The only thing the New York Yankees came close to losing on Saturday night was first base coach Mick Kelleher.

In the fourth inning, an errant throw by Michael Cuddyer(notes) glanced off baserunner Robinson Cano(notes) and dinged Kelleher in the — well, we didn't get to see exactly where — but it appeared to hit pretty close to his groin.

Ouch.

It probably wasn't a direct hit, but it was close enough to make everyone laugh. Nervously, anyhow. Kelleher got to his feet quickly, seemed in good spirits and kept on working — which only made the scene funnier.

TV analyst John Smoltz(notes) described the play like this:

"This is a play you go over 6,520 times in spring training. It ain't easy," Smoltz said as the ball struck Kelleher. "And neither was that."

The Minnesota Twins should have practiced it at least once more. Incorrectly, the official scorer ruled the play an error; Cano would have been out by two steps had Cuddyer made the play.

When's the last time a coach on the field was hit

Former San Diego Padres great Tony Gwynn revealed he has cancer of the parotid salivary gland, and he suspects linkage between the disease and his use of chewing tobacco.

This is stunning news, even if you already knew that Gwynn — who's just 50 years old — had surgery for a non-malignant parotid tumor in 1997 and 2007.

Neither of those times did doctors find cancer, but when Gwynn went back for another surgery in September, it was a different story.

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

"[T]his time they found a malignancy," [Gwynn said.] "They took out three lymph nodes and did all the tests and the results showed cancer in the parotid.

"The doctors have told me they feel they caught the cancer early and there was not much of it there."

That's good.

The parotid gland is responsible for regulating the flow of saliva into the mouth.
Gwynn, somewhat cryptically, said doctors call his form of cancer is "slow moving but aggressive."

"I'm going to be aggressive and not slow moving in

Big League Stew's coverage of the division series comes to you courtesy of BlackBerry.

Harmon Killebrew's career spanned the end of the original Washington Senators and the dawn of the Minnesota Twins. He blasted 573 homers over parts of 22 seasons in the majors, culminating in his election to the Hall of Fame — on his fourth attempt — in 1984.

Now 74, Killebrew remains a big fan and ambassador for the Twins. Before a recent ALDS game at Target Field, Killebrew stopped for a few moments to reminisce.

Also: Scroll down for audio from the interview.

David Brown: Hello, Mr. Killebrew, I'm Dave Brown from Yahoo! Sports.

Harmon Killebrew: Nice to meet you, Dave Brown. From where?

DB: Yahoo! Sports.

Killebrew: [Excitedly] Yahoo!

DB: Do you go online?

HK: Well ... no. Not really. Except for HarmonKillebrew.com [laughs].

DB: OK, I'm old enough to remember Metropolitan Stadium and I'm contrasting it in my mind right now as I look around Target Field. Is this place anything like the Met?

HK:

That was game seven-type stuff from the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

Bobby Cox got ejected, the Braves clawed back from a quick deficit after a Pat Burrell(notes) hit a three-run homer and tied the score against Brian Wilson's(notes) beard in the eighth inning.

And that was before Troy Glaus(notes) and all of the ex-Kansas City Royals took over.

An unlikely trio of Glaus, Rick Ankiel(notes) and Kyle Farnsworth(notes) played a pivotal role in creating and preserving a stunning 5-4 Braves victory in 11 innings in Game 2 of the NLDS.

But which of the three gentleman was the most unlikely to help the Braves even the series heading back to Atlanta?

Let's recap, then speak up in the comments.

Professor Farnsworth

• A dramatic injury to Atlanta's soon-to-retire closer, Billy Wagner(notes) (right) — who strained a muscle in his side in the bottom of the 10th — forced the team to put n'er-do-well Farnsworth in a must-not-stink situation.

Farnsworth proceeded to

Big League Stew's coverage of the division series comes to you courtesy of BlackBerry.

MINNEAPOLIS — Avert your eyes!

Aw, it's too late.

Minnesota Twins superstar Joe Mauer(notes) is having a hard enough time in the ALDS right now with his team on the verge of getting swept out of the playoffs by the New York Yankees.

Even homelier than Mauer's on-field predicament is the T-shirt they're selling with his image in the Twins clubhouse shop at Target Field.

It's awesomely, spectacularly and uncompromisingly ugly. It's got to be the ugliest T-shirt in baseball history.

Of course, I bought one for $49.

Like the part of the human condition that causes people to stare at auto wrecks along the side of the road, the Mauer shirt called to me. I rubbernecked.

The 100-percent polyester shirt is made by Three60, a company based out of St. Louis that brings together those wonderfully American concepts: Sublimation printing and baseball.

It's like wearing a tie-dye that sort of looks like the front

MINNEAPOLIS — Lance Berkman(notes) spent most of his career batting third or fourth for the Houston Astros.

In Berkman's first career playoff appearance for the New York Yankees, manager Joe Girardi put him eighth.

Or, as Berkman jokingly called it with his Texas drawl: "Big snowman."

Having a self-effacing sense of humor serves Berkman well, especially considering the big zeroes he was putting up for New York. With the Yankees, he had been much more "Fat Elvis" than he was "Big Puma."

Despite a lowly spot in the order, Berkman performed like a cleanup hitter Thursday night, lining a pair of go-ahead hits — including a solo home run and a two-run double — in the Yankees 5-2 victory against the Minnesota Twins.

"That's why I wanted to come over here, was just the chance to play in these games," said Berkman, who made the postseason three times in 11-plus seasons with the Astros, but not since 2005.

Berkman's breakout game helped the Yankees take a 2-0 series lead, and also helps him

Big League Stew's coverage of the division series comes to you courtesy of BlackBerry.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins fan Andy Frey probably wasn't cloned from Carl Pavano's(notes) DNA.

But don't hold it against his mustache.

"I've been growing this for a while," Frey proudly said just outside Target Field a couple of hours before Game 2 of the ALDS. "I've never had so much hair. I can kind of feel the power on my lip. It's a nice feeling."

The truth is, Frey probably just stuck a fake mustache on his face like dozens — hundreds? thousands? — of Twins fans did before Pavano threw the first pitch to the New York Yankees on Thursday night.

It's OK. Frey's just not as Ital-i-an as Pavano, who's having a top-notch season while utilizing the power of the league's best mustache.

"I really think that's the reason why he's had such a strong season," said Frey, who resides about an hour away in Mankato, Minn.

"Who's that guy from the Bible with the long hair? Samson! He's just like Samson, only

Back in spring training, I interviewed Michael Cuddyer(notes) of the Minnesota Twins, but I misplaced the file. It was later found, but publication just kept getting pushed back. Then it was forgotten. Well, I'll be darned if it isn't playoff time and Cuddyer (along with most elements of the interview) is still relevant after he hit a two-run homer in Wednesday's game against the Yankees.

So, enjoy this never-before-published, mini-pseudo Answer Man with the Twins' Magic Man!

David Brown: You've been described as a coffee snob.

Michael Cuddyer: I used to be [laughs]. I got married in 2006 in Jamaica; Far as I'm concerned, Jamaican coffee is the best in the world. We would import it. We'd go on the internet and buy it. That stuff's $30, $40 a pound. It's not cheap. Now we got the the Koureg, the single cup, the K-Cup things. Until they come out with Jamaican coffee — Blue Mountain Coffee — K-Cups, we're sticking with those.

DB: What makes this stuff so special?

MC: You're just going to