1.
1903 in baseball
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The following are the baseball events of the year 1903 throughout the world. The combined 18-E debacle set a modern Major League record for the most errors in a single game, may 7 – Pittsburg Pirates outfielder Fred Clarke hits for the cycle for the second time in his career. The Pirates lose to the Cincinnati Reds, however, 11-8, june 21 – Boston Americans outfileder Buck Freeman hits for the cycle in a 12–7 Boston win over the Cleveland Blues. June 25 – Wiley Piatt of the Boston Beaneaters became the pitcher in the 20th century to lose two complete games in one day. Piatt allowed fourteen hits, while striking out twelve, en route to 1–0, june 29 – Patsy Dougherty, outfielder for the Boston Americans, hits for the cycle against the Chicago White Stockings leading Boston to a 7–2 win. September 3 – Cleveland Blues rookie Jesse Stovall tosses an 11-inning shutout, 1-0, the feat still remains as the longest shutout ever for a major league pitching debut. September 18 – Chick Fraser pitches a no-hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies in the game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs. September 24 – Cleveland Blues third baseman Bill Bradley hits for the cycle against the Washington Senators in a 12–2 Cleveland win, the Pirates beat the Americans, 7-3. October 13 – The Boston Americans defeat the Pittsburg Pirates, 3-0, Boston wins the series, five games to three. January 13 – Pete Conway,36, pitcher who posted a 61–61 record for four teams from 1885 to 1889, february 6 – Hardie Henderson,40, pitcher who went 81–121 with four teams between 1883 and 1888. February 11 – Sam McMackin, pitcher who played with the Chicago White Sox, february 15 – Phil Reccius,40, played third base for eight seasons, most notably for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels. February 20 – Al Dwight,47, pitcher for the 1884 Kansas City Cowboys, may 2 – Odie Porter,25, pitcher who played briefly for the 1902 Philadelphia Athletics. May 3 – Count Sensenderfer,55, played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1871–1874, may 13 – Thomas Lynch,40, pitcher who played for the Chicago White Stockings in the 1884 season. May 16 – Chicken Wolf,41, right fielder for 11 years,10 with the Louisville Colonels, june 22 – Fatty Briody,44, catcher for eight seasons from 1880 to 1888. July 1 – Jimmy Cooney,37, shortstop for the Chicago Colts, august 1 – Charlie Bohn,47, outfielder/pitcher who played for the 1882 Louisville Eclipse. August 2 – Bill Sweeney, pitcher/outfielder for the 1882 Philadelphia Athletics, august 21 – Andy Leonard,57, left fielder for the original Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional baseball team. October 10 – John Valentine,47, umpire from 1884 to 1888, october 22 – Joe Yingling,36, pitcher for the 1886 Washington Nationals. November 5 – Harrison Peppers,37, pitcher for the Louisville Colonels during the 1894 season, november 12 – John Gilbert,39, shortstop for the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys
2.
Major League Baseball
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Major League Baseball is a professional baseball organization, the oldest of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. A total of 30 teams now play in the National League and American League, the NL and AL operated as separate legal entities from 1876 and 1901 respectively. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities since 1903, the merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000. The organization also oversees Minor League Baseball, which comprises about 240 teams affiliated with the Major League clubs, with the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB manages the international World Baseball Classic tournament. Baseballs first professional team was founded in Cincinnati in 1869,30 years after Abner Doubleday supposedly invented the game of baseball, the first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one team or league to another. The period before 1920 in baseball was known as the dead-ball era, Baseball survived a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series, which came to be known as the Black Sox Scandal. The sport rose in popularity in the 1920s, and survived potential downturns during the Great Depression, shortly after the war, baseballs color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson. The 1950s and 1960s were a time of expansion for the AL and NL, then new stadiums, Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s, and media reports began to discuss the use of anabolic steroids among Major League players in the mid-2000s. In 2006, an investigation produced the Mitchell Report, which implicated many players in the use of performance-enhancing substances, today, MLB is composed of thirty teams, twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada. Baseball broadcasts are aired on television, radio, and the Internet throughout North America, MLB has the highest season attendance of any sports league in the world with more than 73 million spectators in 2015. MLB is governed by the Major League Baseball Constitution and this document has undergone several incarnations since 1875, with the most recent revisions being made in 2012. Under the direction of the Commissioner of Baseball, MLB hires and maintains the sports umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, MLB maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of Minor League Baseball. This ruling has been weakened only slightly in subsequent years, the weakened ruling granted more stability to the owners of teams and has resulted in values increasing at double-digit rates. There were several challenges to MLBs primacy in the sport between the 1870s and the Federal League in 1916, the last attempt at a new league was the aborted Continental League in 1960. The chief executive of MLB is the commissioner, Rob Manfred, the chief operating officer is Tony Petitti. There are five other executives, president, chief officer, chief legal officer, chief financial officer. The multimedia branch of MLB, which is based in Manhattan, is MLB Advanced Media and this branch oversees MLB. com and each of the 30 teams websites. Its charter states that MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the league, MLB Productions is a similarly structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media
3.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
4.
1903 Boston Americans season
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The 1903 Boston Americans season was the third season for the professional baseball franchise that later became known as the Boston Red Sox. The Americans finished first in the American League with a record of 91 wins and 47 losses and they went on to participate in the first World Series held between the AL and National League champions. The Americans won the 1903 World Series in eight games over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team was managed by Jimmy Collins and played their home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds. The 1903 Boston Americans won the American League championship by finishing 14½ games ahead of the Philadelphia Athletics, the Americans were led by Buck Freeman, who hit 13 home runs and drove in 104 runs, his third straight 100-RBI campaign for the Boston club. Meanwhile, they won 10 straight games in early June to put themselves in the AL lead for good and they met the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first modern World Series, an agreement between the AL and the NL as a post-season tournament. The Amerks won the series in 8 games, winning the 8th game at Huntington Avenue Grounds to clinch the championship. Note, Pos = position, G = Games played, AB = At Bats, H = Hits, Avg. com 1903 Boston Americans at Fueled by Sports
5.
1903 Philadelphia Athletics season
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The 1903 Philadelphia Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished 2nd in the American League with a record of 75 wins and 60 losses, february 1903, Ollie Pickering was purchased by the Athletics from the Cleveland Naps. Note, Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. baseball-almanac. com
6.
1903 Pittsburg Pirates season
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The 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 22nd year the Pittsburgh Pirates played in Major League Baseball. The club finish their season as National League champions, beating the second-place New York Giants by 6½ games and they went on to participate in the 1903 World Series, the first to be played between the champions of the National League and American League. The Pirates started off well, winning 3 of the first four games, the Pirates set a record of 52 consecutive innings without scoring a run, a record that still stands today. Prior to 1903 season, Jack OConnor jumped from the Pirates to the New York Highlanders, may 28,1903, Reddy Grey was acquired by the Pirates on loan from the Worcester Riddlers. Note, Pos = Position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. Boston Americans October 1,1903, at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston and they extended their lead to 7–0 on a solo home run by Jimmy Sebring in the 7th, the first home run in World Series history. Boston tried to mount a comeback in the last three innings, but it was too little, too late, as they ended up losing by a score of 7–3 in the first ever World Series game. Pirates starter Sam Leever went only one inning and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs before being replaced by Bucky Veil in the second inning due to injury, who finished the game for Pittsburg. Bill Dinneen struck out 11 and pitched a game for the Americans, while Patsy Dougherty hit home runs in the first. October 6,1903, at Exposition Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania After two days of rest, Deacon Phillippe was ready to pitch his second straight game. He threw his third game victory of the series against Bill Dinneen. However, Phillippes second straight victory was almost not to be, as the Americans, down 5–1 in the top of the ninth, the comeback attempt failed, though, as Phillippe managed to put an end to it and give the Pirates a commanding 3–1 series lead. October 7,1903, at Exposition Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania Game 5 was a duel for the first five innings, with Bostons Cy Young. That changed at the top of the sixth, however, when the Americans scored a then-record 6 runs that inning, Young, on the other hand, managed to keep his shutout intact before finally giving up a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. He went the distance and struck out four for his first World Series win, October 8,1903, at Exposition Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania Game 6 featured a rematch between the starters of Game 2, Bill Dinneen and Sam Leever. This time, Leever would pitch the game, but despite throwing a complete game he was outmatched by Dinneen. After losing three of the first four games of the World Series, the underdog Boston Americans had tied the series at three games apiece. October 10,1903, at Exposition Park in Allegheny, Pennsylvania The fourth and this time, however, he wouldnt fare as well as he did in his first three starts
7.
1903 World Series
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The 1903 World Series was the first modern World Series to be played in Major League Baseball. Pittsburg pitcher Sam Leever injured his shoulder while trap-shooting, so his teammate Deacon Phillippe pitched five complete games, Phillippe won three of his games, but it was not enough to overcome the club from the new American League. Boston pitchers Bill Dinneen and Cy Young led Boston to victory, in Game 1, Phillippe struck out ten Boston batters. The next day, Dinneen bettered that mark, striking out eleven Pittsburg batters in Game 2, honus Wagner, bothered by injuries, batted only 6 for 27 in the Series and committed six errors. The shortstop was deeply distraught by his performance, the following spring, Wagner refused to send his portrait to a Hall of Fame for batting champions. I was too bum last year, he wrote, I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburg Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch, I would be ashamed to have my picture up now. Due to overflow crowds at the Exposition Park games in Allegheny City, if a ball rolled under a rope in the outfield that held spectators back. Seventeen ground-rule triples were hit in the four games played at the stadium, in the series, Boston came back from a three games to one deficit, winning the final four games to capture the title. Such a large comeback would not happen again until the Pirates came back to defeat the Washington Senators in the 1925 World Series, much was made of the influence of Bostons Royal Rooters, who traveled to Exposition Park and sang their theme song Tessie to distract the opposing players. Boston wound up winning three out of four games in Allegheny City, Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss added his share of the gate receipts to the players share, so the losing teams players actually finished with a larger individual share than the winning teams. The Series brought the new American League prestige and proved its best could beat the best of the National League, thus strengthening the demand for future World Series competitions. In 1901, Ban Johnson, president of the Western League, Johnson and fellow owners raided the National League and signed away many star players, including Cy Young and Jimmy Collins. Johnson had a list of 46 National Leaguers he targeted for the American League, by 1902, all, the constant raiding, however, scotched the idea of a championship between the two leagues. However, Johnson had spoken of putting a team in Pittsburg and even attempted to raid the Pirates roster in August 1902, which soured Dreyfuss. At the end of the season, however, the Pirates played a group of American League All-Stars in an exhibition series. The leagues finally called a truce in the winter of 1902–03, the following season, the Boston Americans and Pittsburg Pirates had secured their respective championship pennants by September. That August, Dreyfuss challenged the American League to a championship series
8.
Boston Red Sox
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The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League East division. The Red Sox have won eight World Series championships and have played in 13, founded in 1901 as one of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the Red Sox home ballpark has been Fenway Park since 1912. The Red Sox name was chosen by the owner, John I. Taylor, around 1908, following the lead of previous teams that had known as the Boston Red Stockings. Boston was a dominant team in the new league, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903 and winning four more championships by 1918. Following their victory in the 2013 World Series, they became the first team to win three World Series trophies in the 21st century, including championships in 2004 and 2007. Red Sox history has also marked by the teams intense rivalry with the Yankees. The Boston Red Sox are owned by Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Liverpool F. C. of the Premier League in England. The Red Sox are consistently one of the top MLB teams in road attendance. From May 15,2003 to April 10,2013, the Red Sox sold out every home game—a total of 820 games for a professional sports record. Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline has become an anthem for the Red Sox, the name Red Sox, chosen by owner John I. Taylor after the 1907 season, refers to the red hose in the team uniform beginning 1908. Sox had been adopted for the Chicago White Sox by newspapers needing a headline-friendly form of Stockings. The team name Red Sox had previously used as early as 1888 by a colored team from Norfolk. The Spanish language media sometimes refers to the team as Medias Rojas, the official Spanish site uses the variant Los Red Sox. The Red Stockings nickname was first used by a team by the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Managed by Harry Wright, Cincinnati adopted a uniform with white knickers and red stockings and earned the famous nickname, the Boston Red Stockings won four championships in the five seasons of the new National Association, the first professional league. Other names were used before Boston officially adopted the nickname Braves in 1912
9.
Pittsburgh Pirates
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The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. Founded on October 15,1881 as Allegheny, the franchise has won five World Series championships, the Pirates are also often referred to as the Bucs or the Buccos. They also won the 1971 World Series, led by the talent of Roberto Clemente, overall, the Pirates have won five World Series and lost two. They would then advance to the NL Division Series round, where they lost in 5 games to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pirates would continue their success and make the playoffs in both 2014 and 2015, losing in the Wild Card Game both times. Professional baseball has been played in the Pittsburgh area since 1876, the teams of the era were independents, barnstorming throughout the region and not affiliated with any organized league, though they did have salaries and were run as business organizations. On October 15,1881, the strongest team in the joined the American Association as a founding member to begin play in 1882. Their various home fields in the 19th century were in a city called Allegheny City. After five mediocre seasons in the A. A, Pittsburgh became the first A. A. team to switch to the older National League in 1887. At this time, the team renamed itself the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, at that time, owner-manager Horace Phillips sold the team to Dennis McKnight, Phillips stayed on as manager. Before the 1890 season, nearly all of the Alleghenys best players bolted to the Players Leagues Pittsburgh Burghers, the Players League collapsed after the season, and the players were allowed to go back to their old clubs. However, the Alleghenys also scooped up highly regarded second baseman Lou Bierbauer, although the Athletics had failed to include Bierbauer on their reserve list, they loudly protested the Alleghenys move. In an official complaint, an AA official claimed the Alleghenys signing of Bierbauer was piratical and this incident quickly accelerated into a schism between the leagues that contributed to the demise of the A. A. Although the Alleghenys were never found guilty of wrongdoing, they made sport of being denounced for being piratical by renaming themselves the Pirates for the 1891 season, the nickname was first acknowledged on the teams uniforms in 1912. The Pirates were a team in the early 1900s, winning National League pennants from 1901–1903. They again won the NL in 1925 and 1927 and the World Series in 1925, after a slow period, they returned to dominance and won the 1960 World Series,1971 World Series and 1979 World Series. They won Eastern Division titles from 1990–1992 but did not return to the post-season after that until 2013, on Opening Day 2015 the Pirates loss to the Cincinnati Reds represented its 10, 000th franchise loss since moving to the NL. This made the Pirates the fourth MLB team to achieve distinction, following the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves
10.
History of the New York Yankees
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The history of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team spans more than a century. Frank J. Farrell and William Stephen Devery bought the rights to an American League club in New York City after the 1902 season. The team, which known as the Yankees in 1913. With Ruth in the lineup, the Yankees won their first AL title in 1921, Ruth and first baseman Lou Gehrig were part of New Yorks Murderers Row lineup, which led the Yankees to a then-AL record 110 wins and a Series championship in 1927 under Miller Huggins. They repeated as World Series winners in 1928, and their next came under manager Joe McCarthy in 1932. New York set a league record by winning five consecutive championships from 1949 to 1953. Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford were among the players fielded by the Yankees during the era, George Steinbrenner bought the club in 1973 and regularly invested in new talent, using free agency to acquire top players. Yankee Stadium was renovated and reopened in 1976 as the home of a more competitive Yankees team, despite clubhouse disputes, the team reached the World Series four times between 1976 and 1981 and claimed the championship in 1977 and 1978. New York continued to pursue their strategy of signing free agents into the 1980s, but with success. In the early 1990s, the team began to improve as their roster was rebuilt around young players from their league system, including Derek Jeter. After earning a berth in 1995, the Yankees won four of the next five World Series. New York regularly reached the postseason, but were defeated in the first two rounds. In 2009, the Yankees opened a new Yankee Stadium and won the World Series for the 27th time in team history, the furthest the Yankees have gone in the postseason since then is the ALCS, in 2010 and 2012. At the end of the 1900 baseball season, the Western League was positioned by its president, Ban Johnson, the league was reorganized and renamed the American League, and eight cities fielded teams in the 1901 season. A Baltimore team had played in the NL through the 1899 season, Baltimore was one of three former NL cities where the AL placed teams in an effort to reach underserved fans. The new Orioles first manager was John McGraw, who had held the position for the previous Baltimore team in 1899. In 1901, their first season, the Orioles had a 68–65 win–loss record, during the season, there were numerous disputes between Johnson and McGraw over disciplinary issues, which continued into the following year. Rumors began to spread that Johnson was interested in relocating the team to New York City, McGraw left the Orioles and joined the New York Giants as their manager, he transferred his interest in the Baltimore team to the Giants as part of the deal
11.
New York Yankees
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The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
12.
History of the Boston Braves
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The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, the Boston Franchise played at South End Grounds from 1871 to 1914 and at Braves Field from 1915 to 1952. Braves Field is now Nickerson Field of Boston University, the franchise, from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta, is the oldest continuous professional baseball franchise. The Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, the original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years, pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes. Led by the Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, the team became one of the National Leagues charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the Red Caps. Boston came to be called the Beaneaters by sportswriters in 1883, although somewhat stripped of talent in the National Leagues inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the dominant teams during the 19th century. For most of time, their manager was Frank Selee. The 1898 team finished 102-47, a record for wins that would stand for almost a century. The team was decimated when the American Leagues new Boston entry set up shop in 1901, many of the Beaneaters stars jumped to the new team, which offered contracts that the Beaneaters owners didnt even bother to match. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913, in 1907, the Beaneaters eliminated the last bit of red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to become infected. The American League clubs owner, Charles Taylor, wasted time in changing his teams name to the Red Sox in place of the generic Americans. The all-white outfits gave rise to the sobriquet Doves in 1907, however, clever monikers did nothing to change the National League clubs luck. The team adopted a name, the Braves, for the first time in 1912. Their owner, James Gaffney, was a member of New York Citys political machine, Tammany Hall, two years later, the Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4-18 start, the Braves seemed to be on pace for a last place finish, on July 4,1914, the Braves lost both games of a doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The consecutive losses put their record at 26-40 and the Braves were in last place,15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants, who had won the previous three league pennants
13.
Milwaukee
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Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin and the fifth-largest city in the Midwestern United States. The county seat of Milwaukee County, it is on Lake Michigans western shore, Milwaukees estimated population in 2015 was 600,155. Milwaukee is the cultural and economic center of the Milwaukee–Racine–Waukesha Metropolitan Area with an estimated population of 2,046,692 as of 2015. Ranked by estimated 2014 population, Milwaukee is the 31st largest city in the United States, the first Europeans to pass through the area were French Catholic missionaries and fur traders. In 1818, the French Canadian explorer Solomon Juneau settled in the area, large numbers of German immigrants helped increase the citys population during the 1840s, with Poles and other immigrants arriving in the following decades. Known for its traditions, Milwaukee is currently experiencing its largest construction boom since the 1960s. In addition, many new skyscrapers, condos, lofts and apartments have been built in neighborhoods on and near the lakefront, the word Milwaukee may come from the Potawatomi language minwaking, or Ojibwe language ominowakiing, Gathering place. The first recorded inhabitants of the Milwaukee area are the Menominee, Fox, Mascouten, Sauk, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, many of these people had lived around Green Bay before migrating to the Milwaukee area around the time of European contact. In the second half of the 18th century, the Indians at Milwaukee played a role in all the wars on the American continent. During the French and Indian War, a group of Ojibwas, in the American Revolutionary War, the Indians around Milwaukee were some of the few Indians who remained loyal to the American cause throughout the Revolution. After American independence, the Indians fought the United States in the Northwest Indian War as part of the Council of Three Fires, during the War of 1812, Indians held a council in Milwaukee in June 1812, which resulted in their decision to attack Chicago. This resulted in the Battle of Fort Dearborn on August 15,1812, the War of 1812 did not end well for the Indians, and after the Black Hawk War in 1832, the Indians in Milwaukee signed their final treaty with the United States in Chicago in 1833. This paved the way for American settlement, Europeans had arrived in the Milwaukee area prior to the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. French missionaries and traders first passed through the area in the late 17th and 18th centuries, alexis Laframboise, in 1785, coming from Michilimackinac settled a trading post, therefore, he is the first European descent resident of the Milwaukee region. Early explorers called the Milwaukee River and surrounding lands various names, Melleorki, Milwacky, Mahn-a-waukie, Milwarck, for many years, printed records gave the name as Milwaukie. One story of Milwaukees name says, ne day during the thirties of the last century a newspaper calmly changed the name to Milwaukee, the spelling Milwaukie lives on in Milwaukie, Oregon, named after the Wisconsin city in 1847, before the current spelling was universally accepted. Milwaukee has three founding fathers, Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn, and George H. Walker, Solomon Juneau was the first of the three to come to the area, in 1818. He was not the first European settler but founded a town called Juneaus Side, or Juneautown, in competition with Juneau, Byron Kilbourn established Kilbourntown west of the Milwaukee River and made sure the streets running toward the river did not join with those on the east side
14.
World Series
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The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League champion team and the National League champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a playoff. As the series is played in October, during the season in North America. As of 2016, the World Series has been contested 112 times, with the AL winning 64, the 2016 World Series took place between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs. Seven games were played, with the Cubs victorious after game seven, the final score was 8–7, the game went into extra innings after a tied score of 6–6. This was the third World Series won by the Cubs, as well as their first title since 1908, in the National League, the St. As of 2016, no team has won consecutive World Series championships since the New York Yankees in 1998,1999, all championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. From 1884 to 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These series were disorganized in comparison to the modern World Series, the number of games played ranged from as few as three in 1884, to a high of fifteen in 1887. Both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game, the series was promoted and referred to as The Championship of the United States, Worlds Championship Series, or Worlds Series for short. In his book Krakatoa, The Day the World Exploded, August 27,1883, Simon Winchester mentions in passing that the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper, but this view is disputed. Until about 1960, some sources treated the 19th-century Series on a basis with the post-19th-century series. After about 1930, however, many authorities list the start of the World Series in 1903, following the collapse of the American Association after the 1891 season, the National League was again the only major league. The league championship was awarded in 1892 by a playoff between half-season champions and this scheme was abandoned after one season. Beginning in 1893—and continuing until divisional play was introduced in 1969—the pennant was awarded to the club in the standings at the end of the season. For four seasons, 1894–1897, the league played the runners-up in the post season championship series called the Temple Cup. A second attempt at this format was the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup series, in 1901, the American League was formed as a second major league. No championship series were played in 1901 or 1902 as the National and these series were arranged by the participating clubs, as the 1880s Worlds Series matches had been
15.
American League
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The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League, is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a league based in the Great Lakes states. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season,25 years after the formation of the National League. At the end of season, the American League champion plays in the World Series against the National League champion. Through 2016, American League teams have won 64 of the 112 World Series played since 1903, the 2016 American League champions are the Cleveland Indians. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League titles, the most in the history, followed by the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics. Originally a minor league known as the Western League, the American League later developed into a major league after the American Association disbanded, in its early history, the Western League struggled until 1894, when Ban Johnson became the president of the league. Johnson led the Western League into major league status and soon became the president of the newly renamed American League, babe Ruth, noted as one of the most prolific hitters in Major League Baseball history, spent the majority of his career in the American League. The American League has one notable difference versus the National League, in 1902, the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis and were renamed the St. Louis Browns. In 1902, The Cleveland Bluebirds were also renamed the Cleveland Broncos, in 1903, the Broncos were renamed the Cleveland Naps. In 1915, the Naps were renamed the Cleveland Indians, in 1903, the Baltimore Orioles moved to New York and were renamed the New York Highlanders. In 1913, the Highlanders were renamed the New York Yankees, in 1904, the Chicago White Stockings were renamed the Chicago White Sox. In 1908, the Boston Americans were renamed the Boston Red Sox, in 1954, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and were renamed as the Baltimore Orioles. In 1955, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City and were renamed as the Kansas City Athletics, in 1961, the league expanded and added two teams as the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators, expanding the league to 10 teams. The original Senators team moved to Minneapolis/St, Paul in 1961 and were renamed as the Minnesota Twins. The Angels team name changed to the California Angels in 1966, then to the Anaheim Angels in 1997, the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots were added to the American League, expanding the league to 12 teams. In 1970, the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and were renamed the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1972, the Washington Senators relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and were renamed the Texas Rangers. In 1977, the league expanded to fourteen teams, when the Seattle Mariners, in 1998, the Tampa Bay Rays was added to the American League and at the same time, the Milwaukee Brewers were switched to the National League, leaving the American League with 14 teams
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History of the Philadelphia Athletics
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The Oakland Athletics, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Philadelphia. This article details the history of the Philadelphia Athletics, from 1901 to 1954, see also, Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame The Western League had been renamed the American League in 1900 by league president Bancroft Johnson, and declared itself the second major league in 1901. Johnson created new franchises in the east and eliminated some franchises in the West, Philadelphia had a new franchise created to compete with the National Leagues Philadelphia Phillies. Former catcher Connie Mack was recruited to manage the club, Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner Ben Shibe as well as others to invest in the team, which would be called the Philadelphia Athletics. Mack himself bought a 25% interest, while the remaining 25% was sold to Philadelphia sportswriters Sam Jones, the new league recruited many of its players from the existing National League, persuading them to jump to the American League in defiance of their National League contracts. One of the players who jumped to the new league was second baseman Nap Lajoie and he won the A. L. s first batting title with a.426 batting average, still a league record. The Athletics and the American League received a setback when, on April 21,1902, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court invalidated Lajoies contract with the Athletics and this order, though, was only enforceable in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Lajoie was sold to Cleveland, but was out of road games in Philadelphia until the National Agreement was signed between the two leagues in 1903. In the early years, the As established themselves as one of the dominant teams in the new league, winning the A. L. pennant six times and they won over 100 games in 1910 and 1911, and 99 games in 1914. The team was known for its $100,000 Infield, consisting of Stuffy McInnis, Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, Rube Waddell was also a major pitching star for the As in the early 1900s. According to Lamont Buchanan in The World Series and Highlights of Baseball, Plank holds the franchise record for career victories, with 284. In 1909, the As moved into the leagues first concrete-and-steel ballpark. This remains the second and last time in history where a new ballpark was built specifically for the As. Later in the decade, Mack bought the 25% of the stock owned by Jones. Shibe ceded Mack full control over the side while retaining control over the business side. In 1914, the Athletics lost the 1914 World Series to the Miracle Braves in a four-game sweep, Mack traded, sold or released most of the teams star players soon after. In his book To Every Thing a Season, Bruce Kuklick points out there were suspicions that the As had thrown the Series, or at least laid down. Mack himself alluded to that years later, but debunked it
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Cleveland Indians
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The Cleveland Indians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. Since 1994, they have played at Progressive Field, the teams spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The Indians current World Series championship drought is the longest active drought, the name Indians originated from a request by club owner Charles Somers to baseball writers to choose a new name to replace Cleveland Naps following the departure of Nap Lajoie after the 1914 season. The name referenced the nickname Indians that was applied to the Cleveland Spiders baseball club during the time when Louis Sockalexis, common nicknames for the Indians include the Tribe and the Wahoos, the latter being a reference to their logo, Chief Wahoo, a controversial Native American caricature. The teams mascot is named Slider, the franchise originated in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers, a minor league team in the Western League. The team moved to Cleveland in 1900 and changed its name to the Cleveland Lake Shores, one of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the major league incarnation of the club was founded in Cleveland in 1901. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds, the played in League Park until moving permanently to Cleveland Stadium in 1946. At the end of the 2016 season, they had a regular season record of 9. In 1857 baseball games were a spectacle in Clevelands Public Squares. City authorities tried to find an ordinance forbidding it, to the joy of the crowd, – Harold Seymour 1865–1868 Forest Citys of Cleveland 1869–1872 Forest Citys of Cleveland From 1865 to 1868 Forest Citys was an amateur ball club. During the 1869 season, Cleveland was among several cities which established professional baseball teams following the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional team. In the newspapers before and after 1870, the team was called the Forest Citys. In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, ultimately, two of the leagues western clubs went out of business during the first season and the Chicago Fire left that citys White Stockings impoverished, unable to field a team again until 1874. Cleveland was thus the NAs westernmost outpost in 1872, the year the club folded, Cleveland played their full schedule to July 19 followed by two games versus Boston in mid-August and disbanded at the end of the season. 1879–1881 Cleveland Forest Citys 1882–1884 Cleveland Blues In 1876, the National League supplanted the NA as the professional league. Cleveland were not among its members, but by 1879 the league was looking for new entries. The Cleveland Forest Citys baseball team was then re-created, the National League required distinct colors for the 1882 season, so the Cleveland Forest Citys became the Cleveland Blues
18.
Detroit Tigers
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The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. One of the ALs eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in 1901 and they are the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the AL. The Tigers have won four World Series championships,11 AL pennants, the Tigers also won division titles in 1972,1984 and 1987 while members of the AL East. The team currently plays its games at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit. The Tigers constructed Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue in Corktown, in 1912, the team moved into Navin Field, which was built on the same location. It was expanded in 1938 and renamed Briggs Stadium and it was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961 and the Tigers played there until moving to Comerica Park in 2000. The club is a member of the American League, one of four clubs still located in its original city. It was established as a member in 1901. The Tigers played their first game as a league team at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 25,1901. After entering the ninth inning behind 13–4, the team staged a comeback to win 14–13. The team finished third in the eight-team league,11 years later, an elegant stadium was constructed on the site of Bennett Park and named Navin Field for owner Frank Navin. In 1938, it was improved and named Briggs Stadium, and was subsequently renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961, Tiger Stadium was used by the Tigers until the end of the 1999 season. Since 2000, they have played in Comerica Park, there are various legends about how the Tigers got their nickname. One involves the orange stripes they wore on their black stockings, Tigers manager George Stallings took credit for the name, however, the name appeared in newspapers before Stallings was manager. Another legend concerns a sportswriter equating the 1901 teams opening day victory with the ferocity of his alma mater and they had played significant roles in certain Civil War battles and in the 1898 Spanish–American War. The baseball team was informally called both Wolverines and Tigers in the news. The earliest known use of the name Tigers in the media was in the Detroit Free Press on April 16,1895, upon entry into the majors, the ballclub sought and received formal permission from the Light Guard to use its trademark
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History of the St. Louis Browns
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This article covers the franchises history in St. Louis, which began when the team moved from Milwaukee after the 1901 season and ended with the teams move to Baltimore after the 1953 season. As of April 6,2017, there are only 14 living former St. Louis Browns players, in the late 19th century, the team existed as the Milwaukee Brewers in the Western League. For the 1900 season, the Western League was renamed to American League, Johnson had originally intended to move the Milwaukee Brewers to St. Louis. When he couldnt find an owner, he was forced to operate the team in Milwaukee for a lame-duck season in 1901. Hedges built a new park on the site of the old Browns former home, in their first St. Louis season, the Browns finished second. Although the Browns had only four winning seasons from 1902 to 1922, in 1909, the Browns rebuilt Sportsmans Park as the third concrete-and-steel park in the majors. During this time, the Browns were best known for their role in the race for the 1910 American League batting title. Ty Cobb took the last game of the season off, believing that his lead over Nap Lajoie, of the Cleveland Naps. Browns manager Jack OConnor had ordered rookie third baseman Red Corriden to play on the outfield grass and this all but conceded a hit for any ball Lajoie bunted. Lajoie bunted five straight times down the base line and made it to first easily. On his last at-bat, Lajoie reached base on an error – officially giving him a hitless at-bat, OConnor and coach Harry Howell tried to bribe the official scorer, a woman, to change the call to a hit – even offering to buy her a new wardrobe. Cobb won the title by just a few thousandths of a point over Lajoie. After news broke of the scandal, a writer for the St. Louis Post claimed, All St. Louis is up in arms over the spectacle, conceived in stupidity. The resulting outcry triggered an investigation by American League president Ban Johnson, at his insistence, Hedges fired OConnor and Howell, both men were informally banned from baseball for life. In 1916, Hedges sold the Browns to Philip DeCatesby Ball, Balls early tenure saw the clubs first real sustained period of success on the field, they were a contender for most of the early 1920s. This was fueled by Balls free spending to put a winner of the field, however, Ball made a series of blunders that would ultimately doom the franchise. Shortly after buying the team, he fired general manager Branch Rickey, four years later, Ball allowed the Cardinals to move out of dilapidated Robison Field and share Sportsmans Park with the Browns. Rickey and Cardinals owner Sam Breadon used the proceeds from the Robison Field sale to build baseballs first modern farm system and this effort eventually produced several star players that brought the Cardinals more drawing power than the Browns
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Chicago White Sox
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The Chicago White Sox is an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. The White Sox play their games at Guaranteed Rate Field. They are one of two league clubs in Chicago, the other is the Chicago Cubs, who are a member of the National League Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf. One of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the Chicago team was established as a major baseball club in 1900. The club was called the Chicago White Stockings, but this was soon shortened to Chicago White Sox. The team played games at South Side Park before, in 1910. The White Sox won the 1906 World Series with a team dubbed the Hitless Wonders, and the 1917 World Series led by Eddie Cicotte, Eddie Collins. The 1919 World Series was marred by the Black Sox Scandal, in response, Major League Baseballs new Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned the players from Major League Baseball for life. In 1959, led by Early Wynn, Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio and manager Al Lopez and they won the AL pennant in 2005, and went on to win the World Series. The White Sox originated as the Sioux City Cornhuskers of the Western League, in 1894, Charles Comiskey bought the Cornhuskers and moved them to St. Paul, Minnesota, where they became the St. Paul Saints. In 1901, the Western League broke the National Agreement and became the new major league American League, the very first season in the American League ended with a White Stockings championship. However, that would be the end of the season as the World Series did not begin until 1903, the franchise, now known as the Chicago White Sox, made its first World Series appearance in 1906, beating the crosstown Cubs in six games. The White Sox would win a pennant and second World Series in 1917, beating the New York Giants in six games with help from stars Eddie Cicotte. The Sox were heavily favored in the 1919 World Series, huge bets on the Reds fueled speculation that the series had been fixed. This set the franchise back, as they did not win another pennant for 40 years. The White Sox did not finish in the half of the American League again until after club founder Charles Comiskey died and passed ownership of the club to his son
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National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
22.
History of the New York Giants (baseball)
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The San Francisco Giants existed in the New York metropolitan area from 1883–1957. Prior to the start of the 1958 season, the moved to San Francisco, California. During the clubs tenure in New York, it won five of the franchises eight World Series wins and 17 of its 24 National League pennants, for most of that time, the Giants played home games in the Polo Grounds in the Upper Manhattan region of New York City. The Giants had intense rivalries with their rivals, the New York Yankees. The New York-Brooklyn rivalry soon evolved into the Los Angeles-San Francisco rivalry, numerous inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame played for the New York Giants, including John McGraw, Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, and Travis Jackson. The Giants began as the baseball club founded by millionaire tobacconist John B. Day and veteran amateur baseball player Jim Mutrie, the Gothams, as the Giants were originally known, entered the National League in 1883, while their other club, the Metropolitans played in the American Association. Nearly half of the original Gotham players were members of the disbanded Troy Trojans, louis Browns in an early incarnation of the World Series. They repeated as champions the year with a pennant and World Series victory over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. It is said that one particularly satisfying victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie stormed into the dressing room and exclaimed. From then on, the club was known as the Giants, the Giants original home stadium, the Polo Grounds, also dates from this early era. It was originally located north of Central Park adjacent to Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets, the Giants were a powerhouse in the late 1880s, winning their first two National League Pennants and World Championships in 1888 &1889. But nearly all of the Giants stars jumped to the upstart Players League, whose New York franchise was named the Giants. The new team built a stadium next door to the Polo Grounds. With a decimated roster, the NL Giants finished a distant sixth, attendance took a nosedive, and the financial strain affected Days tobacco business as well. The Players League dissolved after the season, and Day sold a minority interest in his NL Giants to the defunct PL Giants principal backer, as a condition of the sale, Day had to fire Mutrie as manager. Although the Giants rebounded to third in 1891, Day was forced to sell a controlling interest to Talcott at the end of the season. Four years later, Talcott sold the Giants to Andrew Freedman, when Freedman offered Rusie only $2,500 for 1896, the disgruntled hurler sat out the entire season
23.
Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. The team plays its games at Wrigley Field, located on the citys North Side. The Cubs are one of two league teams in Chicago, the other, the Chicago White Sox, is a member of the American League Central division. The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, was a member of the NL in 1876. The Cubs have appeared in a total of eleven World Series, the 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of.763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox by four games to two. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, the 108-year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major North American sports. Since the start of play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason eight times through the 2016 season. The Cubs are known as the North Siders, a reference to the location of Wrigley Field within the city of Chicago, there is a divisional rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals and also a newer rivalry with the Milwaukee Brewers. There is also a rivalry with the White Sox. The Cubs began play in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, joining the National League as a charter member. Owner William Hulbert signed multiple star players, such as pitcher Albert Spalding and infielders Ross Barnes, Deacon White, the White Stockings played their home games at West Side Grounds and quickly established themselves as one of the new leagues top teams. Spalding won forty-seven games and Barnes led the league in hitting at.429 as Chicago won the first ever National League pennant, which at the time was the games top prize. After back-to-back pennants in 1880 and 1881, Hulbert died, and Spalding, the White Stockings, with Anson acting as player-manager, captured their third consecutive pennant in 1882, and Anson established himself as the games first true superstar. In 1885 and 86, after winning N. L. pennants, both seasons resulted in match ups with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, with the clubs tying in 1885 and with St. Louis winning in 1886. This was the genesis of what would become one of the greatest rivalries in sports. In all, the Anson-led Chicago Base Ball Club won six National League pennants between 1876 and 1886. As a result, Chicagos club nickname transitioned, and by 1890 they had known as the Chicago Colts, or sometimes Ansons Colts
24.
Cincinnati Reds
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The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. They were a member of the American Association in 1882. The Reds played in the NL West division from 1969 to 1993 and they have won five World Series titles, nine NL pennants, one AA pennant, and 10 division titles. The team plays its games at Great American Ball Park. Bob Castellini has been executive officer since 2006. The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds can be traced to the expulsion of a team bearing that name. Both were important activities to entice the citys large German population, while Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was actually against league rules in those early years. On October 6,1880, however, seven of the eight team owners pledged at a league meeting to formally ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting that December. Only Cincinnati president W. H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, when these attempts failed, he formed a new independent ballclub known as the Red Stockings in the Spring of 1881, and brought the team to St. Louis for a weekend exhibition. The Reds first game was a 12–3 victory over the St. Louis club, upon arriving in the city, however, Caylor and Thorner discovered that no other owners had decided to accept the invitation, with even Phillips not bothering to attend his own meeting. By chance, the duo met a former pitcher named Al Pratt, the ploy worked, and the American Association was officially formed at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati with the new Reds a charter member with Thorner as president. The club never placed higher than second or lower than fifth for the rest of its tenure in the American Association, the National League was happy to accept the teams in part due to the emergence of the new Players League. This new league, a failed attempt to break the reserve clause in baseball. Because the National League decided to expand while the American Association was weakening and it was also at this time that the team first shortened their name from Red Stockings to Reds. The Reds wandered through the 1890s signing local stars and aging veterans, during this time, the team never finished above third place and never closer than 10½ games. At the start of the 20th century, the Reds had hitting stars Sam Crawford, seymours.377 average in 1905 was the first individual batting crown won by a Red. In 1911, Bob Bescher stole 81 bases, which is still a team record, like the previous decade, the 1900s were not kind to the Reds, as much of the decade was spent in the leagues second division
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History of the Brooklyn Dodgers
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The teams name derived from the reputed skill of Brooklyn residents at evading the citys trolley streetcar network. The team is noted for signing Jackie Robinson in 1947 as the first black player in the major leagues. Brooklyn was home to numerous clubs in the mid-1850s. Eight of 16 participants in the first convention were from Brooklyn, including the Atlantic, Eckford, Brooklyn helped make baseball commercial, as the locale of the first paid admission games, a series of three all star contests matching New York and Brooklyn in 1858. The Excelsiors no longer challenged for the championship after the Civil War. The Eckfords and Atlantics declined to join until 1872 and thereby lost their best players, the Eckfords survived only one season and the Atlantics four, with losing teams. When the Mutuals were expelled by the league, the Hartford Dark Blues club moved in, changed its name to The Brooklyn Hartfords and played its home games at Union Grounds in 1877 before disbanding. Byrne arranged to build a grandstand on a lot bounded by Third Street, Fourth Avenue, Fifth Street, and Fifth Avenue, the Grays played in the minor Inter-State Association of Professional Baseball Clubs that first season. Doyle became the first team manager, and they drew 6,431 fans to their first home game on May 12,1883 against the Trenton team. The Grays won the title after the Camden Merritt club disbanded on July 20. The Grays were invited to join the American Association for the 1884 season and they lost the 1889 World Series to the New York Giants and tied the 1890 World Series with the Louisville Colonels. Their success during this period was partly attributed to their having absorbed skilled players from the defunct New York Metropolitans, in 1899, the Grays merged with the Baltimore Orioles, as Baltimore manager Ned Hanlon became the clubs new manager and Charles Ebbets became the primary team owner. The team name, Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, was coined in 1895, the nickname was still new enough in September 1895 that a newspaper could report that Trolley Dodgers is the new name which eastern baseball cranks have given the Brooklyn club. Some sources erroneously report that the name Trolley Dodgers referred to pedestrians avoiding fast cars on street car tracks that bordered Eastern Park on two sides, however, Eastern Park was not bordered by street-level trolley lines that had to be dodged by pedestrians. The name was shortened to Brooklyn Dodgers. Other team names used by the franchise that finally came to be called the Dodgers were the Grooms, the Bridegrooms, Wards Wonders, the Superbas, and the Robins. All of these nicknames were used by fans and newspaper sports writers to describe the team, the teams legal name was the Brooklyn Base Ball Club. However, the Trolley Dodgers nickname was used throughout this period, along with nicknames, by fans
26.
Philadelphia Phillies
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The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball franchise based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, the Phillies compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the National League East division. Since 2004, the home has been Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies have won two World Series championships and seven National League pennants, the first of which came in 1915, the franchise has also experienced long periods of struggle. The 77 season drought is the fourth longest World Series drought in Major League Baseball history, the longevity of the franchise and its history of adversity have earned it the dubious distinction of having lost the most games of any team in the history of American professional sports. Despite the teams lack of success historically, they are one of the more successful franchises since the start of the Divisional Era in Major League Baseball. The Phillies have won their division 11 times, which ranks 6th among all teams and 4th in the National League, the franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, replacing the team from Worcester, Massachusetts in the National League. The teams spring training facilities are located in Clearwater, Florida and its Double-A affiliate is the Reading Fightin Phils, which plays in Reading, Pennsylvania, and its Triple-A affiliate is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, which plays in Allentown, Pennsylvania. After being founded in 1883 as the Quakers, the changed its name to the Philadelphias. This was soon shortened to Phillies, Quakers continued to be used interchangeably with Phillies from 1883 until 1890, when the team officially became known as the Phillies. Player defections to the newly formed American League, especially to the cross-town Philadelphia Athletics, poor fiscal management after their appearance in the 1915 World Series, however, doomed the Phillies to sink back into relative obscurity, from 1918 to 1948 they only had one winning season. Though Chuck Klein won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1932 and the National League Triple Crown in 1933, after lumber baron William B. Cox purchased the team in 1943, the Phillies rose out of the standings cellar for the first time in five years. As a result, the fan base and attendance at home games increased, but it soon became clear that not all was right in Coxs front office. Eventually Cox revealed that he had been betting on the Phillies, the new owner, Bob Carpenter, Jr. scion of the Delaware-based DuPont family, tried to polish the teams image by unofficially changing its name to the Bluejays. However, the new moniker did not take, and it was dropped by 1949. This led to the advent of the Whiz Kids, led by a lineup of players developed by the Phillies farm system that included future Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn. In contrast, the Philadelphia Athletics finished last in 1950 and long-time manager Connie Mack retired, the team struggled on for four more years with only one winning season before abandoning Philadelphia under the Johnson brothers, who bought out Mack. They began play in Kansas City in 1955, as part of the deal selling that team to the Johnson brothers, the Phillies bought Shibe Park, where both teams had played since 1938
27.
St. Louis Cardinals
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The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. Busch Stadium has been their home ballpark since 2006, with origins as one of the early professional baseball clubs in St. Upon the discontinuation of the AA, St. Louis joined the NL in 1892, at time, they were called the Browns. One of the most successful franchises in history, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships. Their 19 National League pennants rank third in NL history, in addition, St. Louis has won 13 division titles in the East and Central divisions. While still in the AA, St. Louis won four league championships, the Cardinals have won 105 or more games in four different seasons and won 100 or more a total of nine times. Cardinals players have won 20 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards. Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, and Bruce Sutter. In 2016, Forbes valued the Cardinals at $1.6 billion, making them the 7th-most valuable franchise in MLB, their revenue the year was $300 million. Since their purchase in 1995, owner William DeWitt, Jr. s investment group has seen enormous growth from the $147 million purchase price, John Mozeliak is the general manager and Mike Matheny is the manager. Professional baseball began in St. Louis with the inception of the Brown Stockings in the National Association in 1875, the NA folded following that season, and the next season, St. Louis joined the National League as a charter member, finishing in third place at 45-19. George Bradley hurled the first no-hitter in Major League history, the NL expelled St. Louis from the league after 1877 due to a game-fixing scandal and the team went bankrupt. Without a league, they continued play as a barnstorming team through 1881. For the 1882 season, Chris von der Ahe purchased the team, reorganized it, and made it a member of the American Association. 1882 is generally considered to be the first year existence of the St. Louis Cardinals, the next season, St. Louis shortened their name to the Browns. Soon thereafter they became the dominant team in the AA, as manager Charlie Comiskey guided St. Louis to four pennants in a row from 1885 to 1888. Pitcher and outfielder Bob Caruthers led the league in ERA and wins in 1885 and he also led the AA in OBP and OPS in 1886 and finished fourth in batting average in 1886 and fifth in 1887
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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
29.
Socks Seybold
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Ralph Orlando Socks Seybold was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played over parts of nine seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, known as a power hitter, Seybold set the American League record for home runs in 1902, which would not be broken until 1919. He stood at 5 ft 11 in and weighed 200 lbs, Seybold was born in Washingtonville, Ohio. He started his baseball career in 1892, and over the next few years he played in the Pennsylvania State League. In 1896, he had a season, hitting.352 at Lancaster. Seybold led the Atlantic League in homers again in 1898 and was leading in 1899 when he was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds, Seybold made his major league debut on August 20. He did not hit well in Cincinnati, and returned to the minors in 1900 and he led the American League in home runs, with 9. Seybold then got his shot in the majors in 1901, with the Philadelphia Athletics. That season, he hit.334 and had a 27-game hitting streak in July, in 1902, Seybold batted.316 and set career-highs in home runs, with 16, and runs batted in, with 97. The home run led the league and stood as the AL record until Babe Ruth broke it in 1919. The Athletics also won the pennant, in 1903, Seybolds batting average dipped below.300, however, his OPS+ stayed at exactly 138, and he ripped a league-leading 45 doubles. Seybold continued his solid hitting from 1904 to 1907, in 1905, he played in his only World Series, which the Athletics lost to the New York Giants, Seybold went 2 for 16 at the plate. In 1908, Seybold tore some ligaments in his leg sliding into home in a game at New Orleans. He left the team in June 1908 saying, I feel that I cannot do myself justice, I have decided to quit for the season. He later returned to the team, but struggled the rest of the year and he played his last major league game on October 7,1908. In December 1908, Philadelphia manager Connie Mack announced that he was releasing Seybold, Seybold then played and coached in several minor league and industrial teams for a few years. In January 1909, he signed a contract to play for the Toledo Mud Hens, from 1910 to 1911, he coached industrial teams in Jeanette. On April 4,1912, he signed with the Richmond Rebels of the United States Baseball League and his baseball career ended with the demise of the league in June
30.
Oakland Athletics
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The Oakland Athletics are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League West division. The club plays its games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The club has won nine World Series championships, the third most of all current Major League Baseball teams, the Athletics 2017 season will be the teams 50th season in Oakland. One of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Philadelphia and they won three World Series championships from 1910 to 1913 and two in a row in 1929 and 1930. The teams owner and manager for its first 50 years was Connie Mack and Hall of Fame players included Chief Bender, Frank Home Run Baker, Jimmie Foxx, the team left Philadelphia for Kansas City in 1955 and became the Kansas City Athletics before moving to Oakland in 1968. They won three World Championships in a row from 1972 to 1974, led by players including Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, ace reliever Rollie Fingers, after being sold by Finley to Walter A. Haas, Jr. The film Moneyball, and the book on which it is based, the As made their Bay Area debut on Wednesday, April 17,1968, with a 4-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at the Coliseum, in front of an opening-night crowd of 50,164. The Athletics name originated in the term Athletic Club for local gentlemens clubs—dates to 1860 when an amateur team, the team later turned professional through 1875, becoming a charter member of the National League in 1876, but were expelled from the N. L. after one season. A later version of the Athletics played in the American Association from 1882–1891, McGraw and Mack had known each other for years, and McGraw accepted it graciously. By 1909, the As were wearing an elephant logo on their sweaters, over the years the elephant has appeared in several different colors. In 1963, when the As were located in Kansas City and this is rumored to have been done by Finley in order to appeal to fans from the region who were predominantly Democrats at the time. Since 1988, the Athletics 21st season in Oakland, an illustration of an elephant has adorned the sleeve of the As home. Beginning in the mid 1980s, the on-field costumed incarnation of the As elephant mascot went by the name Harry Elephante, in 1997, he took his current form, Stomper. Through the seasons, the Athletics uniforms have usually paid homage to their forebears to some extent. Until 1954, when the uniforms had Athletics spelled out in script across the front, furthermore, neither Philadelphia nor the letter P ever appeared on the uniform or cap. The typical Philadelphia uniform had only a script A on the left front, in the early days of the American League, the standings listed the club as Athletic rather than Philadelphia, in keeping with the old tradition. Eventually, the city came to be used for the team
31.
Sam Crawford
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Samuel Earl Sam Crawford, nicknamed Wahoo Sam, was a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers from 1899 to 1917. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957, Crawford batted and threw left-handed, stood 6 ft 0 in tall and weighed 190 pounds. He was one of the greatest sluggers of the era and still holds the Major League records for triples in a career. He has the second best all-time record for most inside-the-park home runs in a career and he finished his career with 2,961 hits and a.309 batting average, and became the first player to lead both American League and the National League in home runs. One of his contemporaries, Fielder Jones, said of Crawford and he stands up at the plate like a brick house and he hits all the pitchers, without playing favorites. Crawford was among the American League leaders in hits, RBI, extra base hits, slugging percentage and total bases for 11 consecutive years, Crawford was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, in 1880, the son of Stephen O. Crawford and Nellie Crawford. In 1901, he married Ada M. Lattin, born circa 1881 in Nebraska and he was listed as a ballplayer in 1910, and had one daughter, Virginia, born circa 1905 in Michigan. Various ship records confirm his birthdate and that of wife Ada, as of the 1920 U. S. census, he was living in Los Angeles, with wife Ada and daughter Virginia, and a new addition, Samuel, born ~1918 in California. In 1898, he joined a traveling team in Wahoo. They traveled on a wagon from town to town for weeks at a time, challenging the locals to baseball games. Crawford was offered an opportunity in the spring of 1899 to play for the Chatham Reds of the Canadian League for $65 per month, Crawford seized the opportunity and left behind his job as a barbers apprentice. From Chatham, Crawford moved on to play for the Grand Rapids Prodigals in the Western League, in September 1899, Grand Rapids sold Crawford to the Cincinnati Reds. Crawford played in 31 games for the Reds at the end of the 1899 season, at age 19, and one year removed from his days playing for Wahoos traveling team, Crawford was playing in the major leagues with future Hall of Famers Jake Beckley and Bid McPhee. Crawford hit.307 in 31 games with the Reds in 1899, in 1900, at age 20, Crawford played in 101 games and was among the National League leaders in triples with 15 and home runs with seven. Crawford proved to be one of the best sluggers in baseball in 1901, batting.330, Crawford was also third in the National League in triples, RBIs and slugging percentage. Crawford had another year in 1902, leading the National League in total bases and triples. Crawford hit 12 inside-the-park home runs in 1901 – a major league record that has never been equaled, at the end of 1902, a bidding war for players developed between the National and American Leagues. Crawford signed contracts with both the Reds and the Detroit Tigers, the competing contracts led to a publicized legal dispute, with a judge ultimately awarding Crawford to the Tigers but requiring $3,000 in compensation to the Reds
32.
Buck Freeman
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John Frank Buck Freeman was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball at the turn of the 20th century. Freeman was one of the top sluggers of his era, his most famous feat being the 25 home runs he hit during the 1899 season, a native of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, Freeman showed talent as a pitcher from a young age. He made his league debut as a left-handed starter with the Washington Statesmen on June 27,1891. Freeman played in a four games during the season, finishing up with a 3-2 record. Following the 1891 seasons conclusion he did not play in the majors again for seven years and he played in the Eastern League with Toronto from 1896 to 1898 and returned to the Washington roster midway through the 1898 season. During the intervening time Freeman had bulked out and had begun to show real skill with the bat, in light of this the Senators decided to retrain Freeman as a right fielder, believing that he would be even more useful with the bat than he was with the ball. Albeit with only 107 at bats, he recorded a.364 batting average, following his strong showing with the bat, he was named as the Senators first-choice right fielder for the following season. The 25 home runs that Freeman recorded in 1899 were truly remarkable by the standards of the time, Freemans tally was not surpassed until 1919, when Babe Ruth scored 29 home runs with the Boston Red Sox. Following the disbandment of the Washington Senators at the end of the 1899 season and his offensive numbers for the season were well down on the year before, with him hitting 6 home runs and recording 66 runs batted in. At the end of the season he and teammate Jimmy Collins moved across town to the Boston Americans, the 1901 season was something of a return to form, he finished second overall in home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage, finishing behind Nap Lajoie in all categories. In 1902 Freeman returned to playing as a fielder, which was his better position. On June 21, he hit for the cycle, the first Red Sox player to do so, in the three years following Bostons World Series success Freemans offense declined sharply. In 1906, he managed a.250 average with one run and 30 RBI. After that, he decided to play for one further season and he went on to finish the season with the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, recording an average of.335 and scoring 18 home runs. Following this successful season he decided to spend a season with the Millers. The 1908 season was Freemans last in professional baseball, in which he managed to score 10 home runs albeit with an average of.218, Freeman died at the age of 77 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
33.
Harry Bay
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Harry Elbert Deerfoot Bay was a professional baseball player who played outfield in the Major Leagues from 1901 to 1908. Bay played for the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Bronchos/Naps and he attended Peoria High School, winning medals in the 1896 and 1897 Illinois High School Association state track and field meets. After retiring from baseball in 1908, he returned to Peoria, became a bandleader at the local Apollo Theater and he later worked for the Peoria fire department and the Illinois Secretary of State
34.
Cy Young
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Denton True Cy Young was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. During his 22-season baseball career, he pitched for five different teams, Young established numerous pitching records, some of which have stood for a century. Young compiled 511 wins, which is most in Major League history and 94 ahead of Walter Johnson, Young was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. One year after Youngs death, the Cy Young Award was created to honor the previous seasons best pitcher, in addition to wins, Young still holds the major league records for most career innings pitched, most career games started, and most complete games. He also retired with 316 losses, the most in MLB history, Youngs 76 career shutouts are fourth all-time. He also won at least 30 games in a five times. In addition, Young pitched three no-hitters, including the perfect game in baseball history, first in baseballs modern era. In 1999,88 years after his major league appearance and 44 years after his death. That same year, baseball fans named him to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, Youngs career started in 1890 with the Cleveland Spiders. After eight years with the Spiders, Young was moved to St. Louis in 1899, after two years there, Young jumped to the newly created American League, joining the Boston franchise. He was traded back to Cleveland in 1909, before spending the two months of his career with the Boston Rustlers. After his retirement, Young went back to his farm in Ohio, Cy Young was the oldest child born to McKinzie Young, Jr. and German American Nancy Mottmiller. The couple had four children, Jesse Carlton, Alonzo, Ella. When the couple married, McKinzies father gave him the 54 acres of land he owned. Young was born in Gilmore, a farming community located in Washington Township, Tuscarawas County. He was christened Denton True Young, Some sources later, and even today, list his middle name erroneously as Tecumseh, apparently as a result of being nicknamed The Chief by teammates. He was raised on one of the farms and went by the name Dent Young in his early years. Young was also known as Farmer Young and Farmboy Young, Young stopped his formal education after he completed the sixth grade so he could help out on the familys farm
35.
Earl Moore
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Earl Moore was a professional baseball pitcher who had a 14-year career in Major League Baseball. Moores sidearm throwing style earned him the nickname crossfire and his contract was purchased by the Cleveland Blues from Dayton, Ohio for $1000. On May 9,1901, he pitched the American Leagues first no-hitter and he was also the first pitcher in the 20th century to lose a no-hit game. In 1903, he led the league with a 1.77 ERA and he was traded to the New York Highlanders in 1907, and then to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1908. He won a career-high 22 games for the Phillies in 1910 and he lost 19 games the following year. In 1913, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs and his career record was 161–154 with a 2.78 ERA
36.
Bill Donovan
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William Edward Donovan, nicknamed Wild Bill, was an American right-handed pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball. He played eighteen seasons with the Washington Senators, Brooklyn Superbas, Detroit Tigers, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Donovan won his Wild Bill nickname while playing for Hartford in the minors. When Hartford teammate Cy Seymour was returned to the Major Leagues after throwing wildly over a fence behind home plate, Donovan received a $10 fine and a new nickname. Donovan served as the football coach at Georgetown University in 1898. Donovan made his league debut on April 22,1898. During his first three seasons, he was a seldom used reliever on Superbas teams that won consecutive National League pennants, in 1899 and 1900. Donovan moved to the American Leagues Detroit Tigers in 1903, where he would continue his pitching success alongside teammates George Mullin, Sam Crawford, appearing in three World Series, he went 1–4 with a 2.88 ERA. Donovan also became the first pitcher to lose consecutive deciding games in the World Series in 1908–09, on May 7,1906, Donovan accomplished a rare feat even for the best base stealers. He stole second base, third, and on the front end of a double steal and he also hit a triple in the same game. An arm injury ended Donovans career in 1912, Donovan was player–manager for the Yankees from 1915 to 1917 and a coach for the Tigers in 1918. He made several appearances for the Yankees and Tigers, including one final start on the last day of the 1918 season. He later served as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies for part of the 1921 season, being replaced after 44 games by Kaiser Wilhelm. In December 1923, while traveling on the 20th Century Limited train to Chicago for Major League meetings, Donovan, New Haven president George Weiss had swapped berths with Donovan and escaped with a minor injury. Phillies owner William F. Baker was also on the train, in 378 career games, Donovan had a 186–139 won–loss total and threw 2964⅔ innings with 289 complete games and a 2.69 ERA
37.
Rube Waddell
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George Edward Rube Waddell was an American southpaw pitcher in Major League Baseball. Born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, Waddell was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946, Waddell was a remarkably dominant strikeout pitcher in an era when batters mostly slapped at the ball to get singles. He had an excellent fastball, a curve, a screwball. He led the leagues in strikeouts for six consecutive years. Born in 1876 outside of Bradford, Pennsylvania, Waddell grew up in the country, biographer Alan Levy writes that Waddell was a decidedly different sort of child. At the age of three, he wandered over to a fire station and stayed for several days. Waddell did not attend school very often, but he was considered to be literate and he strengthened his arm as a child by throwing rocks at birds he encountered while plowing the familys land. He also worked on mining and drilling sites as a youngster, Waddells career wound through a number of teams. Waddell was unpredictable – early in his career, he would leave mid-game to go fishing and he had a longstanding fascination with fire trucks and had run off the field to chase after them during games. He performed as a wrestler in the offseason. He was easily distracted by opposing fans who held up puppies and shiny objects, an alcoholic for much of his short adult life, Waddell reportedly spent his entire first signing bonus on a drinking binge. Waddells eccentric behavior led to constant battles with his managers and scuffles with bad-tempered teammates and his first pro contract was with Louisville, pitching two league games and a couple of exhibitions with the team at the end of the 1897 season. When the season ended, he was lent to the Detroit Wolverines of the Western League to gain professional experience and he rejoined Louisville in the final month of the 1899 season and won seven of nine decisions. When the National League contracted to eight teams for the 1900 season, Louisville ownership bought the Pittsburgh franchise, louisvilles top players, including Waddell, Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke and others, were transferred to Pittsburgh. Waddell debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900, leading the National League in ERA, on August 19, Waddell pitched the first game of a doubleheader for Milwaukee, winning in the 17th inning on his own triple. His manager, Connie Mack, offered Waddell a three-day fishing vacation if he agreed to pitch the second game, Waddell threw 5 scoreless innings for the victory, and headed to Pewaukee Lake for fishing. However, his behavior led manager Fred Clarke to suspend him. Milwaukee was in the newly named American League, formerly known as the Western League, when Waddell displayed his prowess for Milwaukee, Pittsburgh management asked for Rubes return
38.
Baltimore Orioles
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The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball as a member of the American League East division, Louis, Missouri to become the St. Louis Browns. After 52 often-beleaguered years in St. Louis, the franchise was purchased in November 1953 by Baltimore business interests led by Clarence Miles, the franchise officially moved to Baltimore for the 1954 season and adopted the historic Orioles name in honor of the official state bird of Maryland. The Orioles name had also used by several previous major and minor league baseball clubs in Baltimore. Nicknames for the team include the Os and the Birds, the Orioles experienced their greatest success from 1966 to 1983, when they made six World Series appearances, winning three of them. The franchise has won a total of nine division championships, six pennants. The Orioles are also known for their successful stadium, the trend-setting Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The modern Orioles franchise can trace its roots back to the original Milwaukee Brewers of the minor Western League, the Brewers were there when the WL renamed itself the American League in 1900. At the end of the 1900 season, the American League removed itself from baseballs National Agreement, two months later, the AL declared itself a competing major league. As a result of several shifts, the Brewers were one of only two Western League teams that didnt fold, move or get kicked out of the league. In its first game in the American League, the team lost to the Detroit Tigers 14–13 after blowing a lead in the 9th inning. To this day, it is a league record for the biggest deficit overcome that late in the game. During the first American League season in 1901, they finished last with a record of 48–89 and its lone Major League season, the team played at Lloyd Street Grounds, between 16th and 18th Streets in Milwaukee. The Miles-Krieger -Hoffberger group renamed their new team the Baltimore Orioles soon after taking control of the franchise, the name has a rich history in Baltimore, having been used by a National League team in the 1890s. In 1901, Baltimore and McGraw were awarded a franchise in the growing American League. After a battle with Ban Johnson, the Head of the American League in 1902, McGraw took many of the top players including Dan McGann, Roger Bresnahan and Joe McGinnity to the New York Giants. As an affront to Johnson, McGraw kept the black and orange colors of the New York Giants, which San Francisco wears to this day. In 1903, the rest of the team was transferred to New York where they were nicknamed the Highlanders until circa 1912, as a member of the high-minor league level International League, the Orioles competed at what is now known as the AAA level from 1903 to 1953
39.
John McGraw
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John Joseph McGraw, nicknamed Little Napoleon and Mugsy, was a Major League Baseball player and long-time manager of the New York Giants. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, while primarily a third baseman throughout his career, he also played shortstop and the outfield in the major leagues. Much lauded as a player, McGraw was one of the standard-bearers of dead-ball era baseball, even with his success and notoriety as a player, he is best known for his managing, especially since it was with a team so popular as the New York Giants. His total of 2,763 victories in that capacity ranks second overall behind only Connie Mack, McGraw is widely held to be the best player to become a great manager in the history of baseball. McGraw also held the MLB record for most ejections by a manager until Bobby Cox broke the record in 2007, McGraws father, whose name was also John, and his older brother Michael immigrated from Ireland in 1856. Their last name is spelled McGrath but pronounced McGraw and he and his brother had arrived in time for the Civil War, and were drawn into the conflict as part of the Union army. Shortly after the war, he married and McGraws older half-sister was born, John McGraw, Sr. s first wife died, and he began moving around looking for work—a search that ultimately led him to Truxton, New York, in 1871. It was there that the elder John McGraw married young Ellen Comerfort and they had the younger John McGraw on April 7,1873. The younger John McGraw was named John after his father, even as a baby, young Johnny had raven hair, and eyes so dark that many people thought they were black. The boys birth was the first of many to the family, the sheer number of children, combined with the paucity of well-compensated work led to hard times for the large family. It was often a struggle simply to have food for everyone. Tragedy struck the family in the summer of 1883, when a debilitating fever swept through the family, johnnys half-sister Annie,13, was the first to succumb, and his mother died shortly thereafter. By the time September 1883 had passed, three more McGraw children had died, the devastated family moved from their house in the country into a hotel in town. Johnnys father, understandably bitter, heaped even more responsibility on the boys shoulders. He became abusive toward the boy, and later on in 1885, from that day onward, he was raised by a kindly neighbor, Mary Goddard, under whose care he did quite well. He quickly became the best player on his school team, shortly after his 16th birthday, he began playing for his towns team, the Truxton Grays, making a favorable impression on their manager, Albert Bert Kenney. While he could play any position, his ability to throw a big curveball made him the star pitcher, McGraws relationship with Kenney precipitated his professional playing career. In 1890, Kenney bought a portion of the new professional franchise in Olean
40.
Wilbert Robinson
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Wilbert Robinson, nicknamed Uncle Robbie, was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 and he also spent one season,1900, with the St. Louis Cardinals. Over the course of his career, Robinson played 1,316 games as a catcher, which prepared him for his second baseball career as a manager. The star catcher of the Orioles dynasty which won three titles from 1894 to 1896, he compiled a career batting average of.273. Durable behind the plate, he caught a triple-header in 1896 and he also was the first catcher to play directly behind the batter at all times, as the previous practice had been to play farther back when there were fewer than two strikes. A highlight of his career was a seven-hit game June 10,1892. He also batted in 11 runs in game, on September 16,1924, as manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. While owners of a bowling, billiards and pool hall in Baltimore, Robinson, Robinson and McGraw joined as business partners in the Baltimore Orioles, a team that would debut in the new American League in 1901. McGraw served as player-manager of the AL Orioles in 1901 and the beginning of the 1902 season, Robinson succeeded McGraw as manager of the Orioles. After the season, McGraw enticed Robinson to be his coach from 1903 to 1913. Robinson would not don the managers cap again in the majors until 1914, in his 18 years at the helm of the Brooks, Robinson compiled a record of 1375–1341, including National League championships in 1916 and 1920 – Brooklyns only pennants between 1901 and 1940. Those two clubs lost in the World Series to the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, respectively and his 1375 NL victories were, at the time, the 3rd-highest total in NL history, trailing only the totals of McGraw and Fred Clarke. Robinson was highly regarded for his ability to draw outstanding performances from his pitching staffs, among the pitchers he guided to success were Joe McGinnity with both Orioles teams and the Giants, Rube Marquard with the Giants, and Dazzy Vance and Burleigh Grimes with the Dodgers. On March 13,1915, at spring training in Daytona Beach, Florida, ruth Law, the aviator, supposedly forgot to bring a baseball and instead dropped a grapefruit, which splattered all over the manager. The grapefruit made such a mess that Robinson thought he had lost his eye because of the acid and he quickly realized that it was a joke when he saw his teammates burst out in laughter. Outfielder Casey Stengel, later a manager himself, is generally believed to have convinced Law to make the switch. From this point on Robinson referred to airplanes as fruit flies, Robinson was manager when Al López started out as a catcher in the majors. Robinson watched Lopez style and finally hollered, Tell that punk he got two hands to catch with, never mind the Fancy Dan stuff
41.
Jimmy Collins
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James Joseph Collins was an American professional baseball player. He played fourteen seasons in Major League Baseball, Collins was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. Collins was especially regarded for his defense, as of 2012, he is second all-time in putouts by a third baseman behind Brooks Robinson. At the plate, Collins finished his career with 65 home runs,1055 runs scored,983 RBI, Collins was also the first manager of the Boston Red Sox franchise, then known as the Boston Americans. He was the manager in the first-ever World Series, as Boston defeated the Pittsburg Pirates in the 1903 World Series. Jimmy Collins was born in Niagara Falls, New York, after graduating St. Josephs Collegiate Institute he went to work for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and played baseball in the Buffalo City League. Collins began his baseball career with the minor league Buffalo Bisons of the Eastern League. That season, he was used primarily as a shortstop, batting.286 in 76 games, in 1894, Collins was moved to the outfield by the Bisons. He batted.352 with nine runs in 125 games. Collins began his league career as a right fielder, playing ten games at the position with the Beaneaters in 1895. On May 19, he was loaned to the Louisville Colonels and he was soon made the teams starting third baseman, batting.279 over the remainder of the season. However, his impact was on defense, where he played in on the grass rather than back to cut down on the number of bunt hits. Collins was returned to the Beaneaters after the 1895 season, joe Harrington was the clubs starting third baseman at the beginning of the season, but Collins soon asserted himself as the starter, and Harrington was released in July. Collins asserted himself as a player in 1897 when he held a.346 batting average. He led the league in putouts and assists as well, a feat he would duplicate in 1900. He followed with an equally impressive 1898 season, in which he hit. 328—seventh in the league—drove in 111 runs and belted a league-high 15 home runs. Following the 1900 season, Collins, who was by now regarded as the best third baseman in the game, was offered the job with the Boston Americans of the new American League. He accepted the job, which came with a salary of $5,500, a $3,500 signing bonus, in 1902, Collins was limited to 108 games by injury, and the Americans finished third
