MLB History

Before inter-league play, the New York Yankees played the New York Mets in an annual exhibition game for the Mayor's Trophy. The proceeds went to charity, usually sandlot baseball.

Players on both teams didn't care much about winning the game. It was, after all, merely an exhibition game, but for the fans, it was much more, especially for one Yankees' fan.

George M. Steinbrenner became the principle owner of what had become New York's "other" team in 1973. His primary goal was to change that, which meant the Yankees had to be better than the Mets.

Silver linings are hard to find in the Arizona desert this summer.

First-year Diamondback Kelly Johnson provided an obvious one Friday night, when he hit for the fourth cycle in Arizona history.

Unfortunately, like most nights at Chase Field this season, his headlining efforts weren't enough for a Diamondbacks win.

So, in an effort to help alleviate the pain this team has caused in 2010, why not relive the other three Snakes' cycles?

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On a night when it rained on Alex Rodriuez's 600th home run quest, Jorge Posada's milestone RBI stole the spotlight.

After a base clearing three run double by Robinson Cano in the top of the first inning,  Posada followed with an RBI double of his own, and thus reached 1,000 RBI's in his career.

With his milestone RBI tonight, Posada is now the 12th Yankee to do so, joining fellow catchers Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey, as well as long time teammate Derek Jeter.

But it's not just Yankee legends that he's joining.

Several times in 2010, I've used this space to lament the unfortunate trajectory on which the Oakland Athletics' season seems to routinely find itself. If it's not injuries derailing an otherwise smoothly steaming train, then it's...well....

No, it's pretty much been injuries every time, all the time.

At this point in my life, I'm rarely overwhelmed by anything in sports anymore.

Sure, every once in awhile there are some pleasant surprises like Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria, Stephen Strasburg's start against the Pirates, even seeing Danica Patrick in a bathing suit for the first time. But for the most part, sports are an endless conveyor belt of 7-2  baseball games, two touchdown football blowouts and Louis Oosthuzien's 32 stroke British Open victory. In other words, everything kind of runs together. Nothing sticks out.

The American League expanded from eight to 10 teams in 1961 when the Los Angeles Angels and Washington Senators were created. A year later, the National League added the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets.

In 1962, the Mets were a joke. In 1969, they were the World Champions.

George Weiss was the Mets' first general manager, and Casey Stengel was their first manager. Weiss had built the Yankees' dynasty after World War II, while Stengel managed them to seven World Championships, including the all-time record of five in a row from 1949-1953.

Frank "The Original" Thomas was a fine hitter and versatile defensive player whose career spanned the 1950s and 1960s. Frank was on the National League All-Star team three times.

Doc Friend: Mr. Thomas, you made your major league debut in 1951. What is the most significant difference between the game in the 1950s and the game today?

Frank Thomas: Money.

Andre Dawson's induction into the Hall of Fame on Sunday will mark just the second time Cooperstown will honor the legacy of the Montreal Expos.

For a time in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the best organization in baseball resided north of the border; where Dawson, fellow Hall of Famer Gary Carter, Steve Rogers, Tim Raines and Warren Cromartie were the vanguard of a team that sprouted prospects and fielded competitive teams that spent many a September in the heart of the National League East pennant chase.

While the team fell a game short of the World Series in 1981, Montreal's greatest te

The Cleveland Indians All-Time Starting Rotation

There is an ultimate fantasy league starting up, and it falls to you to pick the all-time rotation for the Cleveland Indians.  You can select pitchers from any era of the team since its beginning in 1901.  Who would you pick?  How would they fare against the best of other teams selecting their fantasy all-time rotations?

When Andre Dawson was announced as the sole member of the 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame class, it caused quite a stir, to say the least. After perhaps the most controversial balloting in recent memory, fans, and writers took to their keyboards to voice their frustrations.

How did Dawson, who played his last game in 1996, become more worthy of enshrinement in 2010 than he had been in 2009? Was one incident with an umpire enough to snub the legendary Roberto Alomar?