Major League Baseball has 30 teams, but they are far from evenly spread across the country. A handful of states pack in multiple clubs, while most states have none at all, and some of America’s biggest cities are still waiting for a team. So which states actually have MLB teams, which ones do not, and … Read more
Nine innings, nine players. It is one of baseball’s most familiar numbers, so woven into the game that most fans never stop to ask where it came from. But baseball was not always played this way. In its earliest days there were no innings at all, just a race to a target score. So why … Read more
Making it to Major League Baseball is one of the hardest things to do in all of sports, and only a tiny fraction of players ever get there. For those chasing the dream, a tryout is one way to get in front of scouts and prove they belong. But there is more than one type … Read more
From Little League dugouts to the Major Leagues, the baseball cap is one of the most recognizable pieces of equipment in all of sports. Every player wears one, every game, and the design has barely changed in over a century. But have you ever stopped to ask why? Why do baseball players wear hats, are … Read more
When a big league hitter squares up a fastball, the ball can leave the bat faster than cars travel on the highway. That speed has a name: exit velocity. It is one of the most important modern measurements in baseball, telling us how hard a ball was hit, how far it will travel, and how … Read more
Get to a ballpark early and you will see the warmup ritual every team runs through: position players stretching their arms out to 90 feet and back, pitchers airing it out in long toss until the ball is carrying 300 feet across the grass. It is one of the few moments when you see just … Read more
In the late innings of a close game, with the season on the line, a manager will sometimes send a fresh face to the plate in place of a struggling hitter. That substitute is a pinch hitter, and the move is one of baseball’s most dramatic and strategic weapons. Some of the most famous moments … Read more
Watch almost any Major League Baseball game today and you will spot them: thick gold chains glinting against jerseys, sometimes layered two or three deep. From Mookie Betts to Francisco Lindor to Ronald Acuña Jr., the chain has become as much a part of the modern baseball look as the cap and cleats. But why … Read more
Picture a Triple-A outfielder one phone call away from the major leagues. He is the best version of a baseball player most of us will ever see in person, one level below the show, and for most of his career he has been paid less than the teenager scanning tickets at the gate. That gap … Read more
Make it to the major leagues, even for a cup of coffee, and you unlock one of the most generous retirement systems in all of professional sports. The MLB pension is famous for how fast it vests and how much it can eventually pay, and it is a big reason a single day in the … Read more