Rankings/List

Home runs are the most exciting part of a baseball game.

Over the years, players have made a living on their ability to hit the long ball.

Though the New York Mets have been known for developing strong pitching prospects like Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack and Nolan Ryan, the team has had a handful of good power hitters in their 49-year history.

Shea Stadium and the Mets’ current home, Citi Field, aren’t exactly hitter-friendly ballparks, which speaks volumes for the players that actually put up good power numbers in Mets uniforms.

The Mariners have the second overall pick in the draft. This means they can get almost any player they want.

The Pirates, on the hand, can literally get any player they want. While third baseman Anthony Rendon appears to be the consensus overall pick, the Pirates might find pitching a bigger need and go after Gerrit Cole.

We'll see what the Pirates do, but the Mariners are sure to know who their second pick would be should their first fall off the board.

The "Texas Red Sox Massacre" of this past weekend was not the opening series that Red Sox fans had dreamed about since December. Buchholz surrendered almost half as many home runs as he did all of last season, Lester made it clear that he knows which month this is and Lackey's ERA is now sitting just north of 22. The bullpen wasn't much better, as every reliever pitched and only Reyes, Albers, and Jenks failed to surrender a run. Still, serious concerns at this point are unnecessary- the team is bound to win at least a game before the season is out.

Competitive fire is something that a general manager loves to see in a player. The drive to succeed and the intensity that accompanies it can be an important part of a recipe for success.

There is, however, a fine line that some players walk, teetering between intense and insane.

Whether it's a result of the fame, pressure, media, teammates or just themselves, players can find themselves losing the battle with their composure.

If you’ve ever tried working out on a regular basis, you know that if you stop for over five months, you don’t start the same way you finished.

This is exactly like baseball.  If you haven’t seen a pitcher’s best slider or 12-6 curve in over five months, you won’t adjust to it very quickly.

Sure, spring training is supposed to help out both the pitchers and hitters, but the pitchers usually save their best stuff for simulated games and the regular season.

This past weekend, fans rejoiced as baseball made its long-anticipated return.  After a long and tumultuous offseason, America's national pastime is back full force with new and improved teams that should make 2011 a great year for the sport.

Only three games have been played, and although it's still very early, certain teams have made strong statements from the get go.  At the same time, other teams have shown that maybe they aren't as talented nor as deep as they seem on paper.  Either way, Opening Weekend was a lot of fun to watch.

The 2011 MLB season is back and so are ‘Dem Phightin Phils’. Philadelphia’s finest are ready to make yet another push toward—what will be—their fifth straight appearance in the postseason. But along the way there will be some inevitable bumps in the road that the Phillies will have to endure, and it begins with five players who are notoriously slow starters.

As Opening Day weekend in Major League Baseball winds down, we have all had the chance to watch dozens of games, if you're as fanatical as me, that is.

While many of baseball's veterans are very much set in their ways as far as their normal daily routines are concerned, still many of them tinker with either their batting stances or their pitching motions over the offseason, trying to either figure out a mechanical issue or straighten out some sort of a hitch.

Is Derek Jeter too old?

Is he too slow?  Is he a bad defender?  Can he still hit?  Can he still run?

These are all relevant questions, but in 2011, they are not the biggest concerns that the New York Yankees have heading into the regular season.

Let's take a look at the Yankees' biggest concern, as well as the concerns of all 30 major league teams.

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We all know the plight of the Chicago Cubs.  They haven’t won the World Series since 1908.  That’s 103 years for those who are counting—and I bet fans on the North Side are counting every minute.

The Cubs and any other team whose long-suffering fans are craving that elusive World Series championship should take a page from the Book of Eccentrics: A story of the weirdest, most unconventional teams in baseball history, and how they brought home the title after years of futility.