Watch some of the best moments from All-Star Game history, including Cal Ripken's final All-Star at bat, an Ichiro inside-the-park home run, and more.

100 moments that shaped baseball history

Published in 2018 by baseball historian Jacob Kornhauser, this list examines the defining moments throughout more than a century of play on the field, from Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis purportedly throwing a no-hitter while on acid to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.

The first MLB All-Star Game was designed by a sports journalist who believed the spectacle of seeing the game's elite players face off during the 1933 World's Fair would boost baseball's reputation during the Great Depression.

The top 100 players in baseball history

More than 20,000 players have played in Major League Baseball since the 1870s, many passing in and out of the memory of even die-hard fans. While necessarily subjective, these rankings based on votes from baseball writers ranks those whose greatness left a lasting impression. From Barry Larkin (No. 100) to Babe Ruth (No. 1), explore the top 100 baseball players over more than a century.

A tragic injury led to the original NHL All-Star Game

The annual NHL All-Star Game is a joyous affair celebrating the best players each season. But its origins came from one of the most terrifying moments in hockey history. In a 1933 game, Maple Leafs wing Ace Bailey was nearly killed on the ice, and the NHL organized a benefit game to raise money for his family.

A guide to the best baseball books

If you're really all-in on the game, then you might want to dig into one of these classics, like Michael Lewis' "Moneyball," about the analytics that changed the sport, or Bob Uecker's autobiography, "Catcher in the Wry."

Visualizing how changes to lineups would impact historical baseball games

This visual essay maps how data-informed lineup construction has revolutionized baseball. Amid the embrace of analytics, the game's best overall hitters were moved from the third spot to second, power bats were shifted out of the "cleanup" role, and speedsters—typically the leadoff batters—were pushed to the bottom half of the nine-player lineup. Joe Carter, the hero of the '93 World Series, likely never hits his iconic walk-off from the cleanup spot in a modern lineup.

A history of the rare, chaotic moments when MLB batters charge the pitcher on the mound

They typically occur when a pitcher has slung a pitch a little too close to the batter—though the exact causes vary, from quick tempers to longstanding grudges. No definitive account of these infrequent but highly visible incidents has existed, so sportswriter Jon Bois compiled data on 264 such moments between 1950 and 2025. The resulting 23-minute video explores the rich narratives leading to these charged events.

The story behind one infamous World Series moment

“The Bartman Incident” during Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS forever changed the life of Cubs fan Steve Bartman, who quickly descended into anonymity. This 2005 ESPN story attempts to find answers behind the notorious Bartman.

Fourteen ways to make baseball cool again

Baseball, while commonly known as America's pastime, gets a bit of a bad rap for being long, slow, and boring. Here are fourteen fun ideas to make the sport more interesting to combat dwindling attendance.

How Shohei Ohtani made baseball fun again

To rise to the level of Major League Baseball in recent decades, a player needs to become a specialist in at least one of the sport's many skills: hitting, pitching, throwing, running, fielding. For decades, this specialization has made a so-called...

The greatest games in NFL history

Do you remember “The Catch”? What about the “Immaculate Reception”? Did you watch when Elway finally got his ring? Take a trip down memory lane with this Bleacher Report list of the 50 greatest games in NFL history. Explore classic NFL moments dating back to the NFL’s early days in the 1930s and '40s to the present day.

Ranking every baseball stadium outfield by how hard it is to play

Park factors have long adjusted for how a ballpark helps or hurts hitters and pitchers, but rarely fielders. MLB's Statcast looked at five years of Outs Above Average data to shed light on the gap. It found that stadiums with roofs or in cities that regularly have sunny skies dominate the easy end, while those battered by wind or rain, like San Francisco's, are the hardest to play.

In 2023, MLB changed its rules to speed up the game

The league made its most dramatic rules changes in decades by banning the shift, enforcing a pitch clock, limiting pickoff plays, using bigger bases, and adding a baserunner in extra innings. The changes worked, generating renewed interest in the sport.

'I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.'

- Baseball legend Babe Ruth (1895-1948)

Watch a comprehensive history of the Super Bowl

This video traces the Super Bowl's history from its origins through major games, ads, and cultural moments, offering a comprehensive overview of how the event evolved. Note that the video covers through the 2020 season.

Watch ten surprising moments from the NFL Draft

The NFL Draft often delivers as much drama off the field as on it. Watch this countdown of the top 10 wow moments in Draft history, featuring infamous prospect slides, a missed pick, and surprising trades and selections.

Ken Caminiti exposed steroid use around the league

In 2002, newly retired Ken Caminiti was the first to admit to using steroids as a player, citing how common PEDs were in the league, something that had long been rumored, especially after the single-season home run record was broken in 1998 by Mark McGwire.

Instant replay was unofficially introduced in baseball in 1999

During a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins, home plate umpire Frank Pulli used video replay to determine whether a hit was a home run or a double. The action was controversial and Pulli claimed he didn't want it to become the norm for the league, though it did: In 2008, video replay was officially used to judge home run calls and has since become a regular part of the game.

Every NFL team's top 10 plays of all time

In more than a century of football, there have been a tremendous number of awe-inspiring, defy-the-odds, and borderline miracle plays. This 90-minute compilation from the NFL pulls together the top 10 plays for each time from their franchise history.

How baseball shaped Black America during Reconstruction

A cornerstone of the budding Black culture following the Civil War was baseball, with several clubs springing up in Black neighborhoods and leaders like Frederick Douglass cheering on the players, including his son, who played for a team in Washington. This detailed history of the early Black leagues unpacks how the game enhanced the upwardly mobile community—and why that fact led to the segregation of what would become Major League Baseball.

'The Star-Spangled Banner' became associated with sports at the 1918 World Series thanks to an impromptu rendition during the 7th inning stretch.

Check out a compilation of golf's greatest shots, from Jack Nicklaus hitting the flag in 1972 to Tiger Woods' iconic chip at the 2005 Masters.

Watch 5 unforgettable World Cup moments from the last twenty years of World Cup soccer, including Cristiano Ronaldo's dominant performance against Spain and Zinedine Zidane's notorious headbutt.

Statcast runs machine learning models in the 23-second gap between every pitch

The same Hawk-Eye cameras that track spin rate, exit velocity, and sprint speed also feed proprietary team models that update in near-real time. Some organizations have built streaming pipelines to surface insights mid-at-bat before the next pitch arrives.

Why ‘Shoeless Joe’ Jackson was banned from Major League Baseball

Few baseball stars are more infamous than "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, one of the game's greatest hitters. Jackson was part of the Chicago White Sox team (notoriously dubbed the "Black Sox") accused of fixing the 1919 World Series. This resource breaks down the criminal trial that investigated those allegations. Curiously, Jackson and his teammates were acquitted, but Major League Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis still banned them from the league for life.

Marvin Gaye's soulful take on 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game turned the national anthem into a slow jam.

Hear the story behind 11 iconic Super Bowl photos, told by the photographer who shot them

Sports Illustrated legend Walter Iooss Jr. revisits 11 unforgettable Super Bowl images—including Namath, Montana, and Taylor—explaining how light, access, and timing captured moments that defined the game’s visual history.

Measuring which nation has the most baseball fans

It's known as America's pastime, but just how devoted are Americans to baseball? FiveThirtyEight outlines several metrics indicating Puerto Rico may have the most devoted fanbase. See how they used an adjusted metric to rank the world's biggest...

The 2026 season will be the first to allow challenges on balls and strikes

The Automated Ball Strike (ABS) technology—first tested in the minor leagues and in MLB's 2025 spring training and All-Star Game—defines the strike zone rather than relying on individual umpires' interpretations of it. Rather than allowing ABS to determine every ball or strike, though, each team will now have a limited number of in-game challenges to umpires' calls, which will be settled by ABS.

Before 1920, a single baseball was used throughout a game

During the Deadball Era, pitchers doctored a baseball with spit, nail files, and licorice for a competitive edge, leading to discolored, mangled, and lopsided baseballs by the game's end. This concluded in 1920 when Cleveland Indians star shortstop Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a ball too dirty to see and died. The rules were changed to require an umpire to replace a dirty baseball and outlawed the spitball.

Revisit 10 iconic moments from the Women's World Cup

The Women's World Cup was inaugurated over 60 years after the men's, but it has kept pace with its production of iconic moments. Revisit the player revolts, sports bras, shocking referee decisions, and more that comprise the top moments in Women’s...

Fenway Park is the oldest professional baseball stadium in use

The legendary park was built in 1912 and is considered hallowed ground for baseball fans, along with iconic venues like Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and Wrigley Field in Chicago.

In 1970, Pittsburgh's Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter on LSD

It was the 174th no-hitter in MLB history, but the only one where the pitcher claimed to be high at the time. This animated video uses Ellis’ own comments from a 2008 NPR interview where he described why he took LSD that morning and the difficulty of pitching while tripping.

A guide to sabermetrics, the empirical analysis of baseball statistics

The science of baseball overturned a century of assumptions about which metrics matter most. The approach originated key categories like WAR (wins above replacement, which tries to summarize a player's total contribution by estimating how many more wins this player generated compared to a replacement-level player) and wOBA (or weight on-base average, which measures not only hits but also walks and their outcomes in the score).

Auburn’s “Kick Six” in 2013 is one of college football’s most unforgettable finishes

In the 2013 Iron Bowl, Auburn’s Chris Davis returned a missed Alabama field goal 109 yards for a touchdown as time expired—securing a 34–28 win and instantly etching the play into college football lore.

The physics of baseball pitches

To a nonfan, pitching a baseball may seem straightforward. Dive into the ridiculous physics of throwing a baseball at high speeds, from curveballs to sliders and more, and learn just how crucial those classic red seams of the baseball are in determining what the ball does in the air.

Listen to the history of the Super Bowl halftime show

This two-part podcast traces the halftime show's evolution from early marching band performances to star-driven productions, beginning with Michael Jackson's 1993 performance, and explains how it became one of the most influential music stages of the year.

Major League Baseball, explained

Major League Baseball is America’s oldest professional sports league. Alongside triumphs, the league has faced scandals, including drug abuse and steroid use, shaping its path over the decades. Today, MLB embraces new rules, international talent, and a growing connection to legalized sports betting.

Every MLB baseball needs to be rubbed with mud

When baseballs are done being hand-sewn and shipped to an MLB ballpark, they don't go straight to the field. Every ball that is put in play–an average of 100 per game–has to be rubbed with mud to give the ball a better grip. This video introduces the only family licensed to sell mud to MLB and shows what's special about this particular mud.

How to identify baseball pitches

You might be familiar with terms like "fastball," "curve ball," and "change up," but identifying the specific elements of each pitch type—not to mention what constitutes the more specific types like "splitter" and "cutter"—can leave even passionate fans stumped. This helpful guide to the most used pitches in the big leagues allows you to become a pro in just a few minutes.

Every baseball used by the MLB lasts about seven pitches

Handmade in Costa Rica, the balls meet strict MLB specs: cork or rubber cores, wool yarn, Tennessee cowhide, and 108 stitches. Before play, they’re coated in Lena Blackburne mud from a secret New Jersey spot, ensuring grip and consistency for the big game.

An eephus pitch catches batters by surprise

The specialty pitch—rarely used by starters—is unexpectedly slow and thrown with an abnormally high arc, often catching batters off-guard. Below is one famous example from 1981: Yankees pitcher Dave LaRoche striking out the Brewers' Gorman Thomas with an eephus that fans called the "La Lob."

See the “Miracle on Ice” through the eyes of a Soviet player

In this video, hockey legend Slava Fetisov reflects on the USSR’s powerhouse teams, his experience in the 1980 Olympic loss to the US, and his later move to the NHL—where Russian players became dominant forces.

Relive the biggest swings in the Dow’s history

From the 1929 crash to the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020, this piece spotlights five of the most dramatic single-day moves in the Dow’s 125-year history.

The longstanding bond between the NBA and anime

Japanese anime and the National Basketball Association may not have obvious similarities, but fans have long noticed the shared themes of heroic accomplishment and intense competition. Both NBA players and fans draw inspiration from anime, comparing dramatic basketball moments to well-known anime scenes.

See a ranking of every Super Bowl halftime show since 1993

This resource includes photos and videos from each performance and has a top five, including Prince (2007), Madonna (2012), Beyoncé (2013), Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg (2022), and the 2001 ensemble led by Aerosmith with NSYNC, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' was inspired by a billboard

If you’ve ever been to a baseball game, you’ve likely sung "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." The song was written in 1908 by Jack Norworth, a Tin Pan Alley musician inspired by a billboard advertising a game at the Polo Grounds in New York.

The story behind the greatest outburst in sports history

It's a line that's still perplexing all these years later: "Who do you think you are? I am!" Those words were uttered by Pete Weber, an iconic bowler who was somewhere between John McEnroe and Happy Gilmore. This oral history from the Ringer provides some context for the bizarre insult and a backstory that turns what appears to be a non sequitur into a triumphant celebration.

Hear the stories behind each Super Bowl ring from the past 59 champions

Super Bowl rings are championship jewelry given to players, coaches, and staff to commemorate a title. Over time, they’ve grown dramatically—from the Packers’ 1966 ring with a single half-carat diamond to modern designs featuring nearly 10 carats.

Top 25 milestones in WNBA history

During the 2021 season, the WNBA celebrated its 25th anniversary, marking North America's longest-running women’s pro league. This ESPN interactive highlights 25 significant "firsts" and milestones that defined the WNBA's 25-year history.