1.
1912 World Series
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In the 1912 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Giants four games to three. This dramatic series showcased great pitching from Giant Christy Mathewson and from Boston fireballer Smoky Joe Wood, Wood won two of his three starts and pitched in relief in the final game. In the deciding game, Boston rallied for two runs in the tenth inning thanks to two costly Giants fielding misplays, nearly all of the games were close. Four games in this Series were decided by one run, a sixth was decided by two runs. Game 7 was the one with a margin greater than three runs. Two games, including the decisive Game 8, went to extra innings, in Games 1 and 3, the losing team had the tying and winning runs on base when the game ended. This was one of only four World Series to go to eight games, also, it was at Game 4 of this Series that the World Series drew its 1,000, 000th fan. The total attendance record for this Series would stand as a record until 1921, when 269,977 attended the 1921 World Series, the first with Babe Ruth as an everyday player. Like this World Series, the 1921 World Series also went eight games, though unlike this World Series, which was a best-of-seven, the 1921 World Series was a best-of-nine. AL Boston Red Sox vs. NL New York Giants In batting practice before Game 1, Tris Speaker drove a ball not only over the right field grandstand, the Series opened with the Red Sox as 10–8 betting favorites. Giants manager John McGraw surprised everyone by starting rookie Jeff Tesreau rather than the great Christy Mathewson against Boston ace Smoky Joe Wood and he preferred to save Mathewson for Game 2 and the hostile crowd at Fenway Park. Josh Devore walked with one out in the third, and advanced to third base on a single by Larry Doyle lost in the sun by Duffy Lewis, after Fred Snodgrass struck out, Red Murrays single scored Devore and Doyle for a 2–0 Giants lead. Oddly, McGraw let relief pitcher Doc Crandall bat for himself for what turned out to be the last out rather than using backup catcher Art Wilson to pinch-hit, after the game Wood said, I threw so hard I thought my arm would fly right off my body. Christy Mathewson later said of the moment when he took the mound at Fenway Park, I could think of nothing greater than pitching this game for the glory of the New York Giants. An error by Giants shortstop Art Fletcher led to three first-inning unearned Boston runs off Mathewson, single tallies in the second and fourth by the Giants cut the lead to 3–2. Another error by Fletcher, who failed to tag Harry Hooper on a base attempt. In the top of the eighth Boston returned the favor, allowing New York to strike back for three runs, left field at brand-new Fenway Park was unique for a ten-to-fifteen-foot incline in front of the wall. He scored on Fred Murrays double, and two batters later third baseman Buck Herzog hit a double to give New York a 5–4 lead
2.
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
3.
Fenway Park
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Fenway Park is a baseball park located in Boston, at 4 Yawkey Way near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home for the Boston Red Sox and it is the oldest ballpark in MLB. It is the fourth-smallest among MLB ballparks by seating capacity, second-smallest by total capacity, Fenway has hosted the World Series ten times, with the Red Sox winning five of them, and the Boston Braves winning one. The first, in the inaugural season, was the 1912 World Series. April 20,2012, marked Fenway Parks centennial, on March 7 of that year, the park was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Former pitcher Bill Lee has called Fenway Park a shrine and it is a pending Boston Landmark which will regulate further changes to the park. Today, the park is considered to be one of the most well-known sports venues in the world, the Red Sox moved to Fenway Park from the old Huntington Avenue Grounds. In 1911, owner John I. Taylor purchased the land bordered by Brookline Avenue, Jersey Street, Van Ness Street and Lansdowne Street and developed it into a larger baseball stadium. However, given that Taylors family also owned the Fenway Realty Company, like many classic ballparks, Fenway Park was constructed on an asymmetrical block, with consequent asymmetry in its field dimensions. The General Contractor was the Charles Logue Building Company, the first game was played April 20,1912, with mayor John F. Fitzgerald throwing out the first pitch and Boston defeating the New York Highlanders, 7-6 in 11 innings. Newspaper coverage of the opening was overshadowed by continuing coverage of the Titanic sinking a few days earlier, Fenway Park has historically drawn low attendance, its lowest occurring late in the 1965 season with two games having paid attendance under 500 spectators. On Wednesday, June 17,2009, the park celebrated its 500th consecutive Red Sox sellout, according to WBZ-TV, the team joined three NBA teams which achieved 500 consecutive home sellouts. The sellout streak ended on April 11,2013, in all the Red Sox sold out 794 regular season games, the parks address was originally 24 Jersey Street. In 1977, the section of Jersey Street nearest the park was renamed Yawkey Way in honor of longtime Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, and the parks address is now 4 Yawkey Way. Some of the include, In 1934, a hand-operated scoreboard was added, with what was then considered high-technology lights to indicate balls. The scoreboard is updated by hand today from behind the wall. The National League scores were removed in 1976, but restored in 2003, in 1946, upper deck seats were installed, Fenway Park is essentially the first double-tiered ballpark in Boston since the South End Grounds of the 1880s. In 1947, arc lights were installed at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox were the third-to-last team out of 16 major league teams to have lights in their home park
4.
Boston
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Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston is also the seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1,1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles with a population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England. Alternately, as a Combined Statistical Area, this wider commuting region is home to some 8.1 million people, One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U. S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education, through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year, Bostons many firsts include the United States first public school, Boston Latin School, first subway system, the Tremont Street Subway, and first public park, Boston Common. Bostons economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, the city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings. Bostons early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine but later renamed it Boston after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, the renaming on September 7,1630 was by Puritan colonists from England who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest of fresh water. Their settlement was limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River. The peninsula is thought to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC, in 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colonys first governor John Winthrop led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history, over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their Indian allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid-18th century, Bostons harbor activity was significantly curtailed by the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Bostons merchants had found alternatives for their investments in the interim. Manufacturing became an important component of the economy, and the citys industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. Boston remained one of the nations largest manufacturing centers until the early 20th century, a network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a network of railroads furthered the regions industry. Boston was a port of the Atlantic triangular slave trade in the New England colonies
5.
John I. Taylor
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John Irving Taylor owned the Boston Red Sox from 1904 until 1911. He was the son of General Charles H. Taylor, publisher of the Boston Globe and he purchased the team from Henry Killilea on April 19,1904, with his father Charles serving as a minority owner. In September 1911, the Taylors sold half of the stock in the team to Jimmy McAleer, mcRoy with McAleer taking over as team president. On December 21,1913, Joseph Lannin, Frank P. Cooper, on May 15,1914, Lannin bought out all of his partners and became sole owner of the Red Sox. In later years Taylor lived in Dedham, Massachusetts, and died after an illness on January 26,1938. He is interred with his wife Daisy in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, MA
6.
Jimmy McAleer
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James Robert Loafer McAleer was an American center fielder, manager, and stockholder in Major League Baseball who assisted in establishing the American League. He spent most of his 13-season playing career with the Cleveland Spiders, and went on to manage the Cleveland Blues, St. Louis Browns, shortly before his retirement, he became a major shareholder in the Boston Red Sox. During his brief tenure as co-owner of the Red Sox, McAleer quarreled with longtime friend and colleague Ban Johnson, in the wake of this disagreement, he sold off his shares in the Red Sox and broke off his relationship with Major League Baseball. McAleers rift with Johnson, along with his retirement, damaged his professional reputation. Today, he is most often remembered for initiating the customary request that the President of the United States throw out the first ball of the season, McAleer was born in Youngstown, Ohio, an industrial center located near the border of western Pennsylvania. His father, Owen McAleer, died at an age, leaving McAleers mother, Mary. The family lived on the citys west side, where the McAleer children were raised to value the concept of formal education, McAleer attended local public schools and graduated from Rayen High School. In later years, all three of the McAleer brothers moved on to careers, and the oldest, Owen McAleer. A strapping six-foot 175-pound outfielder, McAleer won early recognition for his physical speed and he became involved with a Youngstown minor league baseball club in 1882, remaining with the team until 1884. In 1885, McAleer joined another minor league organization in Charleston, South Carolina and his skill as a center fielder was recognized in 1888, while he was playing for a club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although his primary focus was organized sports, McAleer was also drawn to the field of entertainment, during one season of his minor league career, he became part-owner of the DeHaven Comedy Company, a theatrical road troupe that was organized in Youngstown. His interest in show business remained a constant, and in later years McAleer developed a friendship with Broadway composer and performer George M. Cohan. On April 24,1889, McAleer broke into the Major Leagues in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1891, when Patsy Tebeau became manager of the Cleveland Spiders, the club became known for its aggressive tactics. Tebeau encouraged players to block and hold runners, while he openly challenged and harassed officials. In 1896, the Cleveland manager was jailed for attacking an umpire who decided it was too dark to continue a game, on June 27,1896, McAleer was among several Cleveland players to be fined by a Louisville judge for their role in the incident. Later that year, the clubs notoriety prompted other National League teams to propose a boycott of Cleveland, McAleers periodic displays of temper were in keeping with this rowdy environment. At the same time, McAleer proved a strong performer, a later newspaper account described him as an outstanding outfielder who was blessed with excellent speed. The article noted that McAleers skills as a sprinter helped him steal 51 bases in one year and 41 in another
7.
Jake Stahl
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Garland Jake Stahl was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, and New York Highlanders. A graduate of the University of Illinois, he was a member of the Kappa Kappa chapter of Sigma Chi and he started off as a catcher before being traded to the Senators, where he moved to first base full-time, with occasional stints in the outfield. He was regarded as a fielder and an average hitter. He also struck out 128 times that year, a record that would stand until 1938, as a player-manager, he led the Senators to two seventh-place finishes, and in his second managerial stint led the Red Sox to the 1912 World Series title. His success was short-lived, as he had a falling-out with his teammates and his successor, Bill Carrigan, would win two more World Series titles for the Sox. Stahl died of tuberculosis in Monrovia, California at age 43, Stahl has a measure of immortality as the acknowledged eponym of the term jaking it, a baseball phrase for faking an injury to stay out of the lineup, or otherwise loafing. Stahl was not related to Red Sox teammate Chick Stahl, despite contemporary accounts erroneously listing them as brothers
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.
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
10.
Fred Snodgrass
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Frederick Carlisle Snow Snodgrass was an American center fielder in Major League baseball from 1908 to 1916 for the New York Giants and the Boston Braves. He played under manager John McGraw and with some of the early greats. He is best known for dropping a key fly ball in the 1912 World Series, Snodgrass was immortalized in the Lawrence Ritter book The Glory of Their Times. Snodgrass hit a career high.321 in 1910, his first full season with the Giants, from 1911 to 1913, he played in three consecutive World Series, but the Giants lost all three. In the second, the 1912 Series, Snodgrass committed one of the most famous errors in baseball history. In the 10th inning of the game, Snodgrass, who was among the National Leagues best outfielders. He proceeded to make a spectacular game-saving catch on the next play, Giants manager John McGraw was not among those who blamed Snodgrass for the loss. Just the same, the became known as Snodgrasss Muff and also. Part way through the 1915 season, with his batting average below.200 and he subsequently signed with the Boston Braves. The next year,1916, was his last, despite hitting.249 for the Braves that season, he retired from the game. In the early 1960s, a half-century after his infamous dropped ball, the interview was included in Ritters renowned baseball book The Glory of Their Times, which featured oral accounts by 26 of the games oldest surviving players. Snodgrass was born in Ventura, California, the son of Andrew Jackson Snodgrass, while playing for the Giants, he lived with his wife Josephine in New York City. In 1912, Nelllie Frakes sued him for $75,000 for breach of promise, after Snodgrass petitioned for a change of venue to Ventura, the Los Angeles Times reported that Nellie Frakes impressed the audience with her comeliness but lost the case to Snodgrass. After leaving the Braves, Snodgrass returned to California, where the couple had two daughters, Eleanor in 1917 and Elizabeth in 1921, Snodgrass attended St. Vincents College in Los Angeles before joining the Giants. Later, he became a banker and was a popular city councilman and mayor in Oxnard. His error in the 1912 World Series, however, remained with him to the end. When he died on April 5,1974, his obituary in the New York Times was headlined Fred Snodgrass,86, Dead and his wife Josephine died on January 1,1983. List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders Bell, Christopher, Scapegoats, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference BaseballLibrary. com
11.
Tris Speaker
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Tristram Edgar Speaker, nicknamed The Grey Eagle, was an American baseball player. Considered one of the best offensive and defensive center fielders in the history of Major League Baseball and his 792 career doubles represent an MLB career record. His 3,514 hits are fifth in the all-time hits list, defensively, Speaker holds career records for assists, double plays, and unassisted double plays by an outfielder. His fielding glove was known as the place where triples go to die, after playing in the minor leagues in Texas and Arkansas, Speaker debuted with the Boston Red Sox in 1907. He became the center fielder by 1909 and led the Red Sox to World Series championships in 1912 and 1915. In 1915, Speakers batting average dropped to.322 from.338 the previous season, as player-manager for Cleveland, he led the team to its first World Series title. In ten of his seasons with Cleveland, he finished with a batting average greater than.350. Speaker resigned as Clevelands manager in 1926 after he and Ty Cobb faced game fixing allegations, during his managerial stint in Cleveland, Speaker introduced the platoon system in the major leagues. Speaker played with the Washington Senators in 1927 and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1928, then became a minor league manager and he later held several roles for the Cleveland Indians. Late in life, Speaker led a short-lived indoor baseball league, ran a liquor business, worked in sales. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937 and he was named 27th in the Sporting News 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was also included in the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Speaker was born on April 4,1888, in Hubbard, Texas, to Archie, as a youth, Speaker broke his arm after he fell from a horse, the injury forced him to become left-handed. In 1905, Speaker played a year of baseball for Fort Worth Polytechnic Institute. He worked on a ranch before beginning his professional baseball career, Speakers abilities drew the interest of Doak Roberts, owner of the Cleburne Railroaders of the Texas League, in 1906. After losing several games as a pitcher, Speaker converted to outfielder to replace a Cleburne player who had struck in the head with a pitch. Speakers mother opposed his participation in the leagues, saying that they reminded her of slavery. Though she relented, for several years Mrs. Speaker questioned why her son had not stayed home and he performed well for the Texas Leagues Houston Buffaloes in 1907, but his mother stated that she would never allow him to go to the Boston Americans. Roberts sold the youngster to the Americans for $750 or $800, Speaker played in seven games for the Americans in 1907, with three hits in 19 at bats for a.158 average
12.
Smoky Joe Wood
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Howard Ellsworth Smoky Joe Wood was a professional baseball player for 14 years. He played for the Boston Red Sox from 1908 to 1915, where he was primarily a pitcher, and for the Cleveland Indians from 1917 to 1922, Wood is one of only 13 pitchers to win 30 or more games in one season since 1900. Smoky Joe played his first amateur baseball for the local teams in Ouray. Though a native of Ness County, Kansas, Wood made his debut with the mostly-female Bloomer Girls. There were many such teams across the country, which barnstormed in exhibition games against teams of men, Bloomer Girl rosters featured at least one male player. Red Sox star Ted Williams, as a guest on the Bill Sterns Sports Newsreel radio program in 1950, the story ended, The pitcher Im talking about was the immortal Smoky Joe Wood. A pitcher who can never be forgotten even though he did get his start posing as a girl, Wood once struck out 23 batters in an exhibition game. He earned the nickname Smoky Joe because of his blazing fastball, Wood recounted in the seminal book The Glory of Their Times, I threw so hard I thought my arm would fly right off my body. A story that gained common parlance was that legendary fastballer and pitching contemporary Walter Johnson once said, listen, my friend, theres no man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood. But in the Johnson Biography by his Grandson Baseballs Big Train, this statement was traced to-a descendent of Smoky Joe, but reminded of Johnsons supposed assessment 60 years later, Wood said, Oh, I dont think there was ever anybody faster than Walter. Though Johnson, whether being as usual self-effacing or literal, did say Wood could throw as hard as him for 2 or 3 innings, but his delivery put much strain on his arm. Johnson had a speed 6.1 MPH faster than anyone measured with the photo-electric system, Woods best season came in 1912, in which he won 34 games while losing only 5, had an ERA of 1.91 and struck out 258. Since 1900, pitchers have won 30 or more games only 21 times and he also tied Walter Johnsons record for consecutive victories with 16. On September 6,1912, Wood faced off against Johnson in a duel at Fenway Park. At the time, Wood had a 13-game winning streak and Johnson had recently had his own American League record 16-game winning streak snapped. The papers of the time hyped the matchup like a prize fight. Meanwhile, Wood gave up two hits and no runs and the Red Sox prevailed, 1–0. Equally compelling in drama, Woods Red Sox faced John McGraws New York Giants in the historic 1912 World Series, after slugging it out in seven close games, the teams met for the deciding game eight at Fenway with future Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson starting for the Giants
13.
Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award
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The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America, MVP voting takes place before the postseason, but the results are not announced until after the World Series. The BBWAA began by polling three writers in each city in 1938, reducing that number to two per league city in 1961. The BBWAA does not offer a definition of what most valuable means. First basemen, with 34 winners, have won the most MVPs among infielders, followed by second basemen, third basemen, of the 24 pitchers who have won the award,15 are right-handed while 9 are left-handed. Walter Johnson, Carl Hubbell, and Hal Newhouser are the pitchers who have won multiple times. Barry Bonds has won the most often and the most consecutively, jimmie Foxx was the first player to win multiple times,9 players have won three times, and 19 have won twice. Frank Robinson is the player to win the award in both the American and National Leagues. The awards only tie occurred in the National League in 1979, there have been 18 unanimous winners, who received all the first-place votes. The New York Yankees have the most winning players with 22, the award has never been presented to a member of the following four teams, Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, and Tampa Bay Rays. The most recent recipients are Mike Trout in the American League, in recent decades, pitchers have rarely won the award. When Justin Verlander won the AL award in 2011, he became the first pitcher in league to be named the MVP since Dennis Eckersley in 1992. Verlander also became the first starting pitcher to win this award since Roger Clemens had accomplished the feat in 1986. The National League went even longer without an MVP award to a pitcher—after Bob Gibson won in 1968, the 1910 race for best average in the American League was between the Detroit Tigers widely disliked Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie of the Cleveland Indians. On the last day of the season, Lajoie overtook Cobbs batting average with seven bunt hits against the St. Louis Browns, American League President Ban Johnson said a recalculation showed that Cobb had won the race anyway, and Chalmers ended up awarding cars to both players. The following season, Chalmers created the Chalmers Award, a committee of baseball writers were to convene after the season to determine the most important and useful player to the club and to the league. Since the award was not as effective at advertising as Chalmers had hoped, in 1922 the American League created a new award to honor the baseball player who is of the greatest all-around service to his club. Winners, voted on by a committee of eight baseball writers chaired by James Crusinberry, received a bronze medal, voters were required to select one player from each team and player-coaches and prior award winners were ineligible
14.
Larry Gardner
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William Lawrence Larry Gardner was a third baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1908 through 1924, Gardner played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, Gardner was born in Enosburg, Vermont and attended Enosburg High School. He began playing baseball in the Franklin County League and attended the University of Vermont where he played baseball for three years and he was the first player out of the University of Vermont to play in the American League. Gardner was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in 1908. He played most of his prime in the era, as the third baseman on several successful Red Sox teams. While he was with the Red Sox, he played in the 1912,1915, Gardner homered in consecutive games of the 16 Series, including a three-run inside-the-park homer in Game 4. He played in another World Series for the Indians in 1920, Gardner batted left-handed and threw right-handed. In his 17-season career, Larry Gardner posted a.289 batting average with 27 home runs and 929 RBI in 1922 games, Gardner was inducted into Vermonts Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969. After his retirement, he returned to the University of Vermont as a baseball coach, Gardner died on March 11,1976 in St. George, Vermont. He was cremated and the location of his ashes are unknown, in its December 27,1989 issue commemorating the millennium, Sports Illustrated named Gardner as one of the Top 50 Vermont athletes of the 20th Century. Gardner was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000, in 2012 Gardner was inducted into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame
15.
Harry Hooper
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Harry Bartholomew Hooper was a Major League Baseball right fielder in the early 20th century. Hooper batted left-handed and threw right-handed, Hooper was born in Bell Station, California, and he graduated from St. Marys College of California. He played for league teams between 1909 and 1925, spending most of that time with the Boston Red Sox and finishing his career with the Chicago White Sox. Hooper was often known for his skills and he was among the league leaders in defensive categories such as putouts by a right fielder. During several seasons with Boston, he teamed up with Duffy Lewis and Tris Speaker to form one of the best outfield trios in baseball history, Hooper is also one of only two members of 4 separate Red Sox World Series championships. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, Hooper was born on August 24,1887 in Bell Station, California. His family had migrated to California as many families from the United States due to the California Gold Rush. His father, Joseph Joe Hooper, was born in Morrell, Joe was the fourth child and second boy born to English-born William Hooper, Harrys grandfather, and his Portuguese wife Louisa. Harry was the youngest child in his family of four, having a sister named Lulu and older twin brothers named George. Hoopers mother, Mary Katherine, was from Frankfurt, Germany, Hoopers two older brothers had been forced to quit school early to work on the family farm, but Hooper showed an affinity for school, especially in math. One of Hoopers teachers helped to convince his parents to allow Hooper to attend a school in Oakland. After graduating from the school affiliated with Saint Marys College of California. While he had not been a student at Saint Marys. Hooper had been a pitcher when he signed with the Oakland Commuters in 1907 to begin his minor league career, in 41 games with Oakland, he hit for a.301 batting average in 156 at bats. He spent the year with the Sacramento Senators, hitting.344 in 77 games. His contract with Sacramento also provided him with work as a surveyor when he was not playing baseball. Hooper did not know it at first, but his manager in Sacramento, Graham helped to arrange a meeting between Hooper and Red Sox owner John I. Taylor. Hooper was signed to a $2,800 contract with Boston, breaking into the majors with the Red Sox in 1909, Hooper played in 81 games for the team and hit.282
16.
Rip Williams
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Alva Mitchell Rip Williams was a reserve infielder in Major League Baseball, playing mainly as a catcher or first baseman for three different teams between the 1911 and 1918 seasons. Listed at 5 ft 11.5 in,187 lb. Williams batted and he was born in Carthage, Illinois. His most productive came in 1911 with Boston, when he posted career-numbers in games, runs, RBI. He also hit a career-high.318 in 61 games for the 1912 Senators. In a seven-season career, Williams was a.265 hitter with two runs and 145 RBI in 498 games, including 111 runs,51 doubles,23 triples,27 stolen bases. He made 364 fielding appearances as a catcher, first baseman, right fielder, third baseman, Williams died at the age of 51 in Keokuk, Iowa. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Retrosheet
17.
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
18.
Jack Fournier
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John Frank Jack Fournier was an American baseball first baseman who played fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Robins, Fournier died on September 5,1973 at a nursing home in Tacoma, Washington. Fournier was notorious for having outstanding batting abilities, but subpar fielding abilities, rowland solved that problem in 1916, a year after Fournier had led the AL in slugging, by replacing him at first base with the marginal Jack Ness. Before 1920, a first baseman was one of the key fielding positions because of the constant threat of the bunt, Fournier hit.350 for the Yankees in limited duty in 1918 before they passed him off to the Cardinals. After three productive years in St. Louis, Fournier was dealt to Brooklyn on February 15,1923, Fournier said he would quit the game rather than leave St. Louis, but he eventually ended his holdout and reported to the Dodgers. Fournier had found his spot, among a unit that included Zack Wheat, Milt Stock. He turned in a performance on June 29 of that year, hit.351. In 1924, Fournier led the NL with 27 home runs and he also racked up three straight seasons with 20+ home runs, 20+ doubles, a.400 or higher on-base percentage, a.330 plus batting average, and 90+ runs. Bill James ranked him as the 35th best first baseman of all-time, following his playing career, Fournier was the head coach at UCLA from 1934 to 1936. He later scouted for the St. Louis Browns, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, and Cincinnati Reds
19.
Eddie Cicotte
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Edward Victor Cicotte, nicknamed Knuckles, was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball best known for his time with the Chicago White Sox. The fixing of the 1919 World Series is the only recognized gambling scandal to tarnish a World Series, Cicotte was the son of Ambrose Cicotte and Archange Mary Drouillard, both of mainly French-Canadian extraction. His fathers early death is said to have pushed Cicotte to excel and he married Rose Ellen Freer, daughter of Russell John Freer and Annie Cecile Thornton, both of whom would later live with the Cicottes. At the time of his ban, he was considered one of the premier pitchers in the American League. A Detroit native, Cicotte played baseball in Georgia in 1905, both players were purchased by the Tigers, and Cicotte made his big-league debut on September 3,1905. Pitching in three games for Detroit, Cicotte compiled a 1–1 record with a 3.50 earned run average, Cicotte didnt return to the major leagues again until 1908, when he resurfaced with the Red Sox. After he compiled a 41–48 record in a Boston uniform, the Red Sox sold him to the White Sox on July 22,1912, Cicotte celebrated a breakout year in 1913, going 18–12 on the season with an ERA of 1.58. He led the league in winning percentage in 1916, but his best year was 1917, when he won 28 games and led the league in wins, ERA, on April 14 he threw a no hitter against the St. Louis Browns. That year, the White Sox went to the World Series, Cicotte won Game 1, lost Game 3, and pitched six innings of relief in Game 5 for a no-decision. His 1919 salary was $6,000, but he had a provision for a $10,000 bonus if he won 30 games. Legend has it that as the season drew to a close, owner Charles Comiskey ordered manager Kid Gleason to bench Cicotte for 5 games, denying him a chance at a 30-win season and the bonus money. In the 1919 World Series against the Reds, Cicotte pitched in three games, winning one but pitching ineffectively and losing the other two, Cicotte was the first of the eight players to come forward, signing a confession and a waiver of immunity. He later recanted this confession and was acquitted of all charges at trial by jury, after being banned from playing baseball, Cicotte returned to Livonia, Michigan. He managed a station, served as a game warden in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, then went to work for Ford Motor Company. Cicotte lived to be 84 years old and he was a strawberry farmer on a 5. 5-acre farm near Farmington until his death at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on May 5,1969. In the 1988 film Eight Men Out, about the Black Sox scandal and he was portrayed by actor Steve Eastin in the 1989 film Field of Dreams. Cicottes grandnephew Al Cicotte later pitched in the leagues, compiling a lifetime 10–13 record with six teams between 1957 and 1962
20.
Jersey City Giants
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The Jersey City club played in the International League. They were commonly referred to as the Little Giants, the citys earliest IL team, which played from 1912–1933, was called the Skeeters. But the Jersey Giants were a team because they sent a number of star players across the river to their Major-League namesake. In addition, the color line was broken in Jersey Citys Roosevelt Stadium when Jackie Robinson of the Montreal Royals made his organized baseball debut there as a visitor on April 18,1946. Robinson made a spectacular playing debut with four hits in five at-bats, a decade later, in 1956–1957, Roosevelt Stadium would host select Dodger home games as owner Walter OMalley parried with public officials over a new stadium in Brooklyn. The Dodgers ultimately abandoned New York for California in 1958, although they won league titles in 1939 and 1947, the Jersey Giants usually struggled to reach.500. And, like their neighbors, the Newark Bears, they found it impossible to compete when the three New York MLB teams began mass radio and television broadcasts of their games, Jersey Citys attendance plunged from 337,000 in 1947 to 63,000 in 1950. The franchise moved to Ottawa, Ontario, in 1951 and became the Ottawa Giants, today, the team is known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball,1997 edition
21.
Minor League Baseball
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All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses. Most are members of the organization known as Minor League Baseball. Several leagues, known as independent baseball leagues, do not have any links to Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball teams may enter into a PDC for a two- or four-year term. At the expiration of a PDC term, teams may renew their affiliation, or sign new PDCs with different clubs, though many relationships are renewed and endure for extended time periods. Minor League teams that are owned directly by the major league club do not have PDCs with each other and are not part of the reaffiliation shuffles that occur every other year, several more independent leagues operate in the United States and Canada. The earliest professional baseball association, the National Association of 1871 to 1875 and this system proved unworkable, however, as there was no way to ensure competitive balance, and financially unsound clubs often failed in midseason. This problem was solved in 1876 with the formation of the National League, with a membership which excluded less competitive. Professional clubs outside the National League responded by forming regional associations of their own, there was a series of ad hoc groupings, such as the New England Association of 1877 and the Eastern Championship Association of 1881. These were loose groups of independent clubs which agreed to play a series of games for a championship pennant, the first minor league is traditionally considered to be the Northwestern League of 1883 to 1884. Unlike the earlier minor associations, it was conceived as a permanent organization and it also, along with the National League and the American Association, was a party to the National Agreement of 1883. Included in this was the agreement to respect the reserve lists of clubs in each league, teams in the National League and the American Association could only reserve players who had been paid at least $1000. Northwest League teams could reserve players paid merely $750, implicitly establishing the division into major and minor leagues, over the next two decades, more minor leagues signed various versions of the National Agreement. Eventually, the minor leagues joined together to negotiate jointly, in the late 1890s, the Western League run by the fiery Ban Johnson decided to challenge the National Leagues position. Representatives of the different minor leagues met at the Leland Hotel in Chicago on September 5,1901, in response to the National–American battle, they agreed to form the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, called the NAPBL, or NA for short. The purpose of the NA at the time was to maintain the independence of the leagues involved, several did not sign the agreement and continued to work independently. Powers was made the first president of the NAPBL, whose offices were established in Auburn, in 1903, the conflict between the American and National Leagues ended in the National Agreement of 1903. The NAPBL became involved in the stages of the negotiations to develop rules for the acquisition of players from their leagues by the National
22.
International League
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The International League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the eastern United States and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level and it was so named because it had teams in both the United States and Canada. However, since the relocation of the Ottawa Lynx to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to become the Lehigh Valley IronPigs for the 2008 season, all of the leagues teams are now based in the U. S. The New York State and Ontario leagues merged in 1886 to form the International League, the league collapsed soon afterwards, when the Northern teams claimed that it was too onerous to travel to the South and formed the International Association. Teams and league names came and went over the years, the League was also affected by the effort to establish the Federal League as a new third major league in 1914-1915, with franchises being added and dropped and new stadiums/ball parks built. In 1954, a franchise was awarded to Havana, Cuba, another foray into the Caribbean failed when the newly created team in San Juan, Puerto Rico, added in 1961, had to be moved to Charleston, West Virginia, in mid-season. In 1971, an International League all-star team beat the New York Yankees in a game in Rochester, New York. In 1984, the all-stars lost to the Cleveland Indians in 11 innings before 11,032 fans in Columbus, Ohio, the International League and the American Association, another Triple-A league that operated in the Midwest, voted in 1988 to play inter-league games. The league also split into two divisions that year, the inter-league concept ended in 1992, but the two league divisions remained. In further inter-league play, in 1988, the three Triple-A leagues, the other being the Pacific Coast League, met to play the first Triple-A All-Star Game, one team was made up of All-Stars from American League affiliates and the other of National League affiliates. Beginning in 1998, a team of IL All-Stars faced off against a team of PCL All-Stars and this game was the first of its kind. It was played in the Buffalo Bisons new stadium, Pilot Field, since 2006, the league champion has met to play the PCL champion in the Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game, a single Triple-A Championship game. Previous class championship series included the Junior World Series, the Triple-A Classic, List of Governors Cup champions In 1933, the International League introduced a new playoff system, awarding the winner the Governors Cup. This has become the recognized International League champion, italics indicate team is now defunct. International League baseball awards List of sports attendance figures Harry Simmons International League official website Triple-A Baseball official website
23.
Neal Ball
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Cornelius Neal Ball was an American baseball shortstop who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball. He played for the New York Highlanders, Cleveland Naps and Boston Red Sox from 1907 to 1913, although his primary position was shortstop, Ball played at second base, third base and in the outfield as well. He is most famous for being the first player to turn a triple play in Major League Baseball history on July 19,1909. Ball played minor league baseball for the Montgomery Senators of the Southern League until 1907, after spending less than three seasons with the organization, Ball was sold to the Cleveland Naps, where he spent the next two seasons. In the middle of the 1912 season, his contract was purchased by the Boston Red Sox. He died on October 15,1957 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Ball was born on April 22,1881 in Grand Haven, Michigan. After his Major League career ended, he went on to coach the Baltimore Orioles and it was there that he was assigned to train Babe Ruth, who had just come out of St. Marys Industrial School for Boys. Ball described Ruth as the dumbest and yet the strongest player he had ever coached, the two remained good friends after Ruth broke into the Majors and even played a friendly game of bowling against one another in 1923. Ruth held Ball in great respect, and because of their friendship in baseball. In the 1950s, a bowling tournament held at the Newfield Alleys near Bridgeport. Five years later, he died on October 15,1957 and was interred at Mountain Grove Cemetery and he then proceeded to play for Montgomery Senators, a minor league baseball team that competed in the Southern League. He played for the team until 1907, when he signed for the New York Highlanders and he made his major league debut for the Highlanders on September 12,1907, at the age of 26, in a 2–0 loss against the Washington Senators. During his 1908 rookie season, Ball posted an average of.247. Defensively, he committed the most errors among all fielders in the American League with 81 and most errors by a shortstop with 80, however, he also set the team record for most assists by a rookie with 438. On May 18,1909, in the middle of the season, Ball was brought in to serve as the temporary replacement for Clevelands injured starting shortstop Terry Turner, who suffered from a recurring arm injury that needed treatment. In his first season with the Indians, Ball batted.256 with one run and 25 runs batted in. Because the play was unprecedented and turned so swiftly, the ballplayers on the field did not know the inning was over, cy Young, the games starting pitcher, was puzzled and asked Ball why he was leaving the field. Once the fans in attendance realized what had happened, they gave him an ovation, in the following inning, with the crowd still cheering, he hit an inside-the-park home run into center field
24.
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
25.
Tiger Stadium (Detroit)
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Tiger Stadium, previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium, was a baseball park located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. It hosted the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball from 1912 to 1999 and it was declared a State of Michigan Historic Site in 1975 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. The stadium was nicknamed The Corner for its location on Michigan Avenue, the last Detroit Tigers game at the stadium was held in September 1999. In the decade after the Tigers vacated the stadium, several rejected redevelopment, the stadiums demolition was completed on September 21,2009, though the stadiums actual playing field remains at the corner where the stadium once stood. Since the spring of 2010, a group known as the Navin Field Grounds Crew has restored and maintained the field. A plan to redevelop the old Tiger Stadium site would retain the historic playing field for sports and ring the 10-acre property with new development has received final approval. Developer Eric Larson of Larson Realty will develop a residential and retail project along the Michigan Ave and Trumbull sides of the property. The Detroit Police Athletic League will begin construction, in early April 2016, on a new building along Michigan Ave. The L-shaped building would enclose two sides of the field, together these two projects will completely ring the old site. In 1895, Detroit Tigers owner George Vanderbeck had a new ballpark built at the corner of Michigan and that stadium was called Bennett Park and featured a wooden grandstand with a wooden peaked roof in the outfield. At the time, some places in the outfield were only marked off with rope, in 1911, new Tigers owner Frank Navin ordered a new steel-and-concrete baseball park on the same site that would seat 23,000 to accommodate the growing numbers of fans. Navin Field opened on April 20,1912, the day as the Boston Red Soxs Fenway Park. While constructed on the site as Bennett Park, the diamond at Navin Field was rotated 90°. Cleveland Naps player Shoeless Joe Jackson, later banned from baseball for life following the Black Sox Scandal, the intimate configurations of both stadiums, both conducive to high-scoring games featuring home runs, prompted baseball writers to refer to them as bandboxes or cigar boxes. Over the years, expansion continued to more people. In 1935, following Navins death, new owner Walter Briggs oversaw the expansion of Navin Field to a capacity of 36,000 by extending the upper deck to the foul poles and across right field. By 1938, the city had agreed to move Cherry Street, allowing left field to be double-decked, in 1961, new owner John Fetzer took control of the stadium and gave it its final name, Tiger Stadium. Under this name, the stadium witnessed World Series titles in 1968 and 1984, a fire gutted the press box on the evening of February 1,1977
26.
Green Monster
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The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the 372 high left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox baseball team. The wall is only 310 feet from home plate and is a target for right-handed hitters. The wall was part of the original construction of 1912. It is made of wood and was covered in tin and concrete in 1934 and it was then covered with hard plastic in 1976. A manual scoreboard is set into the wall, despite the name, the Green Monster was not painted green until 1947, before that, it was covered with advertisements. The Monster designation is relatively new, for most of its history it was simply called The Wall. The wall might also reduce the number of home runs due to the barriers relatively close distance to home plate. Fenway is the last of the exceptionally high-walled major league ballparks, relatively high walls in modern ballparks have been constructed for their novelty rather than by necessity, as Fenways wall had been. The Green Monster is famous for preventing home runs on line drives that would clear the walls of other ballparks. A side effect of this is to increase the prevalence of doubles, some left fielders, predominantly those with vast Fenway experience, have become adept at fielding caroms off the wall to throw runners out at second base or hold the batter to a single. With this short distance, many fly balls that could be caught by the fielder in a deeper park rebound off the wall for base hits. And while the wall turns many would-be line-drive homers into doubles it also allows some high yet shallow fly balls to clear the field of play for a home run. During 2001 and 2002, the Green Monsters height record was beaten by the center field wall at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The entire wall was in play and this new wall was often called The Black Monster. When Riverfront Stadium was demolished in 2002, the Green Monster reclaimed the record, in honor of the famed wall, the Red Sox mascot is a furry green monster named Wally. From 1912 to 1933, there was a 10-foot-high mound that formed an incline in front of the Green Monster and it also served to double as a seating area to handle overflow crowds, another common practice of that era. As a result of the terrace, a fielder in Fenway Park had to play the territory running uphill. Bostons first star left fielder, Duffy Lewis, mastered the skill so well that the area known as Duffys Cliff
27.
Road (sports)
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A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions, each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games. When a team is not the host, it must travel to games. Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the team, the visiting team, or the away team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team, major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each teams home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other. Occasionally, the team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies, a few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will play in regional leagues or groundshare. The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U. S. college sports in the 21st century, while regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U. S. or even outside the country entirely. In turn, this has led to the use of true road game to refer to contests played at one home venue. In some association football leagues, particularly in Europe, the teams fans sit in their own section. Depending on the stadium, they will either sit in a designated section or be separated from the home fans by a cordon of police officers. However, in the leagues in England, supporters may be free to mix. When games are played at a site, for instance the FA Cup final in England which is always played at Wembley Stadium. This results in each team occupying one half of the stadium and this is different from other sports, particularly in North America, where very few fans travel to games played away from their home stadium. Home and away fans are not separated at these games
28.
1912 Chicago White Sox season
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This is the logo associated with the 1917 World Series championship team and the 1919 Black Sox. With a couple of interruptions, the dark blue logo with the large S lasted through 1938. Through the 1940s, the White Sox team colors were navy blue trimmed with red. October 1911, Del Paddock was purchased by the White Sox from the Dubuque Hustlers, april 26,1912, Del Paddock was returned by the White Sox to the Dubuque Hustlers. August 20,1912, Roy Crabb was purchased from the White Sox by the Philadelphia Athletics, 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
29.
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
30.
Steve Yerkes
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Stephen Douglas Steve Yerkes was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball between 1909 and 1916, primarily as a second baseman and he played for the Boston Red Sox, of the American League, Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal League, and Chicago Cubs of the National League. He was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, in his major league career, Yerkes posted a.268 batting average with six home runs and 254 RBI in 711 games played. He played in the first game at Bostons Fenway Park, on April 20,1912, in which he had five hits, including two doubles. In the 1912 World Series, he drove in the run for the Red Sox in Game One. After his major league career ended, Yerkes continued to play on and off in minor league baseball until 1923 and he then began a career as a manager, working with various minor league teams between 1924 and 1947. In 1945, Yerkes received one vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America in the Baseball Hall of Fame voting, Yerkes died in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, at age 82. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Baseball Library Steve Yerkes at Find a Grave
31.
Duffy Lewis
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Lewis attended Saint Marys College of California. In Boston, Lewis belonged to the trio which included Tris Speaker. At bat, Lewis was a renowned line-drive hitter who consistently finished in the top ten in most offensive categories despite a career which was interrupted by World War I. In 11 seasons, Lewis batted.284 with 38 home runs,793 RBI,612 runs,1,518 hits,289 doubles,68 triples, and 113 stolen bases in 1,459 games. During his tenure in Boston patrolling left field, Fenway Park featured a ten-foot-high mound that formed an incline in front of the field wall. The young outfielder mastered the incline to such an extent that it was nicknamed Duffys Cliff, sports cartoons of the period often depicted him as a mountain climber making catches amid sheep and snowcaps. The mound was reduced in 1934, long after Lewis had left the Sox. Duffy Lewis died in Salem, New Hampshire at 91 years of age and he was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference BaseballLibrary Best outfield ever, - The Baseball Page Duffy Lewis at Find a Grave
32.
Heinie Wagner
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Charles Francis Heinie Wagner was an American baseball player and manager. He played shortstop for the New York Giants and the Boston Red Sox and he was also the manager of the Red Sox during the 1930 baseball season. Wagner was born in Harlem, New York, in September 1880 and he began his baseball career playing for the Waverly Club in the New York State League in 1901. In 1902, he began the season playing for Columbus in the American Association and he spent the remainder of the 1902 season with the Newark Sailors and continued to play for the Eastern League team through 1906. In 1906, Wagner joined the Boston Red Sox and he played for the Red Sox from 1906 to 1918, missing only the 1914 and 1917 seasons. He was the captain of Bostons 1912 World Series championship team and he also played for the Red Sox World Series championship teams in 1915,1916 and 1918. Wagner and Harry Hooper were the players to play on all four of the Red Sox World Series championship teams of the era. Wagner was considered to be a valuable infielder while playing with the Red Sox and was reputed to have an exceptionally powerful and he was also known to block the basepaths with his exceptionally big feet. With 141 career stolen bases for the Red Sox, Wagner ranked third in history when he retired. After being released by the Red Sox in January 1916, Wagner served as the player-manager of the Hartford team in the Eastern League for the first part of the 1916 season and he returned to the Red Sox in late June 1916. In 1920, Wagner closed out his career as the player-manager of the Norfolk Mary Janes in the Virginia League. After seven years out of baseball, Wagner was hired as a coach for the Boston Red Sox under Bill Carrigan and he was reported to be Carrigans right-hand man during the 1928,1929, and 1930 seasons. In 1930, he was hired as manager of the Red Sox after Carrigan retired, in Wagners sole season as manager, the Red Sox finished last in the American League with a 52–102 record. On September 29,1930, Wagners resignation as manager of the Red Sox was accepted by team president Bob Quinn, after retiring from baseball, Wagner worked as the superintendent of a lumber yard in New Rochelle, New York. He also coached the teams of the New Rochelle Police and Fire Departments. Wagner was married to Martha Hahn Wagner and they had two sons and four daughters. In March 1943, Wagner died of a heart ailment at his home on Van Guilder Avenue in New Rochelle at age 62, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference SABR biography
33.
Les Nunamaker
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Leslie Grant Nunamaker born in Malcolm, Nebraska, was a catcher for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians. He helped the Red Sox win the 1912 World Series and the Indians win the 1920 World Series, until being injured in early in the 1912 against the St. Louis Browns he was Bill Carrigans primary backup catcher for the Red Sox. He was also a catcher for the 1920 Indians. He died in Hastings, Nebraska at the age of 49, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
