The last twelve months of baseball have given proponents of expanding the use of instant replay within Major League Baseball plenty of ammunition. 

By Brandon Moor

August 17, 2010

The 2010 Philadelphia Phillies wake up Tuesday morning 2.5 games back in the NL East division and on the cusp of getting two of baseball's best players, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, back from injuries.

The Phillies, of course, are in the middle of a mini-dynasty, having been to the World Series for two straight years, and they hope to break into full-grown dynasty mode with a trip back to the Fall Classic this year.

In today's game of free agency and rebuilding sell-offs, it's extremely rare for a player to stick with a team for much more than about a decade. Stars come and go, and the team's is the only name that lasts through a fan's lifetime.

But some players leave behind legacies that continue to capture the hearts of their fans long after they hang up their cleats.

Last week, Bleacher Report's MLB Featured Columnists completed our hardest poll yet: picking the top players in the history of each AL franchise (NL results will be up next week).

Pat Burrell’s return to Citizens Bank Park is a logical time to evaluate where “Pat the Bat” ranks among the Phillies best outfielders of all time.

The Phillies came full-circle during Burrell’s time in Philly, beginning as a last-place team during Pat’s rookie season in 2000 and ending as world champions of baseball by the time Burrell’s tenure ended after 2008.

The following rankings were based upon these three categories, listed in order of importance: Hitting, Longevity, Defense (CFs get a slight edge over LF and RFs).

What every young, building franchise needs is a vocal leader.  One who isn't afraid to call a player or two out.  Whether that be in the clubhouse, or through the media.

The future of the Washington Nationals franchise, and right now Major League Baseball's most marketable player, Stephen Strasburg, seems like he is quite comfortable in that role.

I love the game of baseball. In fact, I'd call myself a baseball enthusiast.

That being said, there's a topic that seems to stick in my craw more often than not. While I have my own opinion on players' salaries and how most aren't worth half of what they're getting, that's not one of the biggest issues in the game today.

What is? Controversial managers.

"First we'll use Spahn, then we'll use Sain, Then an off day, followed by rain. Back will come Spahn, followed by Sain, And followed, we hope, by two days of rain."

Boston Post sports editor Gerald Hern wrote a poem that led to the above hoped-for sequence in 1948. Spahn and Sain were the only two solid starting pitchers on the pennant winning 1948 Boston Braves.

Last Week: 3-3
This Week: at NYY (8/16-19); CLE (8/20-22)

So What Happened?

The Tigers began their new role as AL Central spoiler in grand style, taking two of three from the White Sox over the weekend, with both wins being of the come-from-behind variety.

There were also fireworks—and MMM doesn’t mean the kind spewed from the U.S. Cellular Field scoreboard after White Sox home runs.