MLB History

The New York Yankees finished third in 1959.

The New York Giants were established in 1883. In 1958 the club moved out west, becoming who they are today - the San Francisco Giants.

Along the way, there have been many fun players, many great players. Some players we hated, and loved to boo and heckle. Many players stuck around for a season or two at best, while others played their entire career for the Giants.

Who is your favorite Giants player?

Giants' fans everywhere have their own opinion about how they would rank their favorite players.

In baseball, as in life, predicting the future is exceedingly difficult. Six years ago, when Cubs right-hander Greg Maddux took his long-reserved place in baseball's venerated 300-win club, pundits across the sports talk universe wondered aloud whether another man would ever reach that milestone.

Two years and 363 days later, however, Maddux's longtime teammate Tom Glavine reached the plateau as well. The rumblings grew louder: Tim Kurkjian and Peter Gammons, then the dynamic duo of ESPN baseball coverage, declared the club all but closed for the remainder of baseball eternity.

Every spring, it is the same scenario. As the leaves bud into a beautiful, green bloom and thoughts of spring renew hopes of glory, there comes a revitalization of interest from each fan.

by Brett Lay

The Washington Nationals announced in a conference call this morning that phenom rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg’s mutant right arm has lost its powers due to recent sunspot activity.

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said Strasburg realized there was a problem when he could no longer summon the powers of a Norse god of thunder to fling baseballs at his normal average speed of several hundred miles an hour in a recent practice.

If the season ended today, the St. Louis Cardinals would fall short of a playoff berth.  This failure could be epic, it could be historic, and it could be something we never witness again.

The Los Angeles Dodgers phoned the Boston Red Sox today to tell them they finally pulled a prank equal to the one done to them three years ago when they got Manny Ramirezed. The Dodgers famously fell for a classic Manny Ramirez, one of the most popular juvenile pranks, when they took Manny off waivers from Boston in 2007.

Moneyball is a baseball film starring Brad Pitt and Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, and it's set to open sometime in 2011.

Hoffman will perform as former big league manager Art Howe, and Pitt -- one of the most famous people in the universe -- will be playing Billy Beane, the "mastermind" general manager of the Oakland A's.

With the 13th pick in the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft, the Cleveland Indians selected Manny Ramirez.  On September 2, 1993, Ramirez made his Major League Baseball debut against the Minnesota Twins, wearing a Cleveland Indians uniform for the first time.  From that day, until May 6, 2009, Ramirez earned and wore the distinction of being his generation's finest hitter.

The Reds have been given permission to recognize the 25th anniversary of Pete Rose breaking Ty Cobb's all-time hits record.  Rose recorded his 4,192nd hit on September 11, 1985.  

Major League Baseball has tried to make Rose a ghost in Cincinnati and throughout baseball.  The Reds sell jerseys with "Bench—5", "Morgan—8" and "Perez—24" on the back.  However, the "14" jersey that is sold in the team shop is without a name.