The 14 most intriguing human beings playing baseball

From Bryce Harper to Yasiel Puig

In light of the baseball-stats revolution, you could be forgiven for thinking that baseball is not really a sport, but a random number-generator used by nerds to confer upon themselves the glory of athletic achievement. As important as this movement has been, the game remains a human endeavor, engaging not just the mind, but the bodies, emotions, and creativity of real human beings. The characters at the center of the game are why people fall in love with it. They are why I run a daily newsletter about the sport, called The Slurve.

To that end, here are the 14 most intriguing human baseball players of the 2015 season.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.