MLB

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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In November 2007 Major League Baseball took preventive measure to protect first-and third-base coaches. Unfortunately it took the death of Mike Coolbaugh, first-base coach of the Double A Tulsa Drillers, to bring about this safety measure.

Another death, Ray Chapman, was the example used to bring about the rule requiring batting helmets. In August 1920 Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. His death also lead to the rule requiring umpires to replace balls when ever they became dirty.

It's been a crazy year for the New York Mets. They will enter the month of June either 27-25 or 26-26, neither bad considering what their expectations were in spring training.

It will only get tougher for them and even strange as they play June baseball. Starting with Monday night's game in San Diego, the Mets will play 27 games through June 30, all of which are fun, intriguing, and exciting in some way.

As of now, many see the Mets as a .500 team.  The Mets' biggest problem is pitching.  The team is very talented offensively, but only has two great pitchers.

Ace Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey are anchoring the Mets' rotation right now.  Everybody knew that Johan was going to be great, but Pelfrey has been a pleasant surprise.

No one really knew what to expect from Mike "Big Pelf" Pelfrey in 2010.  Pelfrey labeled himself as a talented kid with an unstable mental side of the game. 

All he needed was confidence and a better mindset. 

Right fielder Andre Ethier will be activated from the 15-day disabled list when the Dodgers return home Monday to open a three game series vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks, according to the team's website Sunday evening.

Prior to breaking his right pinky finger in a bizarre accident during batting practice on May 15, Ethier led the National League in batting average (.392), home runs (11), runs batted-in (38), slugging percentage (.744) and OPS (1.201).

Just to prove how random, and therefore essentially worthless, wins are as a statistic, check out the numbers of two pitchers below.

Pitcher #1 - 4.86 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 35 strikeouts, 29 walks and 63 innings pitched in 11 starts.

Pitcher #2 - 4.66 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 32 strikeouts, 15 walks and 56 innings pitched in 10 starts.

As Chicago Cubs' starter Carlos Silva morphs into a Cy Young candidate so far early in the 2010 season, Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry is getting more than his share of credit for pulling off that trade.

That credit is completely unwarranted.

You don't get credit for signing the worst possible fit for your team in 2009 in Milton Bradley and ruining the season, and then receive accolades because the Seattle Mariners dumped their refuse on you and he turns out much better than expected, at least for now.

It looks like Max Scherzer's brief stint with the Detroit Tigers' Triple-A affiliate the Toledo Mud Hens was just what he needed.

Scherzer dominated while in Toledo, and he looked to be in top form against the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

The Milwaukee Brewers have been a young team throughout the decade. Young players such as Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo, and Corey Hart have been the core of the team during the franchise turnaround.

But with some of the key players getting older, Milwaukee will need a set of prospects to produce at the Big League level.

The following are the top twenty-five prospects, according to www.milbprospects.blogspot.com.

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.