MLB History

Field of Dreams: James Earl Jones (Terrence Mann) to Kevin Costner (Ray Kinsella): "Ray, people will come Ray."

"They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. 

As the new year comes to a close with the Red Sox being a very early favorite for the American League, let's take a look back at one of the "greatest" trades that never happened.

The Yankees and the Red Sox rivalry is easily the biggest, and most heated in all of sports.

In the 1950s, Ted Williams, the greatest hitter of all time, was the "face" of the Boston Red Sox.

George "Sparky" Anderson made it clear, early on in his managing career in Detroit, who was in charge in the Tigers locker room.

"It's my way," Sparky said, "or the highway."

Sparky took over the Tigers in June 1979 and before too long, several Tigers had hit the highway.

Some were moved out of Detroit because they were collateral damage—entities that needed to be sacrificed in order for the Tigers to acquire other pieces.

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.

When Cliff Lee signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for five years and $120 million earlier this offseason, he left a little bit of money and a couple years on the table.

The Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees both would have given Lee more money and seven years on a contract.

But Lee felt more comfortable in Philly, so he gave them a discount (though once you are over $100 million, what's it matter if you make an extra $10 million?).

Lee certainly isn't the first baseball player who has left money on the table during contract negotiations.

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.

Sandy Alderson is the 12th General Manager in New York Mets' history.  What are the notable and famous (or infamous) legacies of his predecessors?  A quick review does reveal that putting together miracles doesn't come easy and flops apparently do.  In any case the evolution of Casey Stengel ("the only thing worse than a Mets' game is a Mets' doubleheader") to Terry Collins (we'll be prepared...I'll tell you that!) the GM's have made the decisions, pulled the strings on trades and have been goats and heroes.  Take a look!

The New York Yankees rarely allow emotions to interfere with winning.

After the Cleveland Indians won the 1954 pennant to snap the Yankees' record streak of five consecutive pennants and World Championships, general manager George Weiss, referred to by baseball writers as "Lonesome George," stole Bob Turley and Don Larsen from the Baltimore Orioles.

The Yankees won four consecutive pennants from 1955-58.

Today's New York Yankees' primary method of improving involves signing other team's former players for large sums of money, but that wasn't always how the past and future World Champions operated.

The 1954 Yankees won 103 games but finished eight games behind the record-setting Cleveland Indians, which was unacceptable. Yankees general manager George Weiss and his counterpart with the Baltimore Orioles, the brilliant Paul Richards, pulled off the biggest trade in baseball history.

It happened on Sept. 18, 1954, but it really happened before then.

The New York Yankees would go on to win 103 games, which would be the most the perennial World Champions would ever win under their greatest manager of all time, Casey Stengel, but the Cleveland Indians would be American League Champions.

On Sept. 12, the Yankees were in Cleveland to face the Tribe in a doubleheader before a record crowd of 86,563 paying customers. Yes, the Indians were a force during the early and mid-1950s.