Kuzul

Ty Cobb won the triple crown in 1909. He batted .377, hit nine home runs and drove in 107 runs.Yes, it certainly was the dead-ball era when nine home runs leads the league. In 1909, American League teams averaged 3.44 runs a game. In 2011, American League teams averaged 4.46 runs a game. Yes, it still is the lively ball era.One result of the lively ball era is that Cobb is slightly underrated as an offensive force. Cobb ranks at the top of many offensive categories when one uses traditional statistics. His .366 batting average is the best ever; he ranks ninth, with a .433 on-base percentage; he slugged .512 and is fifth with 5,854 total bases. Until Pete Rose broke his record, Cobb was first with 4,189 hits. Cobb is second in runs scored, with 2,246, which is remarkable considering that runs were at a premium for most of ...

Since the beginning of baseball, there have been players who have had mind boggling, amazing, record-breaking seasons. Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Ted Williams are some of the best to ever play the game of baseball, and they have all had historic seasons. So have many others.These are the top 5 hitting seasons of all time.Begin Slideshow

With 27 World Championships, the New York Yankees have dominated the MLB for nearly 100 years.By employing some of the best hitters in the history of baseball, New York's continuing professionalism mixed with the shear ability to consistently win has become the epitome of their championship swagger.They've made their mark through historic achievements such as home run records, perfect games and no-hitters, HOF legends, and by becoming one of the most prominent sports teams in the history of U.S. sports.The Yankees have posted 20 seasons with at least 100 wins, carrying that regular season success deep into the playoffs and capturing the prized possession of baseball almost three times more than the second most successful team (Cardinals with 10).It's hard to breakdown the Yankees' championship teams of the past.  Decade by decade, players and teams are subject to different times in baseball's evolution, making it difficult to compare a team ...

This is NOT a list of the two greatest hitters for each team. This is a list of the greatest individual seasons for two hitters on each team. Steroids are ignored. Barry Bonds is on this list. So is Alex Rodriguez (twice, actually, and not with the Yankees). Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, and other known or assumed users are here. Listed by division, not ranked by greatness. Begin Slideshow

The players and managers are getting ready for the 2011 MLB season, and I can guarantee you that none of them want to end up on this notorious list one day. Although with the New York Yankees always in the headlines and considering they could have a "down season," their frustration could boil over at some point this season.As you will find out, it would not be the first time.What if the St. Louis Cardinals suffer a losing streak? Could it cause Tony LaRussa to get into an altercation with Albert Pujols, figuring he will be playing elsewhere next season anyway?Hey, Ozzie Guillen is still managing the Chicago White Sox, and we all know he loves seeing his name on these types of lists. He always gives us hope.Chance are, this will be a mild season with no physicality. It is not as if baseball is a long season or ...

St. Louis muscleman Albert Pujols has done a pretty good job of imprinting himself on Major League Baseball's collective consciousness these past several months as followers of the grand old game have been compelled to consider a radical change of venue for the stand-out Cardinal first baseman.  The numbers being bandied about are pretty heady, as Pujols, at least for now, seems intent on becoming the games highest paid player — something in the area of $25-30 million per year with the only possible harbinger being there are but a handful of clubs who could possibly consider crunching that number.   Begin Slideshow

More than anything else, what makes baseball America's pastime is its rich history and tradition of legendary names, all bound together across decades by a beautiful game.That same history also lends itself to all manner of debate, from whether there will ever be another 300-game winner to what the standing of alleged steroid users like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Manny Ramirez should be included in the annals of Cooperstown, given how many great players in past eras got by, more or less, on their given talents alone.When it comes to determining the "best" or the "greatest" in a particular category, the debate tends to get more heated, even if the terms of the discussion are more vague. One such debate, which doesn't get as much love as that of "best hitter" or "most dominant pitcher", is that of smartest hitter.What makes a hitter smart, you ask?It's tough to define it ...

Thought we were going to leave you hanging, huh? No such luck—let's tune in.   Mutt Munson: "Hello everyone, I'm Mutt Munson and I'm here with my great friend and longtime broadcast partner Jock Johnson, and today from Fenway Park we bring you the final game of what has been a thrilling match up so far between loaded contingents from New York and Boston. And, Jock, this series has been stoked with controversy almost since it's opening with fans questioning line up calls and in particular the move of Ted Williams to right field, but that seems to have gone on without a hitch. Williams has played error-less ball in right and his bat has been on fire since the outset of the series."  Jock Johnson: "Well why not, Mutt, I mean for chrissake Ted had the guts to go and take on the Jerry's and the Goo ... ...

And the answer issss no. We'll never see asterisks to mark some of the blatantly questionable performances of the denoted, approximate 15-year period ranging from the early 1990s until at least midway through the first decade of this century, because to do so is as much an indictment of Bud Selig and league ownership as it is many of the supersized players themselves. The epic 1998 Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race clearly brought baseball back into the first-class seating section of American sports, re-establishing the long-time fan fascination with the long ball, which goes back to the days of the charismatic Bambino, traveling through the handsome vagaries of Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Hank Greenberg, the great Teddy Ballgame, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Of course league ownership, media and the sensible fan knew something was going on. Forget that only two players in 70 years were able to touch the 60 plateau and suddenly Sosa, McGwire and ...

Christmas Day, 2010: Is there a better day to present you with a list of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history?   Please note: I have picked the best player for each given letter, so some players lucked out by having a name starting with an unusual letter. How else can a pretty good player like Carlos Quentin have the same odds of making my list as Stan Musial, a true all-time great.   One more note: Neither player made my list. Sorry to upset all the Carlos Quentin fans out there. Do read on.   But seriously, I hope you will enjoy one man’s opinion of the best our great national pastime has offered us—given these criteria. You will find pitchers and players alike from the deadball era to whatever era we call today’s major league baseball.   I hope these names will warm your heart on ...