You guys weren’t sarcastic at all. You let me down. Fortunately, So and Mo did not.

Look at AJ sportin the Justin Beiber do…

But Posada was almost knocked out by a foul tip in a Sept. 7 game against the Orioles, returning to the dugout feeling disoriented and dizzy.

“I remember telling [former pitching coach] Dave Eiland, ‘Something’s wrong with me, I just don’t feel right,’” Posada said. “I felt like I was about to throw up, I was dizzy, everything felt weird. The next day I was still having headaches. It was scary, I have to admit.”

Although a CAT scan revealed no bleeding in the brain, the Yankees nevertheless had Posada undergo a comprehensive memory test. The computerized program, called ImPACT, was designed at the University of Pittsburgh concussion center. It runs for 15-18 minutes, measuring attention, memory, processing speed and reaction time.

Some NHL and NFL football teams use ImPACT, but it’s universally employed in the big leagues, including umpires. Players are tested in spring training for baseline readings, then tested again after any incident that might involve a head injury – a collision at home plate, for instance, or crashing into an outfield wall, or in Posada’s case, a direct hit from a foul tip.

Posada said the test results were “not good” after the September incident. In fact, his results were subpar in two of the three tests he took in 2010. Does this mean Posada is at risk for brain damage? No one knows for sure, but the data is troubling.

Recent studies, conducted mostly on football players, say chronic traumatic encephalopathy is the result of chronic head trauma, and can bring about dementia in people in their 40s and 50s.

Such news isn’t lost on Posada as he nears retirement. “It’s something I’m starting to worry about, it’s something we have to keep an eye on,” he said.

“At my age, there’s reason for concern, especially since we know so much more about concussions. It used to be, you just shake it off, and keep going. But there’s more to it than that.”

…

No one is more sympathetic to a catcher’s plight than Joe Girardi, who caught 10,061 innings in his 15-year career. Like Wynegar, the Yankee manager doesn’t believe he suffered any concussions, but believes that was due, in part, to good luck.

Researchers say the key to protecting oneself is not getting that first concussion. Once that threshold has been crossed, the brain is more susceptible to the biochemical changes that account for dizziness and nausea in the short term, and possibly dementia down the road.

That’s one reason Girardi has told Posada to forget about catching in 2011: There’s no need to expose him to any further risk.

“I worry about the health of all my players, obviously, but in Jorge’s case, I’m concerned, yes,” Girardi said.

“It got to the point last year where, every time Jorge took a foul tip in the mask, I winced.”

Hold down the fort, Team!

Personally, I wish slides like that weren’t allowed.