MLB History

In early December of 1963, the Philadelphia Phillies made one of the great trades of all time. 

They sent outfielder Don Demeter, a Dodgers reject, along with pitcher Jack Hamilton, who is remembered for throwing the pitch that ruined Tony Conigliaro's career, to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for pitcher Jim Bunning and catcher Gus Triandos.

Two Masterpieces

The Braves have always been known for their top notch pitching. John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Warren Spahn, Johnny Sain, and Phil Niekro are a few notable stars that have pitched for the Braves franchise, and they definitely pitched well in that Braves uniform.

Like Rome, a good baseball team can't be built in a day, but -- with the right trade -- the process can be reduced significantly with the right trade.

Let's not kid ourselves: we know what the best trade in Houston Astros history is. Despite that, there are four other deals that helped shape the franchise which deserve our consideration.

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Few individuals knew it at the time, but on Oct. 6, 1966, Sandy Koufax started the final game of his career.

The highly favored Los Angeles Dodgers had dropped the first game of the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles, but Dodgers fans were not overly concerned because Koufax was starting the second game against young Jim Palmer.

Koufax won 27 games during the season and completed 27 of 41 starts. The Orioles' entire staff had "only" 23 complete games.

This is the second in a short series of articles on my 25 favorite Mets players as a one-team roster. You can find the first part of the series here . A cursory look at my favorite Mets "team" makes something very clear— I have a special affinity for Mets players of the mid to late 1980s.

Sandy Koufax, hands folded in his lap, sat in the center of Nokia Theatre's bright stage between the Skipper and the Local Sports Columnist , who sat waiting for him to say something.

Much has been made of the 2010 Red Sox and their defensive prowess, or potential.

JD Drew, Mike Cameron, and Jacoby Ellsbury comprise a formidable outfield.

Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, and Adrian Beltre are all Gold Glove Award winners.

But how do these players match up, position-by-position, with the greatest Red Sox defenders of all time?

On the one hand, you have the throwing of the 1919 World Series by eight players, which acts negatively and selfishly toward the team, fans, and everyone surrounding baseball.

However, although the thought process of steroids could be to support one's team, in most cases it's just as selfish and used by ego-maniacs in search of personal glory.

On the other side of things, the White Sox were throwing a World Series for a bigger cause; to revolt against a cheap owner in the form of Charles Comiskey.