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Baseball is designed to trick you. It is the game of lazy summer days and endless tomorrows. Stay even keel and do not overreact to one game because the season is long. Above all, consistency is cherished.   

Then suddenly and without warning it is September.   

And managers who continue to manage as if it is May do not stay managers very long.

MLB award talk is heating up here with just a few weeks remaining in the 2014 regular season, and this year's crop of MVP candidates in both leagues should bring about some good debate.

In the American League, the storyline is Mike Trout once again, as he looks to finally take home some hardware after finishing second to Miguel Cabrera the past two years.

Actor Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad—famous for his role as Walter White (chemist-turned-high school chemistry teacher-turned-methamphetamine manufacturer)—put on a one-man recreation of baseball's postseason in this new commercial for MLB on TBS.

If it feels like it's been a while since the baseball-consuming world has been captivated by Yasiel Puig, that's because it has.

The Los Angeles Angels are cruising toward October. And now, they know for sure that they will be playing in it, after becoming the first team in MLB to clinch a playoff berth on Monday night.

For so long it was the same trio of franchises bullying their way into perennial October positions. This happened for two decades, and other teams hardly ever had anything to say about it.

There are guys who hit home runs, and then there are home run hitters. For most of his superlative career, the Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera has landed squarely in the second category.

He's a beast, a masher. A hitter opposing pitchers genuinely fear. A hitter you assume is going to launch one every time he takes a cut.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jonathan Papelbon will begin serving a seven-game suspension during Monday's contest against the San Diego Padres.

MLB Public Relations reported the news of Papelbon's punishment:

1. Atlanta Works to Save Its Season

Not that the Atlanta Braves offense has gone quiet, but the library just called asking them to please make a little more noise.

Pop quiz, hotshot: Which Major League Baseball team has spent the most days in first place during the course of the 2014 season?

Here's a hint: Check the picture up top.

Yep, it's the Milwaukee Brewers, who surprisingly sat atop the National League Central with at least a share of the lead from April 5 until Sept. 1.