Next meal at Waffle House, it's on me. (Getty)Jeremy Affeldt makes $6 million a year pitching for the San Francisco Giants, and reportedly has grossed at least $30 million since joining the major leagues in 2002. But all of that money hasn't gone to his head. And some of it didn't even stay in his bank account, once Affeldt realized it wasn't his to keep.

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle examined Tuesday what happened when Affeldt discovered in 2010 that he was being overpaid $500,000 because of a clerical error the Giants made when typing up his contract:

Affeldt got three opinions saying the contract was ironclad and he could keep the extra $500,000, from the Players Association, agent Michael Moye and even Giants assistant general manager Bobby Evans.

Affeldt recalled Moye telling him, "You know what? As your agent I've got to tell you that legally you can keep it. As a man who represents integrity, I'm saying you should give it back."

And that's what Affeldt said he did, redoing the contract with the $500,000 excised.

"I talked to Bobby the next day and said, 'I can't take that money,' " Affeldt said. " 'I won't sleep well at night knowing I took that money because every time I open my paycheck I'll know it's not right.' "

Affeldt's two-year contract extension called for him to be paid a total of $10 million, so the unintended bonus of $500,000 represents 5 percent. That would be a significant chuck of change to Joe Average.

(Getty)

Hardly a month after right-hander Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers fractured his left collarbone fighting with Padres slugger Carlos Quentin, his team scheduled him to start against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. Instead of returning eight weeks after his surgery in April, he's back in five.

Zack Greinke: Speed healer.

Greinke made a minor-league rehab start Saturday, and must figure that getting through it is enough to knock off the rust, and that there's nothing left to prove for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. His faster-than-hoped return is great news for the Dodgers, who have lacked positive results in starting the season 16-22. But every bit of good news for the Dodgers seems to bring with it some bad.

The Los Angeles Times writes that right-hander Josh Beckett, who is troubled by a sore groin, might take Greinke's spot on the disabled list. Regardless, Greinke is ready to step off tonight at Dodger Stadium:

Not only did the San Francisco Giants give Melky Cabrera his 2012 World Series ring Tuesday night, they returned much of the equipment he had left behind at AT&T Park during a hasty exit this past summer. Included among Cabrera's items were some of his old bats, one of which he used to knock out four hits in a 10-6 victory for the Toronto Blue Jays.

It figures, given that Cabrera got himself suspended in August after testing positive for testosterone, leaving the Giants without one of their best hitters for the pennant drive. Cabrera addressed all of that in a post-game interview with the help of coach Luis Rivera, who translated and gave paraphrased quotes. The Associated Press writes:

Cabrera's big night came with bats he used while playing for the Giants last year, black bats stamped with an orange 53, his jersey number.

''I left some bats last season and Murph (Mike Murphy, the Giants equipment manager) sent them to me and I was using them today,'' Cabrera said through a translator.

Cabrera also left the Giants, pretty much, without saying good-bye. Or saying he was sorry, or saying anything. His quick and quiet departure caused puzzlement, if not bad feelings. Of course, we know now that the Giants won the World Series anyway, and Cabrera got a nice free-agent deal from the Blue Jays despite an association with performance-enhancing drugs.

Still, it must have been with some awkward feelings that Giants manager Bruce Bochy presented Cabrera with his championship ring in a quick, quiet and private ceremony in a hallway between clubhouses at the Rogers Centre before the first pitch. The handoff differed from what was done with Nate Schierholtz, who got his ring in a public (if informal) ceremony at Wrigley Field in April.

(COMC.com)One tiny accident with the laundry in the spring of 1980 took them from us. But the rainbow-rific Tucson Toros uniforms, which proudly mark the death rattle of disco fashion, are making a comeback in June.

The San Diego Padres' minor-league affiliate at Class AAA is reviving Tucson's take on the "Tequila Sunrise" uniforms worn famously by the Houston Astros from the middle 1970s until 1986, when Houston was Tucson's parent city. The Tucson Padres will wear the old-school eyesores June 8 as part of Disco Night at Kino Stadium.

The big-league Astros' rainbow uniforms might have been blinding, but the 1980 Toros uniforms — easily identified by the sash down the front — literally were incompatible with the sense of vision. Jimmy Sexton, whose baseball card is shown, managed to overcome being dressed like a scoop of sherbet and became a big-time sports agent in later years. Still, at the time, it looks like all of the color in his face was drained into the uniform in order to feed it.

A wonderful post by Patrick Finley at the Arizona Daily Star remembers the concoction of crazy colors then-Tucson GM Jack Donovan came up with:

The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more.

''It usually works out like this,'' Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. ''When guys are traded, they have a good night.''

Whatever Fredi says. Braves slugger Justin Upton, who leads the majors in home runs, went deep for No. 13 on Monday night in his first game at Chase Field since the Arizona Diamondbacks traded him and Chris Johnson during the offseason. Upton had four hits and Johnson also homered for Atlanta, which beat Arizona 10-1. The Braves also have an early edge in a seven-player deal that sent Martin Prado to the D-backs in exchange for Upton, who was the top overall pick in the 2005 draft.

Upton received a nice ovation from the old home crowd when he stepped in for his first plate appearance, though boos seemed more noticeable as the night went along. His home run in the sixth inning snapped a 46 at-bat streak, spanning 14 games, without one.

More prodigal son action: Outfielder Rick Ankiel, just picked up by the New York Mets after being let go by the Houston Astros, nearly made a great catch on a blooper to rob Ty Wigginton of the St. Louis Cardinals — Ankiel's first major league team. But Ankiel, who had to use the glove of pitcher Jonathan Niese because Ankiel's equipment had not yet arrived, could not hang on after a dive.

''I do think if I have my glove it stays in there,'' Ankiel said. ''I'm the type of person, if I get a glove on it I feel I should have caught it.

''I didn't. It stinks.''

Wigginton later scored on some head's-up baserunning to help the Cardinals win 6-3.

MORE SCORES

Indians 1-0, Yankees 0-7: Cleveland's Justin Masterson pitched a four-hitter (all singles) in the doubleheader opener. Yankees rookie Vidal Nuno looked good over five innings in the nightcap, helping the Bronx improve to 24-14.

(Getty)Royals 11, Angels 4: Billy Butler went 5 for 5 with five RBIs to help K.C. stop a three-game losing streak, and Los Angeles dropped to 0-8 in games started by Joe Blanton.

Brewers 5, Pirates 1: Milwaukee did one better, ending a four-game losing streak behind a strong seven innings by Marco Estrada and six stolen bases against backup catcher Mike McKenry. Pittsburgh also made three errors.

Tigers 7, Astros 2: New leadoff man Andy Dirks (Austin Jackson is hurt) hit a grand slam for Detroit.

Cubs 9, Rockies 1: Left-hander Travis Wood with some Hippo Vaughn-type consistency for the Cub.

Twins 10, White Sox 3: It's the Aaron Hicks Show, starring Aaron Hicks! With special guest, Aaron Hicks! Your co-host, Aaron Hicks! And your host, the man of the moment, Aaron Hicks!

Athletics 5, Rangers 1: Right-hander A.J. Griffin, along with sluggers Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss, put a stop to an

Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper has proven two things about himself before his 21st birthday.

1) He can play baseball better than most. 2) He can make himself bleed quite creatively.

Harper knocked himself senseless in the fifth inning Monday night running into the right-field fence at Dodger Stadium — full-speed and face-first — in pursuit of a fly ball. He was bloodied from a cut on his chin that needed 11 stitches to close, dazed from the jarring impact and was forced to leave the game. With his neck ringed by a trickle of blood, Harper uneasily walked off the field under the supervision of Nats staff and teammates.

But the first medical reports were encouraging: He sustained minor injuries to a shoulder, his neck and a knee, but he doesn't have a concussion according to his agent, Scott Boras, who also said Harper will be checked by X-ray Tuesday.

The number of stitches top, by one, the repairs done to Harper's face in 2012 after he accidentally hit his own face with a bat after getting upset. Nobody makes Bryce Harper bleed his own blood ... like Bryce Harper.

Via the Washington Post:

“Bryce is going to be all right,” Manager Davey Johnson said.

Sure, as long as he heeds the warning track next time. Outfielder Denard Span had the closest views of what happened after the Dodgers' A.J. Ellis drove a ball over Harper's head, and the Washington Times quoted him as saying:

The Minnesota Twins promoted 23-year-old Aaron Hicks to the majors this season because they thought he was ready to perform just like he did Monday night.

Hicks not only leaped high to rob slugger Adam Dunn of what would have been a tying two-run home run, but he also went deep twice at Target Field for the first multi-hit game of his career in a 10-3 victory against the Chicago White Sox.

Have a game, kid! The only way he could have done any better is if the White Sox had mustered another near-homer for him to steal. Too much to ask!

Hicks' catch came in the top of the sixth with the Twins leading 5-3. After reliever Josh Roenicke delivered, Dunn blasted a pitch to straight-away center, about 410 feet from home plate. It appeared to be going over for for Dunn's seventh homer of the season and 413th of his career until Hicks changed the outcome.

Hicks' second homer of the night — another solo shot against left-hander Hector Santiago — came in his next at-bat in the bottom of the sixth. MLB.com quoted Hicks as saying: