When the player's strike of 1994-95 ended, Major League Baseball began its 120th season of play. In the first 119 years, 50 home runs was a nearly unreachable plateau, reserved for the game's true elite: It had been done only 18 times, by 11 players. Cecil Fielder had last reached the lofty mark, in 1990. Before him, no player had smashed 50 since George Foster in 1977.

The Yankees magic number was down to one, but they never really had a chance to clinch last night thanks to an absolutely terrible performance from starter A.J. Burnett, who couldn’t even last three innings as he gave up seven runs over 2.1 innings in a 7-5 loss in Toronto.

Here are some highlights:

The Philadelphia Phillies are the hottest playoff team in baseball right now, sporting the MLB's best record at 94-63. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and recently had an 11-game winning streak. They are playing outstanding baseball and look to be in postseason form, and have also clinched their fourth consecutive NL East title.

With the Phillies playing this well, can they be stopped? They have been to the past two World Series, and won it all in 2008. It will take a lot for a team to stop the Phillies once the postseason starts.

“There are three kinds of lies,” the age-old adage goes, “lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

While Sabathia’s poor outing (5.1, 10-7) against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night probably put an end to his AL Cy Young Award aspirations, the Hernandez vs. Sabathia debate was certainly a fascinating one while it lasted. What it all seemed to boil down to which statistic is more important: Felix Hernandez’ 2.31 ERA or C.C. Sabathia’s 20 wins?

Before the past week, Houston was one of the hottest teams in the league since the All-Star break.

But the last six-plus games reminded fans, media, players, and coaches alike of the Astros of 2010’s past—and proof that there’s still some room to grow before the team gets to where it wants to be.

Regardless of the team’s poor play as of late, the Astros absolutely appear to be heading in the right direction.

Youth and talent abound on this promising group of Houston baseball players.

There has been a lot of chatter pertaining to the relatively uninspiring play this month by the Reds, and how their lack of " momentum" could lead to a short postseason run.

Well, based on history, there isn't really any "right" way to get into the final field of eight.

All that matter is getting there, and it doesn't matter if your mode of transportation is via a Corvette, or Geo Metro.

Now that the Phillies (93-63) have made the playoff's it's important they finish first in the National League.

If the Atlanta Braves (87-69) win their remaining games, they can finish with no more than 93 wins.

The San Diego Padres (87-68) and San Francisco Giants (88-68) are competing for the NL West championship with the Giants holding a slim half-game lead.

A total of 45,302 Phanatics packed into Citizens Bank Park on Sunday afternoon fully expecting to see the Philadelphia Phillies end the day by celebrating their fourth straight division championship.  As long as the Braves lost, of course.

Part 1 of 7

With the Philadelphia Phillies standing on the precipice of a fourth consecutive postseason berth, the focus of the team and fan base is two-fold. 

First, take care of business and nail down a fourth straight NL East crown. 

Second, take a look towards the end of year championship tourney to see how the Phillies stack up and are positioned for success. 

With the great run the Orioles have had this year, they could be an above-.500 team next year. 

However, it will take a few things to make sure that happens—the biggest of which is a power hitter.

When the calendar finally reaches April of 2011, the Orioles will be back to being the team that is expected to make at least a little noise in the AL East.