Rankings/List

Each sport has those types of players and personalities whose quirks and oddities just add to their overall lure.

But perhaps no sport embraces it more than baseball, which in it of itself is a game of quirks and oddities. It should only be fitting then that some of the players and people around the game were and are the same way.

While baseball is known as America's pastime, the sport is no stranger to controversy.

Facing on-and-off-field scandals since before the dinosaurs walked the earth, Major League Baseball continues to battle its tarnished reputation.

In a sport that requires class and natural skill, rather technique, many players have tried to cheat the system.

From the most prolific home-run hitters in history using steroids during their primes to players purposely losing games to win bets, baseball has faced arguably the most controversy of any professional sport.

Injuries are a part of any game, and we know that some injuries mean more to a team than others.  A star first baseman means a lot more to a team than a bench player who might get 20 at bats as a pinch hitter per year if he’s lucky.

An injury means more to a team if a player is a big part of their pitching or hitting games too.  If a team is like the 2010 San Diego Padres and does not have a very good offense, they would be more at risk if their start hitter, Adrian Gonzalez (now with the Boston Red Sox) was injured.

Last season, Jose Bautista shocked the baseball world by coming out of nowhere to launch 54 home runs as a member of the Blue Jays, setting a franchise record, and leading all of baseball in longballs.

In the process, he registered the 42nd season in which a player has hit at least 50 home runs. It is a feat achieved by only 26 different players, and is one of the most revered clubs in all of professional sports.

Just as many kids growing up in the late-80's and 90's, I had a huge collection of baseball cards. This was a few years before it began to cost more for a pack of cards than it did for a gallon of milk. It was also when people collected ball-cards in hopes they would be lucky enough to pull out a card of their childhood hero.  

In Major League Baseball, there are some teams with brilliant logo designs and bright, flashy jerseys. Those are the teams I love to watch play everyday. The teams I can't stand are the ones with dull, boring colors and an unoriginal logos. I've selected my top 5 and my bottom 5 of each category.

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The Minnesota Twins are now four games into the season and currently sit at 1-3.

It has been an unexpectedly slow start for a team that went 20-12 during spring training and starts the season looking to win a third-straight division title.

Ahead are five observations the Twins will need to address going forward should they want a chance to make another playoff appearance in 2011.

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The New York Yankees bullpen has received limitless hype and praise early in the season, and they are already being dubbed as the best in MLB—as well as the best in NY since 1996.

While the group has accomplished nothing to this point, this does not mean that a proper nickname should not be added to the front of the hype machine.

It took mere hours for “Miami Thrice” to be created, and “The Fab Five” represents a team that never won a championship in its short time together.

The Phillies have an early three game series against the rival Mets starting tonight (Tuesday). The Phillies have gotten off to a scorching hot start (albeit against the lowly Astros) and they look to keep the good times rolling.

The Mets won their first series as well, taking two of three from the Marlins.

This series most definitely means a lot more to Mets fragile psyche than the proven Phillies, but it is still always fun to kick a New York team while they are down right?

Nicknames and baseball go together like peanut butter and jelly. 

There are literally thousands of different nicknames that baseball players have acquired though their careers, and we all have our favorites. 

Making a list of the top 50 nicknames is difficult, because there are some great players and nicknames that have to be left off the list.  So I guess I'm apologizing in advance if I left your favorite off the list.

Here are the top 50 nicknames in MLB history: