For an old soldier of baseball’s labor wars, the game has lost its fire and intensity. Nobody fights any more. First, the owners and the players, who used to fight at the mention of the words “salary cap,” have negotiated two consecutive collective bargaining agreements without a work stoppage. Now the commissioner’s office and the umpires union have reached agreement on the use of television replays to make sure, if necessary, home run calls are correct.

John Hirschbeck, president of the World Umpires Association, confirmed Wednesday that the two sides had completed an agreement that basically had been settled in June.

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Hank Steinbrenner can blame the injuries. Others can blame the hitting. To see where the Yankees went wrong, however, I believe you have to look at the pitching and the decisions the team’s brain trust made about its pitching last winter.

Injuries are something every contender has to deal with. How it deals with and overcomes its injuries can determine how far a team goes.

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If someone had said before the season that Carlos Quentin and Ryan Ludwick would play significant roles in their teams’ division races, listeners would have scoffed at the idea, if not said “who?” And if you had said Quentin and Ludwick would be candidates for their respective league’s most valuable player award, listeners would have doubled over in gales of laughter.

Now get serious and check Quentin’s and Ludwick’s performances and the numbers those performances have produced.

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