From current players to managers to league executives, the baseball community joined together and took to social media to accept the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014 to help in the fight against ALS.

The mood has shifted at Wrigley Field, and it’s not because of all the construction work underway at the 100-year-old ballpark. With the additions of Joe Maddon at the helm and Jon Lester in the rotation, the Cubs are eagerly anticipating 2015.

Despite turning 37 this past season, new Reds left-field acquisition Marlon Byrd achieved some career high-water marks in 2014. He achieved career highs in games and hit 25 home runs for the Phillies. But there was another career-high that did not please Byrd — his 185 strikeouts. It left him with a bad taste that he’s been spending his offseason trying to get over.

A highly-active participant in the Hot Stove season, the Red Sox think they’ve put the pieces in place for a stirring revival in 2015.

You should ignore the hand-wringing around Atlanta over the offensively challenged Braves trading Jason Heyward and Justin Upton within days of one another. In the long run — if not the medium run, or even the short run — the Choppers and the Chanters will get over it. They’ll discover the Braves did the right thing for so many reasons.

After adding Shawn Kelley and Brandon Maurer to an already strong relief corps, the Padres have a shot to have the best bullpen in the National League next season.

After improving by 16 wins and coming within one game of tying for their first playoff berth in 13 years, Seattle appears poised to make a postseason push in 2015. There is much work to be done and questions still to be answered, but the Mariners clearly have put themselves back into the conversation in the American League West and will head to Spring Training in February with renewed optimism.

Tony Oliva looked like a Hall of Famer more than four decades ago. And for many of us who saw him play then, that notion has not changed. One more vote for him among those 16 committee members would have been, even after all this time, fair and fitting.

Bill Kearns was a baseball lifer, and he spent the last 39-plus years of his life as a full-time scout with Mariners, seeing as many as 200 games in the New England area annually even in his 90s.

Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York and an avid baseball fan, passed away on Thursday at the age of 82. Cuomo was also a ballplayer, seeing time in 81 games with the Class-D Minor League Brunswick Pirates during the 1952 season.

Those who braved the winter weather at Nationals Park on Thursday saw a thrilling finish between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals, with Troy Brouwer scoring the go-ahead goal for the hometown team with 12.9 seconds left in the NHL Winter Classic.

The Blue Jays fully admit that 2014 ended in disappointment, but instead of trying to rebuild, the club decided to retool with the expectation of a better outcome next year.

No longer will the Marlins be flying under the radar. A string of impressive personnel moves has raised the club’s profile and placed them in position to go toe to toe with the rest of the National League East.

On paper, the Nationals look unbeatable. They have an outstanding rotation led by Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg. With the exception of second base, the starting lineup is expected to give opposing pitchers problems. But the 2015 season is still a ways off, and the Nationals still have some questions.

Bill Kearns, who was a Mariners scout in the New England region since the club’s inception in 1976, died of a ruptured aorta on Thursday morning.

The Yankees kicked off the new year with a transaction, acquiring right-hander David Carpenter and left-hander Chasen Shreve from the Braves in exchange for left-hander Manny Banuelos, who was once regarded as one of the team’s brightest prospects.

Will it be enough for the Yankees to bring back a similar roster, or — as some rival executives believe — are they gearing up to make yet another a winter splash? Here are the Yankees’ 10 biggest questions as they head into 2015.