Study Finds Baseballs Are Barely Legal

The test results are in: Baseballs this season are legal--but barely.

Baseballs from this year and the last two were tested by Jim Sherwood, who runs the Baseball Research Center at the University of Massachusetts’ Lowell campus.

Despite the record number of homers flying out of parks, the balls weren’t found to be “juiced.” Even so, balls from all three seasons were close to being too lively by major league standards.

“[Baseballs] today are at the upper end of the spectrum,” Sandy Alderson, the commissioner’s executive vice president of baseball operations, said Tuesday after meeting with Sherwood.

When a baseball is fired at a wall made of 2 1/2-inch thick, northern white ash, it is required to rebound at 54.6% its original speed, plus or minus 3.2%.

In addition, a ball must hold its shape within 0.08 of an inch after being subjected to 65 pounds of pressure.

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Houston pitcher Billy Wagner could miss the rest of the season after an MRI showed a partial tear of the flexor tendon in his left elbow.

Wagner will fly to Los Angeles to meet with Angels’ medical director Dr. Lewis Yocum for a second opinion.

Wagner has been struggling all season. He blew his ninth save in 15 opportunities this season against San Francisco on Saturday.

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John Rocker can’t wait to get to New York next week--and ride the subway with all the people he insulted last year.

“The first day I get to New York, I’m getting on the [No.] 7 train,” the Atlanta reliever told USA Today Baseball Weekly. “I’m taking it to Shea Stadium. I won’t be in a cab. I won’t be on the bus. I’ll be on that train. And I’m looking forward to it.”

The No. 7 is the same subway line Rocker insulted in an interview with Sports Illustrated last December.

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St. Louis Cardinal second baseman and leadoff hitter Fernando Vina was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained right hamstring. . . . University of Michigan catcher David Parrish signed a contract with the New York Yankees that includes a $1.4-million signing bonus, said his father, Detroit Tiger coach and former All-Star catcher Lance Parrish.