Origins A 1960 TV series that pitted the top home run hitters from Major League Baseball against each other in nine-inning home run hitting contests was the inspiration for MLB’s adoption of the Home Run Derby.  Hank Aaron won on six of his seven appearances on the show, although the most home runs hit was by fellow Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle, who managed 44 across his five appearances. The format was streamlined by the MLB when they adopted it as part of the All Star festivities in 1985. Early years  In the early years of the contest, between four and 10 players from both the Ameri ..read more

They say winning is a tough habit to break, and here are a selection of teams from the US professional ranks who certainly mastered the art of winning consecutive games. Sports fans were digging into the history books earlier this summer when the Atlanta Braves were embarking on a record-threatening winning streak. The reigning MLB champions were finally thwarted at 14; good, but just how good in the grand scheme of undefeated streaks in US sport? Well, here are four of the very best from the Big Four. New York Giants – 26 matches (1916) Different era, different format, different everything re ..read more

Baseball is a sport characterised by the duel between batter and pitcher and the thrower’s biggest weapon is the range of different pitches he has at his disposal. Four-Seam Fastball The fastball is a pitcher’s go-to and is split into two categories, the two-seam and the four-seam. A four-seam is designed to be thrown for velocity and typically does not have that much movement on it. The hardest throwers in baseball can hit speeds of over 100mph. The typical reaction time at that pace for a batter to hit it is 200 milliseconds or around two blinks of an eye. Years of practice are required to b ..read more

The Major League Baseball season would normally be getting into gear now with spring training supposed to be under way. However a lockout is in place, with the owners and players unable to agree upon a new collective bargaining agreement. The Lockout The lockout means that players cannot train or play with their teams and teams cannot sign any new players. It has been in place since December 2 and the opening day of the season has been put back with both sides unable to come to an agreement over how to split the league’s revenues. Owners and players have yet to agree upon a new settlement, wit ..read more

The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros have not disappointed in this year’s World Series, with the pair finely poised after five games as the teams return to Houston with the Braves a win away from glory. The Series starts in Houston The 2021 World Series got off to a bang, with Braves outfielder Jorge Soler hitting a home run in the very first at bat of the series, the only time that has ever happened in the history of baseball. The Astros never recovered, with pitcher Framber Valdez giving up five runs in just two innings and Atlanta taking the opener 6-2. Game 2 was a similar story, but thi ..read more

As October baseball moves toward its conclusion, two teams stand just one win away from the World Series. At the same time, their rivals will try to overturn the deficit by winning all of the remaining games of the series and stop their train departing at the last stop before the sport’s showpiece event. American League Championship Series After sneaking the opening game in the race for the American League pennant 5-4, the Houston Astros lost two on the spin to find themselves 2-1 down against the Boston Red Sox. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 4, a missed strike call from the umpire ..read more

For many, the beauty of a game of baseball is that it’s never over until it’s over. Until all 27 outs have been recorded, a team can come back from the brink. However when a game is tied, a lot more than 27 outs can be required to split the two sides. In recent years the powers that be in the MLB commissioner’s office have attempted to speed up baseball games. Methods including using a pitch clock to try and speed up the pitching team’s efforts and giving the offensive team a runner on second base to begin extra innings have been utilised, meaning these games may stand the test of time. We may ..read more

Three of the four Division Series match-ups are set as the 2021 Major League Baseball season nears a conclusion with nine teams still in with a shot at World Series glory. The Tampa Bay Rays went 100-62 to take the number one seed in the American League and will face the Boston Red Sox, who overcame the Yankees in Wednesday’s Wild-Card Game, for a place in the AL Championship Series. The Rays are 13/2 for the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers must first win Wednesday’s National League Wild-Card Game against St Louis, but the champs are still 19/5 favourites to repeat their 2020 heroics. If ..read more