History

One of them is still a cellar dwelling team. The other no longer is. And that's not just by the standings.

The Pirates' win percentage of .390 is genuinely cellar-dwelling. They've been lucky for most of the season, in that one or more teams have had (until recently) even worse showings. But this luck seems to have run out, at least for now.

The Nationals have a win percentage .483. That puts them only half a game above the cellar, but only in the very competitive National League East. They're also only five games out of first place.

Baseball has always had a funny way of uniting its players under a common theme, no matter how similar or distinct they are, throughout its illustrious timeline .  

The 1970 season saw two of the game’s most prolific power hitters, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, record their 3,000th hits.

Tonight, Stephen Strasburg took the mound for the first time against the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of a sold-out crowd at Nationals Stadium.

He pitched a great game, but was it one of the all-time best debuts?

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Gaylord Perry threw the spitball, an illegal pitch that was outlawed in 1920.

Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game, but won. Harvey Haddix pitched a perfect game, but lost.

Baseball is a funny game, Joe Garagiola liked to say, and he even wrote a book with that as its title.

Tigers pitcher Galarraga has been nothing but smiles since umpire Jim Joyce fleeced him in front of some 18,000-plus witnesses at Comerica Park Wednesday night, taking a perfect game from him in the biggest miscarriage of justice since Conan O’Brien got sodomized by Jay Leno and NBC.

In 18 seasons spent in the major leagues, perhaps Matt Stairs’ most well-known moment came in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform.

Stairs, the former Phillie and current San Diego Padre, is back in Philadelphia this weekend for the first time since leaving the Phillies this off-season.  

Before Friday night’s game the Phillies held a brief ceremony in Stairs’ honor so that he could officially receive his 2009 National League Champion ring and receive an ovation from an adoring Phillies’ crowd.

The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired some of baseball's best players over the years; not every star can come out of the 13th round in the MLB draft like Albert Pujols.

Here is a list of some of the smartest and luckiest Cardinal trades.

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Ken Griffey Jr. has called it quits after 22 years. One of the best players of all time, “The Kid” has endured one too many injuries, aged one too many years, and sat on the bench one too many games. After a stellar career, he has decided to hang up his cleats.

In case you missed it tonight, an umpire completely missed the biggest regular season call in the history of the game.

I don't care if I'm exaggerating and don't know much about the history of blown calls, but this has to be high on the list.

Jim Joyce, respected umpire for 22 years, missed a call with two outs in the 9th inning that would have given Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers a perfect game, the third this season.

In 2010, Major League Baseball welcomed Target Field in Minnesota to the family of new, exciting ballparks in the leagues portfolio of stadiums. Personally, I miss the history, and simplicity of the stadiums of the past. I have included ten historical ballparks that are missed dearly that any true fan would love to see.

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