with a 1.01 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 47 SO. With this latest dominant performance, the 28-year-old was looking like an early favorite for the 2013 AL Cy Young Award.

But now, Buchholz and Red Sox personnel have some explaining to do.

Former major league pitcher Dirk Hayhurst called attention to a suspicious substance on the pitcher’s left forearm. Hayhurst happens to be a broadcaster for Sportsnet, the Canadian sports channel that carries the Blue Jays games. He compares Buchholz to Eddie Harris, the notorious cheater from the 1989 movie Major League:

Forget the hair, I just saw video of Buchholz loading the ball with some Eddie Harris worthy slick’em painted up his left forearm. Wow.

— Dirk Hayhurst (@TheGarfoose) May 2, 2013

*Warning: This video contains adult language.

The following day, Boston manager John Farrell explained to reporters—including Alex Speier of WEEI.com—that his pitcher had made legal use of the rosin bag that lies behind the mound.

“Rosin was designed to get a grip,” Farrell said. “[Buchholz’s] got it on his arm.”

Buchholz shared his side of the story with MassLive.com’s Evan Drellich. He spoke generally about why he uses rosin and others substances, and reiterated that he wasn’t manipulating balls with anything “foreign”:

Put rosin on my arm throughout the game. Sweat, water, whatever…Sometimes I put a little thing of water on my hip just to get moisture on your hands. Cause sometimes the balls that they throw to you feel like cue balls off a pool table. Got to find a way to get grip. But yeah, I mean, definitely no foreign objects or substances on my arm.

Well, the Toronto media wasn’t buying that. Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writes that the scoreboard crew at the Rogers Centre uncovered additional video that revealed “a creamy white substance on his left forearm, which he would run through with his index and middle fingers.”

Hayhurst tweeted this Sportsnet screenshot prior to Thursday’s series finale:

Could be rosin, could be something else. Looked awfully fishy, is all.twitter.com/TheGarfoose/st…

— Dirk Hayhurst (@TheGarfoose) May 2, 2013

Then the big guns got involved.

Longtime MLB starter and former World Series hero Jack Morris is also a Blue Jays broadcaster. According to ESPNBoston.com, he believes Buchholz was throwing spitballs. Even though Buchholz’s substance of choice was all over his body, Morris says, this generation of baseball professionals can’t recognize it:

Funny thing, the way the game is played today. In our generation, every player, every coach would have seen it, the umpire would have gone out and made him change, made him stop and that changes everything. Or else they throw him out of the game. So what kind of bugs all of us is nothing is done here.

Dennis Eckersley, a first-ballot Hall of Famer and analyst for the New England Sports Network (NESN), didn’t take kindly to that.

He began an on-air rant, WEEI.com reports, by pointing out that the key to Buchholz’s success is pinpoint location—”the guy paints”—rather than dramatic, unpredictable movement associated with the spitball. “When you throw a spitball,” Eckersley continued, “the ball falls off the table, and you know it right away. The hitters didn’t complain.”

But next, the legendary closer went way out of bounds, belittling Hayhurst by calling him “a career minor leaguer” and dismissing Morris’ opinion because, “He hasn’t even made the Hall of Fame yet!”

After 24 hours of back-and-forth, this whole thing truly went national: the juggernauts at ESPN weighed in. Anticlimactically, studio analysts/former superstars Barry Larkin and Curt Schilling dismissed the notion that Buchholz knowingly cheated.

Update: Saturday, May 4 at 7:39 a.m. ET

Orel Hershiser, the 1988 NL Cy Young Award winner, is the latest retired player to come to Buchholz’s defense.

He made an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd and reminisced about using a similar tactic. Hershiser often wet his hair between innings because the moisture would “activate the rosin” and help him get a better grip.

“It’s not illegal, it’s not even close to illegal,” he insisted.

——–End of Update——-

Their assurances have not discouraged Hayhurst. In a column on Sportsnet.ca, he reiterated that “close-up video” confirmed his suspicions. He concludes by leaning on his baseball experience.

“I was around long enough to know I needed an edge,” Hayhurst writes, “and subsequently learn how to spot others who are finding one.”

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Early on in 2013, we’re being treated to shocking individual turnarounds across Major League Baseball. Those of us who thought John Buck and Vernon Wells were on the decline have been eating crow.

Even under-30 players like Patrick Corbin and Chris Johnson have caught the sport off guard by performing above their perceived potential.

The following guys underachieved last season, but seem reinvigorated thus far.

*Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, up to date as of April 26.

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MLB stat lines distort in bizarre directions while the season is young. Due to small sample sizes, slugger Rick Ankiel and several other prominent players have posted fascinating numbers in 2013 that you wouldn’t believe.

Is it possible, for example, that a starting infielder literally never walks? And can a veteran pitcher ride his unsightly walk total to an All-Star selection?

Inevitably, these outliers will normalize, thus making our experience a bit less enjoyable.

Let’s have fun while we can and tease five unusual individuals.

*All stats provided by Baseball-Reference.com and are current as of April 26.

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Between 2004 and 2012, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were fixtures on the left side of the New York Yankees infield.

But significant injuries now threaten their baseball careers, or at least their futures as everyday players.

On Thursday, general manager Brian Cashman reluctantly informed us that the latest setback in Jeter’s recovery from a fractured ankle will keep him sidelined past the All-Star break (via Bryan Hoch, MLB.com). He made a similar approximation about A-Rod’s return following the third baseman’s offseason hip surgery. 

Will Carroll, Bleacher Report’s own injury expert, interprets the “positive steps” made by Jeter in spring training as an indication that he’ll be back in pinstripes this summer. He added, “Jeter’s fracture was not as complicated as the injuries to Buster Posey or Stephen Drew,” who were involved in home-plate collisions in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Bob Klapisch of The Record exudes less optimism. He reminisces about Joe DiMaggio’s bone spurs in 1949 that led to his retirement two seasons later. Klapisch salutes Jeter’s determination—his “desire to win”—while noting that Game 1 of the 2012 ALCS may have been his final major league contest.

ESPN’s Buster Olney wondered which other old position players returned to prominence after long absences (Insider access required).

Elias Sports programmer/analyst Kevin Hines responded with the following table. It includes all MLB players over the past 100 years who missed at least half their teams’ games at age 38 or older yet eventually became regulars again (400-plus plate appearances):

Olney is skeptical that the Yankees captain can join the list:

The lessons drawn from historical precedent suggest players of his age — Jeter will be 39 by the time he would return after the All-Star break — almost never come back after a year of diminished playing time.

Let’s say Jeter doesn’t make it back to the Bronx in 2013. He would still have 9.5 million reasons to continue rehabbing this coming winter, according to Baseball Prospectus.

His 2014 player option—originally valued at $8 million—swelled by $1.5 million when he won the Silver Slugger at shortstop last season. Though Jeter hasn’t settled for a seven-figure salary since 1999, doing so under such circumstances would be a no-brainer, especially because his earnings could balloon to $17 million by reaching certain award-based incentives.

And the Yankees will genuinely encourage him. Their only other major league-ready alternative at the position, Eduardo Nunez, is a lesser offensive threat and an abominable fielder.

Cashman could attempt to fill the void with a free-agent signing, but the crop of available shortstops projects to be pretty weak:

Meanwhile, neither team executives nor many fans would care to see Alex Rodriguez back at the hot corner. He is strikeout-prone, “un-clutch” and simply annoying.

Back in January, Daily News writers Bill Madden, Christian Red and Teri Thompson claimed the 37-year-old was “unlikely to ever wear the pinstripes again.” Rodriguez’s ailing hip and monstrous contract render him immovable via trade, but baseball sources suggested that a cash settlement or outright retirement could bring an end to this soured relationship.

Forget about the latter. New York owes him $114 million provided he doesn’t formally quit, so why would he? To salvage his reputation? No, this month’s leak from The New York Times was a knockout blow. His alleged attempt to purchase documents from Biogenesis, the anti-aging clinic/performance-enhancing drug distributor, was beyond pathetic.

If Major League Baseball’s investigation finds irrefutable evidence of A-Rod’s PED usage, then they’ll obviously suspend him. 

But can he return to the Yankees lineup before then? Manager Joe Girardi tells MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch that rehab is gradually progressing:

Alex Rodriguez told Joe Girardi that he is now able to run slowly on a treadmill. “He was pretty fired up about that,” Girardi said.

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) April 13, 2013

I repeat: gradually. There’s no hurry to accelerate the post-All-Star break timetable just yet.

And even if Rodriguez makes it all the way back, why would Girardi insert him at third base? Kevin Youkilis has softer hands and better flexibility than any geezer with a busted hip. Rather, we would likely see the sport’s active home run leader platooning with designated hitter Travis Hafner or pinch-hitting.

The question was, “Will we ever see Derek Jeter/Alex Rodriguez left side of Yankees infield again?” The answer is maybe.

Perhaps there’s a 30 percent chance of both men rejoining the team this summer and being active at the same time and convincing Girardi that they can handle their longtime defensive assignments. But while Jeter is likely to exercise his 2014 option, count on ownership arranging a buyout of Rodriguez’s contract, regardless of what we learn about Biogenesis.

Follow Ely on Twitter for updates much shorter than this article.

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The current MLB economic system rewards declining players for their past production, while elite individuals like Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper earn under $10 million per year. In this article, we’ll recognize and rank the difference-makers who make only six or seven figures.

Let’s be clear about which veterans were not considered.

Free agents who signed new contracts this past offseason were ineligible if their new terms guaranteed average annual salaries north of $10 million. That means Zack Greinke (six years, $147 million), Kevin Youkilis (one year, $12 million) and everybody in between didn’t qualify. Same goes for the youngsters to recently sign monstrous extensions, Elvis Andrus and Buster Posey.

Guys in the middle of back-loaded deals didn’t get any love on this list, either. Robinson Cano, for example, is finishing out an agreement that paid him $57 million from 2008 to 2013 ($9.5 million per year). However, he’ll get $15 million of that this summer.

With all that said, it’s safe to continue clicking.

*All earnings information provided by Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

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Dustin Pedroia and the other influential clubhouse leaders in Major League Baseball have various means of encouraging their teammates. Fortunately, every roster has a reputable veteran role model in 2013.

Albert Pujols is known for going about his business quietly and setting a high standard for on-field performance. By contrast, Nick Swisher and Torii Hunter will make themselves available during downtime to connect with men of all ages.

They all make life easier for MLB managers by nipping personal and professional problems in the bud.

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