1.
Polo Grounds
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The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963. The third Polo Grounds, built in 1890 and renovated after a fire in 1911, is the one generally indicated when the Polo Grounds is referenced. It was located in Coogans Hollow and was noted for its distinctive shape, very short distances to the left and right field walls. As the name suggests, the original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876, in baseball, the original Polo Grounds was home to the New York Metropolitans from 1880 until 1885, and the New York Giants from 1883 until 1888. The Giants played in the second Polo Grounds for part of the 1889 season and all of the 1890 season, and at the third and fourth Polo Grounds from 1891 through 1957. The Polo Grounds was also the field of the New York Yankees from 1913 until 1922. It hosted the 1934 and 1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Games, in football, the third Polo Grounds was home to the New York Brickley Giants for one game in 1921 and the New York Giants from 1925 to 1955. The New York Jets of the American Football League played at the stadium from the inaugural season of 1960 through 1963. Other sporting events held at the Polo Grounds included soccer, boxing, the last sporting event at the Polo Grounds was a football game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills on December 14,1963. Shea Stadium opened in 1964 and replaced the Polo Grounds as the home of the Mets and Jets, the Polo Grounds was demolished over a period of four months that year and a public housing complex, known as the Polo Grounds Towers, was built on the site. The original Polo Grounds stood at 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, directly across 110th Street from the northeast corner of Central Park. The venues original purpose was for the sport of polo, and its name was merely descriptive, not a formal name. For this purpose the ownership built a second diamond and grandstand at the park, dividing it into eastern and western fields for use by the Giants and Metropolitans respectively. Polo Grounds I thus hosted its first Major League Baseball games in 1883 as the stadium of two teams, the American Association Metropolitans and the National League Gothams. George Cricket Grounds on Staten Island in 1886, the original Polo Grounds was used not only for Polo and professional baseball, but often for college baseball and football as well—even by teams outside New York. The earliest known surviving image of the field is an engraving of a game between Yale University and Princeton University on Decoration Day, May 30,1882. Yale and Harvard also played their traditional Thanksgiving Day game there on November 29,1883, New York City was in the process of extending its street grid into uptown Manhattan in 1889. Plans for an extended West 111th Street ran through the Polo Grounds, City workers are said to have shown up suddenly one day and begun cutting through the fence to lay out the new street
2.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
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New York Yankees
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The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
4.
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
5.
Leonard Wood
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Leonard Wood was a United States Army officer. He served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba and he began his military career as an army doctor on the frontier, where he received the Medal of Honor. He was bypassed for a command in World War I, but then became a prominent Republican Party leader. He served as civilian Governor General in the Philippines in the 1920s and he was particularly representative of an era that valued moral and physical strength. Although admired by his generation for his honesty, forthrightness, and his intense and vigorous approach to life, Leonard Wood was of English descent, and was descended from four Mayflower passengers including William White, Francis Cooke, Stephen Hopkins and Richard Warren. He was married to Louise Adriana Condit Smith, of Washington, on November 18,1890, Wood took a position as an Army contract surgeon in January 1886, and was stationed with the 4th Cavalry at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He received the rank of captain in 1891, while stationed at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, in 1893, Wood enrolled in graduate school at Georgia Tech, then known as the Georgia School of Technology, and organized the schools 1893 football team. Wood was the coach and played left guard, leading Georgia Tech to a 2–1–1 record. He was awarded an LL. D. by Harvard in 1899, Wood was personal physician to Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley through 1898. It was during this period he developed a friendship with Theodore Roosevelt, at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Wood, with Roosevelt, organized the 1st Volunteer Cavalry regiment, popularly known as the Rough Riders. Wood commanded the regiment in an engagement known as the Battle of Las Guasimas. When the brigade commander, Samuel B. M, after San Juan, Wood led the 2nd Cavalry Brigade for the rest of the war, he stayed in Cuba after the war and was appointed the Military Governor of Santiago in 1898, and of Cuba from 1899–1902. In that capacity, he relied on his experience to institute improvements to the medical. He introduced numerous reforms similar to those of the Progressive Movement in the U. S and he was promoted to brigadier general of regulars shortly before moving to his next assignment. In 1902, he proceeded to the Philippines, where he commanded the Philippines Division and he was promoted to major general in 1903 despite significant opposition, and served as governor of Moro province, a stronghold of Muslim rebellion, from 1903 to 1906. He received criticism for his handling of the battle at First Battle of Bud Dajo where hundreds of women and children were killed, Wood had known Theodore Roosevelt well before the Spanish–American War. Wood was named Army Chief of Staff in 1910 by President Taft, the Preparedness Movement plan was scrapped in favor of the Selective Service System, shortly before World War I. He developed the Mobile Army, thus laying the groundwork for American success in World War I, in 1914, Wood was replaced as Chief of Staff by William Wotherspoon
6.
Ceremonial first pitch
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The ceremonial first ball is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Now, the guest stands in front of the pitchers mound and he or she may also sometimes stand on the mound. The recipient of the pitch is usually a player from the home team, the ceremonial thrower may be a notable person who is in attendance, an executive from a company that sponsors the team, or a person who won the first pitch opportunity as a contest prize. Often, especially in the leagues, multiple first pitches are made. The practice of having a mayor, governor, or other local celebrity throw out ceremonial first pitches dates back to at least 1890, governor William McKinley of Ohio, for example, threw the ball into the diamond before an opening day game between Toledo and Columbus in 1892. President William Howard Taft started the American tradition of Presidential first pitches in 1910 at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D. C. on the Washington Senators Opening Day. Every President since Taft has thrown out at least one ceremonial first ball or pitch, either for Opening Day, donald Trump opted to decline the Washington Nationals invitation to throw the ceremonial first pitch in 2017. U. S. Presidents & Major League Baseball
7.
Drill instructor
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A Drill Instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. For example, in the United States armed forces, they are assigned the duty of training new recruits entering the military, Drill instructors within the U. S. armed forces have different titles in each branch of service. In the United States Air Force, they are known as Military Training Instructors, the United States Navy uses Marine Corps drill instructors at their Officer Candidate School, but only Chief Petty Officers called Recruit Division Commanders, or RDCs at their recruit training. Within the United States Army, drill instructors are given the title of Drill Sergeant, the United States Coast Guard gives the title of Company Commander to their drill instructors. The United States Marine Corps is the branch of the U. S. armed forces where drill instructors are titled as drill instructors. Drill instructors are referred to as sir or maam by recruits within the USAF, USMC, recruits in the United States Army must refer to their drill sergeants as such, drill sergeant. The instruction and indoctrination given by the instructors of the various U. S. In the Australian Army, the responsible for training recruits are known as Recruit Instructors. They teach recruits discipline, fieldcraft, marksmanship, service knowledge, each recruit platoon is commanded by Recruit Instructors usually consisting of a Lieutenant, a Sergeant and up to four instructors of the Corporal or Bombardier rank. Members from all Corps in the Army are eligible to become Recruit Instructors, experience as a Recruit Instructor is often a prerequisite to senior non-commissioned appointments in the military. In the Royal Australian Navy, there are Instructors at HMAS Cerberus, where the Recruit School course is held, and HMAS Creswell, each accredited Drill Instructor wears an AFP pin with the wording DI positioned 5mm above their name plate or citations. Drill Instructors are also issued with a black coloured Hellweg brand leather basket weave Sam Browne belt, the Australian Federal Police College at Barton has a non-commissioned officer of Sergeant Rank holding the position of College Sergeant. The College Sergeant carries a pace stick as a badge of office at ceremonial functions. The New South Wales Police Force has a Drill Sergeant and a Drill Constable attached to the NSW Police College at Goulburn, Drill staff are responsible for training recruits in drill. These personnel wear a cord to signify being a protocol officer. The Senior Protocol officer is responsible for dress, bearing and discipline and also is the guardian of NSWPF history, customs, traditions and symbols at the NSW Police College. The Senior Protocol Officer carries a pace stick with silver fittings. The Western Australian Police Force has a Drill Sergeant of the Rank of Sergeant who trains recruits in drill, discipline and he is also the recruit training manager responsible for overseeing the recruits training, ceremonial graduations, police funerals and other events
8.
Macon, Georgia
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Macon /ˈmeɪkən/ is a city located in the state of Georgia, United States. Macon lies near the center of the state, approximately 85 miles south of Atlanta. Settled near the line of the Ocmulgee River, Macon is the county seat of Bibb County and had a 2014 estimated population of 153,691. Macon is the city of the Macon metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 231,259 in 2014. In a 2012 referendum, voters approved the consolidation of Macon and Bibb County, the two governments officially merged on January 1,2014. Macon is served by three highways, I-16, I-75, and I-475. The city has several institutions of education, as well as numerous museums. The area is served by the Middle Georgia Regional Airport and the Herbert Smart Downtown Airport, the mayor of Macon is Robert Reichert, a former Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Reichert was elected mayor of the consolidated city of Macon–Bibb. Macon lies on the site of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, where the historic Creek Indians lived in the 18th century and their prehistoric predecessors, the Mississippian culture, built a powerful chiefdom based on an agricultural village and constructed earthwork mounds for ceremonial, burial and religious purposes. The areas along the rivers in the Southeast had been inhabited by varying cultures of indigenous peoples for 13,000 years before Europeans arrived. Macon developed at the site of Fort Benjamin Hawkins, built from 1806–1809 at the line of the Ocmulgee River to protect the new frontier. The fort was named in honor of Benjamin Hawkins, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southeast territory south of the Ohio River for more than two decades and he lived among the Creek and had a Creek wife. This was the most inland point of navigation on the river from the Low Country, president Thomas Jefferson forced the Creek to cede their lands east of the Ocmulgee River and ordered the fort built. A gathering point of the Creek and American cultures for trading, it was also a center of state militia, the fort served as a major military distribution point during the War of 1812 against Great Britain and also during the Creek War of 1813. Afterward, the fort was used as a trading post for years and was garrisoned until 1821. It was decommissioned about 1828 and later burned to the ground, a replica of the southeast blockhouse was built in 1938 and stands today on a hill in east Macon. Part of the site is occupied by the Fort Hawkins Grammar School
9.
Spring training
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Practices andthe start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, Spring training typically starts in mid-February and continues until just before Opening Day of the regular season, traditionally the first week of April. In some years, teams not scheduled to play on Opening Day will play spring training games that day, pitchers and catchers report to spring training first because pitchers benefit from a longer training period. A few days later, position players arrive and team practice begins, Spring training by major league teams in sites other than their regular season game sites first became popular in the 1890s and by 1910 was in wide use. Hot Springs, Arkansas has been called the birthplace of Spring Training baseball. The location of Hot Springs and the concept of getting the players ready for the season was the brainchild of Chicago White Stockings team President Albert Spalding. In 1886, the White Stockings traveled to Hot Springs to prepare for the upcoming season, practicing at the Hot Springs Baseball Grounds, the White Stockings had a successful season and other teams took notice and began holding spring training in Hot Springs. The Cleveland Spiders, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, Whittington Park/Ban Johnson Park, Majestic Park and Fogel Field were all built in Hot Springs to host Major League teams. Famously, a young pitcher named Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox was playing a game at first base on St. Patricks Day,1918. Ruth would hit two home runs that day in Hot Springs, and the second was a 573-foot shot that landed across the street from Whittington Park in a pond of the Arkansas Alligator Farm, soon he was playing the field more often. The First Boys of Spring is a 2015 documentary about Hot Springs Spring Training, the film was narrated by area native, actor Billy Bob Thornton, and produced by filmmaker Larry Foley. The documentary began airing nationally on the MLB Network in February,2016. The Detroit Tigers are credited with being the first team to conduct spring training camp in Arizona and they trained in Phoenix at Riverside Park at Central Avenue and the Salt River in 1929. The Philadelphia Phillies were the first of the current major-league teams to train in Florida, Spring training in Florida began in earnest in 1913, when the Chicago Cubs played in Tampa, and the Cleveland Indians in Pensacola. One year later, two teams moved to Florida for spring training, the real start of the Grapefruit League. Since 2010, major league teams have been divided during spring training. All but six of the league teams have gone to spring training in Florida at one time or another. Many of the most famous players in history have called Florida home for 4–6 weeks every spring. According to the autobiography of former Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck, in 1947, Veeck was the owner of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers and the team trained in Ocala, Florida
10.
Slim Love
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Edward Haughton Slim Love was an American professional baseball pitcher from approximately 1910 to 1930. He played six seasons in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees, over six major league seasons, Love compiled a 28–21 record with a 3.04 earned run average. He also played in the leagues, including stints with the Los Angeles Angels. Loves nickname was based on his large, lean frame, at 6 ft 7.5 in and 195 pounds, upon his debut, Love became the tallest pitcher in major league history, surpassing Hippo Vaughn who stood six feet, four inches. Love remained the tallest pitcher in league history for 69 years until Stefan Wever made his debut in 1982 at six feet. Love was born in 1890 in Love, Mississippi, located 30 miles south of Memphis and he was the son of Columbus C. C. Love and Mary Homing, and the grandson of Henry Chapel H. C, Love began his professional baseball career in 1912 with the Memphis Turtles. According to a 1913 story published by The Washington Post, Love landed with the Turtles on account of his bucolic disposition, Love travelled to Memphis and walked into a cafe owned by a friend of Turtles manager Bill Bernhard. Love ordered a drink for himself and invited all of the patrons at the bar to join him and he then boasted that he had come to Memphis from his home in Mississippi to pitch Memphis into a pennant. The proprietor introduced Love to Bernhard who agreed to give Love a tryout, in his first appearance for Memphis, a spring exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians, Love struck out Nap Lajoie with the bases loaded. Love was then sent by Memphis to the Greenwood, Mississippi club in the Cotton States League, after a short stay in Greenwood, he returned to Memphis and was released. At the start of the 1913 season, Love signed with the Selma Centralites of the Cotton States League, Love appeared in 28 games for Selma, including a no-hitter, and a five-game streak in which he allowed no runs and 19 hits. At the end of July 1913, Love was acquired by the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association, on August 22,1913, he pitched a shutout against the Billikens, facing only 22 batters in seven innings—one more than the minimum of 21. In eight games for the Crackers, Love compiled a 2-3 record, at the end of the 1913 minor league season, the Washington Senators purchased Love from the Atlanta Crackers. Love made his league debut for the Senators on September 8,1913. In his debut, Love pitched one inning against the New York Yankees and allowed no hits, no bases on balls, and no runs, Love became the tallest pitcher in major league history, surpassing Hippo Vaughn who stood six feet, four inches. Love remained the tallest pitcher in league history for 69 years until Stefan Wever made his debut in 1982 at six feet. He compiled a 1–0 record and 1.62 ERA in five games, in 1914, Love compiled a 10–9 record and 2.39 ERA in 37 games for the Angels
11.
Jacob Ruppert
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Jacob Ruppert, Jr. was an American brewer, businessman, National Guard colonel and United States Congressman who served for four terms representing New York from 1899 to 1907. He also owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball from 1915 until his death in 1939, starting out in the family brewing business, Ruppert entered the United States National Guard in 1886 at the age of 19, eventually reaching the rank of colonel. While he was the owner of the Yankees, he purchased the contract of Babe Ruth and built Yankee Stadium, reversing the franchises fortunes, Ruppert was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2013. Ruppert was born in New York City, the son of brewer Jacob Ruppert, Sr. and his wife and he was the second oldest of six children, along with Cornelia Ruppert-Franko, Anna Schalk, Frank, George and Amanda Elizabeth Lizzie Ruppert-Silleck. His grandfather Franz, a brewer from Bavaria, had emigrated to the United States in 1836 or 1842 and his mother was also of German ethnicity, and was herself the daughter of prominent brewer George Gillig. Although he was a second-generation American, to the day he died he spoke with a noticeable German accent and he grew up in the Jacob Ruppert, Sr. Jacob Jr. attended the Columbia Grammar School and he was accepted into Columbia College, but instead began working in the brewing business with his father in 1887. He started as a washer, working 12-hour days for $10 a week. Ruppert enlisted in the Seventh Regiment, National Guard of New York, in 1890, he was promoted to colonel and appointed to serve on the staff of David B. Hill, the Governor of New York, serving as aide-de-camp and he became a senior aide on the staff of Roswell P. Flower, Hills successor as governor, until 1895. Ruppert was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1898 as a member of the Democratic Party to the Fifty-sixth United States Congress, low of the Republican Party in New Yorks 15th congressional district. He was supported in his election by Richard Croker, the boss of Tammany Hall. Ruppert won reelection over Alderman Elias Goodman in 1900, Ruppert was renominated for Congress, this time running in New Yorks 16th congressional district, in 1902. Ruppert was not a candidate for reelection in 1906, and he left office in 1907, Ruppert was also president of the Astoria Silk Works and the United States Brewers Association from 1911 through 1914. In January 1914, he bought J&M Haffen Brewing Company for $700,000, intending to close the brewery down and develop the property, upon his fathers death in 1915, Ruppert inherited the Jacob Ruppert Brewing Company and became the companys president. Ruppert also owned real estate, including Pass-a-Grille Key in Florida, Ruppert, interested in baseball since his childhood, began to pursue ownership of a Major League Baseball team, and attempted to purchase the New York Giants on numerous occasions. In 1912 he was offered an opportunity to purchase the Chicago Cubs, however, Frank J. Farrell and William S. Devery, owners of the New York Yankees, were looking to sell their franchise. Ruppert and Tillinghast LHommedieu Huston, a former United States Army engineer and captain, purchased the Yankees from Farrell and Devery before the 1915 season for $480,000
12.
Muddy Ruel
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Herold Dominic Muddy Ruel was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and general manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for 19 seasons with the St. Louis Browns, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and the Chicago White Sox. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Ruel began his baseball career at the age of 19 with his hometown team. He then played in the leagues for two seasons with the Memphis Chickasaws before joining the New York Yankees in 1918. With the Yankees, Ruel shared catching duties with Truck Hannah from 1918 to 1920 and he was the Yankees catcher on August 16,1920 when a Carl Mays pitch hit Ray Chapman on the head, resulting in Chapmans death the next day. He later defended Mays and said that he was innocent of any wrongdoing, Ruel would be traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1921, where he played for two seasons before being traded to the Washington Senators in 1923. In the 1923 season, he posted a batting average of.316 along with 54 runs batted in. He led American League catchers in assists and putouts, and finished 11th in the American League Most Valuable Player Award ballot and he had another solid year in 1924, playing in 149 games and once again leading the American League catchers in assists and putouts. With Ruel calling the pitches, Walter Johnsons career was revitalized, as he led the league with 23 victories, the Senators clinched the 1924 American League pennant, finishing the season two games ahead of the New York Yankees. The Senators would face John McGraws heavily favored New York Giants in the 1924 World Series, the two teams traded wins back and forth until the series reached the seventh and deciding game. The Senators trailed the Giants 3 to 1 in the eighth inning of Game 7, Ruel hit a single, then scored the tying run during the rally, to send the game into extra innings with the score tied at three runs apeice. In the bottom of the inning with Ruel at bat, he hit a high. The Giants catcher, Hank Gowdy, dropped his protective mask to field the ball but, failing to toss the mask aside, stumbled over it and dropped the ball, thus giving Ruel another chance to bat. On the next pitch, Ruel hit a double and, then proceeded to score the run when Earl McNeely hit a ground ball that took a bad hop over third baseman Freddie Lindstroms head. Ruel had another season in 1925, producing a.310 batting average along with 54 runs batted in and, for the third consecutive year. The Senators would win the American League pennant for the year in a row. Ruel hit for a.299 batting average in 1926 and led the American League catchers with a.989 fielding percentage, as the Senators slipped to a fourth-place finish. He had one good season in 1927, posting a.310 batting average and finishing second among catchers in fielding percentage, putouts, assists
