Baseball

Michael Cuddyer will not leave the Minnesota Twins before the end of the season via trade, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

He may walk when his contract expires at the end of the season, and if the team's announced intention to re-sign him falls through.

Picture a baseball prodigy. Maybe it's the next Bryce Harper; maybe it's the next Stephen Strasburg. He's young, nervous, fidgeting with his tie and sweating slightly under the heat of bright television camera lights.

Whitey Ford didn’t know he had been treated with cocaine in an attempt to alleviate the pain in his left shoulder during the 1957 season.

The New York Yankees ace spoke to his friend, Toots Shor, who recommended Dr. Milton Reder. Ford visited the good doctor, received the treatment and reported his shoulder felt better the next day.

Leading the way in the MLB Trade rumor department is a report from Buster Olney, in which he says the Detroit Tigers are asking around about pitching, while another floating rumor that has the Phillies being pegged as "front runners" for three bullpen pitchers from San Diego.

Derek Jeter deserves all the praise in the world today.

The New York Yankees captain, who has spent the past decade serving as the de facto face of Major League Baseball, joined the exclusive 3,000-hit club in thunderous fashion, with a solo home run to left field at Yankee Stadium off of Tampa Bay Rays All-Star David Price.

We are just a few days away from the All-Star break for the 2011 MLB season.

We've already seen some spectacular performances in the first half from expected names and some newcomers alike.

Like last season, baseball has been largely dominated by incredible pitching performances. Pitchers are going deeper into games than they have in recent memory and leaving most hitters in the dust.

There have been a few exceptions however.

With that in mind, here are the best (and just for fun, the worst) in the AL and NL this season

Derek Jeter has reached 3,000 hits by blasting a home run over the left field wall, becoming the 28th player to reach the milestone. The impressive fashion of the home run got me thinking: what are the coolest ways players have reached 3,000 hits?

While most players have reached the milestone on a single or double, some players have done so in fashion.

The following eight players have had the coolest ways of reaching 3,000 hits.

Derek Jeter got his 3,000th hit today, a home run in fact, and Christian Lopez was the man who caught it.

Tickets to a potentially historic day at Yankee Stadium came courtesy of Lopez's girlfriend, and both her and his father accompanied the cell phone salesman to the ballpark earlier today not knowing that they'd be the ones with a piece of history in their possession.

When it comes to seizing a moment, it’s hard to beat Derek Jeter.

Criticism was swirling, calls mounting for him to be moved to eighth in the order in the midst of the chase for a historic milestone. But Saturday, Jeter did what he does best, captivate once again.

It wasn’t so much about the game, a July afternoon contest between AL East foes pretty commonplace. This was Derek Jeter’s day.

Derek Jeter made history today in the most dramatic fashion possible. He knocked his 3,000th hit over the left-center fence at Yankee Stadium on his way to a 5-for-5 day at the plate. It was a legendary performance by a legendary Yankee.

But it also showed why he's being selfish.

I'm not saying that he is selfish. In fact, I've been as big of a Jeter supporter as a non-Yankee fan can be. But his decline to play in the All-Star Game before his game today was selfish as hell.