1.
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
2.
Bill Carrigan
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William Francis Carrigan, nicknamed Rough, was a Major League baseball catcher. He was born in Lewiston, Maine, where he graduated from Lewiston High School, before studying at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Carrigan started his career as a platoon catcher and played all ten seasons with the Boston Red Sox. Midway through the 1913 baseball season, he replaced Jake Stahl as manager of the defending World Series champion Red Sox as a player-manager. He then led Boston to a finish in 1914 and two world championships in 1915 and 1916, compiling an 8–2 record as a manager in World Series play. Until Terry Francona duplicated the feat in 2007, he was the manager to have won two World Series titles with Boston. Babe Ruth called Carrigan the best manager he ever played for and he then left baseball to become a banker in his home state of Maine. He returned to manage the Red Sox in 1927, but he was unable to duplicate his previous success as Boston finished in last place for three straight seasons, bill Carrigan died in Lewiston, Maine, at the age of 85. He was posthumously elected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004
3.
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
4.
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
5.
Tom Connolly
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Thomas Henry Connolly was an English-American umpire in Major League Baseball. He officiated in the National League from 1898 to 1900, followed by 31 years of service in the American League from 1901 to 1931, Connolly was born in Manchester, England, and played cricket as a boy. He immersed himself in the book, and within a few years was umpiring for local games. While working in YMCA games, he was discovered by major league umpire Tim Hurst, who obtained a position for Connolly in the New England League, where he umpired from 1894 to 1897. Connolly had the privilege of umpiring, as its sole arbiter, during the ensuing argument, Connolly was struck in the mouth by a bottle thrown by a spectator. His reputation earned him prominent game assignments, including the first AL games ever played at Comiskey Park, Shibe Park, Fenway Park, Connolly was also the sole AL umpire chosen to work in the first World Series in 1903. In his career, Connolly worked in an AL-record eight World Series,1903,1908,1910,1911,1913,1916,1920 and 1924. He was also the plate umpire for Addie Joss perfect game on October 2,1908, one of four no-hitters in which he called balls. Connolly was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953, Connolly and Klem are the only two umpires in history to have worked in five decades, Connollys record of 31 years umpiring American League games was broken by Larry Barnett in 1999. Connolly died at age 90 in Natick, Massachusetts
6.
Hank O'Day
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Henry M. Hank ODay, nicknamed The Reverend, was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National League umpire for 30 seasons between 1895 and 1927. ODay umpired in ten World Series – second only to Bill Klems total of 18 – including five of the first seven played, and was behind the plate for the first modern World Series game in 1903. His 3,986 total games as an umpire ranked third in league history when he retired. He is largely known for his decision in a pivotal 1908 game. ODay interrupted his umpiring career twice for single seasons as a manager, leading the Cincinnati Reds in 1912 and he remains the only person ever to serve full seasons in the NL as a player, manager and umpire. ODay was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2013, ODay was born in Chicago, the son of railroad engineer James ODay and his wife Margaret, who were immigrants from Ireland and were both deaf. The couple had at least seven children, Daniel, James Jr. Catherine, Henry, Margaret, Mary McNamara, the ODays originally settled in Buffalo, New York, by the mid-1850s, they had moved to Cincinnati, and they relocated to Chicago around 1858. Jackson Street, which remained the residence until the early 20th century. ODay worked as a fitter in Chicago before entering organized baseball. With Toledo, he played alongside Fleet Walker, the first African American to play in the major leagues, ODay made his major league debut on May 2,1884, and served as the teams second pitcher behind Tony Mullane. However, he made only 13 other non-pitching appearances in the field in later years, in 1885, he split playing time with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the AA and the Washington Nationals of the Eastern League. ODay had a record of 5–7 for the Alleghenys, his time was limited because he was caring for his sick father. He made only five starts after May 11, and left the team for the last time after his July 6 start, in the meantime, the Chicago White Stockings had opened West Side Park on June 6, less than a mile and a half from the ODay residence. In 15 games with Washington in the Eastern League, he had a record of 13–2, on September 5 of that year, his younger brother Joseph died at age 15 from injuries he had suffered two days earlier after falling from the front car of a roller coaster. At the end of the season, the Nationals folded, and ODay joined a Louisville ball club, ODay spent most of 1886 with the Savannah team in the Southern Association, and during his time there he was considered a favorite among other players. In 39 games with Savannah, ODay won 26 games, lost 11, late in the year, he joined the Washington Nationals, where he posted a 2-2 record in six games. ODay became a starter for the Nationals in 1887
7.
Bill Dinneen
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Dinneen was the plate umpire for baseballs first All-Star Game. He played for the Washington Senators and Boston Braves, and the Boston Red Sox, Dinneen recorded three wins for the Red Sox over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903. Dinneen broke the record for most strikeouts in a World Series with 11, Dinneen was born in Syracuse, New York on April 5,1876. He led the AL in losses in 1902 with 21, and led the league in saves in 1903 and 1907. In his remarkable 1904 season for the Red Sox, as they repeated as AL champions, he started 37 games, completing one of them for a total of 335 2⁄3 innings pitched. On June 12, he won a 16-inning contest by a score of 2–1 over the Browns, the game went into the final inning tied 2–2 before a wild pitch by Chesbro gave a 3–2 victory, and the flag, to Boston. On September 27,1905, Dinneen pitched a 2–0 no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox, Dinneen joined the AL umpiring staff on September 12,1909, just 17 days after his final pitching appearance with the Browns. He umpired in eight World Series, tying the AL record set by Tommy Connolly and he served as crew chief for the 1914,1926 and 1932 Series. He was also selected to work in the first All-Star game in 1933, calling balls, shore retired the runner as well as all 26 batters he faced. Dinneen had his own confrontation with Ruth in the 1922 season, on June 19, the outfielder got into an argument with the umpire, and during the next days game he again insulted the official. Bill Dinneen was one of the greatest pitchers the game ever produced and he is one of the cleanest and most honorable men baseball ever fostered. Your conduct at Cleveland on Monday was reprehensible to a great degree – shocking to every American mother who permits her boy to go to a professional game, the American League cares nothing for Ruth. The individual player means nothing to the organization, when he steps on the ball field he is subject to our control and discipline. You branded Umpire Dinneen as yellow and this is the most remarkable declaration a modern ball player has made. Dinneen stands out in the history of the game as one of the most courageous players we have ever had, if you could match up to his standard you would not be in the trough you occupy today. Coupled with your misconduct on Monday, you doubled the penalty on Tuesday and you are hereby notified of your suspension for five days without salary. It seems the period has arrived when you should allow some intelligence to creep into a mind that has plainly been warped, in addition to the no-hitter he pitched, Dinneen also called balls and strikes for five other no-hitters. He remains the only individual in major league history to pitch a no-hitter and call one as plate umpire
8.
Ernest C. Quigley
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Ernest Cosmos Quigley was a Canadian-born American sports official who became notable both as a basketball referee and as an umpire in Major League Baseball. He also worked as an American football coach and official, born in Canada and raised in Concordia, Kansas, Quigley attended college and law school at the University of Kansas. There he played basketball under the games inventor, James Naismith. He became the football coach at Kansas Wesleyan University and then the athletic director at the University of Kansas. Quigley refereed college basketball for 40 years and umpired more than 3,000 Major League Baseball games, as a college football official, he worked in several bowl games and served on the Rules Committee of the NCAA for several years. Quigley died in Kansas in 1960, Quigley was born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, and was raised in Concordia, Kansas where he was a prominent member of the high school football team in the 1890s. Quigley was a student of basketball inventor James Naismith at the University of Kansas. After graduating he served as a coach, teacher and athletic director at St. Marys College in St. Marys, Kansas from 1903 until 1912, while also attending law school at the University of Kansas. Quigley was the head football coach for the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes located in Salina, Kansas and he held that position for the 1919 season. The team lost its one-game on November 22,1919 against Fort Hays State University by a score of 26 to 0. In 1944, Quigley became the director at the University of Kansas, where he hired coaches George Sauer, Jules V. Sikes. Quigley officiated at more than 1,500 collegiate and Amateur Athletic Union games during his 40-year career, rather than using his whistle, the small-statured Quigley often used his high-pitched voice to command attention in supervising play. In 1944 he became director at Kansas, serving until 1950. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961 and he also participated in a 1928 baseball tour of Japan, and later became an NL supervisor of umpires. After a 1933 game, Quigley was found unconscious by partner George Barr following a shock from an exposed wire. His 3,351 games as an umpire ranked seventh in league history when he retired. Quigley Field, the University of Kansas first baseball stadium, was named after him, Quigley also served as an official in major college football contests including the Army–Navy Game, five Harvard–Yale games, the Michigan–Illinois game, three Rose Bowls, and the Cotton Bowl Classic. He was a member of the NCAAs Rules Committee from 1946 to 1954, Quigley married Marge Darlington in Concordia
9.
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
10.
Herb Pennock
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Herbert Jefferis Pennock was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1912 through 1933 and he is best known for his time spent with the star-studded New York Yankee teams of the mid to late 1920s and early 1930s. Connie Mack signed Pennock to his Philadelphia Athletics in 1912, after using Pennock sparingly, and questioning his competitive drive, Mack sold Pennock to the Boston Red Sox in 1915. After returning from service in 1919, Pennock became a regular contributor for the Red Sox. After retiring as a player, Pennock served as a coach and farm director for the Red Sox. Pennock was regarded as one of the greatest left-handed pitchers in baseball history, Mack later called his sale of Pennock to the Red Sox his greatest mistake. Pennock died of a hemorrhage in 1948, later that year. Pennock was born on February 10,1894 in Kennett Square and his father, Theodore Pennock, and mother Mary Louise Pennock were of Scotch-Irish and Quaker descent. His ancestors came to the United States with William Penn, Herb was the youngest of four children. Pennock attended Westtown School and Cedarcroft Boarding School, where he played for the baseball team, after struggling as a first baseman, with a weak offensive output and throwing arm that resulted in curved throws, his Cedarcroft coach converted Pennock into a pitcher. While pitching at Cedarcroft, Pennock threw a no-hitter to catcher Earle Mack, Pennock agreed to sign with the Athletics at a later date. Mack signed Pennock in 1912 to play for his team based in Atlantic City. Pennocks father insisted that he sign under an alias in order to protect his collegiate eligibility, Pennock threw a no-hitter against a traveling Negro league baseball team, and Mack promoted him to the Athletics. Mack intended for Pennock to be one of the prospects who would replace star pitchers Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, Pennock made his major league debut with the Athletics during the 1912 season on May 14, allowing one hit in four innings pitched. He was the youngest person to play in the American League that season, former major leaguer Mike Grady, a neighbor of Pennocks in Kennett Square, took Pennock under his wing, while Bender taught Pennock to throw a screwball. Pennock missed most of the 1913 season with an illness, but was able to rejoin the team late in the season, Mack let Bender go after the season, naming Pennock his Opening Day starting pitcher in 1915. On Opening Day, Pennock threw a complete game shutout against the Boston Red Sox. However, as the Athletics struggled, Pennocks nonchalant playing style drew Macks ire, concluding that Pennock lacked ambition, Mack sold Pennock to the Red Sox for the waiver price of $2,500
11.
Babe Ruth
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George Herman Babe Ruth Jr. was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Ruth established many MLB batting records, including home runs, runs batted in, bases on balls, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging. Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time, in 1936, Ruth was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its first five inaugural members. At age seven, Ruth was sent to St, in 1914, Ruth was signed to play minor-league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles but was soon sold to the Red Sox. By 1916, he had built a reputation as a pitcher who sometimes hit long home runs. With regular playing time, he broke the MLB single-season home run record in 1919, after that season, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees amid controversy. The trade fueled Bostons subsequent 86 year championship drought and popularized the Curse of the Bambino superstition, in his 15 years with New York, Ruth helped the Yankees win seven American League championships and four World Series championships. As part of the Yankees vaunted Murderers Row lineup of 1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs and he retired in 1935 after a short stint with the Boston Braves. During his career, Ruth led the AL in home runs during a season twelve times, Ruths legendary power and charismatic personality made him a larger-than-life figure in the Roaring Twenties. During his career, he was the target of press and public attention for his baseball exploits. His often reckless lifestyle was tempered by his willingness to do good by visiting children at hospitals, after his retirement as a player, he was denied a managerial job in baseball, most likely due to poor behavior during parts of his playing career. In his final years, Ruth made many appearances, especially in support of American efforts in World War II. In 1946, he became ill with cancer, and died two years later, George Herman Ruth Jr. was born in 1895 at 216 Emory Street in Pigtown, a working-class section of Baltimore, Maryland, named for its meat-packing plants. Its population included recent immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Italy, Ruths parents, George Herman Ruth, Sr. and Katherine Schamberger, were both of German American ancestry. According to the 1880 census, his parents were born in Maryland, the paternal grandparents of Ruth, Sr. were from Prussia and Hanover. Ruth, Sr. had a series of jobs, including lightning rod salesman and streetcar operator, before becoming a counterman in a combination grocery. George Ruth Jr. was born in the house of his grandfather, Pius Schamberger. Only one of young Georges seven siblings, his younger sister Mamie, many details of Ruths childhood are unknown, including the date of his parents marriage
12.
Rube Marquard
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Richard William Rube Marquard was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in the 1910s and early 1920s. He achieved his greatest success with the New York Giants and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. Rube Marquard was born in Cleveland, Ohio to German immigrant Fred Marquard, Marquard claimed an 1889 date of birth, but 1900 census data and a birth certificate show an 1886 date of birth. Lena Marquard died of an infection in 1899 and Rubes grandmother took responsibility for raising him. Marquard quit school after the grade, biographer Larry Mansch writes that he simply refused to attend any longer. Newspaper reports first mentioned Marquard in 1905 when he played with a team in Cleveland. Though pitching for a team that had a 1-15 win-loss record at one point. He broke a City League record with 16 strikeouts in a game against a known as Brittons Printing. In September, the City League season finished and he signed with the semipro Telling Strollers and he started his minor league baseball career in 1906. Despite his nickname, he was a city kid, as he told it in The Glory of Their Times, a writer in his minor league days compared him favorably with Rube Waddell, and very soon Marquard was being called Rube also. In 1907, he went 23-13 with a 2.01 earned run average, in 1908, he went 28-19 with a 1.69 ERA and led the American Association in wins. From 1911 to 1913, Marquard won at least 23 games each season, in 1911, he led the league with 237 strikeouts. In 1912, he led the league with 26 wins and he also made baseball history by winning 19 decisions in a row. Marquard allegedly celebrated by buying an opal stickpin to reward himself, upon being told by a friend that opals were a jinx, he threw the pin into a river, but apparently the curse had already done its work, as he lost his next decision. In 1914, Marquard went 12-22, and in 1915, he joined the Brooklyn Robins and he helped the team win pennants in 1916 and 1920. He then played for the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Braves, Marquard finished his major league career in 1925 with a record of 201–177 and a 3.08 ERA. His 1,593 strikeouts, at the time, ranked third in league history among left-handers. He later pitched and managed in the leagues until 1933
13.
Casey Stengel
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Charles Dillon Casey Stengel, nicknamed The Old Perfessor, was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, Stengel was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and originally nicknamed Dutch, a common nickname at that time for Americans of German ancestry. In the 1950s, sportswriters dubbed him with yet another nickname, The Old Professor, for his sharp wit, although his baseball career spanned a number of teams and cities, he is primarily associated with clubs in New York City. Between playing and managing, he is the person to have worn the uniforms of all four of New Yorks major league clubs. He was the first of four men to both the New York Yankees and New York Mets. Like Joe Torre, he managed the Braves and the Dodgers. Stengel ended his career as the beloved manager for the then expansion New York Mets. Stengel was born on July 30,1890, in Kansas City and he played sandlot baseball as a child, and also played baseball, football and basketball at Central High School. His basketball team won the city championship, while the team won the state championship. Stengel had no vision of sports as a long-term profession. As described in his autobiography, on pages 58 and 75–76 and he had some problems due to the lack of left-handed instruments and the training was a struggle. Stengel signed a contract with the Kansas City Blues of the Class AAA American Association, considered the best minor league and he struggled as a pitcher, leading manager Danny Shay to play Stengel as an outfielder. Kansas City optioned Stengel to the Kankakee Kays of the Class D Northern Association and he had a.251 batting average with Kankakee when the league folded in July. He spent the remainder of the 1910 season with the Shelbyville Grays / Maysville Rivermen of the Class D Blue Grass League, Stengel attended Western Dental College in the offseason, which provided Stengel with enough negotiating leverage to receive a raise from Kansas City for the 1911 season. The Blues assigned Stengel to the Aurora Blues of the Class C Wisconsin–Illinois League and he led the league with a.351 batting average. Brooklyn Dodgers scout Larry Sutton noticed Stengel, and the Dodgers signed Stengel in 1911 and they assigned Stengel to the Montgomery Rebels of the Class A Southern Association for the 1912 season. Playing for manager Kid Elberfeld, Stengel batted.290 and led the league in outfield assists and he also developed a reputation as an eccentric player. Scout Mike Kahoe referred to Stengel as a ballplayer
14.
Zack Wheat
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Zachariah Davis Zack Wheat, nicknamed Buck, was a Major League Baseball left fielder for Brooklyn in the National League. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1959, a consistent hitter throughout his 19-year career, he still holds many Dodger franchise records. His brother McKinley Mack Wheat also played in the leagues. Born in Hamilton, Missouri, he was the son of Basil and his father was of English descent and his mother was full-blooded Cherokee. It was during that 1909 season that the Brooklyn Superbas of the National League purchased Wheat for $1200, and he made his Major League debut in September. He batted with a type of swing, and held his hands down near the end of the bat, unlike most hitters during his time. Even with his consistent high levels of hitting, he was noted for his graceful. Wheat played his first full season in 1910 and he played every game for the Superbas that season as the regular left fielder, leading the league in games played. He batted.284 that season, the second-lowest average of his career, which led the team, and was among the leaders in hits, doubles. It was in 1911 that his reputation as a slugger began to take hold, along with hitting.287, he finished eighth in the league with 13 triples, and slugged five home runs. In an era when players rarely hit home runs for a season. Wheat continued his steady and consistent climb up the charts in 1912, hitting.305. Over the next four seasons, he continued to be among the leaders of many categories, such as home runs, batting average, slugging, hits, doubles, triples. It was during the 1912 season that Wheat married Daisy Kerr Forsman, Players in his day signed one-year contracts before every season. Each time he held out, he received money, the club not wanting to lose one of its best players. This tactic of threatening to hold out served him well during throughout his career, including during the World War I era and he claimed that he did so well, that he didnt need to play during the summer. The team, fearing that they lose a great player during the prime of his career. In 1916, he topped off the string of seasons with a finish in the top ten in all the categories, topping the league in total bases
15.
1915 World Series
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In the 1915 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one. In their only World Series before 1950, the Phillies won Game 1 before being swept the rest of the way and it was 65 years before the Phillies won their next Series game. The Red Sox pitching was so strong in the 1915 series that the young Babe Ruth was not used on the mound and only made a single pinch-hitting appearance. Red Sox owner Joseph Lannin lost the toss for home field advantage. The league presidents selected the umpires, and it was announced that J. G. Taylor Spink would be one of the official scorers, one controversy surrounded the allocation of tickets to the Red Sox Royal Rooters fan club. Each visiting team was allocated 200 tickets, but the Red Sox requested an additional 400 on behalf of their supporters, the Phillies Baker Bowl sat only 20,000, and their above-cited owner, William Baker, refused to allocate additional tickets for visiting fans. The matter was resolved by National Commission chairman Garry Herrmann, who gave the Red Sox tickets from the Commissions own Series allocation. The Phillies won Game 1, 3–1, although New York Times reporter Hugh Fullerton wrote of the future 300+ game-winning Hall of Famer, Alexander pitched a bad game of ball. He had little or nothing in his review of the game, headed Nothing, the Times also reported that a crowd of 10,000 gathered in Manhattans Times Square to view a real-time mechanical recreation of the game on a giant scoreboard sponsored by the newspaper. The Phillies were not to win another game until 1977. The Red Sox swept Games 2–5, all by one run, in Game 2, Woodrow Wilson became the first U. S. President to attend a World Series game. This was the second year that a Boston team beat a Philadelphia team in the World Series after the Braves had swept the Athletics the year before. Unlike the 1913 Series, where the team won only one of the five games. In Fenway or Philadelphias Baker Bowl, it might have been a run or at least an extra-base hit which might have turned the Series around. The Phillies had packed some extra outfield seats into their already-small bandbox of a ballfield and this proved crucial in the decisive Game 5, in which Bostons Harry Hooper twice homered over the moved-in center field fence and Duffy Lewis followed suit. In Braves Field, those would have been extra-base hits at best, AL Boston Red Sox vs. NL Philadelphia Phillies The Red Sox won on three home runs by two of their outfielders, two cheapies by Harry Hooper and one by Duffy Lewis. Those were the only round-trippers in the entire Series, the first four games being pitchers duels,1915 World Series, Boston Red Sox over Philadelphia Phillies Cohen, Richard M. Neft, David S. The World Series, Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989, archived from the original on 2008
16.
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
17.
1917 World Series
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In the 1917 World Series, the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Giants four games to two. The Series was played against the backdrop of World War I, the strong Chicago White Sox club had finished the 1917 season with a 100–54 record, their first and only one-hundred-win season in franchise history as of 2016. The Soxs next World Series winner in 2005 would finish the season with a 99–63 record. The Sox won Game 1 of the Series in Chicago 2–1 behind a complete game by Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch hit a home run in the fourth inning that provided the winning margin. The Sox beat the Giants in Game 2 by a score of 7–2 behind another complete game effort by Red Faber to take a 2–0 lead in the Series. Back in New York for Game 3, Cicotte again threw a complete game, in Game 4 the Sox were shut out again 5–0 by Ferdie Schupp. Faber threw another complete game, but the Series was even at 2–2 going back to Chicago, Reb Russell started Game 5 in Chicago, but only faced three batters before giving way to Cicotte. Going into the bottom of the inning, Chicago was down 5–2. Faber pitched the two innings for the win. In Game 6 the Sox took an early 3–0 lead and on the strength of another complete game victory from Faber won 4–2 and clinched the World Championship. Eddie Collins was the hero, batting.409 over the six game series while Cicotte. Catcher Bill Rariden had run up the base line to start a rundown. However, neither of them budged, forcing Zimmerman to chase Collins while pawing helplessly in the air with the ball in an attempt to tag him. Two years before the issue of baseball betting reached its peak, Zimmerman found himself having to publicly deny purposely allowing the run to score, in truth, McGraw blamed Benton and Holke for failing to cover the plate. A quote often attributed to Zim, but actually invented by writer Ring Lardner some years later, was that when asked about the incident Zim replied, Who the hell was I supposed to throw to, Zimmerman would eventually be banned for life due to various accusations of corruption. AL Chicago White Sox vs. NL New York Giants Fred McMullin drove in Chicagos first run, Giants pitcher Slim Sallee knocked in his sides only run with a single after a Lew McCarty triple. Shoeless Joe Jacksons two-run single capped a five-run fourth inning for the White Sox, the home team won for the third straight time as the series moved to the Polo Grounds. The only runs of a snappy 1 hour,55 minute game came on a Dave Robertson triple, Walter Holke double, the first of a pair of homers by Giants center fielder Benny Kauff was an inside-the-park one that sailed over Sox center fielder Happy Felschs head
18.
Ban Johnson
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Byron Bancroft Ban Johnson was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League. Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of the minor league Western League—into a clean alternative to the National League, to encourage a more orderly environment, Johnson strongly supported the new leagues umpires, which eventually included Hall of Famer Billy Evans. With the help of league owners and managers such as Charles Comiskey, Charles Somers and Jimmy McAleer, Johnson lured top talent to the AL, which soon rivaled the more established National League. Johnson dominated the AL until the mid-1920s, when a dispute with Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis culminated in his forced resignation as league president. Born in Norwalk, Ohio, Johnson went on to law at Marietta College. He subsequently became the editor of a newspaper in Cincinnati. During this time, Johnson befriended Charles Comiskey, who was manager of the Cincinnati Reds. At the urging of Comiskey and Reds owner John T. Brush, Johnson was elected as president of the Western League, Johnson had criticized the National League for its rowdy atmosphere, which was driving away families and women. He set about making baseball more friendly to both, contrary to the practice of the time, Johnson gave his umpires unqualified support and had little tolerance for players or managers who failed to show them due respect. Johnson also fined and suspended players who used language on the field. Soon, the Western League was recognized as not only the strongest minor league, Johnson, however, had a bigger plan—another major league. With the help of Comiskey, who had purchased the Sioux City franchise and moved it to St. Paul in 1894 after leaving the Reds and he also had Comiskey move his Saint Paul team to Chicago, where they eventually became the White Sox. The latter move was made with the blessing of the NL, for the 1900 season, the Western League was renamed as the American League, although it remained a minor league. The 1900 season was an success, and Johnson received a 10-year contract extension. In October, he withdrew the AL from the National Agreement, the final step came on January 28,1901, when he declared the AL would operate as a major league. He then placed teams in Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, the Buffalo Bisons were to be a member of the new American League and their manager Franklin was told right up to Jan. 29,1901, that Buffalo was in the league and not to worry, Ban Johnson unceremoniously dumped Buffalo and it was later revealed that he not only had been negotiating surreptitiously with Boston people for several months, but also that he had money invested in the Boston franchise. Johnson also had a stake in the Washington franchise, which he kept until 1903
19.
Joseph Lannin
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Joseph John Lannin was a Canadian-born American baseball entrepreneur. He was born on April 23,1866 in Lac-Beauport, Quebec, Canada to John Lannin, orphaned at the age of 14, Joseph Lannin migrated from Quebec to Boston, Massachusetts where he worked as a hotel bellboy. Penniless, he had made his way from Lac-Beauport to Boston on foot. He married Hannah Furlong and had two children, Paul Joseph Lannin and Dorothy A. Lannin, although he had limited education, Lannin was personable and possessed a quick mind. A confident and knowledgeable Joseph Lannin invested his savings in the commodities market, from there he began to acquire other businesses and eventually built an empire of hotels, apartment buildings, and golf courses. On December 21,1913, Lannin and a group of investors purchased 50% of the Boston Red Sox baseball team from Jimmy McAleer, Joseph Lannin sold the team in 1917 to Harry Frazee for $675,000. He was quoted as saying, I am too much of a fan to be an owner, with the profit made from the sale of his team, he continued to invest in real estate ventures all around Boston and across New York State. He acquired Roosevelt Airfield, on Long Island, New York, Lannin provided Lindbergh with a room at his nearby hotel and watched the takeoff from Roosevelt Airfield on May 20,1927. He died on May 15,1928, aged 62, in Brooklyn, New York City, at his death his estate was valued at $7,000,000. Lannin was named to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 and he is interred at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood, Garden City, New York. Joseph Lannin at Find a Grave
20.
Charles Ebbets
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Charles Hercules Ebbets, Sr. was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1902 to 1925. Charlie was born in New York City at his home at 31 Clarke Street on October 291859. Ebbets, who owned a tavern at the corner of Hudson, John was of the fifth generation of the Ebbets family in New York City, a descendant of Daniel Ebbets, a brickmaker who had arrived in New York from England in 1700. His mother, Anna Maria Quick, was in the generation of a Dutch family that had been in New York since the 1640s. Charlie first attended Public School 39 on Clark Street but left school when his father moved to Astoria shortly after 1871. Following his schooling, Charlie took up residence at 154 Alexander Avenue near 135th and his first job was with Dick & Fitzgerald, a publishing firm at 18 Ann Street in Manhattan. He then began work as an architect with the firm of William T. Beer and his work there as a draftsman and building designer would serve him well in later years when he decided to build a baseball stadium. He next became a bookkeeper with Frank Leslie’s publishing house, a job he kept until he turned his attention to baseball, but baseball was not Charlie Ebbets’ first sport. He was a member of the Prospect Club, the Carleton Club, in 1889 he played with the Stars of South Brooklyn and the Lincoln Council Bowlers. The following year he joined the Prospects, the arch-rivals of the Lincoln Council team, in 1893, his bowling average was 170 in more than fifty games. That year the Brooklyn Eagle stated, “He is considered one of the swiftest and, at the time, truest bowlers in Brooklyn. ”In 1883 his brother Jack had introduced Charlie to Joseph Doyle and George Taylor, friends of his who had recently formed the Brooklyn Base Ball Association with Ferdinand Abell. Charlie got a job working for the team selling tickets, score cards and he printed the score cards himself. In 1891 the Brooklyn Bridegrooms moved to a field called Eastern Park. Several years later, they had to again, this time to the 18. On the afternoon of April 30,1898, the first game was played at the new Washington Park. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote the day, “The ball season is on in Brooklyn—inaugurated at the new grounds in South Brooklyn yesterday before a crowd of 15,000. ”Unfortunately. By 1890 Charlie had saved money to make an investment in the team. In January 1898 Charlie owned 80 percent of the stock, the other 20 percent being held by the then president
21.
Flatbush, Brooklyn
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Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Founded in 1651 by Dutch colonists, the neighborhood, which consists of several subsections, had a population of 110,875 as of the 2010 United States Census, by the 2010s, the area was quickly gentrifying. Flatbush was a prior to being incorporated into the City of Brooklyn. Generally, the township was larger than what is considered Flatbush today by the residents of Brooklyn, the modern neighborhood includes or borders several institutions of note, including Prospect Park and Brooklyn College. The name Flatbush is a calque of the Dutch language Vlacke bos, Flatbush was originally chartered as the Dutch Nieuw Nederland colony town of Midwout in 1651. Both names were used in the Dutch era, and Midwood was a name for Flatbush into the early 20th century. In a reversal, Midwood, now the area south of Brooklyn College, is often alternatively called Flatbush. Midwoods residents predominately feature a mix of the latter and Irish Americans, Flatbush and the five other towns of what was to become Kings County, were surrendered to the English in 1664. The town was the county seat for Kings County and was a center of life for what is now called Brooklyn, Flatbush played a key role in the American Revolution. Flatbush was where significant skirmishes and battles of the Battle of Long Island took place, Kings County at the time had the highest concentration of slaves north of the Mason–Dixon line – almost one-third of the total population for the county were slaves. Loyalist residents of Flatbush included David Mathews, Mayor of New York City, Flatbush residents maintained their loyalist sympathies, the Kings Arms, for example, appeared in the towns inn for a half-century after the conclusion of the conflict. Many of the remaining early Dutch structures are in the Flatlands, Flatbush maintained a kind of distance from the rest of Brooklyn and New York, but the emergence of the subway in the 1920s connected it to surrounding areas in an unprecedented way. In the first half of the 20th century, Flatbush had a population of Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans. Much as it is today, it was a working-class neighborhood, a significant portion of Flatbush residents closely followed the Brooklyn Dodgers, which at the time were not only the team of Brooklyn but also of Flatbush in particular. Dodgers centerfielder Duke Snider was known as “the Duke of Flatbush”, by 1958, however, the Dodgers left Brooklyn, and Ebbets Field eventually was torn down. Due to shifting boundaries, Ebbets Field today technically would be in Crown Heights. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Flatbush experienced a shift in demographics as it went from being a mostly Irish, Italian, while most sections of Flatbush were working class before the demographic shift, there were a few affluent areas. Prospect Park South had a number of more affluent homeowners
22.
1918 World Series
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The 1918 World Series featured the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to two. The Series victory for the Red Sox was their fifth in five tries, the Red Sox scored only nine runs in the entire Series, the fewest runs by the winning team in World Series history. Along with the 1906 and 1907 World Series, the 1918 World Series is one of only three Fall Classics where neither team hit a home run, the 1918 Series was played under several metaphorical dark clouds. The Series was marred by players threatening to strike due to low gate receipts, the Red Sox had played their home games in the 1915 and 1916 World Series in the more expansive Braves Field, but they returned to Fenway Park for the 1918 series. The 1918 World Series marked the first time The Star Spangled Banner was performed at a league game. During the seventh-inning stretch of Game 1, the band playing the song because the country was involved in World War I. The song would be named the national anthem of the United States in 1931, the winning pitcher of Game 1 was Babe Ruth, who pitched a shutout. The 1918 championship would be the last Red Sox win until 2004, the drought of 86 years was often attributed to the Curse of the Bambino. The alleged curse came to be when Red Sox owner Harry Frazee traded the superbly talented, the Cubs would not win their next World Series until 2016. The Red Sox, who had won the American League but lost the Series in 1946,1967,1975, of note, Ted Williams was born August 30,1918, and so was 12 days old when the Red Sox clinched the victory in this Series. He was part of Bostons next appearance in 1946, the only World Series he played in and he died in 2002, two years before the Red Sox next Series championship. After Game 6, it would be some 87 years until the Cubs, a three-game interleague matchup at Wrigley Field began June 10,2005, and was Bostons first ever visit to the park. The Cubs would not return to Fenway Park for nearly 94 years until a three-game interleague matchup beginning May 20,2011, † For the first time in the Series, all four umpires worked in the infield on a rotating basis. In previous Series from 1909 through 1917, two of the four umpires had been positioned in the outfield for each game, in addition to the plate umpire. AL Boston Red Sox vs. NL Chicago Cubs Game 1 went to the Red Sox, 1–0, stuffy McInnis knocked in the games only run, driving in Dave Shean with a fourth-inning single off Hippo Vaughn. The Cubs rebounded to knot the Series with a 3–1 victory in Game 2 the next day, tyler himself hit a two-run single in the second inning to make the score 3–0 and carried a shutout into the ninth inning, when the Red Sox scored their only run. The series remained in Chicago for Game 3 due to restrictions on travel. The Red Sox emerged victorious, 2–1, and took a 2–1 lead in the Series, wally Schang and Everett Scotts back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth inning were all Boston needed for the win
23.
Braves Field
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Braves Field was a baseball park in the Northeastern United States, located in Boston. Today the site is home to Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University, the stadium was home of the Boston Braves of the National League from 1915–1952, prior to the Braves move to Milwaukee in 1953. The stadium hosted the 1936 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and Braves home games during the 1948 World Series, the Boston Red Sox used Braves Field for their home games in the 1915 and 1916 World Series since the stadium had a larger seating capacity than Fenway Park. Braves Field was the site of Babe Ruths final season, playing for the Braves in 1935, from 1929 to 1932, the Boston Red Sox played select regular season games periodically at Braves Field. On May 1,1926, Braves Field hosted the longest baseball game in history –26 Innings, the game ended in a 1-1 tie. Braves Field was also home to professional football teams between 1929 and 1948, including the first home of the National Football League franchise that became the Washington Redskins. C. Located on Commonwealth Avenue at Babcock Street, the field was aligned northeast. Most of the stadium was demolished in 1955, but significant portions of the structure still stand. While built for baseball and having a baseball history, Braves Field briefly served as host for football teams. Braves Field was one of two homes of the Boston Bulldogs of the first American Football League and the Boston Shamrocks of the second AFL, the National Football Leagues Pottsville Maroons were sold and relocated to Braves Field in 1929 as the Boston Bulldogs. In 1932, Braves Field became home of the football Boston Braves, the next year, after a 4-4-2 season, the Boston Braves Football franchise moved to Fenway Park and changed its name to the Redskins. In 1937 the franchise relocated and become todays Washington Redskins, later, the Boston Yanks played a few games at Braves Field when Fenway Park was unavailable. Before the Braves became the first modern-era franchise to relocate, in 1952, before Braves Field, the franchise had played at South End Grounds, with play at Congress Street Grounds in 1894 while South End Grounds was rebuilt following the May 5,1894 Roxbury Fire. Shortly after the Boston Red Sox opened Fenway Park in 1912, Braves owner James Gaffney purchased the former Allston Golf Club, construction of the $600,000 Braves Field began on March 20,1915 and was completed before the end of the 1915 season. The park was constructed entirely of steel and an estimated 8 million pounds of concrete, Braves Field officially opened on August 18,1915 with 46,000 in attendance to see the Braves defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1. Braves Park was the largest stadium built in that era, with 40,000 capacity, Braves Field was nicknamed The Wigwam by fans. Later it was nicknamed The Bee Hive and the changed to National League Park, from 1936–1941. The renaming of the team and stadium were both eventually dropped, during this span, it hosted the fourth Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1936
24.
1955 World Series
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The 1955 World Series matched the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees, with the Dodgers winning the Series in seven games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It would be the only Series the Dodgers won in Brooklyn and this Series also marked the end of a long period of invulnerability for the Yankees in World Series. It was the Yankees first loss in a World Series since 1942, while the Yankees were 15–2 in Series appearances during that time, they would lose again in 1957,1960,1963, and 1964, for a record of 4–5 in World Series over the next decade. NL Brooklyn Dodgers vs. AL New York Yankees The Yankees took Game 1 behind two homers from Joe Collins and one by rookie Elston Howard in his first World Series at bat. Carl Furillo homered for Brooklyn and Duke Snider hit his first of the Series, Jackie Robinson stole home, but Whitey Ford won with relief help in the ninth from Bob Grim. Tommy Byrne tossed a complete game victory and singled in New Yorks final run during the Yanks big four-run fourth inning, putting New York up 2–0. Johnny Podres went all the way and won with home run help from Roy Campanella, a limping Mickey Mantle hit his only home run of the Series. This was the last World Series game to place in the month of September. Brooklyn evened the Series at 2–2 as Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, sunday, October 2,1955, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York Duke Snider hit two home runs and Sandy Amorós helped the Dodgers beat the Yankees for the third straight day. Dodgers rookie Roger Craig won in his first World Series start, Bob Cerv and Yogi Berra hit Yankee homers off Craig and reliever Clem Labine. Snider became the player from either league with four home runs in two different Series. Whitey Ford held the Dodgers to four hits and a run while striking out eight as the Yankees evened the series at 3–3. New York scored all five runs in the first inning, led by Bill Skowrons three-run blast, the Dodgers scored one run in the fourth and sixth innings on a single and sac fly, both by Gil Hodges. Amorós then threw to Pee Wee Reese and Reese relayed to Gil Hodges and this stymied possibly the Yankees best chance of the day. Elston Howard grounded out to Reese for the out, the two shared the dubious record for playing in the most losing World Series. This would be the time in Jackie Robinsons career when he did not play in his teams World Series game. Don Hoak replaced Robinson in the line-up, and played third base, for the first time in Series history, an MVP was selected—Johnny Podres. He was 2–0, with two games and an ERA of 1.00, Game 7 was a shutout
25.
2005 World Series
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The White Sox swept the Astros four games to none in the series, winning their third World Series championship and their first in 88 seasons. Despite the series being a sweep, all four games were quite close, home-field advantage was awarded to Chicago by virtue of the American Leagues 7–5 victory over the National League in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The Astros were attempting to become the fourth wild card team to win the Series, following the Anaheim Angels, Florida Marlins. Both teams were attempting to overcome decades of disappointment, with a combined 132 years between the two teams without a title, like the 1982 World Series between the St. However, the Brewers did meet the Cardinals in the 2011 National League Championship Series. The Chicago White Sox finished the season with the best record in the American League at 99–63. After starting the season on a tear, the White Sox began to fade in August, However, the Sox were able to hold off the Cleveland Indians to win the American League Central Division by six games, sweeping Cleveland in three games on the seasons final weekend. In the Division Series, the White Sox swept the defending champion Boston Red Sox, manager Ozzie Guillén then led the White Sox to a World Series victory, their first in 88 years. Standing O all around the place, to really know the fans cared that much about me – it was a great feeling. One of my proudest moments in the game, the Houston Astros won the Wild Card for the second straight year, once again clinching it on the final day of the season. The Astros embarked on a memorable Division Series rematch against the Atlanta Braves, with the Astros in the lead two games to one, the teams played an eighteen-inning marathon in Game 4, which was the longest postseason game in history. In this game, Roger Clemens made only the second appearance of his career. Chris Burkes walk-off home run ended the game in the bottom of the eighteenth, for the second straight year, the Astros played the St. Louis Cardinals in the League Championship Series. Like the White Sox, the Astros dropped Game 1, but were able to regroup, However, behind NLCS MVP Roy Oswalt, the Astros were able to defeat the Cards 5-1 in Game 6 and earned a trip to the World Series. This was the Astros first World Series appearance in franchise history, playing in their first World Series home game since 1959, the White Sox took an early lead with a home run from Jermaine Dye in the first inning. The Sox scored two more in the second when Juan Uribe doubled in A. J. Pierzynski after Carl Everett had already scored on an earlier in the inning. The Astros responded in the inning when Lance Berkman hit a double, driving in Adam Everett. In the White Sox half of the fourth, Joe Crede hit what turned out to be the home run. In the bottom of the eighth, Scott Podsednik hit a triple with Pierzynski on second, José Contreras pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits for the win
26.
Ebbets Field
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Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City. It is known mainly as the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League, from 1913 to 1957, Ebbets Field was demolished in 1960 and replaced by apartment buildings. Ebbets Field was bounded by Bedford Avenue on the east, Sullivan Place on the South, Cedar Street on the west, and Montgomery Street on the north. The land included the site of a garbage dump called Pigtown, because of the pigs that once ate their fill there and the stench that filled the air. Construction began on March 4,1912, and the cornerstone, a piece of Connecticut granite that held newspapers, pictures of players, cards, telegrams. At the cornerstone laying ceremony, Ebbets said that the ballpark was going to be ready for play on September 1, when the park was opened, it was discovered that the flag, keys to the bleachers, and a press box had all been forgotten. The press box level was not added until 1929, the seating area was initially a double deck from past third base, around home plate, and all the way down the right side. There was an open, concrete bleacher stand extending the rest of the way down the base side to the outer wall. The right field wall was high due to the short foul line necessitated by the street immediately beyond it. The ballpark was built on a piece of ground. The right field wall made up the difference, as the right corner was above street level. The left field corner was below street level, and there was an incline or terrace running along the field wall. Ebbets Field was the scene of early successes, as the Robins. The seating area was expanded in the 1920s, a time for baseball when many ballparks were expanded. By the 1940s, a big scoreboard had been installed in right field, however, additional rows of seating across left field reduced that area by about 15 feet, to the delight of right-handed sluggers. The parks first night game was played on June 15,1938, johnny Vander Meer of the visiting Cincinnati Reds pitched his second consecutive no-hitter in that game, a feat that has never been duplicated in Major League Baseball. It was also in 1938 that Hilda Chester, one of the earlier sports superfans became a regular attendee when Larry MacPhail brought Ladies Days to Ebbets Field, after the early successes of the Dodgers, the team slid into hard times. The Dodgers won pennants in 1941,1947,1949,1952,1953,1955 and 1956, Ebbets Field also hosted the 1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
27.
Eastern Time Zone
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Places that use Eastern Standard Time when observing standard time are 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. Eastern Daylight Time, when observing daylight saving time DST is 4 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, in the northern parts of the time zone, on the second Sunday in March, at 2,00 a. m. EST, clocks are advanced to 3,00 a. m. EDT leaving a one-hour gap, on the first Sunday in November, at 2,00 a. m. EDT, clocks are moved back to 1,00 a. m, southern parts of the zone do not observe daylight saving time. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 ruled that daylight saving time would run from the last Sunday of April until the last Sunday in October in the United States, the act was amended to make the first Sunday in April the beginning of daylight saving time as of 1987. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended daylight saving time in the United States beginning in 2007. So local times change at 2,00 a. m. EST to 3,00 a. m. EDT on the second Sunday in March, in Canada, the time changes as it does in the United States. However, a handful of communities unofficially observe Eastern Time because they are part of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area – Phenix City, Smiths Station, Lanett, and Valley. Florida, All of Florida is in the Eastern Time zone except for the portion of the Florida Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River, as the Eastern–Central zone boundary approaches the Gulf of Mexico, it follows the Bay/Gulf county line. Indiana, All of Indiana observes Eastern Time except for six counties in the Chicago metropolitan area. Kentucky, Roughly, the half of the state, including all of metropolitan Louisville, is in the Eastern Time Zone. Historically the entire state observed Central Time, when daylight saving time was first introduced, the Lower Peninsula remained on DST after it formally ended, effectively re-aligning itself into the Eastern Time Zone. The Upper Peninsula continued to observe Central Time until 1972, when all, Tennessee, Most of the eastern third of Tennessee is legally on Eastern Time. Eastern Time is also used somewhat as a de facto official time for all of the United States, since it includes the capital and the largest city. Major professional sports leagues also post all game times in Eastern time, for example, a game time between two teams from Pacific Time Zone will still be posted in Eastern time. Most cable television and national broadcast networks advertise airing times in Eastern time, national broadcast networks generally have two primary feeds, an eastern feed for Eastern and Central time zones, and a tape-delayed western feed for the Pacific Time Zone. The prime time is set on Eastern and Pacific at 8,00 p. m. with the Central time zone stations receiving the eastern feed at 7,00 p. m. local time. Mountain Time Zone stations receive a separate feed at 7,00 p. m. local time, as Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, during the summer months, it has its own feed at 7,00 p. m. local time
28.
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
29.
Massachusetts
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It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, and New York to the west. The state is named for the Massachusett tribe, which inhabited the area. The capital of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England is Boston, over 80% of Massachusetts population lives in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, a region influential upon American history, academia, and industry. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing and trade, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution, during the 20th century, Massachusetts economy shifted from manufacturing to services. Modern Massachusetts is a leader in biotechnology, engineering, higher education, finance. Plymouth was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, in 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of Americas most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. In 1777, General Henry Knox founded the Springfield Armory, which during the Industrial Revolution catalyzed numerous important technological advances, in 1786, Shays Rebellion, a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. In the 18th century, the Protestant First Great Awakening, which swept the Atlantic World, in the late 18th century, Boston became known as the Cradle of Liberty for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution. The entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts has played a commercial and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before the American Civil War, Massachusetts was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, in the late 19th century, the sports of basketball and volleyball were invented in the western Massachusetts cities of Springfield and Holyoke, respectively. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the state, including the Adams, both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts public school students place among the top nations in the world in academic performance, the official name of the state is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. While this designation is part of the official name, it has no practical implications. Massachusetts has the position and powers within the United States as other states. Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family such as the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett. While cultivation of crops like squash and corn supplemented their diets, villages consisted of lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses, and tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems. Between 1617 and 1619, smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans, the first English settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, arrived via the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native Wampanoag people. This was the second successful permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, the event known as the First Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World which lasted for three days
30.
Run (baseball)
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A player may score by hitting a home run or by any combination of plays that puts him safely on base as a runner and subsequently brings him home. The object of the game is for a team to score more runs than its opponent. But if the out is not a force out, but a tag out, then if that other baserunner crosses home plate before that tag out is made. Example 1, With a runner on third and two outs, batter hits a ball to the second baseman. The runner on third races home, the second baseman fields the ball and throws on to the first baseman in time to get the batter on the force out at first for the third out of the inning. Even if the runner on third had touched home plate before that force out was made at first, example 2, With a runner on third and two outs, batter hits a fly ball over centerfielders head. It bounces several times as it rolls to the wall, the runner on third runs safely home and easily scores a run. Meanwhile, the batter reaches first, then tries to advance to second. The centerfielder, having retrieved the ball, throws the ball to the second baseman, since the runner stepped on home plate before the batter was tagged out at second for the third out of the inning, his run will count. In baseball statistics, a player who advances around all the bases to score is credited with a run, while runs scored is considered an important individual batting statistic, it is regarded as less significant than runs batted in. Both individual runs scored and runs batted in are heavily context-dependent, for a more sophisticated assessment of a contribution toward producing runs for his team. If the inning is reconstructed without the error, and if that third batter, instead of reaching on an error, registered an out, thus, the two runs that did score will be classified as unearned, and will not count in the pitchers personal statistics. Be advised though that unearned runs are a statistical animal only, all runs count the same in the score, whether they are earned or unearned. The career record for most runs scored by a player is 2,295. The season record for most runs scored is 198, set by Billy Hamilton of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1894, the so-called modern-day record is 177, achieved by Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees in 1921. The record for most seasons leading one of the leagues in runs scored is 8. The record for most consecutive games with at least one run scored is 18, shared by the Yankees Red Rolfe and the Cleveland Indians Kenny Lofton. The record for most runs scored by a player in a game is 7
31.
Hit (baseball)
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If a batter reaches first base because of offensive interference by a preceding runner, he is also credited with a hit. A hit for one base is called a single, for two bases a double, and for three bases a triple, a home run is also scored as a hit. Doubles, triples, and home runs are also called extra base hits, an infield hit is a hit where the ball does not leave the infield. Infield hits are uncommon by nature, and most often earned by speedy runners, a no-hitter is a game in which one of the teams prevented the other from getting a hit. Throwing a no-hitter is rare and considered an accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff. In most cases in the game, no-hitters are accomplished by a single pitcher who throws a complete game. A pitcher who throws a no-hitter could still allow runners to reach safely, by way of walks, errors, hit batsmen. If the pitcher allows no runners to reach base, the no-hitter is a perfect game, in 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls as hits. The result was skyrocketing batting averages, including some near.500, Tip ONeill of the St. Louis Browns batted.485 that season, the experiment was abandoned the following season. There is controversy regarding how the records of 1887 should be interpreted, the number of legitimate walks and at-bats are known for all players that year, so computing averages using the same method as in other years is straightforward. In 1968, Major League Baseball formed a Special Baseball Records Committee to resolve this issues, the Committee ruled that walks in 1887 should not be counted as hits. Most current sources list ONeills 1887 average as.435, as calculated by omitting his walks and he would retain his American Association batting championship. However, the variance between methods results in differing recognition for the 1887 National League batting champion, cap Anson would be recognized, with his.421 average, if walks are included, but Sam Thompson would be the champion at.372 if they are not. The official rulebook of Major League Baseball states in Rule 10, Rule 10.05 Comment, In applying Rule 10.05, the official scorer shall always give the batter the benefit of the doubt. Runner is called out for interference with a fielder attempting to field a batted ball, unless in the scorers judgment the batter-runner would have been safe had the interference not occurred
32.
Error (baseball)
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The term error can also refer to the play during which an error was committed. In that case, the play will be scored both as a hit and an error. Similarly, a batter does not receive credit for a run batted in when runs score on an error, passed balls and wild pitches are separate statistical categories and are not scored as errors. There is a loophole in the rules on errors for catchers. There is therefore a no fault condition for the attempting to prevent a steal. However, when considering that the majority of stolen base attempts are successful, if the runner takes an additional base due to the wild throw, an error is charged for that advance. However, if the catchers glove is hit by the bat, it is counted as a catchers interference, traditionally, the number of errors was a statistic used to quantify the skill of a fielder. However, fans and analysts have questioned the usefulness and significance of errors as a metric for fielding skill, notably, mental misjudgments, such as failure to cover a base or attempting a force out when such a play is not available, are not considered errors. A more subtle, though more significant objection to the error, in order for a fielder to be charged with an error, he must have done something right by being in the correct place to be able to attempt the play. A poor fielder may avoid many errors simply by being unable to reach batted or thrown balls that a fielder could successfully reach. Thus, it is possible that a poor fielder will have fewer errors than any fielder with higher expectancies, however, this still leaves statistics, such as fielding percentage, that are based on errors as a way to compare the defensive abilities of players. Errors also hold significance in calculating the earned run average of a pitcher, runs scored due to an error are unearned, and do not count toward a pitchers ERA. In Major League Baseball, Herman Long holds the Major League records with 1096 errors in his career between 1889 and 1904, bill Dahlen, Deacon White and Germany Smith are the only other players to make 1,000 errors during their MLB careers. All of these players played at least one season before 1900, the 20th century record is held by Rabbit Maranville with 711 errors. Among active players, Adrián Beltré leads with 275 errors over 2475 career games as of June 14,2015, the major league record for errors by a pitcher in a career is held by Hippo Vaughn, with 64 errors. That also is the National League record, the American career mark is held by Ed Walsh. The most errors made by a pitcher in a season is 28 by Jim Whitney, the American League record of 15 is held by three pitchers, Jack Chesbro, Rube Waddell, and Ed Walsh. The record for most errors made by a pitcher in one inning is three, first set by Cy Seymour in 1898, the record was tied by Tommy John in 1988, Jaime Navarro in 1996 and Mike Sirotka in 1999
33.
Ernie Shore
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Ernest Grady Shore was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox during some of their best years in the 1910s. He was born near East Bend, North Carolina, Shore graduated from Guilford College in 1913. Along with Babe Ruth, he was sold by the Baltimore Orioles to the Red Sox, shores best year with the Red Sox was 1915, when he won 18, lost 8 and compiled a 1.64 earned run average. He was 3–1 in World Series action in 1915 and 1916 and he missed the 1918 Red Sox World Championship season, having enlisted in the military in that war year. His most famous game occurred on June 23,1917, against the Washington Senators in the first game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park, Ruth started the game, walking the first batter, Ray Morgan. As newspaper accounts of the time relate, the short-fused Ruth then engaged in an argument with apparently equally short-fused home plate umpire Brick Owens. Owens tossed Ruth out of the game, and the even more enraged Ruth then slugged the umpire a glancing blow before being taken off the field, Shore was brought in to pitch, and came in with very few warmup pitches. With a new pitcher and catcher, runner Morgan tried to steal but was thrown out, Shore then proceeded to retire the remaining 26 Senators without allowing a baserunner, earning a 4–0 Red Sox win. For many years the game was listed in record books as a perfect game, following the game, Ruth paid a $100 fine, was suspended for ten games, and issued a public apology for his behavior. Shore was sold to the New York Yankees by Red Sox owner Harry Frazee and he died on September 24,1980, aged 89
34.
Save (baseball)
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In baseball, a save is credited to a pitcher who finishes a game for the winning team under certain prescribed circumstances, described below. The number of saves, or percentage of save opportunities converted, is an oft-cited statistic of relief pitchers. It became an official Major League Baseball statistic in 1969, mariano Rivera is MLBs all-time leader in regular season saves with 652. The term save was being used as far back as 1952, executives Jim Toomey of the St. A formula with more criteria for saves was invented in 1960 by baseball writer Jerome Holtzman and he felt that the existing statistics at the time, earned run average and win–loss record, did not sufficiently measure a relievers effectiveness. ERA does not account for inherited runners a reliever allows to score, Holtzman felt that Face was more effective the previous year when he was 5–2. When Holtzman presented the idea to J. G. Taylor Spink, publisher of The Sporting News, Holtzman recorded the unofficial save statistic in The Sporting News weekly for nine years before it became official in 1969. In conjunction with publishing the statistic, The Sporting News in 1960 also introduced the Fireman of the Year Award, the save became an official MLB statistic in 1969. It was MLBs first new major statistic since the run batted in was added in 1920, in baseball statistics, the term save is used to indicate the successful maintenance of a lead by a relief pitcher, usually the closer, until the end of the game. A save is a statistic credited to a pitcher, as set forth in Rule 10.19 of the Official Rules of Major League Baseball. If a relief pitcher satisfies all of the criteria for a save, except he does not finish the game, he will often be credited with a hold. A blown save is charged to a pitcher who enters a game in a situation which permits him to earn a save, if the reliever allows the tying or leading run, but the relievers team wins the game, the reliever wins the game. Due to this definition, a pitcher cannot blow multiple saves in a game unless he has multiple save opportunities, the blown save was introduced by the Rolaids Relief Man Award in 1988. A pitcher who enters the game in a situation and does not finish the game—but his team still leading—is not charged with a save opportunity. Save percentage is the ratio of saves to save opportunities, in 1974, tougher criteria were adopted for saves where the tying run had to be on base or at the plate when the reliever entered to qualify for a save. This addressed saves such as Ron Taylors in a 20–6 New York Mets win over the Atlanta Braves. The rule was relaxed in 1975 to credit a save when a reliever pitches at least one inning with no more than a lead, or comes in with runners on base. In 2000, Rolaids started recording a save when a pitcher enters a save situation with the potential tying run already on base
35.
Carl Mays
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Carl William Mays was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. Chapman became the only Major League player to die as a result of an on-field injury. According to his World War I draft card, Carl William Mays was born November 12,1892 in Atterson and his father was a Methodist minister named William Henry Mays. Carl had an upbringing as a child. Much like legendary pitcher Christy Mathewson, Mays refused to pitch on Sundays and he was known for a habit of throwing inside to any batter who hugged the plate. Despite a stellar record, Mays was typically among the American League leaders in hit batsmen. When Mays was 12, his father died, Mays internalized his grief, settling into a surly persona. He had very few friends in the baseball world and his best personal support group was a couple named Pierce and Genevieve Mays. Pierce may have related to Carl, and the couple served as a surrogate uncle. In 1915, while a member of the Boston Red Sox, Mays threw at Cobb each time he came to bat. In the eighth inning, after a pitch, Cobb threw his bat in Mays direction. Mays responded by calling Cobb a yellow dog, after order was restored, Mays hit Cobb directly on the wrist. The Tigers won the game 6–1 and the incident cemented Mays reputation as a head hunter, the Yankees were trailing when Ray Chapman came to the plate in the fifth inning on August 16,1920. Mays was pursuing his 100th career win that day, Chapman had a sacrifice bunt in the first inning and popped up to Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp in the third. Angered that Chapman was crowding the plate, Mays let loose with a fastball that he claimed was in the strike zone. The impact of the ball striking Chapman in the head was so loud that Mays thought it had hit Chapmans bat, Mays caught the ball as it bounced onto the field and threw it to Pipp at first base. Chapman fell to the ground trying to make his way to first base. Cleveland teammate and long-time friend Tris Speaker raced from the on deck circle to check on Chapman and he was joined by several players from the Indians and Yankees
36.
Fred Merkle
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Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle, also documented as Frederick Charles Merkle, and nicknamed Bonehead, was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a career, he is best remembered for a controversial base-running mistake he made while still a teenager. Born in Watertown, Wisconsin, to Ernst Merkle, a Swiss immigrant, and Amalie Thielmann Merkle, Merkle played his first Major League game at the age of 18, with the New York Giants in 1907. He was still the youngest player in the National League, and used mostly as a pinch hitter, Merkle became the Giants regular first baseman by 1910 and contributed in that role to three straight pennant winners from 1911 to 1913. He was traded to the Brooklyn Robins in August 1916 and played in his fourth World Series that year, in April 1917, the Robins sold Merkle to the Chicago Cubs, with whom he continued as the regular first baseman through 1920. In 1918 with the Cubs, Merkle played in his fifth World Series in eight years, from 1921 to 1925, Merkle was the regular first baseman for Rochester in the International League. He returned to the Major Leagues in mid-1925, when he was acquired by the New York Yankees, after one year back in the International League as player-manager for Reading in 1927, Merkle retired. Fred Merkle was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 1953, in the bottom of the 9th inning, Merkle came to bat with two outs, and the score tied 1–1. At the time, Moose McCormick was on first base, Merkle singled and McCormick advanced to third base. Al Bridwell, the batter, followed with a single of his own. McCormick trotted to home plate, apparently scoring the winning run, the fans in attendance, under the impression that the game was over, ran onto the field to celebrate. Meanwhile, Merkle ran to the Giants clubhouse without touching second base, Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers noticed this, and after retrieving a ball and touching second base, he appealed to umpire Hank ODay, who later managed the Cubs, to call Merkle out. Since Merkle had not touched the base, the umpire called him out on a force play, the run was therefore nullified, the Giants victory erased, and the score of the game remained tied. Unfortunately, the thousands of fans on the field prevented resumption of the game, the Giants and the Cubs ended the season tied for first place and had a rematch at the Polo Grounds, on October 8. The Cubs won this game, 4–2, thus the National League pennant. Accounts vary as to whether Evers actually retrieved the ball or not. Some versions of the story have him running to the outfield to retrieve the correct ball, other versions have it that he shouted for the ball, which was relayed to him from the Cubs dugout. The New York Times account of the play recalls that Cubs manager and first baseman Frank Chance was the one who grasped the situation and directed that the ball be thrown to him covering second base
37.
Sherry Smith
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Sherrod Malone Smith was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1911 until 1927, he pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Robins, Smith batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was born in Monticello, Georgia, Smith was the hard-luck loser of one of the longest World Series games ever played. He pitched all the way into the 14th inning for Brooklyn, dueling with Bostons starting pitcher, Babe Ruth and it would be his only appearance in that Series. He made two starts in the 1920 World Series. Smith was the pitcher of Game 3 against Cleveland, throwing a three-hitter in a 2-1 victory. But despite another impressive effort in Game 6, he lost a 1-0 duel with Duster Mails, placed on waivers after the 1922 season, Smith was claimed by Cleveland and pitched there for several seasons. He led all American League pitchers in 1925 in complete games with 22, also leading the league season in walks. In a 14-season career, Smith posted a 114–118 record with 428 strikeouts, Smith died in Reidsville, Georgia, at age 58. List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference or Baseball Library
38.
Home run
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In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is also the home run, increasingly rare in modern baseball. When a home run is scored, the batter is credited with a hit and a run scored. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit, a batted ball is also a home run if it touches either foul pole or its attached screen before touching the ground, as the foul poles are by definition in fair territory. A batted ball that goes over the wall after touching the ground is not a home run. A fielder is allowed to reach over the wall to attempt to catch the ball as long as his feet are on or over the field during the attempt. If the fielder successfully catches the ball while it is in flight the batter is out, however, since the fielder is not part of the field, a ball that bounces off a fielder and over the wall without touching the ground is still a home run. A home run accomplished in any of the above manners is a home run. This stipulation is in Approved Ruling of Rule 7.10, an inside-the-park home run occurs when a batter hits the ball into play and is able to circle the bases before the fielders can put him out. Unlike with a home run, the batter-runner and all preceding runners are liable to be put out by the defensive team at any time while running the bases. This can only happen if the ball does not leave the ballfield, with outfields much less spacious and more uniformly designed than in the games early days, inside-the-park home runs are now a rarity. They are usually the result of a ball being hit by a very fast runner, either way, this sends the ball into open space in the outfield and thereby allows the batter-runner to circle the bases before the defensive team can put him out. The speed of the runner is crucial as even triples are relatively rare in most modern ballparks, all runs scored on such a play, however, still count. An example of an unexpected bounce occurred during the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 10,2007, by the time the ball was relayed, Ichiro had already crossed the plate standing up. This was the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history, Home runs are often characterized by the number of runners on base at the time. A home run hit with the bases empty is seldom called a one-run homer, with one runner on base, two runs are scored and thus the home run is often called a two-run homer or two-run shot. Similarly, a home runs with two runners on base is a three-run homer or three-run shot, the term four-run homer is seldom used, instead, it is nearly always called a grand slam. Hitting a grand slam is the best possible result for the turn at bat
39.
Hi Myers
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Henry Harrison Hy Myers was a professional baseball player. He was an outfielder over all or part of 14 seasons with the Brooklyn Supurbas/Robins, St. Louis Cardinals and he led the National League in RBIs in 1919 while playing for Brooklyn. He was born in East Liverpool, Ohio and died in Minerva and he was buried in Grove Hill Cemetery in Hanoverton, Ohio
40.
Del Gainer
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Dellos Clinton Gainer, nicknamed Sheriff, was an American baseball player. In his first full year in the leagues, he drew praise for his fielding and was batting.302 when he was struck by a pitched ball. Gainer suffered from the wrist injury and other injuries over the several seasons. In 1914, Gainer was sold to the Boston Red Sox and he played for Boston teams that won the World Series in consecutive seasons in 1915 and 1916. He had the third highest batting average on the Red Sox in 1915 and he had the game-winning hit in the 14th inning of Game 2 of the 1916 World Series. He spent the 1918 season in the United States Navy during World War I, in 10 major league seasons, Gainer appeared in 548 games,444 of them at first base, and compiled a.272 batting average. Gainer was born in Montrose, West Virginia, in 1886, as a young man, he worked as a carpenter in Elkins, West Virginia, and played baseball as a shortstop in Elkins. He began playing baseball for $80 a month with the Grafton, West Virginia. His fielding was not adequate at the position, and he was moved to first base. He drew attention, however, for his batting, compiling a.317 batting average in 74 games for the Grafton team, in early August 1909, Gainer was purchased from Grafton by the Detroit Tigers. He made his league debut with the Detroit Tigers on October 2,1909. He appeared in two games for the 1909 Tigers and had two hits and two strikeouts in five at bats, in 1910, Gainer was farmed out to the Fort Wayne Billikens in the Central League. The deal required Fort Wayne to pay $500 for Gainer and allowed Detroit to buy him back at the end of the season for the same sum and he appeared in 136 games for Fort Wayne and compiled a.311 batting average in 489 at bats. On September 26,1910, the Tigers exercised their option to recall Gainer, in 1911, Gainer appeared in 70 games for the Tigers,69 of them as a first baseman, and compiled a.302 batting average in 248 at bats. Early in the season, one report noted that his fielding is making him the sensation of the American League. The 1911 Tigers opened the season with a phenomenal 21–2 record, Jennings noted, This boy is an ideal player. He abides by every rule of nature and he will always be in condition to play his best. There is something else about Gainer that you must appreciate and he does not think no one can tell him a thing
41.
Brooklyn
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Brooklyn is the most populous borough of New York City, with a Census-estimated 2,636,735 residents in 2015. It borders the borough of Queens at the end of Long Island. Today, if New York City dissolved, Brooklyn would rank as the third-most populous city in the U. S. behind Los Angeles, the borough continues, however, to maintain a distinct culture. Many Brooklyn neighborhoods are ethnic enclaves, Brooklyns official motto, displayed on the Borough seal and flag, is Eendraght Maeckt Maght which translates from early modern Dutch as Unity makes strength. Since 2010, Brooklyn has evolved into a hub of entrepreneurship and high technology startup firms. The history of European settlement in Brooklyn spans more than 350 years, the neighborhood of Marine Park was home to North Americas first tidal mill. It was built by the Dutch, and the foundation can be seen today, however, the area was not formally settled as a town. Many incidents and documents relating to this period are in Gabriel Furmans early compilation, what is today Brooklyn left Dutch hands after the final English conquest of New Netherland in 1664, a prelude to the Second Anglo–Dutch War. The English reorganized the six old Dutch towns on southwestern Long Island as Kings County on November 1,1683 and this tract of land was recognized as a political entity for the first time, and the municipal groundwork was laid for a later expansive idea of Brooklyn identity. On August 27,1776 was fought the Battle of Long Island, the first major engagement fought in the American Revolutionary War after independence was declared, and the largest of the entire conflict. British troops forced Continental Army troops under George Washington off the heights near the sites of Green-Wood Cemetery, Prospect Park. The fortified American positions at Brooklyn Heights consequently became untenable and were evacuated a few days later, One result of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 was the evacuation of the British from New York City, celebrated by residents into the 20th century. The New York Navy Yard operated in Wallabout Bay for the entire 19th century, the first center of urbanization sprang up in the Town of Brooklyn, directly across from Lower Manhattan, which saw the incorporation of the Village of Brooklyn in 1817. Reliable steam ferry service across the East River to Fulton Landing converted Brooklyn Heights into a town for Wall Street. Ferry Road to Jamaica Pass became Fulton Street to East New York, Town and Village were combined to form the first, kernel incarnation of the City of Brooklyn in 1834. Industrial deconcentration in mid-century was bringing shipbuilding and other manufacturing to the part of the county. Each of the two cities and six towns in Kings County remained independent municipalities, and purposely created non-aligning street grids with different naming systems and it later became the most popular and highest circulation afternoon paper in America. The publisher changed to L. Van Anden on April 19,1842, on May 14,1849 the name was shortened to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, on September 5,1938 it was further shortened to Brooklyn Eagle
42.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
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Jack Coombs
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John Wesley Jack Coombs, nicknamed Colby Jack after his alma mater, was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the Philadelphia Athletics, Brooklyn Robins, and Detroit Tigers. Born in LeGrand, Iowa, Coombs moved to Kennebunk, Maine with his family at the age of 4 and he played baseball in high school in Freeport, Maine, and, in 1901–2, for Coburn Classical prep school in Waterville, Maine. He was a 1906 graduate of Colby College in Waterville, where he was a chemistry major and he also participated in football, track, and tennis. Colbys baseball field is named for him, three weeks after graduating, Coombs pitched in his first major league game for Philadelphia, which was a 7 hit shutout, defeating the Washington Senators 3-0. He finished 1906 with a 10-10 record and 2.50 ERA, in 1906, he pitched the longest complete game in the American League,24 innings against Boston, winning 4-1. The following year was not great as Coombs went 6-9 with a 3.12 ERA, in 1908 and 1909 his record was only 19-16 despite his ERA being 2.00 and 2.32 those years. His best season was 1910 which is one of the best single pitching seasons in MLB history. Besides his record of 31–9, he led the American League in wins, games played, and shutouts and he won 18 of 19 starts that July and racked up 53 consecutive scoreless innings which was the major league record until Walter Johnson broke it three years later. Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser have since broken the mark and he also won three games in the 1910 World Series, in which the Athletics defeated the Chicago Cubs. He made appearances in the 1911 and 1916 World Series, in 1919, he was the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies for 62 games, going 18-44 before being replaced by Gavvy Cravath. He returned to one final year in 1920 before retiring. Coombs became a coach at Duke University who sent many players to the majors. Duke Universitys baseball field is named after him and he spent his retirement as a sports historian and writer. In 1945, he published, Baseball – Individual Play and Team Strategy
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Jeff Pfeffer
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Edward Joseph Pfeffer born in Seymour, Illinois, was a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers/Robins, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. His older brother Francis was known as Big Jeff Pfeffer and he helped the Robins win the 1916 and 1920 National League pennants. In the 1916 World Series, he recorded a save in Game 3 and was the losing pitcher of the series-ending Game 5. Pfeffer led the National League in hit batsmen in 1916 and 1917, in 1916 he gave up Rogers Hornsbys first home run. In 13 seasons he had a 158–112 win-loss record with 10 saves in 347 games, as of the end of the 2014 season, Pfeffer ranked 96th on the MLB career ERA list and tied for 73rd on the MLB career hit batsmen list. He is the Dodgers career leader in ERA and he died in Chicago at the age of 84, and is interred at Rock Island National Cemetery. Top 100 Major League Baseball hit batsmen leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
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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
