Best Slideshows - League

In 2009, Albert Pujols and Joe Mauer each won his league's Most Valuable Player Award.

For Pujols, it was a unanimous victory and his third MVP Award, tying the non-Bonds record of three, held by many players.

For Mauer, it was almost unanimous - some Tiger-homer voted for Miguel Cabrera - and his first MVP, putting him on the long list of catchers to have won the AL MVP Award.

Other than their 2009 Most Valuable Player Awards, Pujols and Mauer have something else in common - they each lead this list of the top ten players who may one day be the best player to ever play their position.

Last summer, Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Henderson is one of the greatest players of all time, and an easy choice for voters.

Rice was a more difficult choice, making it after more than a decade on the ballot. But plenty of worthy candidates remain on the outside looking in.

In Bill James' book about the Hall of Fame, he suggests that fans often try to make cases for players they grew up watching, and liked.

We should focus more on the best players we can put in, rather than simply making a case for a player because we can.

With the major league baseball draft about two weeks away, there are many teams still scrambling around trying to figure out what to do.

High School versus College? Power bat versus Pitcher? Immediate help or projection player?

High school or prep telent is looked upon as what is their ceiling. There is a lot or projectibility here, whereas college talent usually has almost all their tools in order. They basically need some refinement.

After the first 44 games of the 2010 baseball season, the Tampa Bay Rays find themselves twenty games over .500 and six games ahead of the New York Yankees - who, oh by the way, have the third best record in baseball - in the AL East.

Strange things are afoot in Major League Baseball, and not just in Tampa Bay. Here is a look at the Top Ten Most Shocking Statistics in Baseball so far in the 2010 season.

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This season is Roy Halladay's first in the National League after spending his entire career to this point with the Toronto Blue Jays. Given his early start, Halladay may prove to one day be one of the greatest inter-league crossovers of all time. But this begs the question: who are the best players to have played in both the American and National League.

Of course, in a very literal sense, the greatest player to ever play in both leagues was Babe Ruth, who spent the last 28 games of his career with the Boston Braves.

Baseball uniforms sure have changed over the years. From the flannel material to cotton to polyester, baseball players have adorned numerous types of fabric for the sake of team unity. But it is not just the uniforms themselves that dictate a player's appearance.

Players have gone to many lengths to alter their look on the field, adding their own personal twist to their daily gameday attire. Over the years, players have pushed the limit with their changes and looks. Some have worked while many others have not.

It always hurts to see a batter struggling to hit at the plate. It is always annoying to see a batter swing at pitches they have no business swinging at. It is just as annoying for a hitter's average to drop 100 points in a season.

These are the hitters who just cannot catch a break this season. They've hit in the past, but suddenly cannot find the ball.

Earlier this week, I asked a question on my twitter account: “Is there a better young pitcher/hitter combination in baseball than Tommy Hanson and Jason Heyward?”

Jordan from OriolesProspects.com, and @oriolesprospects on twitter, responded with Matt Wieters and Brian Matusz. The question and answer sparked both of our interests, so we decided to construct an article in which Jordan would make the argument for his Orioles, and I would make the argument for the Braves.

We both made our arguments a bit differently.

The MLB All-Star Game has been an event of diminishing returns in recent years. The ratings have plummeted and general interest has waned over the years, leaving the Mid-Summer Classic has nothing more than a blip on the radar.

The MLB All-Star Game once had significant meaning to the players and fans who saw the best of the best square off for the only interleague matchup outside of the World Series.

Pete Rose's collision at home plate. Reggie Jackson's moonshot. Cal Ripken's home run. All were memorable moments from a game that is losing those moments and overall attraction.

While the stars steal all the headlines in baseball, it’s a team’s backups that steal the bases, steal the hearts of fans and push a team far into the Major League postseason.

More often than not, the big market teams feature the best backups – in many cases, players who could start for half of the other teams in the league (perhaps more).