New York

Cheating, betting, and scandals have been a part of sports ever since the beginning, whether it's to gain a competitive advantage over an opponent, rake in some extra cash, or a temptation that was just too hard to resist.

The only thing worse than all of those things, though, is lying about it. Sooner or later the truth will come out, and when it does, get ready.

These 10 sports figures lied to millions of fans, and are worthy of being named the top 10 liars in sports history.

Mickey Mantle has become better than Joe DiMaggio despite the fact that Mickey played his last game in 1968 and Joe played his last game in 1951.

How is this possible? The answer is that it is not possible.

During his career, the baseball writers and the fans excoriated Mickey because he wasn't Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Joe DiMaggio rolled into one.

If you followed the Yankees in the latter half of the 20th century, you know why the team earned the title “The Bronx Zoo.”

From fights between Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson, to routine managerial firings, to passenger seat managing from George Steinbrenner, the Yankees were an absolute mess.

As 2010 comes to a close for the New York Yankees, we are beginning to see a new mess emerge.

When New York Mets' former first-round draft choice Brad Holt is good, he's capable of shutting down offenses at will. When he's bad, well, he's "3-14 with an 8.34 ERA" awful.

Holt, the 33rd overall pick of the 2008 draft, was considered by upper management to be one of the best starting pitchers in the entire Mets system heading into 2010. But his terrible campaign with Double-A Binghamton was made even worse when his struggles continued with Class-A St. Lucie.

With the 2010 season ending for the New York Yankees after Friday night's Game 6 loss to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS, the focus has quickly shifted to the off season and what moves the Bombers will make in order to win a 28th World Series championship in 2011.

One of the pressing items on the Yankees' to-do list this winter is to re-sign captain and soon-to-be free agent Derek Jeter.

Shaking his head and flashing a deprecatory grin, Joe DiMaggio started talking about it again.

"There has to be an element of luck to it," he modestly told a group of baseball writers, "but the one thing that sticks in my mind is that whenever I kept the streak alive with a scratch hit, I always came through in that same game with an honest hit that could not be questioned. That's what made it so satisfying."

As the saying goes, if you can’t hit the baseball get the hell off the field was the theme coming into Game 5 tonight in the Bronx.

Instead, it was the New York Yankees who got the job done beating the Texas Rangers 7-2, in a must-win to stay-in the series game.

It’s almost trite to ask what people initially think about when they ponder the New York Yankees and the postseason.

Some will say a team resting on the ink of a paycheck, while others will say an indelible mark on baseball’s identity.

But when you clear the air on a seemingly endless argument, you’re left with the only topic that is forward focus: The 2010 ALCS.

Here lie your 2010 Minnesota Twins. April 5, 2010-October 9, 2010.