Jayson Stark

Behold the other-worldly majesty of the first (and undoubtedly last) All-Eclipse Team, in all its pun-filled glory.

It was just two weeks ago that I had an incredible conversation with Spencer Strider about one of his favorite topics: The pursuit of greatness.

“When I was there,” former Red Sox managerial quipster Terry Francona told Weird and Wild on Thursday, “we couldn't even do the introductions in an hour and 49.”

Boy, have we seen some weirdness, and also some wildness, lately in the beautiful sport of baseball. This is that column where we tell you about it.

So what do you know. We made it through April. What a bizarre month. Taylor Ward outhomered a guy who hit 54 homers last year ( Matt Olson Maikel Garcia had more extra-base hits than Vlad Guerrero Jr.

Only in baseball can a team one day annihilate its opponent, or look like it might never get a hit. And then ... do the exact opposite.

What separates the Weird and Wild column from most of your other hard-hitting baseball columns out there? It's this fundamental belief: Baseball is fun.

Boy, has there been some Weirdness (and Wildness) since the last time this column appeared on this site. Bees swarmed in Phoenix. A sausage stunk up the hottest dugout in baseball. And the

What rule changes could keep pitchers healthier and restore the prominence of the starter? A look at ideas from execs, players and coaches.

The Athletic spent weeks asking pitchers, execs and coaches how baseball can save the starting pitcher. Here are their rule change ideas.