Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph has heard all the jokes, but when you suffer a serious groin-area injury, it probably hurts too much to laugh.

Still, Joseph said Friday that there is no reason for anyone to be sensitive about what they say around him, especially now that he has healed sufficiently to resume almost all baseball activities. The only thing he hasn't done so far is catch in a game, which he will do for High-A Frederick on Monday before deciding whether he feels good enough to be activated.

“There could have been some serious issues,” Joseph said, “but now that the smoke has cleared and everything is going to be OK, you've got to be able to have a sense of humor. I think that's what a lot of society's missing these days. It seems like you're not allowed to have a sense of humor anymore, but I'm willing to have it if anybody else wants to on this subject.”

Well, it's also a very uncomfortable subject for anyone who has experienced anything resembling what happened to Joseph back on May 30, but he said his teammates have overcome any early reluctance to needle him with a sarcastic remark or a nutty comment.

“It's game on,” he said. “Just about every guy has either given me a fake slap — a cup check — or said something. Everything is probably going to be a pun now, which I am totally game for.”

Most of the jokes Joseph has heard cannot be reproduced here — and most of them are too tired to deserve publication, anyway. He did remember one that he felt was fairly clever.

“Somebody asked me if it was a 2-1 pitch,” Joseph said. “I had a slight chuckle at that — you know, a two-ball, one-strike pitch.”

—?Peter Schmuck