MLB History

Every sports franchise has certain trades that linger with the team. To use basketball as an example, the Lakers' acquisition of Pau Gasol for peanuts in 2008 constitutes a good trade which sticks with the team. Conversely, the Vancouver Grizzlies trading a future draft pick (which could have been Carmelo Anthony) to Detroit in exchange for Otis Thorpe (yes, THE Otis Thorpe) is widely remembered as a bad trade.

Baseball is no different in this respect.

There is no team in all of pro sports that shares the heart wrenchingly disappointing history that the Chicago Cubs possess. As everyone who has ever watched a baseball game is aware, the Cubs are 101 years removed from their last World Series title, and have not even played in the Fall Classic in 54 years.

What follows is my take on the ten worst moments in the history of the team that seems to be perennially "waiting til next year".

Here it is, one day before "The Ides of March" and the so-called pundits, as well as the vast majority of the Mets' faithful, are in full panic mode and have come to bury Caesar long before the body is cold.

Come on everybody, 2009 was officially over on Oct 3. Or if you believe in the Julius Caesar calendar, how about 11:59PM and 59 seconds on December 31.

Major League Baseball has a rich history of nicknames, but not all nicknames are created equally. The league is currently flooded with lazy, uninspired nicknames that are, more accurately, abbreviations that hold no real meaning.

Some, for instance A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) and Arm-Ram (Aramis Ramirez) are better left without meaning. Both monikers are better suited to something you would find in the adult section of the video store. Other nicknames are stretches or just sound ridiculous. Jimmy "J-Roll" Rollins comes to mind.

Ever since their first game on April 11, 1962, the New York Mets have been the quintessential underdog.  For the majority of the team's history, the organization has not been expected to win a lot of baseball games. 

Despite the losing trend that has haunted the Mets, they have always had—and continue to have—one of the most passionate fanbases in all of sports.

Yes, there have been periods of dominant New York Mets baseball in their 48-year history. 

Anytime a baseball player who had a good career retires, the debate begins on whether or not they belong in the Hall of Fame. Most of the time, the answer is no, and the topic should not even be brought up. The Hall of Fame is for the best of the best, not the most popular.

But in the case of Nomar Garciaparra, I think the answer is yes.

When the question was first asked, my initial reaction was no. But looking at his stats, it is hard for me to leave him out.

Ever since he announced his retirement last year, there's been an ongoing debate about whether Curt Schilling belongs in the hall of fame. I haven't quite made up my mind on that yet, but I'm leaning toward saying he should get in.

But what I'm absolutely sure of is the cap he should have on his plaque if he does get in. The three teams that have a shot are the Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Boston Red Sox. So which logo should be on his plaque, the Phils, Snakes, or Sox?

In a list of greatest players in the history of one of baseball’s most storied franchise, the names at the top of Boston’s list are Hall of Famers.

Williams. Yastrzemski. Rice. Doerr. Young.

So it is not every day that a player comes along with enough caliber to crack the top part of such a list.

One such player did emerge in the summer of 1997.

Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers' president, made an explosive revelation at the Wilberforce State University annual football dinner on Feb. 16, 1948.

In a candid and passionate speech to an audience of about 250 individuals, Mr. Rickey disclosed extremely damaging information about a document that allegedly was approved before Jackie Robinson became the major leagues' first black player.

In Seattle Mariners' history, there have been dry spells (see 1980s) and hot streaks (see late 1990s and early 2000s). In most franchise-changing moments, the winning play can be traced to a single at-bat that changed the course of the game.

In this article, I have identified what I believe to be the five most important hits in Seattle Mariners history. Some of these are milestones accomplished by the franchise's most prestigious players. Others are single at-bats in which one man turned the fate of a series upside down.