Scoreboards

• Willie Mays makes one of the best over-the-shoulder catches for a fielding team in Major League history
• Brooks Robinson stuns the Cincinnati Reds with his acrobatic, backhand catch to throw out Lee May at first base
• Bill Buckner goes down in baseball lore as having one of the worst baseball team fielding moments ever

Major League Baseball has teamed up with many international non profit organizations in its lifetime but perhaps none is quite as near to its heart as the ALS Association. ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is a devastating disease that is known more often as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” named for the Hall of Fame first baseman who was struck with this disease that cut short his storybook career in the major league of baseball.

USA Today Sports lines released its annual “100 Names You Need to Know” at the beginning of April. This annual list of top prospects who are set to play in the Major Leagues during the coming season, is so influential that the USA Today sports spreads change for teams that are lucky enough to have players in the top 10.

USA Today Sports Weekly: Top 10 for 2009

The 2008 baseball all star game was the last one to be held in Yankee Stadium. This version of the all stars baseball game was the 79th exhibition between the American and National leagues. The 2009 baseball all star game will commemorate the 80th exhibition to determine home field advantage for the World Series. In a closely fought game there were a couple of “dingers” that left some lucky fans all star game baseballs as souvenirs.

• The American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) was formed to provide support and competition for teens through to adult leagues. It is the largest amateur baseball association of its kind in the United States
• Sandlott Baseball is an amateur baseball league that offers players 12 years old and up a chance to compete in elite ball at the national amateur baseball level
• The American Legion Amateur Baseball Association offers players the opportunity to learn baseball as well as life skills

There are a number of teams in baseball that are still waiting to win their first World Series title. For some, they have visited the championship but not come away with the baseball World Series title. For others, they have never made it at all. For some teams it has been so long since their last World Series title that no one who is alive can remember it.

• When calculating baseball player ratings it is important to thoroughly review their statistics in addition to more subjective methods of predicting player performance
• Many of the top rated baseball players are ranked high year after year and that is true of the top-ranked baseball stars 2008

In a sport that has been called ageless, an old MLB player is a fairly common sight. Where football players rarely make it into their 30s and basketball stars are done in by their mid 30s, the average MLB player age can run into the late 40s, with the player still being an effective team member. The oldest current MLB player reinforces this point.