Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto seems to have so much fun hitting and running the bases, you might think he would not want to play in the American League, which has the designated hitter. You would be wrong. In a surprising answer to that question, ahead of the Giants’ visit to Kansas City, Cueto said Saturday that he wants to finish his career in the American League.

Organized baseball has been played in America since before the Civil War. The game evolved from bat and ball games brought to the “new country” during the 17th and early 18th centuries.

There’s a strange new look in Pittsburgh’s PNC Park this season — and we’re not just talking about new Bucs right-fielder Andrew McCutchen. The Pirates unveiled a new LED scoreboard on the right-field wall in their home opener Friday against the Braves. It not only gives scores of other MLB games, fans can do the Super Bucco Run, a between-innings promotion that is the dream of any Super Mario Bros. fan.

Cincinnati Reds pitching prospect Ian Kahaloa was drafted in the fifth round of the 2015 amateur draft, and has been playing rookie ball ever since. He won’t be playing much this year, though, as he’s currently serving a 50-game drug suspension that was handed down on Tuesday. Last month, a Twitter user posted a video showing Kahaloa snorting what looks to be cocaine.

Lesson learned: Do not let Frankie get angry

Civil War prisons were terrible places....But in several Northern and Southern prisons, a few fortunate inmates were able to enjoy, for a moment, a lighter side of life: baseball.

The Indians and Texas, two division winners from last season, will open the 2017 season against each other on Monday night at Good Life Park in Arlington.

A new baseball season is getting underway on Sunday afternoon. No more Spring Training. No more waiting. It's all back. Your favorite players are ready. There are plenty of reasons for everybody -- no matter which team you root for -- to feel pretty pumped-up that another season is upon us. With that in mind, here are 162 specific things that are now returning to our lives that should make us all smile. 162, because that's how many games teams play in a season ... get it? Good. Enjoy, and play ball!

A big league clubhouse during pregame media availability can be a lonely place. Players sit in front of their lockers, by themselves or in small groups, getting changed or unpacking equipment or just looking at their phones, while reporters stand around, most of them waiting to have specific conversations with specific players, who might or might not be in the room. Those conversations last a couple of minutes each, and then everyone goes back to standing around.

It took four tries, but the United States finally won one of these things. Behind a dominant pitching performance by Marcus Stroman, and following a home run by Ian Kinsler, the USA shut out Puerto Rico 8-0 in the championship game Wednesday in Los Angeles.

We are now less than a month until opening day, and most Major League Baseball (MLB) teams are done making important offseason moves. So let's take a look at how all 30 teams are shaping up as the season approaches, and some of the decisions they made this winter. Using two projection systems from Baseball Prospectus (PECOTA) and Fangraphs and over/under win totals from Vegas Insider — think of this as how much confidence the public has in each team — we have our first power ranking of the 2017 season.

For the hundreds of Major League Baseball players, jet lag is an inescapable part of the sport. New research shows how disruptions to an athlete’s sleep cycle impairs his performance on the field—and how teams who have to travel east can be at a distinct disadvantage.

Baseball players and owners reached a tentative agreement on a five-year labor contract Wednesday night, a deal that will extend the sport's industrial peace to 26 years since the ruinous fights in…

Branca was a three-time All Star, but one pitch that won the Giants' the National League pennant in 1951 came to define his career.

Francona won the award in 2013 as well

Aubrey Huff hadn’t reached rock bottom during a succession of losing seasons with the Rays and Orioles. He hadn’t touched down through his drug addiction and divorce proceedings. There was only the clawing that hastens a man’s descent. It wasn’t until Huff retreated to his closet again, dropped to his knees and put a gun to his head that he had truly gotten there. Orioles manager Buck Showalter often punctuates an amusing anecdote by saying, “It will all be in the book one day.” Huff, the former outfielder, first baseman and world-class jokester, is now an author who’s going public with his pain.

The 10 largest gatherings in human history as of November 2016

A single Coors beer from 1984 still existed up until Wednesday night. When the Chicago Cubs lost in the NLCS to the San Diego Padres, this man stored away his beer and vowed not to drink it until the day the Cubs finally won the World Series. He probably didn't think it would take 32 years. But, it did. And he kept his promise when he cracked open the disgustingly old beer and ceremoniously poured as family watched.

The most famous drought in US sports is over. The Chicago Cubs are World Series champions for the first time since 1908