Byron Buxton

Just a couple of years ago, nobody knew who Stephen Strausburg, Bryce Harper, and Mike Trout were. Now that these young guns are the talk of the league, we’re seeing how bright their star really is. With the 2012 MLB Draft taking place tonight at 7 PM (EST), it’s time to take a deeper look at some of the most incredible future all-stars out there. All of the prospects below are under 20, some have been drafted, while some will go tonight. These are names that aren’t yet known except by the baseball die-hards, but you can definitely expect to be rooting for or against them soon.

The Pitchers-

Dylan Bundy, (Orioles)- The Baltimore Orioles are surprising everyone and having their best season in a decade. Just how good could they be with the addition of one of the top pitching prospects in the game? Just 19 years old, Bundy may already be big league ready. The #1 pick of the 2011 draft only just suffered his first minor league loss last week. He can touch 99 MPH on the radar gun, and has a glistening .68 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 40 innings this season. The Orioles are babying him, but it’ll be tough to keep him down if he keeps performing the way he is.

With gas prices at an all time high, people are scrapping their gas guzzlers for more eco-friendly bicycles. It’s tough to beat the dual benefits of toned legs and a rested wallet. While many consider riding a bike to be a smart move, there aren’t too many smart bicycles out there. A slew of big name companies are working tirelessly to change the way we get from A to B.

When the first sports were conceived, the athletes involved just played the game. In the 21st century, that has all changed. Sports are now a science. Instead of just taking it play by play, we analyze, study, graph and dissect. There are now metrics in every sport that can pinpoint the ultimate weaknesses of any team or individual.

Teams and coaches aren’t the only ones trying to get an edge, performance clothing companies are conducting seemingly ridiculous tests to produce the most efficient clothes, shoes, and accessories possible. Nike, being the number one sporting good company in the world, is at the forefront of future performance research. In this particular case, they’ve taken a page from an unlikely sport to produce the fastest performance running wear in history. The discovery is set to make it’s debut at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.

Skydiving is quite the rush. There’s a certain lemming-like quality to free falling thousands of feet towards the Earth with only fabric encased in a backpack to stop you from a date with gravity. The act of skydiving and the idea of it becoming a sport would have seemed absurd just 100 years ago, when we could barely even get airborne. Now skydiving is the ultimate thrill. Unfortunately he feeling of your stomach up in your throat is only pleasurable for so long, and you’re left looking for that next thrill. In this case, jumping from heights that would make your blood boil. Is space skydiving the extreme sport of the future?

Spending time in the great outdoors is wonderful; the sights, the smells, the tranquility. It really brings you back to the days of our ancestors whose lives were shaped in the plains. The problem is that in the 21st century, we need to stay connected to the outside world. E-mails, sports scores, breaking news; we like to have our cake and eat it too. Those of us without an RV who don’t want to risk killing our car battery have had to suck it up and survive a few days without a smart device. Even resisting those temptations, it’s still nice to have some music to jam out to while in the mountains.

Materials scientists David Toledo and Paul Slusser wanted to make life more convenient for outdoorsmen in the United States, and potentially bring a scarce resource to people in third world countries. They are on the brink of doing just that. Their start-up company, Power Portal, is in the final stages of prototyping on a product called the PowerPot. The PowerPot will be able to create electricity for anyone with a hot surface and a cool liquid inside.

Mark Cuban is a computer and software magnate. He is the founder of Microsolutions, Broadcast.com, HD Net (the worlds first HDTV network) and 2929 Entertainment. Mark is now one of the sharks on the hit show Shark Tank. He’s one of the most well-known and likeable billionaires out there. Here’s some little known facts about Mr. Cuban!

With gas prices an uncertainty and more and more individuals moving to active and healthy lifestyles, people are moving to bikes are a primary form of transportation. Finding a good, safe spot to park a bike has been a problem as they take up a lot of space, and are often the target of theft.

Finding a spot to park your boat is another story altogether. Leaving it docked can be expensive, and buying a trailer is often a pain. Some brilliant minds have sought to address these spacial issues, and have actually created working models of a bike and a boat that can fold up and be worn as a backpack!

Pretty cool stuff coming out of the University of Pittsburgh and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Scientists have been studying one of the strangest behaving materials known to man with some amazing potential future applications.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to enjoy snowboarding or skiing, it’s something you really need to try. The first two days won’t be without much pain, but if you can make it past those, you’re home free. Being on the mountain gets you thinking about potential alternatives, those can’t really be the only two possibilities right? A company called Dual Snowboards is trying to revolutionize the way we ride down the mountain.

One of the most widespread fantasies throughout all of humanity has been the ability to fly. Gravity consistently has shot those dreams down. Since at least the 1920′s, the Jetpack AKA the Rocketbelt, Jetbelt, and Rocketpack was thought to be the medium to finally defeat gravity. True Jetpack technology wasn’t even possible until the 1960′s, but those of us living in the 21st century may finally get to experience personal flight once and for all.