If you're an avid sports fan and baseball enthusiast in particular, you may have fun trying to secure a large portion of your baseball collectibles yourself instead of buying them. If autographed baseballs appeal to you, then you have the chance to try to get your favorite team member to sign off on it if you get to the game early when the players are warming up. There's no guarantee he'll sign it, which can be a bit of a disappointment when you can just picture the keepsake sitting among the rest of your baseball collectibles. You might try to find sports card shows where many current and living ex-players go to sign autographs for the masses. Some fans even write letters to their favorite teams, begging for an autographed ball or card, even phoning in their requests just to make sure they get heard. If you're obtaining baseball collectibles as an investment, then you'll want to try to get autographs from the top players on the team. If you mail a baseball in care of the team and address it to a particular player, you're more likely to get your request met than if you simply asked them to mail you a baseball of their own. Some baseball players will sign a baseball or other keepsake with their autograph only if you pay them a fee to do so. You have to decide if this is a worthy investment depending on which memorabilia you feel is going to be a valued addition to your baseball collectibles. If you want an autograph, don't just send the memorabilia, but everything they'll need to get the item returned to you. Send a Bic ballpoint pen with the item. You want to make everything as easy as possible so your request is answered with a positive response. If you want the item back to shelve with your other baseball collectibles, then it's a wise idea to include postage with your request. Even better is to have a return envelop with postage already applied and your return mailing address neatly written so that it doesn't get lost and wind up in someone else's memorabilia. Players know that their autograph is valuable - whether it's as a monetary investment or because you're a fan of the game. So if you're asking them to add to your baseball collectibles, make sure you add a compliment and thank them ahead of time. To send off for your personalized baseball keepsakes, get the players' addresses from The Baseball Collector's Handbook, which has many tips on mailing off for your own baseball collectibles. Even though many will accommodate your request, some players won't respond, so for those, you'll need to seek out the memorabilia you want and purchase it from a reputable online dealer.

How many pitchers are there currently in Major League Baseball

Is the true or is this not true, i don't know because people in my family say it is and some say it isn't so i need help, please answer quickly, thanks!

plz dont make fun of me but i know im good i been makin it in the schools baseball team now im a junior still got more to go to go 2 college but i just want to know how to go 2 the big leagues

I think SF is Sacrifice Fly, but whats the 'A', and I think SH is Sacrifice Hit (bunt), but what's the 'A' part?? "Attempt" makes no sense as when I view stats for a pitcher the SFA/SHA are always 0,1,2,3 very low... Yet surely there are more than Sac Flies and Bunts for a pitcher than this low number shows...

Chipper Jones always finds a way to kill the Mets. He even named his kid Shea because he likes hitting there.

Stephen - quit your gripes about everything, accept the offer on the table, and start playing baseball. Your agent is being extremely greedy and your deal will be bigger than any of its kind in the history of baseball, during the worst of economic times. While it'd be nice to have $50 mil to start off your career with, a third of that is still an insane amount of money for someone your age. There are reasons why you won't get that anyway.

One example is Mark Prior. Having pitched with USC and declared the best young pitcher in the country hands down, the Cubs signed Prior to a huge deal before he ever pitched a game. While it looked for a flash as if he may have very well lived up to expectations, his career was dealt a crippling blow as he was hit with injures. Injuries from which he's never been able to recover.

Or remember Ben McDonald? An Olympic pitcher in 1988, the most anticipated college prospect out there, and a first overall pick. Almost as hyped then as you are now. What did McDonald do? Pitched mediocre baseball during his nine year career.

Oh, and how about Rick Ankiel? I remember the expectations he carried, and the Cards signed him to a huge deal too. He even pitched some great baseball while in the minors for the Cardinals.

He had a big fastball, heavy sinker, and a nasty curve ball, just like you, Stephen, and after a great rookie season where he came in 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting, he lost it. He couldn't control anything and was sent to the minors to fix it. Luckily, while there they discovered he was an awesome outfielder and had a huge bat. Stephen, could you be a superstar as an outfielder? I doubt it.

There's also a long list of names outside of baseball. There's Ryan Leaf, Brian Bosworth, Tony Mandarich, and most recently Jamarcus Russell in football and Kwame Brown, Darko Milicic, Sam Bowie, and Michael Olowakandi in basketball.

In finishing, Stephen, take the money where you can get it. Then, if or when you live up to this greatest prospect of all time billing, cash in when you hit free agency, landing a mega-deal from the Yankees or Red Sox. 20 million from the Nationals, or whatever record amount their offering, is a lot of money, especially for a 21 year-old that has never thrown a pitch in the big leagues. Now, go have your first (celebration) beer, buy yourself a super fast car and a huge house, then get to work preparing yourself for your MLB debut that the Nationals will, no doubt, rush you to.

Good luck to you whatever you choose. Hopefully you'll make the right move.

May 23, 1876
Ross Barnes hits the first ever professional home run.