(AP)The life of a catcher isn’t an easy one. We were reminded of that almost immediately on Saturday when Miami Marlins backstop Jeff Mathis suffered a broken collarbone after being 'clipped' by a foul tip off the bat of Matt Holliday.

Ouch. Everybody knows how the ball explodes off Holliday’s bat when he puts one between the white lines. Based on that I think he’d be among the last guys you’d want to take a hit from on a foul tip, but there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do to avoid it, either. Just a tough break all the way around.

"It's not the break that we needed, for sure," manager Mike Redmond said. "It's a fluke deal, a foul tip. It just hit him perfect."

"I feel bad for us, but bad for him. He was excited. He's been great around the young guys. We just have to figure it out tomorrow and see where we go from here."

Redmond knows the drill, having taken a few of those shots himself during a 13-year big league career. He also added the injury will sideline Mathis approximately six weeks. That would put him on track to return around the second week in April.

(AP)Almost nine years later, we still haven't heard the last of Curt Schilling's bloody socks.

I know, I can't believe it either.

In this instance, we're talking specifically about the bloody sock worn in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series, and not the bloody sock worn in the ALCS against the New York Yankees or Game 6 of the Series. Our own David Brown covered the significance of all three socks extensively back in January, so we'll just cut right to the meat and potatoes of the auction that took place this week.

Bidding on the sock began at $25,000 on Monday. It was hoped — and in the opinion of some even expected — to top $100,000. Unfortunately, it did not quite reach that lofty number, but I'm sure it's still the highest priced bloody sock ever sold on the internet or otherwise.

ESPN's Darren Rovell gives us the specifics:

Curt Schilling’s “Bloody Sock” from Game 2 of the 2004 World Series just sold for $92,612. Disappointment.

— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) February 24, 2013

At last

(USA Today)It's only February, but I think we already have a pretty strong candidate for strangest baseball story of the year.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a company registered under the name of Evil Enterprises Inc. has been seeking exclusive trademark rights to the phrase “Baseballs Evil Empire” since June of 2008. Their intention? Release a clothing line — t-shirts, hats, jackets, and who knows what else — with the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire" attached to them.

Good plan, I suppose, but there's one big problem with that. The "Evil Empire" phrase has long been associated with the New York Yankees.

In fact, it was Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino who coined it back in 2002 after New York signed Jose Contreras out from underneath them. It wasn't meant to be flattering, but it stuck, and in recent seasons we've even witnessed the Yankees beginning to embrace it by playing the Imperial March during home games.

[Baseball 2013 from Yahoo! Fantasy Sports: Join a league today!]

That's why Major League Baseball immediately stepped in on their behalf to block Evil Enterprises' attempt to land the trademark. Eventually the Yankees themselves joined the fight, and apparently that's led to a long, drawn out battle that was finally settled before a panel of trademark judges in Washington D.C. earlier this month.

(AP)On the heels of his own prostate cancer diagnosis, former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres first baseman Steve Garvey is already determined to turn a negative into a positive for others battling the same disease.

From The Los Angeles Times:

Garvey said that his prostate was removed at UCLA Medical Center in October after his cancer was diagnosed the previous month and that he now hopes to devote a considerable amount of his time to prostate cancer awareness.

“I was thrown a pretty good curveball by God,” Garvey told The Times’ Dylan Hernandez. “I felt I was being challenged to work for prostate awareness for men and the women who love them.”

Garvey has officially answered that challenge by putting several personal baseball items and memorabilia — including his 1974 National League Most Valuable Player Award and his 1981 World Series Championship ring — up for bid through SCP Auctions, with 70% of the proceeds going toward prostate cancer awareness.

Well, maybe they aren't THAT concerned. (USA Today)Life in the National League East isn’t nearly as comfortable as it used to be for the Philadelphia Phillies. One look at last season’s standings would tell you as much, as they finished a disappointing third behind their 81-81 record and watched on as the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves punched their tickets to the postseason.

With an aging roster and both of those division foes seemingly better off than they were five months ago, the climb back to the top of the heap will only prove more difficult in 2013. That reality appears to have settled in with veteran pitchers Roy Halladay and Jonathan Papelbon, and neither have been hesitant to acknowledge it or express concerns over what they feel the team is lacking heading into the new year.

[Also: Tigers ace Justin Verlander willing to test free-agent waters for $200M deal]

First, here are the comments Halladay made to Mandy Housenick of the Allentown Morning Call on Wednesday:

"The big thing for me is when I first came over, we always had such good teams that there wasn't a real sense of urgency because they always felt like it was a matter of time before they took over the division," Halladay told The Morning Call on Wednesday. "Now the division's getting better and I just think there needs to be more of a sense of urgency at the start of the year and especially in spring training. We've got to try and win games in spring training. It's hard to flip the switch. We've had guys that have been talented enough and could always just flip the switch when they had to. That's got to change."

(USA Today)In his first big test since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery last May, Mariano Rivera faced live hitters in a 20-pitch batting practice session at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

By all accounts — most importantly Rivera's — it went smoothly.

From The LoHud Yankees Blog:

“Basically just wanted to see the hitters, that’s it,” Rivera said. “I don’t do nothing different than the bullpen, but seeing the hitters, seeing how they swing at the ball. … The first BP that I threw in almost a year. I’m really happy with the results. It will get better. The longer I keep throwing, it will get better.”

Rivera said there’s not a lot for him to learn from an early batting practice. He was happy with the movement on his cutter and happy with his location, but those two things have never been a concern.

“It feels real good there,” Rivera said. “The big thing of this is doing the real thing; covering first base, fielding bunts, all that stuff. The rest is good.”

[Baseball 2013 from Yahoo! Fantasy Sports: Join a league today!]

Rivera is tentatively scheduled to throw two more batting practice sessions to build up arm strength before he'll be ready to appear in simulated games. From there, manager Joe Girardi will leave it up to Rivera to determine when he's ready to pitch in a real game, but there's no expectation for that step to happen soon.

(KCRA in Sacramento)Strangely, we’ve already been treated to a snowball fight in college baseball this season. Now we can officially cross the more traditional bench-clearing brawl off the list of firsts in 2013 after a wild melee broke out at the Sacramento State-UC Riverside game on Friday afternoon.

As you'll see in the video, the fight broke out after Sac. State second baseman Andrew Ayers chased down and tagged out Riverside baserunner Eddie Young during a third inning rundown. Ayers then added a little extra shove afterwards and perhaps a verbal taunt, which led to Young throwing and landing a right cross on the jaw that Ayers barely acknowledged.

It was a stone-jawed no sell if I've seen one.

Here's a look at the video

Michael Jordan with the Birmingham Barons in 1994. (AP)Just as the buzz surrounding Michael Jordan's 50th birthday celebration was beginning to subside, the Joliet Slammers of the Independent Frontier League are here to revive it with a creative publicity stunt.

It an announcement made by general manager Chris Franklin on Friday afternoon, the Slammers would like to offer Jordan a one-year contract with an invitation to spend the summer finishing his unfinished baseball business while wearing their uniform.

Here's an excerpt from the team's press release:

“Who knows how the book is written if there was no Major League Baseball strike in 1994?” Franklin said. “It worked out pretty well for Michael and basketball fans around the world, but we would like to offer MJ the opportunity to write the final chapter by playing baseball for the Joliet Slammers or, at the very least, honor him in a way nobody else has.”

The honor Franklin refers to would be the retirement of the No. 45, which Jordan wore while playing for the Birmingham Barons during his stint in the Chicago White Sox organization. But that's only if he doesn't accept the contract. If for some reason he actually considered it, here are a few of the key details the Slammers would be willing to include to get the deal done.