1.
Exposition Park (Pittsburgh)
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Exposition Park was the name given to three historic stadiums, located in what is today Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The fields were used mainly for baseball and American football from c.1879 to c. The ballparks were located on the north side of the Allegheny River in Allegheny City. The city was annexed into Pittsburgh in 1907, which became the citys North Side, due to flooding from the nearby river, the three stadiums exact locations varied somewhat. The final version of the ballpark was between the sites of Three Rivers Stadium and PNC Park. In 1903, the incarnation of Exposition Park was the first National League ballpark to host a World Series game. Named for other expositions that would be there, including horse racing and circuses. Despite its reason for construction Exposition Park II was built closer to the River, the Alleghenys played at the second incarnation of the park until they moved to Recreation Park in 1884, which was several blocks north and out of the flood plain. While the Pittsburg Pirates were playing games at Recreation Park, owners John Beemer. Lennon of the Pittsburgh Burghers constructed a park near the former site of Exposition Park I and II. Exposition Park III included a wooden grandstand around the infield. Total capacity was about 10,000 spectators, the seats faced the Allegheny River and the Point. The Burghers played at the stadium during the 1890 Players League season— both the team and leagues only season in existence, on June 10,1890, Jocko Fields of the Pittsburgh Burghers hit the first home run at Exposition Park III. The Pittsburg Pirates moved to Exposition Park the following season, on April 24,1891, Fred Carroll hit the first home run by a Pirate in the stadium. Under the management of Fred Clarke the Pirates won the National League pennant in 1901,1902, after the 1903 season, Dreyfuss and Boston Americans owner Henry Killilea organized a best of nine game series to match the two pennant winners against each other. The first World Series held three games in Boston before moving to Exposition Park with the Pirates leading the series 2–1, on October 6,1903,7,600 people attended the first World Series game in a National League stadium—the Pirates won by one run. The following day 12,000 people attended the game, forcing spectators to stand behind a rope in the outfield. The Pirates lost three of four games at Exposition Park and eventually the Series, during a July 4,1902 doubleheader against the Brooklyn Superbas, an Allegheny flood caused water to rise to thigh level in center and right fields, and about head level in deep center
2.
Connie Mack
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Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy, better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball player, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he records for wins, losses. Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics for the clubs first 50 seasons of play, starting in 1901, before retiring at age 87 following the 1950 season, however, constant financial struggles forced repeated rebuilding of the roster, and Macks teams also finished in last place 17 times. Mack was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, Mack was born Cornelius McGillicuddy in East Brookfield, Massachusetts on December 22,1862. As with many Irish immigrants whose names began with Mc, the McGullicuddys were often referred to as Mack and his parents, Michael McGillicuddy and Mary McKillop, were both immigrants from Ireland. Michael McGillicuddys father was named Cornelius McGillicuddy, and by tradition, Connie is a common nickname for Cornelius, so Cornelius McGillicuddy was called Connie Mack from an early age. Connie Mack never legally changed his name, on the occasion of his marriage at age 48. His nickname on the field was Slats, for his height of 6 feet 2 inches. During the American Civil War, he served with the 51st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Michael McGillicuddy suffered from several ailments as the result of his military service, he was able to work only infrequently, and drew a disability pension. Mack was educated in East Brookfield, and began working summers in local cotton mills at age 9 to help support his family. He quit school after completing the eighth grade at age 14, intending to work full-time to contribute to the familys support and he clerked at a store, worked on local farms, and worked on the production lines of the shoe factories in nearby towns. Mack was also an athlete, and frequently played baseball. In 1879 his skills landed him a place on East Brookfields town team, though younger than his teammates by several years, Mack was the teams catcher and de facto captain. Beginning in 1886, Mack played 10 seasons in the National League and one in the Players League, for a total of 11 seasons in the major leagues, almost entirely as a catcher. Beginning in 1884, he played on minor league teams in the Connecticut cities of Meriden, in the winter of 1889, he jumped to the Buffalo team of the new Players League, the Bisons, investing his entire life savings of $500 in shares in that club. But the Players League went out of business only a year. In December 1890 Mack signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League, as a player, Mack was a light-hitting catcher with a reputation as a smart player, but didnt do anything particularly well as a player. Mack was one of the first catchers to position himself directly behind home plate instead of in front of the backstop, according to Wilbert Robinson, Mack never was mean
3.
Allegheny, Pennsylvania
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Allegheny City is the name of a former Pennsylvania municipality now reorganized and merged into the larger community, the modern City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907, the City of Allegheny was laid out in 1788 according to a plan by John Redick. The lots were sold in Philadelphia by the State government or given as payment to Revolutionary War veterans and it was incorporated as a borough in 1828 and as a city in 1840. Prior to the 1850s, most of the area was largely farmland. It was commonly referred to as Deutschtown, derived from the German word Deutsch, referring to the language and ethnicity. The annexation of Allegheny City by Pittsburgh began in 1906 and was effected in 1907 and it was approved by the United States Government in 1911. The annexation was controversial at the time, as a majority of Allegheny City residents were opposed to the merger. Previous Pennsylvania law had directed that a majority of the voters in each merging municipality had to approve an annexation agreement, in 1906, the State Assembly passed a new law that authorized annexations if a majority of the total voters in both combined municipalities approved the merger. The annexation was rejected by the residents of Allegheny City by a 2,1 margin, but was approved by more populous Pittsburgh residents. Allegheny City residents tried unsuccessfully for years to have the annexation overturned in court. The population of Pittsburgh rose from 321,616 in 1900 to 533,905 in 1910, which included the 132,283 who lived in Allegheny in 1910, when the two cities were joined, both of the old ward systems were discarded. A new ward system was established made up of 27 wards, in the new ward system, Allegheny was divided into wards 21 to 27. Its past territory is seen by viewing a map of the city wards. The Carnegie Library, the Old Post Office Building, and the Buhl Planetarium buildings were not demolished, the H. J. Heinz Company built its factory in Allegheny City, close to the Chestnut Street bridge. Heyl & Patterson Inc. a manufacturer of railcar dumpers and ship unloaders, the surviving structures are now occupied by a furniture warehouse and a bus garage. Railroad lines were built along the side of the Allegheny for the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago. When workers in Pittsburgh struck against the Pennsylvania Railroad after wage cuts in July 1877, the Teutonia Männerchor Hall in the East Allegheny neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a building constructed in 1888. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, the Teutonia Männerchor is a private membership club with the purpose of furthering choral singing, German cultural traditions and good fellowship
4.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
5.
Jake Beckley
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Jacob Peter Beckley, nicknamed Eagle Eye, was a Major League Baseball player at the turn of the 20th century. He played for major league teams between 1888 and 1907. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1971, Beckley was born in Hannibal, Missouri. He was the son of Bernhart and Rosina Beckley, Beckley began playing semi-pro baseball while still a teenager. A former Hannibal teammate, Bob Hart, suggested the 18-year-old Beckley to the Leavenworth Oilers of the Western Association. After playing one and a half seasons for the Alleghenys, Beckley and eight of his teammates jumped to the Pittsburgh Burghers, manager Ned Hanlon crossed over as well. Beckley stated he was willing to go to the PL because after all, the league lasted only one season, and Beckley spent the next five and a half seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. His days in Pittsburgh finished, on July 25,1896, Beckley was traded to the New York Giants for Harry Davis, Beckley was released by the Giants the following season on May 22, and he signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds five days later. In his first season with the Reds, Beckley was unsuccessful in getting rookie Honus Wagner out with the ball trick. But later when Wagners Louisville Colonels came to play at Cincinnati, Beckley was successful in getting Wagner out, employing a strategy that involved the use of two baseballs. Against the St. Louis Cardinals, Beckley belted three home runs in the game on September 26,1897, a feat not again matched until 1922 by Ken Williams. He played with Cincinnati for seven seasons and was purchased by the St. Louis on February 11,1904. Beckley retired after the 1907 season with 2,930 career hits and he continues to rank fourth all-time among major leaguers in triples with 244. As of the 2014 season, Beckley holds the all-time best batting average amongst Pirates first basemen, Beckley married Molly Murphy of Hannibal in 1891. She died of tuberculosis a few months after their wedding and he served as an umpire in the Federal League in 1913 and also served as a baseball coach at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. In addition to his umpiring and coaching after retirement from professional play and he died of heart disease in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 50. He was interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Hannibal, elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. Member of Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame, elected into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2014 First all-time, Career putouts
6.
Harry Davis (1900s first baseman)
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Harry H. Davis was born in Philadelphia. He led the American League in home runs from 1904 to 1907 and he also hit for the cycle on July 10,1901. He led the AL in doubles three times and the NL in triples once, Davis was the starting first baseman and first captain of manager Connie Macks Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 to 1910. In 1905 he led the American league in runs, RBI, runs and doubles. He was the starting first baseman for the 1910 World Champions, in 1911, the 37-year-old Davis was replaced at first base by the younger Stuffy McInnis, and Davis played a reserve role for the 1911 World Champions. Davis managed the 1912 Cleveland Naps, but left with 28 games left in the season and he returned to the Athletics as a player, coach and assistant captain in 1913, amassing only 33 plate appearances over the next five seasons combined. He continued as a coach and scout with Macks Athletics until 1927, Davis died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 11,1947, at the age of 74. com Biography at BaseballLibrary 1911 Photo
