Joba Chamberlain jogs with a few cadets. (AP)A baseball game was played in West Point, N.Y., on Saturday. The New York Yankees won it 10-5 over the Army Black Knights in front of 6,127 fans — a record for an Army home game. The Yankees' "hero" offensively was Brennan Boesch, thanks to his two-run home run in the second inning. They also received five innings of stellar relief from Adam Warren.

And none of it mattered. Because this game event and the gathering it drew was all about the experience for everybody involved. Based on the interactions and reactions before, during and after the event, everybody involved enjoyed it thoroughly, too.

Here’s more from MLB.com’s Spencer Fordin:

But this game -- and this day -- was bigger than the box score. For the Yankees, it meant an opportunity to both get some work in and to give back to the community at the same time. And for Army, it was the opportunity of a lifetime and the chance to measure themselves against the best in the world.

"I think the big thing that was obvious today was respect," said Army coach Joe Sottolano. "These individuals, each and every day, they've been to this type of situation hundreds of thousands of times. They've come to these types of ballgames and lived it each and every day. Not only did they come over [to our dugout], but they came over open and with a legitimate interest. It wasn't a job at that point. For them, I believe it was more of a curiosity and something they really wanted to partake in.

"They made us feel special, even though for them it's two days away from their Opening Day. They're not going to see their families very often, and tomorrow's Easter Sunday. The greatest gift that they say you can give people is time. They gave us that time, and we're very respectful and grateful for that."

(AP)This story is rather remarkable and disturbing at the same time. Especially when it comes on the same day Johan Santana announces he'll be undergoing his second major shoulder operation in 31 months.

According to Baseball America's Ben Badler, Japanese high school pitcher Tomohiro Anraku has taken on a workload this week that might make Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo pass out or consider checking into an institution.

In just five days, the 16-year-old Anraku has been asked to throw an astounding 22 innings and 391 total pitches during tournament play in his home country.

Yes, that's 22 innings and 391 pitches... over a five-day span.

Here's Badler with the pitch count breakdown.

Anraku’s 232-pitch outing on Tuesday in “Spring Koshien,” Japan’s major spring high school tournament, put him on the international radar. A sophomore at Saibi High in Ehime Prefecture, Anraku led his team to a 4-3 victory with a 13-inning complete game, touched 94 mph with his fastball and struck out 13.

The encore came today—on three days’ rest—when Anraku threw 159 pitches in Saibi High’s 4-1 victory in front of 43,000 fans at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound righthander threw all nine innings for the complete-game victory, struck out eight, walked one, allowed seven hits and hit a pair of batters. He even helped himself at the plate as Saibi’s cleanup hitter, going 2-for-4 with a double and a triple that gave Saibi the lead late in the game.

(AP)The New York Mets have announced that Johan Santana will undergo surgery to repair a tear in the anterior capsule of his left shoulder in New York on Tuesday. It's actually the second such tear Santana has suffered in the shoulder in the past three years and will be his second major surgery in the past 31 months. The first was repaired in September of 2010 and forced Santana to miss the entire 2011 season.

Obviously, the new tear means Santana's 2013 season is over. It also likely means he's pitched his last game as a Met despite the fact they still owe him $31 million. But the real question now is will this ultimately end Santana's big league career.

The fact that he's actually going through with surgery indicates the 34-year-old is determined to pitch again. That wasn't a given just two days ago when the probability of a re-tear was first reported, but time spent with his family seems to have given him the reassurance he needed to put himself through another operation and overcome the long, grueling rehabilitation process that follows.

We certainly wish him well as he attempts to do just that. A second return from this devastating injury would be truly remarkable. But beyond that, we just want to see a terrific pitcher who has given us so many great performances and moments getting to leave the game on his own terms.

You know opening day is drawing near when baseball anthems start popping up.

In this case, we have a group of Atlanta Braves fans rapping about their hometown team in a song entitled "Beasts from the East." It's actually a very well produced video, too. Of course it includes references to the Braves making a run to the postseason by leapfrogging over the Washington Nationals in the National League East, the Upton brothers arriving in town, and the tomahawk chop.

All solid and completely necessary touches to make the video work. But there were a few other lyrics that I thought were excellent as well.

How is Cole Hamels (at least we think that's him) preparing for his opening day start against the Atlanta Braves on Monday?

If you answered "By commandeering the Phillies' hot dog cannon and launching a few Hatfield hot dogs into the stands during their exhibition game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night" you'd be a weiner -- just like I am for writing that.

It's true, though. Hamels really did take over the Phillies' mobile hot dog cannon following the fifth inning of their unofficial home opener at Citizens Bank Park. He was joined by accomplices Cliff Lee, who had already tossed four scoreless innings earlier in the evening, and the Phillie Phanatic, who happens to be a No. 1 seed in Big League Stew's Mascot Madness and is performing well through two rounds.

[NL East Preview: Can Phillies keep up with the Nationals and the Braves?]

But here's the thing. As bizarre a sight as those three riding around the ballpark truly was, it may have been topped by the debut of Hamels' new mustache. Yes, we were aware Hamels had the facial hair thing going on during spring training, but apparently he decided to ditch the beard look at the last minute and will now go with a straight up stache during the regular season.

There’s little doubt Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is an athletic freak of nature at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds.

Last season, he terrorized offensive lines en route to getting a league-high 20.5 sacks. He also swatted 16 passes down at the line of scrimmage, which nearly doubled the next closest defensive lineman, on his way to NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.

[Also: Justin Verlander's record contract a savvy investment for Tigers]

If that wasn't impressive enough, it also turns out he can do a few things in another sport he played up until his sophomore year of high school. That sport would be baseball, and he put some of those old skills on display Friday night while taking batting practice with the Houston Astros prior to their exhibition game with the Chicago Cubs.

(USA Today)They say that often times the journey will prove to be more meaningful and thrilling than the destination.

I'm not sure where Scott Rice will stand on that one when all is said and done, but for now the 31-year-old reliever is just thrilled that he finally — and I do mean finally — received the news he's been waiting for since being drafted in the first round (44th overall) by the Baltimore Orioles in 1999.

After 14 seasons and 480 appearances in the minor leagues, Rice has made an opening day roster and will soon make his major league debut as a member of the New York Mets.

Rice learned the news from Mets manager Terry Collins, who had been impressed with the left-hander's sinking fastball and ability to induce groundballs throughout the spring. He ended it with a 3.18 ERA in 11 innings.

Here's how Rice reacted to the news:

After 14 yrs in the minors, Scott Rice was just informed that he made the team: “It’s been a long road. Now I got to stay up here.” #Mets

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgeccastillo) March 29, 2013

As always, that's easier said than done. But let's take a look at just how long his road has been.

It’s among the rarest of baseball feats, but that doesn't stop Vanderbilt University head coach Tim Corbin from taking the chance every now and then.

Of course we’re talking about attempting a triple steal, which constitutes three different runners stealing second, third and home respectively on the same play.

The Commodores first pulled it off cleanly during a game with the University of Florida last May. That one was a little bit more of the delayed variety, as the runner occupying first base got a late start and had to hightail it into second base to complete the hat trick. On Tuesday, though, Vanderbilt pulled it off again in a more straight forward fashion during their 4-1 victory over Lipscomb.

Or at least it will go down as a success in the scorebook.

As you noticed in the video, it’s actually a really close play at the plate as runner Xavier Turner charges down the line and then attempts to get around the tag of catcher Taylor Stewart. In fact, it almost looks like Turner never gets the plate, and if he did it’s hard to fathom how Taylor could have missed the tag. But home plate umpire Chuck Pack’s emphatic safe call indicates he saw a different picture, so we won't argue with him.