MLB

Two of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball hail from Japan. Both are undisputed studs with a knack for making even the best hitters look silly.

Mmmm…the sweet tang of palm gravy.

A young Houston Astros fan received a five-finger wake-up call on Thursday night after taking his tongue to a souvenir baseball. 

Older fans in a nearby section passed the ball to the young man in the hopes it would make his little day—which it did, in a weird, compulsive way. 

The child grabbed the ball, retreated to his seat and promptly began licking it like an owl with a lollipop. 

Sixth in an 11-part series examining the vagaries of awards voting.

The Baltimore Orioles have been a pleasant surprise in the American League East thus far, but the club will have to replace one of its more dependable starting pitchers with Bud Norris hitting the disabled list. 

According to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, Norris tweaked his groin during a bullpen session Wednesday. 

Dioner Navarro made a gutsy call during Thursday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox and attempted to run all the bases in one fell swoop. 

It did not end well.

The Toronto Blue Jays catcher hit a ball deep into left field in the bottom of the fifth and ran like mad after a muffed grab by White Sox outfielder Dayan Viciedo.

Major League Baseball mourned an all-time great player and person on June 16 when San Diego Padres icon Tony Gwynn died. More than a week has gone by and Gwynn's death is still impacting others around baseball, particularly those who use smokeless or chewing tobacco.

It's been an eventful first half of the season for some of baseball's biggest stars. Some have been able to raise their games to new levels of excellence, while others have taken a step back from the top of the mountain as the best in the game at their respective position.

Unfortunately, some of baseball's premier talents, especially on the mound—Chicago's Chris Sale, Miami's Jose Fernandez and Philadelphia's Cliff Lee come to mind—have been impacted by injury, some more severely than others.

The second half of the season officially begins for the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. In the slides ahead I’ll look back at the numbers put up by each player in the Braves lineup during the first half, then I’ll offer up a prediction for what each player might do in the second half.

Predictions are a tricky business, but that’s what makes them so fun. Begin the slideshow to see my predictions for the second-half Braves, and let me know your thoughts in the comments.

When Brock Holt does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up: He's pushing the earth down.

Brock Holt doesn't call the wrong number. You answer the wrong phone.

Brock Holt does not sleep. He waits.

Sure, all these "facts" may originally have been attributed to Chuck Norris. But after an absurd start to the 2014 season, Holt is becoming a legend in his own right, serving as one of the lone bright spots for the Boston Red Sox this year.