Rankings/List

We can all agree that the impact of rookies in any given sport is sometimes more crucial than that of their veteran counterparts.

Roy Halladay threw the 19th regular-season perfect game in major-league history on Saturday in a 1-0 win over the Marlins. It was only the sixth of those perfect games thrown on the road.

A-Rod almost knocked David Huff's head off. A walk off grand slam by the Angels Kendry Morales' results in a broken leg.

And we have a 10-game winner who is on pace for 32 wins. Juuuust another week on the diamond.

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Now is the time to try and acquire a big bat or pitcher before they take off. Now is the time to sell players that are on hot streaks before they cool off. At the end of each month, fantasy owners look at their teams and how each player has performed over the last month.

Tradition dictates that the baseball season is unofficially divided into thirds.

In April and May, fans and coaches assess their teams' rosters. June and July are spent reacting to their earlier observations—making trades and calling up prospects—and August and September are all about the hunt for October.

This week, each team will see the final outs of Game No. 54.

In light of Roy Halladay's recent perfect game, I decided it would be interesting to rank the top five pitchers of all time. The catch: they must have breathed in the rarified air of the perfect game.

So Nolan Ryan out...uh, Dallas Braden in?

There have only been 20 perfect games in the history of Major League Baseball. This does limit my options for these rankings somewhat, but also should be an indication of how incredibly difficult it is to throw nine innings of perfection.

By definition, it is impossible to compare perfect items.

I think we all know that Babe Ruth was probably the greatest offensive player in the history of baseball. Ted Williams was probably second, and Ty Cobb, Barry Bonds, and Lou Gehrig round out my own personal top five. The numbers these guys put up during their careers were astounding, but are sometimes difficult to fully appreciate out of context.

What's not difficult to appreciate is a truly great season. Last year, Albert Pujols led baseball with 47 homers. Joe Mauer led baseball with a .365 average, and Ryan Howard led baseball with 145 RBI.

The home run is one of the most exciting plays in sports. Fans and players feel a rush of excitement when a ball goes over the wall.

There are some big flies more exciting than others. Here are the 10 most memorable home runs in Major League Baseball history.

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Coming into this season, critics and fans were well aware of the Tampa Bay Rays ability to score runs. With one of the best young line-ups in baseball, the Rays were predicted to fight for the AL East crown with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

Most people picked the Yankees and the Sox to finish ahead of the Rays because of one thing: starting pitching. After a sub-par year from both Matt Garza and James Shields in 2009, the Rays aces have gotten off to great year in 2010.

Lets take a closer look at James Shields, Matt Garza and the rest of the Tampa Bay rotation.

Carter’s MLB Team Power Rankings:
NOTE: team W-L records and player statistics updated through Sunday morning, 11:00 AM

1. Tampa Bay Rays (34-16)
Despite being swept by the Red Sox, I still don’t think there’s much to worry about with this team. They still have great hitting, pitching, and continue to play well on the road.

2. New York Yankees (29-20)
As I’ve said before, I like teams with offense. That’s exactly what the Yankees have. A good offense.

3. Minnesota Twins (29-20)

The Cincinnati Reds have a longer, and arguably richer, history than any other Major League Baseball team.

In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings were one of the inaugural teams in the National League. The seven other teams? They've all been defunct for over 100 years.

Think about the year 1869 for a second.

That is only four years after the end of the Civil War ended. Amazing!

The Reds are currently sitting on top of the NL Central...