1.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
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The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is an American sports stadium located in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The stadium serves as the home to the University of Southern California Trojans football team, the facility has a permanent seating capacity of 93,607 for USC football games, making it the largest football stadium in the Pac-12 Conference. For Rams games, capacity is at 80,000, giving it the fourth-largest capacity in the NFL, the stadium is located in Exposition Park and across the street from USC. From 1959 to 2016, the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was located adjacent to the Coliseum, the Coliseum is the first stadium to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, in 1932 and 1984 and has been proposed to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The stadium was the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball from 1958 to 1961 and was the host venue for games 3,4. It was the site of the First AFL-NFL World Championship Game, later called Super Bowl I, additionally, it has served as a home field for a number of other teams, including the Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL, and UCLA Bruins football. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on July 27,1984, under the lease the University has day-to-day management and operation responsibility for both the Coliseum and Sports Arena. The 98-year lease took effect on July 29,2013, and was signed by the parties on September 5,2013. The Coliseum is now primarily the home of the USC Trojans football team, Most of USCs regular home games, especially the alternating games with rivals UCLA and Notre Dame, attract a capacity crowd. The current official capacity of the Coliseum is 93,607, USCs women lacrosse and soccer teams use the Coliseum for selected games, usually involving major opponents and televised games. USC also rents the Coliseum to various events, including soccer games, musical concerts. The Olympic Cauldron was built for the stadiums two Olympic Games and it is still lit during the fourth quarter of USC football games, and other special occasions. It was lit to honor the fallen Israeli Athletes from the 1972 Munich Olympics Games and it was also lit for several days following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. The torch was lit for over a following the September 11 attacks in 2001. In 2004, the cauldron was lit non-stop for seven days in tribute to president Ronald Reagan and it was lit again in April 2005 following the death of Pope John Paul II, who had celebrated Mass at the Coliseum during his visit to Los Angeles in 1987. At the Los Angeles Dodgers 50th anniversary game on March 29,2008, charity ceremony, while Neil Diamonds Heartlight was played and the majority of the attendees turned on their complimentary souvenir keychain flashlights. It was lit for the duration of Special Olympics World Games held in Los Angeles from July 25,2015 to August 2,2015, the cauldron was most recently lit for the returning Los Angeles Rams first home game on September 18,2016 against the Seattle Seahawks. The Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a memorial to L. A. veterans of World War I, the official ground breaking ceremony took place on December 21,1921 with work being completed in just over 16 months, on May 1,1923
2.
Walter Alston
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Walter Emmons Alston, nicknamed Smokey, was an American baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball. He is best known for managing the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers between 1954 and 1976, Alston signed 23 one-year contracts with the Dodgers. He had a calm, reticent demeanor, for which he was also known as The Quiet Man. Alston grew up in rural Ohio and lettered in baseball and basketball at Miami University in Ohio, though his MLB playing career consisted of one game and one at-bat with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936, he played and managed for several seasons in minor league baseball. His service included a stint as manager of the Nashua Dodgers and he was promoted to manage the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 after several successful seasons in Brooklyns Class AAA minor league teams. As a major league manager, Alston led Dodgers teams to seven National League pennants and his 1955 team was the only World Series championship team while the club was in Brooklyn, they clinched the NL pennant earlier in the calendar year than any previous pennant winner in league history. Alston retired with more than 2,000 career wins and managed NL All-Star teams to seven victories and he was selected as Manager of the Year six times. Alston was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 and he suffered a heart attack that year, was hospitalized for a month and was unable to attend his Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He never fully recovered and he died at a hospital in Oxford, Alston was born in Venice, Ohio. He spent much of his childhood on a farm in Morning Sun, when Alston was a teenager, the family moved to Darrtown, Ohio. He attended Milford Township High School in Darrtown and he received the nickname Smokey as a high school pitcher, owing to the speed of his fastball. He graduated from school in 1929 and married longtime girlfriend Lela Vaughn Alexander the next year. In 1935, Alston graduated with a degree in arts and physical education from Miami University in Oxford. He said that finances were a challenge in college and that he had paid his way through school by playing pool and he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball. Alston played minor league baseball as an infielder for the Greenwood Chiefs and Huntington Red Birds in 1935 and 1936, for the 1936 Huntington team, he hit 35 home runs in 120 games. Alstons only major game was with the St. Louis Cardinals on September 27,1936. He later described his major league playing career to a reporter by saying, Well, I came up to bat for the Cards back in 36 and he also committed one error in two fielding chances at first base. Alston returned to the minor leagues after his brief MLB appearance and he split the 1937 season between the Houston Buffaloes and Rochester Red Wings, hitting for a combined.229 batting average
3.
World Series Most Valuable Player Award
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The award was first presented in 1955 as the SPORT Magazine Award, but is now decided during the final game of the Series by a committee of reporters and officials present at the game. The series follows a best-of-seven playoff format, and occurs after the Division Series and it is played by the winners of the National League Championship Series and the American League Championship Series. The most recent champions are the Chicago Cubs, who won in the 2016 World Series, pitchers have been named Series MVP twenty-seven times, four of them were relief pitchers. From 1987 until 1991, all of the World Series MVPs were pitchers, bobby Richardson of the 1960 New York Yankees is the only player in World Series history to be named MVP despite being on the losing team. Babe Ruth Award List of Major League Baseball awards Baseball awards#United States Johnny Podres won the award in 1955 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Podres, with nine wins and ten losses during the season, beat the Yankees twice in the series. Don Larsen won the 1956 World Series MVP after pitching the only no-hitter in World Series history, in the game of the series. Depending upon definitions, the first non-American to win the award was either Roberto Clemente in 1971 or Pedro Guerrero in 1981, willie Stargell won the 1979 World Series MVP at the age of 39, and is the oldest World Series MVP. In 1996, John Wetteland won the World Series MVP, setting a World Series record with four saves. Fourteen World Series MVPs were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Paul Molitor, Tom Glavine, Molitor is also the first designated hitter to win the World Series MVP. Hideki Matsui, the 2009 winner, batted in six runs in the game of the 2009 World Series. Matsui became the first Japanese-born player to win the award, as well as the first player to win it as a designated hitter. He is also the player named both a World Series and a Japan Series MVP. Three players have won the award twice, Sandy Koufax, Gibson, there have been two occasions on which multiple winners were awarded in the same World Series, Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager in 1981, and Johnson and Schilling in 2001. The duo of Johnson and Schilling combined for all four of Arizonas wins in the 2001 World Series, twelve of the fifty-eight World Series MVPs have also won the MLB MVP, the Cy Young Award, or the LCS MVP in the same season. Koufax, Frank Robinson, Jackson, Stargell, and Mike Schmidt are the players to have won the MLB MVP. A total of six players won the Cy Young Award and the World Series MVP in the season, Bob Turley, Whitey Ford, Koufax, Bret Saberhagen, Orel Hershiser. Hershiser won the Cy Young Award, the LCS MVP and the World Series MVP in the same season
4.
Larry Sherry
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Lawrence Sherry was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1959 World Series as the Dodgers won their first championship since relocating from Brooklyn just two years earlier, Sherry was born in Los Angeles, California. He was born with clubfeet, for which he needed surgery as an infant and he attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. From Los Angeles, California, Sherry made his debut with his hometown Dodgers on April 17,1958 – just their third game after moving west. Adding to the pressure, the game was played on the road against their rivals, the San Francisco Giants. Sherry had an outing, facing four batters without recording an out. But he returned with a season in 1959, winning 7 games with only two losses, with an earned run average of 2.19. He was named MVP of the 1959 World Series, in which the Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox in 6 games, and also received the Babe Ruth Award. Sherry completed all four Dodger victories during the Series, winning two of them and saving the two others, and had a 0.71 ERA in 12 2⁄3 innings. In 1960 he won a career-high 14 games, finished 38 games, pitched in 57 games, in 1961 he was 5th in the NL in saves and games finished, and 9th in games pitched. In 1962 he was 7th in saves and games pitched, Sherry and his brother Norm, a Dodgers catcher from 1959 to 1962, became the first all-Jewish battery in major league history. He was traded to the Tigers for Lou Johnson and cash just before the 1964 season and he was traded to the Houston Astros for Jim Landis for the second half of the 1967 season, and ended his career with three games for the California Angels in 1968. Sherry retired with a record of 53–44,606 strikeouts,82 saves, through 2010, he was 5th all-time in career games, 8th in strikeouts, and 9th in wins among Jewish major league baseball players. He later coached in the Dodgers minor league organization, Sherry was a Pittsburgh Pirates coach in 1977 and 1978, and a member of the California Angels coaching staff in 1979 and 1980. In a 1976 Esquire magazine article, sportswriter Harry Stein published an All Time All-Star Argument Starter, larry Sherry was the relief pitcher on Steins Jewish team. On December 17,2006, Sherry died at his home in Mission Viejo, California after a long battle with cancer
5.
Bill Summers (umpire)
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William Reed Summers was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1933 to 1959. Born in Harrison, New Jersey, Summers was raised in Woonsocket and he left school in the seventh grade, and began working under his father, a mill foreman, he also began boxing as a lightweight, with moderate success in the ring. At age 17, he was employed as a worker when he stopped to watch a high school baseball game. Summers accepted, even though he had never played baseball and was unfamiliar with the rules, Keaney told him that as long as he kept track of balls and strikes, it shouldnt prove difficult. Summers proved adept at the task, and regularly officiated high school, semi-pro, in 1921 he got his first chance at the professional ranks when he was hired by the Eastern League, and he continued in the minor leagues through 1932. He joined the American League staff in 1933, during the period when the leagues were expanding standard umpiring crews from two men per game to three. Summers umpired in 8 World Series, tying the AL record shared by three other arbiters. He was also the first base umpire for the 1948 playoff game to decide the AL pennant and he called balls and strikes in all 7 of the All-Star contests, a mark unmatched by any other umpire. He was the plate umpire on July 27,1946. Summers was the umpire behind the plate on the play in the 1955 World Series when Jackie Robinson stole home prompting Yankee catcher Yogi Berra to furiously argue the safe call. Summers died at age 70 at his home in Upton, Massachusetts, I wasnt much of an umpire, at first, but I could keep the peace. And thats an umpires most important and toughest job, list of Major League Baseball umpires Slocum, William. Retrosheet BaseballLibrary. com - biography and career highlights
6.
Frank Dascoli
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Frank Dascoli was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the National League from 1948 to 1961. Dascoli umpired 2,056 major league games in his 14-year career and he umpired in three World Series and two All-Star Games. Dascoli took criticism for his ejection of Roy Campanella during a game in the 1951 pennant race. Campanella had thrown down his mitt in protest of a call involving what would be the winning run, if not for the ejection, Campanella would have come back up to bat late in the game with two runners on base. However, the young Dascoli later received support from veteran umpire Larry Goetz, on September 26,1959, Dascoli halted play due to rain after Toothpick Sam Jones pitched seven innings of no-hit baseball against St. Louis. Dascoli was terminated by league president Warren Giles in the middle of the 1961 season, the action came after media reports alleged that Dascoli had criticized the presidents lack of support for umpires. The same reporter said that Dascoli was making plans to retire after the season. List of Major League Baseball umpires
7.
Eddie Hurley
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Edwin Henry Eddie Hurley was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the American League from 1947 to 1965. Ed Hurley was a prominent baseball umpire and basketball referee in the Western Massachusetts area during his career at the amateur. He had a relatively quick ascension into the majors, serving for just four years as an umpire in the minor leagues before being promoted to the American League, Hurley began his professional umpiring career in 1942 in the Canadian-American League. He then worked in the Eastern League from 1942-1944 before joining the American Association where he served from 1945-1946 and he umpired in four World Series and three All-Star Games. Hurleys first game umpired was on April 14,1947, Ed Hurleys career as an American League umpire was punctuated by a number of noteworthy events and incidents in baseball history. According to a New York Times report, Hurley exclaimed what the hell as Gaedel approached, since the Browns manager, Zack Taylor, was able to produce a recently signed contract between Gaedel and the Browns, Hurley allowed him to bat. He walked on 4 pitches thrown by Tigers pitcher, Bob Cain, according to Veeck, Gaedels strike zone was just one and a half inches. Hurley was also involved in a number of baseball bat infractions and he was umpire in Kansas City when Athletics player, Gino Cimoli, came to the plate with a bright green bat. Hurley declared the bat illegal, a decision that was upheld on appeal by the As to American League officials. Hurley also confiscated a bat from Mickey Mantle in the 1958 season that had modified to include depressions resembling dimples on a golf ball on each of Mantles switch-hitting contact surfaces. That bat sold for $17,400 at auction in 2006, Hurley officiated during a game with one of the largest crowds in baseball history. On October 4,1959 Hurley was the umpire behind the plate when 92,394 fans saw the Dodgers beat the White Sox, 5-4, in 1963, a ball rolled out onto the field during a pitcher warm-up in a contentious White Sox game against the Baltimore Orioles. Hurley, who was umpiring next to third baseman Brooks Robinson, unfortunately, neither the pitcher nor the batter heard the call. Ted Kluszewski swung on the pitch and hit a home run and he commented in an April 1963 Sporting News report, I told reporters after the game I felt like crawling into a hole and some of them misinterpreted that remark. They thought I was saying I was wrong to call it, what I meant was I felt badly about Klusziewski hitting the ball into the stands because it wasnt going to count once I had called time. Hurley set the tone for his reputation as a stickler for the rules during his first American League game, Hurley called a runner out for running around the bases in reverse order. He stood up to veteran umpires Bill Summers and Charlie Berry after making the obvious, Hurleys decision was later upheld by American League arbiters on appeal. Journalist Dorothy Kilgallen, a regular guest on the show, correctly guessed Hurleys line of work shortly after shaking hands at the beginning of the segment
8.
Frank Secory
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Frank Edward Secory was an American left fielder and umpire in Major League Baseball who played 186 games from 1940 to 1946 for the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cubs. His best season was 1944, when he batted.321 in 22 games for the Cubs, Secory was born in Mason City, Iowa, and moved in his youth to Michigan, he graduated from Western Michigan College with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1936. After making his debut with the Tigers, having one at bat in 1940, he was waived by the team, despite missing three months, he ended the season with a.329 batting average and 15 runs batted in in 31 games. After his major league career ended with the Cubs in 1946, he became an umpire in the West Texas–New Mexico League in 1948 and the Texas League from 1949 to 1951. Secory became a National League umpire from 1952 to 1970, and worked in the World Series in 1957,1959,1964 and 1969 and he also officiated in the All-Star Game in 1955,1958,1961,1964,1967 and 1970. In all, Secory umpired in nine official no-hitters in his career, after Secorys retirement, Donatelli tied his record in 1972, and Tom Gorman tied it in 1976 before Paul Pryor broke it upon working in his 10th no-hitter in 1978. Secory married Vonda Conner on February 7,1938, and they had two children, a resident of Port Huron, Michigan since the 1940s, Secory died there at age 82. List of Major League Baseball umpires Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Retrosheet BaseballLibrary
9.
Hal Dixon (umpire)
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Hal Hayworth Dixon was a professional baseball umpire who worked in the National League from 1953 to 1959. He umpired in the 1959 World Series and the 1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Dixon umpired 989 major league games in his seven seasons. In 1959, Dixon worked his only World Series and he spent all six games of the series working as the left field or right field umpire. He submitted his resignation after that season when a request for an increase was denied
10.
Don Drysdale
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Donald Scott Don Drysdale was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played as a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984, Drysdale was one of the most dominant pitchers of the late 1950s and early to mid 1960s. Standing 6 ft 5 in tall, he was a presence on the pitchers mound. Drysdale won the 1962 Cy Young Award and is known for setting a Major League Baseball record by pitching 58 2⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings in 1968, after his playing career, he became a radio and television broadcaster. Drysdale was born in Van Nuys, Los Angeles and attended Van Nuys High School, pitching for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, he teamed with Sandy Koufax during the late 1950s and early and middle 1960s to form one of the most dominating pitching duos in history. Nicknamed Big D by fans, Drysdale used brushback pitches and a fastball to intimidate batters. His 154 hit batsmen remains a modern National League record, Drysdale was also a good hitter for a pitcher. In 14 seasons, he had 218 hits, including 29 home runs, in 1962, Drysdale won 25 games and the Cy Young Award. In 1963, he struck out 251 batters and won Game 3 of the World Series at Los Angeles Dodger Stadium over the Yankees, in 1965, he was the Dodgers only.300 hitter and tied his own National League record for pitchers with seven home runs. That year, he also won 23 games and helped the Dodgers to their third World Championship in Los Angeles. In 1968, he set Major League records with six shutouts and 58 2⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings. He ended his career with 209 wins,2,486 strikeouts,167 complete games and 49 shutouts and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, and had his number 53 retired at Dodger Stadium on July 1,1984. He was also the last player on the Dodgers who had played for Brooklyn and he won three NL Player of the Month awards, June 1959, July 1960, and May 1968. In 1965, Sandy Koufax declined to pitch the first game of the World Series because it was on Yom Kippur, Drysdale pitched for the Dodgers instead of Koufax, and gave up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. When Walter Alston, the manager, came to the mound to remove him from the game, Drysdale said, I bet right now you wish I was Jewish, the Dodgers lost to the Minnesota Twins, 8-2. Drysdale and Koufax took part in a famous salary holdout together in the spring of 1966 and those contracts made them the first pitchers to earn more than $100,000 a year. This holdout was the beginning of collective bargaining in baseball, a chronically sore shoulder forced Drysdale to retire during the 1969 season
11.
Sandy Koufax
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Sanford Sandy Koufax is a former American Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched 12 seasons for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, from 1955 to 1966, Koufax, at age 36 in 1972, became the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Koufaxs career peaked with a run of six outstanding years from 1961 to 1966 and he was an All-Star for six seasons and was the National Leagues Most Valuable Player in 1963. Koufax also won the NL Triple Crown for pitchers those same three years by leading the NL in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average, Koufax was the first major league pitcher to pitch four no-hitters and the eighth pitcher to pitch a perfect game in baseball history. Despite his comparatively short career, Koufaxs 2,396 career strikeouts ranked 7th in history as of his retirement, Koufax, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martínez, and Nolan Ryan are the only four pitchers elected to the Hall of Fame who had more strikeouts than innings pitched. Koufax is also remembered as one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in American sports and his decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur garnered national attention as an example of conflict between professional pressures and personal beliefs. Koufax was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family and his parents, Evelyn and Jack Braun, divorced when he was three years old. His mother was remarried when he was nine, to Irving Koufax, shortly after his mothers remarriage, the family moved to the Long Island suburb of Rockville Centre. Before tenth grade, Koufaxs family moved back to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, Koufax attended Brooklyns Lafayette High School, where he was better known for basketball than for baseball. At the time, school sports were not available because New Yorks teachers were refusing to supervise extracurricular activities without monetary compensation, as an alternative, Koufax started playing basketball for the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst local community center team. Eventually, Lafayette had a team, Koufax became team captain in his senior year. In 1951, at the age of 15, Koufax also joined a youth baseball league known as the Ice Cream League. He started out as a catcher before moving to first base. While playing first base for Lafayette High Schools baseball team with teammate and friend Fred Wilpon, he was spotted by Milt Laurie, Laurie recognized that Koufax might be able to pitch, and recruited the 17-year-old Koufax to pitch for the Coney Island Sports Leagues Parkviews. Koufax attended the University of Cincinnati and was a walk-on on the basketball team. He later earned a partial scholarship, in spring 1954, he made the college baseball varsity team. That season, Koufax went 3–1 with a 2.81 ERA,51 strikeouts and 30 walks, Bill Zinser, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent the Dodgers front office a glowing report that apparently was filed and forgotten. After trying out with the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, during his Pirates tryout, Koufaxs fastball broke the thumb of Sam Narron, the teams bullpen coach
12.
Duke Snider
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Edwin Donald Duke Snider, nicknamed The Silver Fox and The Duke of Flatbush, was an American professional baseball player. He was named to the National League All-Star roster eight-times and was the NL Most Valuable Player runner-up in 1955, in his 16 out of 18 seasons with the Dodgers, he helped lead the Dodgers to six World Series, helping them win two championships in 1955 and 1959. Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, born in Los Angeles, Snider was nicknamed Duke by his father at age five. Growing up in Southern California, Snider was a gifted athlete, playing basketball, football. He was a quarterback, who reportedly could throw the football 70 yards. Spotted by one of Branch Rickeys scouts in the early 1940s and he played briefly for the Montreal Royals of the International League in 1944 and for the Newport News Dodgers in the Piedmont League in the same year. After serving in the U. S. Navy in 1945 and part of 1946, he back to play for the Fort Worth Cats that year. Snider earned a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers during their training in 1947. He got to bat in the game on April 17. He played in 39 more games that season and became a friend of Jackie Robinson before he was sent to the St. Paul team in early July, Snider returned to the Dodgers at the end of the season in time for the World Series against the New York Yankees. Snider started the 1948 season with Montreal, and after hitting well in league with a.327 batting average, he was called up to Brooklyn in August. In 1949, Snider became a major leaguer hitting 23 home runs with 92 runs batted in. Snider also saw his average climb from.244 to.292, often compared with two other New York center fielders, fellow Baseball Hall of Famers, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, he was the reigning Duke of Flatbush. But when his average slipped to, Snider recalls I went to Walter O’Malley and told him I couldn’t take the pressure, Duke says. I told him I’d just as soon be traded, I told him I figured I could do the Dodgers no good. Of course the trade did not happen.320 batting average, the Dodgers won the World Series in 1955 and in 1959. Sniders career numbers declined when the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958, coupled with an aching knee and a 440-foot right field fence at the cavernous Coliseum, Snider hit only 15 home runs in 1958. However, he had one last hurrah in 1959 as he helped the Dodgers win their first World Series in Los Angeles
13.
Luis Aparicio
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Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel, nicknamed Little Louie, was the first Venezuelan professional baseball player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1984. He was one of the most dominant shortstops of Major League Baseball in his era and he played for the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Boston Red Sox, from 1956 through 1973. Aparicio won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1956 and he helped the Go-Go White Sox win the American League Pennant championship in 1959 and was the AL Most Valuable Player runner-up that season. He was nominated for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999, born in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela, Aparicio came from a baseball family. His father, Luis Aparicio, Sr. was a shortstop in Venezuela and owned a Winter League team with Aparicios uncle. At the age of 19, Aparicio was selected as a member of the Venezuelan team in the 1953 Amateur World Series held in Caracas and he signed to play for the local professional team in Maracaibo alongside his father in 1953. In a symbolic gesture during the teams 1953 home opener, his father led off as the first hitter of the game, took the first pitch, and had Aparicio Jr. take his place at bat. The Cleveland Indians had been negotiating to sign Aparicio, but Indians General Manager Hank Greenberg expressed the opinion that he was too small to play in the major leagues. Chicago White Sox General Manager Frank Lane, on the recommendation of fellow Venezuelan shortstop Chico Carrasquel, then signed Aparicio for $5,000 down and $5,000 in first year salary. After only two years in the leagues, he made his major league debut at the age of 22. Aparicio would lead the American League in stolen bases, assists, and putouts and he was the first Latin American player to win the Rookie of the Year award. Aparicio quickly became a member of the Go-Go White Sox teams of the mid-1950s. Over the next decade, Aparicio set the standard for the spray-hitting, slick-fielding and he combined with second baseman Nellie Fox to become one of the best double play combinations in major league baseball. In 1958, Aparicio earned recognition as one of the top shortstops in major league baseball when he was selected to be the starting shortstop for the American League in the 1958 All-Star Game. The White Sox would once again finish the season in place behind the Yankees. Aparicio again led the league in bases, assists and putouts. Aparicio was the leader when the Go Go White Sox won the American League pennant in 1959. Aparicio finished the runner-up to team-mate Nellie Fox in the American League Most Valuable Player Award balloting and he was selected as a starting All-Star for the second time and also won a second Gold Glove award
14.
Nellie Fox
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Jacob Nelson Nellie Fox was an American professional baseball player. Fox was one of the best second basemen, and the third most difficult hitter to strike out in Major League Baseball history and he played for the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, and Houston Astros, from 1947 through 1965. Fox was an American League All-Star for twelve seasons, an AL Most Valuable Player for one season, and he had a.288 major-league career batting average with 2663 hits,35 home runs, and 790 runs batted in. He hit.300 or more six times, and led the AL in singles eight times, in 1959, when the Go Go Chicago White Sox won the American League Pennant championship, he hit.306 with 149 singles and 70 RBI. He coached for the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers after his playing career and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. Fox was born on Christmas Day 1927 in St. Thomas Township, Pennsylvania and he was the youngest of three sons born to a carpenter who grew up on a farm and liked to play town baseball at St. Thomas. Despite his short stature, with the help of his father, he distinguished himself as a player at a young age. Fox at age 16 in 1944, thought that he had a chance to sign on with a professional baseball team due to player shortages from World War II. Fox caught the attention of Mack who signed him to a professional contract, Fox started his professional baseball career with the Lancaster team of the Pennsylvania Interstate League and the Jamestown Falcons where he hit.314. He played a range of infield and outfield positions, ultimately settling at second base and he came back with Lancaster in 1945 and was known as the best second baseman in the league. The Philadelphia Athletics bought his contract year, but Fox did not get to play for them because he was called to service and was stationed in Korea in 1946. Foxs major league career began in 1947 when he started to play for the Philadelphia Athletics, in 1949, the Philadelphia Athletics set a major league team record of 217 double plays, a record which still stood as of 2012. Fox appeared in 88 of the Athletics games that season, Foxs career took off after he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Joe Tipton on October 29,1949. He spent the next 14 seasons with the Sox, making 12 AL All-Star teams and 15 of 16 AL All-Star Game selections beginning in 1951 when he batted.313. The White Sox finished in place in each season between 1952 and 1956, followed by second-place finishes in 1957 and 1958. Foxs best season came in 1959, when he received the AL Most Valuable Player award on a White Sox team that won its first AL pennant in 40 years and he batted.306, had an on-base percentage of.380, and led the AL in singles. He also started and had four hits in two All-Star games and won his second Gold Glove, the Al López-managed White Sox had the best record in baseball, going 94-60 to finish five games ahead of the Cleveland Indians and a surprising 15 ahead of the New York Yankees. It was one of just two seasons the Yankees did not win the pennant between 1949–1964, in the World Series, Fox batted a team-high.375 with three doubles, but the Sox lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games
15.
Early Wynn
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Early Wynn Jr. nicknamed Gus, was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox during his 23-year major league career and he was identified as one of the most intimidating pitchers in the game with his powerful fastball combined with a hard attitude towards batters. Wynn was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, Wynn was born in Alabama and signed with the Senators at the age of 17, deciding to pursue baseball instead of finishing high school. He spent a couple of seasons in the leagues, had a brief major league stint in 1939, returned to the major leagues in 1941. He missed the 1945 MLB season and a portion of the season while serving in the United States Army during the latter part of World War II. Wynn was a member of one of baseballs best pitching rotations along with Bob Feller, Mike Garcia and he won the 1959 Cy Young Award, beginning to rely on the knuckleball as the velocity of his pitches declined. He finished with exactly 300 career wins, he had spent several months in pursuit of his 300th win, Wynn served as a coach and broadcaster in the major leagues after his retirement as a player. In 1999, he was included on The Sporting News list of the 100 greatest players in baseball history and he died that year in an assisted living facility following heart related problems and a stroke. Wynn was born in Hartford, Alabama, the son of Blanche Wynn and Early Wynn Sr. an automobile mechanic and he excelled at both football and baseball in high school. As a sophomore, Wynn was about to become the top running back at his school when he suffered a leg on a punt return. The injury forced him out of football and focused his attention on baseball, Wynn later described it as my best break ever. When he was a teenager, Wynn attended a session in Florida for the Washington Senators. He impressed Senators coach Clyde Milan enough that the organization offered him a league contract. Wynn signed with Washington for $100 per month and decided not to high school. Between 1937 and 1939, Wynn pitched minor league baseball in the Florida State League, Wynn made his MLB debut in 1939, appearing in only three games before returning to the minor leagues for 1940. He made it back to the leagues in 1941, starting five games, completing four of them. Wynn was named to Washingtons four-man pitching rotation in 1942 and he pitched 30 games that season, finishing with a 10-16 record and a 5.12 earned run average. The next season, in 37 games, he finished 18-12 with a 2.91 ERA and he led the league in losses in 1944, compiling an 8-17 record
16.
Major League Baseball on NBC
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Major League Baseball on NBC is the de facto branding for weekly broadcasts of Major League Baseball games produced by NBC Sports, and televised on the NBC television network. Major League Baseball games first aired on the network from 1947 to 1989, there have been several variations of the program dating back to the 1940s, including The NBC Game of the Week and Baseball Night in America. From 1947 to 1956 and again in 1965, NBC only aired the All-Star Game, from 1957 to 1989, the network aired the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week. From 1994 to 1995, NBC aired games under a joint broadcasting venture with Major League Baseball, from 1996 to 2000, the networks league coverage was reduced to postseason games, as well as the All-Star Game in even-numbered years. NBC televisions relationship with Major League Baseball technically dates back to August 26,1939 and it was on that particular date that on W2XBS, the first-ever Major League Baseball game was televised. With Red Barber announcing, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds played a doubleheader at Ebbets Field, the Reds won the first game 5–2 while the Dodgers won the second, 6–1. Barber called the game without the benefit of a monitor and with two cameras capturing the game. One camera was on Barber and the other was behind the plate, Barber had to guess from which light was on and where it pointed. By 1947, television sets, most with five and seven-inch screens, were selling almost as fast as they could be produced, because of this, Major League teams began televising games and attracted a whole new audience into ballparks in the process. People who had only casually followed baseball began going to the games in person, in 1948, Major League Baseballs total attendance reached a record high of 21 million. 1947 also saw the first televised World Series, the games were broadcast in the New York City area by NBCs WNBT, CBSs WCBS-TV and DuMonts WABD and sponsored by Gillette and Ford. The 1947 World Series brought in an estimated 3.9 million viewers, in addition to New York City, live coverage of the Series was also seen on WRGB in Schenectady/Albany, WPTZ in Philadelphia, WMAR-TV in Baltimore and WTTG in Washington, D. C. In 1948 and 1949, the World Series would be carried on the stations, as well as on WBZ-TV and WNAC-TV in Boston, WNHC-TV in New Haven and WTVR-TV in Richmond. In 1949, the World Series was also live in other Northeastern and Midwestern cities that had been hooked up to network lines over the previous year. In 1950, the Mutual Broadcasting System acquired the television as well as radio broadcast rights to the World Series, almost at the moment Thomsons bat struck Ralph Brancas pitch. Harwell later admitted he had called it too soon, but fortunately for him. And then, Harwell recalled, the took over. On January 31,1953, the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, the respective franchises tried to force the Browns to play afternoon games in an attempt to avoid having to share television revenues
17.
Jack Brickhouse
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John Beasley Jack Brickhouse was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, in 1985, Brickhouse was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame along with the Voice of the Yankees Mel Allen and Red Sox Voice Curt Gowdy. Brickhouse served as the organizations Secretary/Treasurer and was a member of its Board of Directors, Brickhouse also called Chicago White Sox games prior to that team leaving WGN in 1968. He covered national events from time to time, including three World Series for NBC television, although the Cubs never got there during his tenure. Brickhouse called the 1959 Series, which featured the White Sox with Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, and the 1950 Series with Jim Britt. In addition, Brickhouse partnered with fellow baseball broadcaster Mel Allen for NBCs coverage of the 1952 Rose Bowl, Brickhouse covered many other events, sports and otherwise. From 1953 to 1977 he was the voice of Chicago Bears football on WGN-AM radio, in an unlikely, Brickhouse was a boxing commentator as well. Fights he worked include the 1949 fight between Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles and the 1951 fight between Johnny Bratton and Charley Fusari and he did Chicago Bulls basketball games for WGN-TV from 1966 until 1973 as well. Brickhouse was born in Peoria, Illinois, to Will and Daisy Brickhouse and his father died when Jack was just two years old, and he was largely raised by his mother. He started his first job when he was eleven, delivering the Peoria Journal and Peoria Star. He began his broadcasting career when only eighteen, at Peoria radio station WMBD in 1934. Chicago radio station WGN hired him in 1940 to broadcast Cubs and White Sox games, largely on the recommendation of their top announcer and his was the very first face shown when WGN-TV, Chicagos Channel 9, began broadcasting in 1948. This came after his U. S. Marine Corps service in World War II, Brickhouse missed the 1945 Cubs season, the only time in Brickhouses long tenure that the Cubs would win the National League pennant. He announced White Sox games on WJJD in 1945 and his only pennant as a broadcaster would belong to the White Sox in 1959, but neither the 1945 Cubs nor the 1959 Sox won the World Series. He broadcast both Cubs and White Sox games until 1967, which he was able to do because they almost never played at home on the same day, even in retirement, Brickhouse maintained a high profile as a Cubs and WGN ambassador. He would occasionally return to the booth for special events, such as Wrigley Fields annual 70s Night and he also guested with Harry Caray when the Cubs secured their first postseason berth in 39 years, as they clinched the 1984 National League Eastern Division title in Pittsburgh. The Cubs won the first two games of the League Championship Series at Wrigley but lost three games to the Padres in San Diego, once again failing to win the pennant, Brickhouse tried to let the pictures speak for themselves
18.
Vin Scully
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Vincent Edward Vin Scully is a retired American sportscaster. He retired in 2016, ending his run as their play-by-play announcer. In his final season behind the microphone, Scully announced most Dodger home games on SportsNet LA television and he is known for his dulcet voice, lyrically descriptive style, and signature introduction to Dodger games, Its time for Dodger baseball. Hi, everybody, and a pleasant good to you. He is considered by many to be the greatest baseball broadcaster of all time, according to fan rankings, Bleacher Report, born in The Bronx, Scully grew up in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. He worked delivering beer and mail, pushing garment racks, and his father Vincent Aloysius was a silk salesman, his mother Bridget was a Roman Catholic homemaker of Irish descent from whom her son inherited his red hair. His biological father died of pneumonia when Scully was 4 and his mother married an English merchant sailor named Allan Reeve. Scully attended high school at the Fordham Preparatory School in The Bronx. Scully discovered his love of baseball at age 8 when he saw the results of the game of the 1936 World Series at a laundromat. Since Scully lived near the Polo Grounds and because he was a member of the PAL and CYO, he was able to attend games for free. Scully decided at eight years old that he wanted to become a sports announcer when he became fascinated with the broadcasts on the radio. After serving in the United States Navy for two years, Scully began his career as a student broadcaster and journalist at Fordham University and he received only one response, from CBS Radio affiliate WTOP in Washington, D. C. which made him a fill-in. Scully was then recruited by Red Barber, the director of the CBS Radio Network. Expecting an enclosed box, Scully had left his coat and gloves at his hotel. Barber mentored Scully and told him if he wanted to be a successful sports announcer he should never be a homer, never listen to other announcers. In 1950, Scully joined Red Barber and Connie Desmond in the Brooklyn Dodgers radio, when Barber got into a salary dispute with World Series sponsor Gillette in 1953, Scully took Barbers spot for the 1953 World Series. At the age of 25, Scully became the youngest person to broadcast a World Series game, Barber left the Dodgers after the 1953 season to work for the New York Yankees. Scully eventually became the Dodgers principal announcer, Scully announced Dodgers games in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles
19.
Mel Allen
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Mel Allen was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, years after his death, he is still promoted as having been The Voice of the Yankees. In his later years, he gained a professional life as the first host of This Week in Baseball. This is the only home run ever to occur in a Game 7 of a World Series. Allen was born in Birmingham, Alabama and he attended the University of Alabama, where he was a member of the Kappa Nu Fraternity as an undergraduate. During his time at Alabama, Israel served as the public address announcer for Alabama Crimson Tide football games, in 1933, when the station manager or sports director of Birminghams radio station WBRC asked Alabama coach Frank Thomas to recommend a new play-by-play announcer, he suggested Allen. His first broadcast was Alabamas home opener that year, against the Tulane Green Wave, Allen graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1937. Shortly after graduating, Allen took a train to New York City for a weeks vacation, while on that weeks vacation, he auditioned for a staff announcers position at the CBS Radio Network. CBS executives already knew of Allen, the networks top sportscaster and he was hired at $45 a week. He often did non-sports announcing such as for big band remotes, or emceeing game shows such as Truth or Consequences, in his first year at CBS, he announced the crash of the Hindenburg when the station cut away from singer Kate Smiths show. He first became a celebrity when he ad libbed for a half-hour during the rain-delayed Vanderbilt Cup from an airplane. In 1939, he was the announcer for the Warner Brothers & Vitaphone film musical short-subject, On the Air, with Leith Stevens, stephen Borelli, in his biography How About That. States that it was at CBSs suggestion in 1937, the year Melvin Israel joined the network and he chose Allen, his fathers middle name as well as his own, and legally changed his name to Melvin Allen in 1943. Allen was used as a commentator for CBSs radio broadcast of the 1938 World Series. Senators owner Clark Griffith wanted Walter Johnson, a former Senators pitcher, instead of Allen, in June 1939, Garnett Marks, McDonalds partner on Yankee broadcasts, twice mispronounced Ivory Soap, the Yankees sponsor at the time, as Ovary Soap. He was fired, and Allen was tapped to replace him and he periodically recounted an anecdote that occurred during his first full season as Yankee play-by-play man. Hall of Fame first baseman Lou Gehrig had been forced to retire the year before after having been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal illness. Speaking with Allen in the Yankee dugout, Gehrig told him Mel, but I want you to know theyre the only thing that keeps me going
20.
1958 World Series
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The 1958 World Series was a rematch of the 1957 Series, with the New York Yankees beating the defending champion Milwaukee Braves in seven games for their 18th title, and their seventh in 10 years. Both teams would again in the fall classic thirty-eight years later—by that time. As of 2016, this is the most recent World Series featuring the two previous Series winning teams. This was the first year New Yorkers had only one team to root for. Both returnees to the Series had no problems repeating as champions during the regular season. Milwaukee coasted to a lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League. With no pennant race in either league, managers Casey Stengel of the Yankees, both teams would meet again in the 1996 World Series—by that time, the Braves had moved to Atlanta. Of note, the 1958 World Series was also the first World Series filmed in color, AL New York Yankees vs. Fred Haney countered with a lefty of his own, 22-game winner Warren Spahn. Bill Moose Skowron started the scoring with a home run in the top of the fourth inning. Hank Aaron walked and quickly took second on a Yogi Berra passed ball, Joe Adcock grounded out to third for the first out. Aaron held second but advanced to third on Wes Covingtons groundout to second for the second out, then three straight singles, Del Crandall to left scoring Aaron, Andy Pafko to center, and Warren Spahn to left-center scoring Crandall, put the Braves up by one. Red Schoendienst would strike out to end the inning but the Braves were up early 2–1, in the top of the fifth, Spahn retired Tony Kubek on a flyout to left but walked the opposing pitcher, Ford. Lead-off hitter, Hank Bauer then deposited a Spahn fastball into the bleachers to give the Yankees a slim 3–2 lead. Milwaukee would tie the game in the eighth on an Eddie Mathews walk, an Aaron double, with no runs tallied in the ninth, extra-innings were played with the Yankees going down 1–2–3 with Spahn still on the hill for the Braves. Ryne Duren, who came into the game to pitch the eighth inning, took his turn at-bat in the tenth and grounded out to the pitcher, Spahn. Aaron started the bottom of the tenth by striking out and was thrown out at first base by Yogi Berra on a dropped third strike. Adcock followed with a single to center but Covington made the second out on a flyout to left. Crandall then singled up the middle sending Adcock to second base, Bill Bruton, who came into the game pinch-hitting for Pafko in the ninth, lined a single into right-center scoring Adcock with the game-winning run
21.
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
22.
1960 World Series
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The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the New York Yankees of the American League from October 5 to 13,1960. It is most notable for the Game 7, ninth-inning home run hit by Bill Mazeroski and this would turn out to be a strange World Series. An unusual aspect of this World Series is that the team scored more than twice as many runs as the winning team. The Series MVP was Bobby Richardson of the Yankees, the time in history that that award has been given to a member of the losing team. This World Series featured seven past, present, or future league Most Valuable Players, the Pirates had two – Dick Groat and Roberto Clemente – while the Yankees had five, Yogi Berra, Bobby Shantz, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Elston Howard. The World Championship for the Pirates was their third overall and first since 1925, the Pirates inconsistent pitching and Stengels controversial decision not to start Ford in Games 1 and 4 resulted in the peculiar combination of close games and routs. Ford and Vern Law were both excellent, while Pirates relief pitcher Roy Face was a factor in three games. NL Pittsburgh Pirates vs. AL New York Yankees The Yankees threw Art Ditmar against the Pirates Vern Law in Game 1. In the top of the first inning, New York right fielder Roger Maris, the eventual 1960 AL MVP, drilled a home run off Law to give the Yankees a 1–0 lead. In the bottom half, however, the Pirates evened the score when Bill Virdon walked, stole second, advanced to third on an error by shortstop Tony Kubek, Bob Skinner then singled to drive in Groat and stole second, coming home on a single by Roberto Clemente. This was enough to compel Casey Stengel, the Yankee manager, to pull Ditmar in favor of Jim Coates, who ended the inning. In the fourth, New York cut the lead to one run when Maris singled, moved to second on a Mickey Mantle walk, took third on a fly out by Yogi Berra, but the Pirates extended their lead to 5–2 when Don Hoak walked and Bill Mazeroski homered. Game 2, matching New Yorks Bob Turley against the Pirates Bob Friend, the game was scoreless until the top of the third, when the Yankees jumped out to a 2–0 lead. Second baseman Bobby Richardson walked, was sacrificed over to second by Turley, gil McDougald then doubled, plating Kubek all the way from first base, and Turley aided his own cause in the fourth, driving home Richardson with a single. Although Hoak doubled home Gino Cimoli in the bottom of the fourth to break the shutout, in the sixth, the solid Yankee lead turned into a rout, as the Bronx Bombers erupted for seven runs and chased reliever Fred Green from the game. Richardson and Berra led the way with two RBI each, while McDougald, Skowron, and Howard accounted for the other runs. Mantle continued the onslaught by popping a three-run homer in the seventh and scoring on a pitch by Tom Cheney in the ninth. Although the Pirates tacked on two runs in the half of the frame, the game was well out of reach for them by this time
23.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
24.
American League
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The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League, is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a league based in the Great Lakes states. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season,25 years after the formation of the National League. At the end of season, the American League champion plays in the World Series against the National League champion. Through 2016, American League teams have won 64 of the 112 World Series played since 1903, the 2016 American League champions are the Cleveland Indians. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League titles, the most in the history, followed by the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics. Originally a minor league known as the Western League, the American League later developed into a major league after the American Association disbanded, in its early history, the Western League struggled until 1894, when Ban Johnson became the president of the league. Johnson led the Western League into major league status and soon became the president of the newly renamed American League, babe Ruth, noted as one of the most prolific hitters in Major League Baseball history, spent the majority of his career in the American League. The American League has one notable difference versus the National League, in 1902, the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis and were renamed the St. Louis Browns. In 1902, The Cleveland Bluebirds were also renamed the Cleveland Broncos, in 1903, the Broncos were renamed the Cleveland Naps. In 1915, the Naps were renamed the Cleveland Indians, in 1903, the Baltimore Orioles moved to New York and were renamed the New York Highlanders. In 1913, the Highlanders were renamed the New York Yankees, in 1904, the Chicago White Stockings were renamed the Chicago White Sox. In 1908, the Boston Americans were renamed the Boston Red Sox, in 1954, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and were renamed as the Baltimore Orioles. In 1955, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City and were renamed as the Kansas City Athletics, in 1961, the league expanded and added two teams as the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators, expanding the league to 10 teams. The original Senators team moved to Minneapolis/St, Paul in 1961 and were renamed as the Minnesota Twins. The Angels team name changed to the California Angels in 1966, then to the Anaheim Angels in 1997, the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots were added to the American League, expanding the league to 12 teams. In 1970, the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and were renamed the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1972, the Washington Senators relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and were renamed the Texas Rangers. In 1977, the league expanded to fourteen teams, when the Seattle Mariners, in 1998, the Tampa Bay Rays was added to the American League and at the same time, the Milwaukee Brewers were switched to the National League, leaving the American League with 14 teams
25.
Major League Baseball attendance records
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It was a preseason game between the defending champions Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday March 29,2008 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Zero spectators attended a game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox on April 29,2015 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the game was closed to spectators due to safety concerns surrounding the 2015 Baltimore protests. The record was held by an 1882 game between the Troy Trojans and the Worcester Ruby Legs in Worcester, Massachusetts, which six spectators attended. Toronto Blue Jays became the first team in history to draw 4 million mark in attendance in 1991 season
26.
Black Sox Scandal
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Despite acquittals in a public trial in 1921, Judge Landis permanently banned all eight men from professional baseball. Despite requests for reinstatement in the decades that followed, the ban remains in force as of 2017, White Sox club owner Charles Comiskey was widely disliked by the players and was resented for his miserliness. Comiskey long had a reputation for underpaying his players, even though they were one of the top teams in the league and had won the 1917 World Series. Because of baseballs reserve clause, any player who refused to accept a contract was prohibited from playing baseball on any professional team. Players could not change teams without permission from their current team, Comiskey was probably no worse than most owners—in fact, Chicago had the largest team payroll in 1919. In the era of the clause, gamblers could find players on many teams looking for extra cash—and they did. In addition, the clubhouse was divided into two factions, by contemporary accounts, the two factions almost never spoke to each other on or off the field, and the only thing they had in common was a resentment of Comiskey. A meeting of White Sox ballplayers—including those committed to going ahead and it was a meeting that would eventually shatter the careers of eight ballplayers, although whether all eight were actually in attendance is a matter of dispute. George Daniel Buck Weaver was the player to attend the meetings who did not receive money. Nevertheless, he was banned with the others for knowing about the fix. Although he hardly played in the series, utility infielder Fred McMullin got word of the fix, as a small coincidence, McMullin was a former teammate of Sleepy Bill Burns, who had a minor role in the fix. Both played for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, star outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson was mentioned as a participant, though his involvement is disputed. The scheme got an unexpected boost when the straitlaced Faber could not pitch due to a bout with the flu. Years later, Schalk said that if Faber had been available, October 2, there were rumors amongst gamblers that the series was fixed, and a sudden influx of money being bet on Cincinnati caused the odds against them to fall rapidly. However, most fans and observers were taking the series at face value. On October 2, the day of Game One, the Philadelphia Bulletin published a poem which would prove to be ironic, Still, it really doesnt matter, After all. Good clean sport is what were after, And we aim to make our brag To each near or distant nation Whereon shines the sporting sun That of all our games gymnastic Base ball is the cleanest one. Claude Williams, one of the Eight Men Out, lost three games, a Series record, dickie Kerr, who was not part of the fix, won both of his starts
27.
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
28.
1959 National League tie-breaker series
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The 1959 National League tie-breaker series was a best-of-three playoff series at the conclusion of Major League Baseballs 1959 regular season to decide the winner of the National League pennant. The games were played on September 28 and 29,1959, the first game was played at Milwaukee County Stadium and the second took place at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The playoff series was necessary after both finished the season with identical win–loss records of 86–68. The Dodgers won a coin flip late in the season gave them home field advantage for the series. Following a rain-delayed start, the Dodgers won Game 1 by a close 3–2 score and this victory advanced the Dodgers to the 1959 World Series, in which they defeated the Chicago White Sox, four games to two. In baseball statistics, the tie-breaker series counted as the 155th and 156th regular-season games for teams, with all events in the series added to regular-season statistics. The Dodgers in the 1958 season posted a 71–83 win-loss record, finished in place in the NL. By contrast the Braves won the NL that year with a 92–62 record, despite their success the Braves made several changes leading into the 1959 season. First, they selected Jim Pisoni in the Rule 5 draft from the Yankees in December 1958, the Braves then traded with the Philadelphia Phillies for Ted Kazanski, Stan Lopata, and Johnny OBrien just prior to the season. Finally, the Braves traded for Mickey Vernon from the Cleveland Indians and selected Bobby Ávila, Ray Boone, the Dodgers traded for Rip Repulski and Wally Moon during the offseason and then acquired Chuck Churn, Solly Drake, and Chuck Essegian during the year. The NL race was tight throughout the 1959 season between the Braves, Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants, neither the Giants nor the Braves ever fell five or more games back of the league leader, and the Dodgers never faced a deficit of six or more. The Dodgers had the best record in games played amongst the three, posting a combined 26–18 record against the two before the tie-breaker. However, the Dodgers spent just 21 days with at least a share of the lead while the Braves, the Giants led the National League by two games on September 17,1959, over the Dodgers and Braves who were tied. However, the Giants were swept by the Dodgers over their three games, including a doubleheader which the Los Angeles Times described as a breeze for Los Angeles. Giants starting pitcher Sam Jones threw a no-hitter on September 26,1959, the Giants had considered pitching Jack Sanford in that game due to Jones recent heavy pitching workload. Because the game was shortened to less than nine innings it is no longer considered an official no-hitter, the rain also forced the second game of the Giants scheduled doubleheader that day to be moved, leaving them with two games to play on the final day of the season. The Giants needed to win games and have the Braves and Dodgers both lose to tie for the lead, but the Giants lost both. Jones no-hitter was the Giants only win for the season after September 17 as the team went 1–7 over that span, the Braves and Dodgers went 6–4 over that period to maintain their tie
29.
1949 World Series
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This victory would start a record run of five consecutive World Series championships by the Yankees, and was also the first of 14 AL pennants in 16 years for the Yankees. Both teams finished the season with exactly the same records. AL New York Yankees vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers Don Newcombe of the Dodgers threw a complete game and he struck out eleven Yankees during that game to tie the record for most strikeouts during a World Series game by a losing pitcher. Tommy Henrich led the bottom of the ninth tagging Newcombe for the first walk-off home run in World Series history, preacher Roe pitched a six-hit shutout, getting the only run he needed early when Jackie Robinson doubled and Gil Hodges singled. Yankee Stadium came alive in the ninth with Joe DiMaggios leadoff hit, a wild ninth inning ended with Joe Page the winning pitcher, even though he gave up two homers in the inning. The game had stood 1-1 until the ninth, when Johnny Mize delivered a two-run pinch single, Brooklyn starter Ralph Branca was then replaced by Jack Banta, who gave up an RBI hit to Jerry Coleman that made it 4-1. It seemed safe until Luis Olmo and Roy Campanella both homered in the bottom of the ninth, but Page hung on for the win after 5.2 innings of relief, cliff Mapes broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a two-run double. Yankee pitcher Eddie Lopat aided his own cause with an RBI double, a seven-single inning chased Lopat and cheered Ebbets Fields fans in the sixth, bringing the Dodgers back to within 6-4. After that, though, Allie Reynolds held the team scoreless and hitless. A shaky start by Rex Barney, including two walks and an error on a play, proved costly for Brooklyn. He was lifted in the third after a Jerry Coleman two-run single, and the Yankees padded their lead with a Joe DiMaggio homer in the fourth and it was 10-2 by then, so Gil Hodgess three-run homer for the Dodgers in the seventh was too little, too late. History was made in the inning when the Ebbets Field lights were turned on. The first scheduled Series night game would not be held until 1971,1949 World Series, New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers Cohen, Richard M. Neft, David S. The World Series, Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989, archived from the original on 2008. Audio, Game 3 radio broadcast, part 1 Audio, Game 3 radio broadcast, part 2 Audio, Game 3 radio broadcast, part 3 Audio, Game 3 radio broadcast, part 4
30.
1964 World Series
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The 1964 World Series pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees, with the Cardinals prevailing in seven games. St. Louis won their world championship, while the Yankees. In an unusual twist, the Yankees fired Yogi Berra after the Series ended, replacing him with Johnny Keane and his job had been threatened by Cardinals management, and it was unexpectedly saved by the Cardinals dramatic pennant drive. This pennant for the Yankees concluded their run of 15 World Series appearances over 18 years. Indeed, they had won 29 American League championships in the 44-year span from 1921 through 1964, the 1964 World Series, and the season leading up to it, later became the subject for the David Halberstam New York Times bestseller October 1964. The Series featured the brother-against-brother match-up of Ken Boyer of the Cardinals and Clete Boyer of the Yankees, for the first time in Series history, all six umpires rotated through their positions. In all Series from 1947 through 1963, only the four umpires had rotated. Mickey Mantle, playing in his last Series, hit three home runs, raising his total to a record-setting 18, surpassing Babe Ruths mark of 15. Utility infielder Chet Trail, who had no major league experience. Trail did not play in the series, and Trail never appeared in a league game during his career. Both Berra and Keane were St, after winning the American League pennant in 1963, the Yankees faced strong challenges from the pitching-rich Chicago White Sox and up-and-coming Baltimore Orioles in 1964. On August 22, the Yankees were in place, 5 1⁄2 games out of first. After losing two games in Detroit, the Yankees clinched the pennant on the next-to-last day of the season with an 8–3 win over the Indians. The Cardinals were coming off a finish in 1963. But they proceeded to lose 10 straight games, with two games remaining, four teams still had a mathematical chance to win the pennant. The Giants were the first to be eliminated when they lost on October 3 to the Cubs, the Cardinals lost to the lowly Mets, 15–5, while the Phillies ended their 10-game losing streak with a 4–3 win over the Reds. The Phillies did their part by defeating the Reds, 10–0, during the season the Cardinals would be involved in the Lou Brock-for-Ernie Broglio trade, which would later be considered the most lopsided trade in baseball history. NL St. Louis Cardinals vs. AL New York Yankees The Cardinals scouting report indicated that injuries had taken their toll on Mickey Mantles defense and they acted on this intelligence, taking extra bases repeatedly and scoring from second on singles in the second and sixth innings
31.
Ken Burns
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Kenneth Lauren Ken Burns is an American filmmaker, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs in documentary films. His most widely known documentaries are The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The War, The National Parks, Americas Best Idea, Prohibition, The Central Park Five and he was also executive producer of both The West, and Cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies. Burnss documentaries have been nominated for two Academy Awards and have won Emmy Awards, among other honors, the documentary filmmaker Ric Burns is his younger brother. He is a distant relative of Scottish poet Robert Burns, among places they called home were Saint-Véran, France, Newark, Delaware, and Ann Arbor, where his father taught at the University of Michigan. Well-read as a child, he absorbed the family encyclopedia, preferring history to fiction, upon receiving an 8 mm film movie camera for his 17th birthday, he shot a documentary about an Ann Arbor factory. He graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor in 1971 and he worked in a record store to pay his tuition. Studying under photographers Jerome Liebling and Elaine Mayes and others, Burns earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in film studies, upon graduation, he, Mayes and college classmate Roger Sherman founded Florentine Films in Walpole, New Hampshire. The companys name was borrowed from Mayes hometown of Florence, Massachusetts, another Hampshire College graduate Buddy Squires subsequently succeeded Mayes one year later in 1976. Following another documentary, The Shakers, Hands to Work, Hearts to God, in 1982, Burns married Amy Stechler, with whom he had two daughters, Sarah and Lily, the marriage ended in divorce. As of 2011, Burns resides in Walpole, New Hampshire, with his wife, Julie Deborah Brown. They have two daughters, Olivia and Willa Burns, Burns is a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party, with almost $40,000 in political donations. In August 2009, Kennedy died, and Burns produced a short video at his funeral. In endorsing Barack Obama for the U. S. presidency in December 2007 and he said he had planned to be a regular contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann on Current TV. Burns is the recipient of more than 20 honorary degrees, W. Griffith Award, and the $50,000 Lincoln Prize. As of 2010, there is a Ken Burns Wing at the Jerome Liebling Center for Film, Photography, in 2004, Burns received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. In 2012, Burns received the Washington University International Humanities Medal, past winners include Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk in 2006, journalist Michael Pollan in 2008, and novelist and nonfiction writer Francine Prose in 2010. Burns was the Grand Marshal for the 2016 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Rose Parade on New Years Day in Pasadena, in 2016, he also gave a commencement speech for Stanford University criticizing Donald Trump. Burns frequently incorporates simple musical leitmotifs or melodies, for example, The Civil War features a distinctive violin melody throughout, Ashokan Farewell, which was performed for the film by its composer, fiddler Jay Ungar
32.
Joe Adcock
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Joseph Wilbur Billy Joe Adcock was a major league baseball player and manager in the Major and Minor Leagues. He was best known as a first baseman and right-handed slugger with the powerful Milwaukee Braves teams of the 1950s, a sure-handed defensive player, he also retired with the third highest career fielding percentage by a first baseman. His nickname Billy Joe was modeled after Vanderbilt University basketball star Billy Joe Adcock and was popularized by Vin Scully and he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds, but Ted Kluszewski had firm hold of the teams first base slot. Adcock played in left field from 1950 to 1952, but was unhappy and demanded a trade, on July 31,1954, Adcock accomplished the rare feat of homering four times in a single game, against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. He also hit a double off the top of the wall to set a record for most total bases in a game that stood for 48 years, until broken by Shawn Green in 2002. Another notable home run was the blast that ended the duel between Lew Burdette and Harvey Haddix on May 26,1959, in which Haddix took a perfect game into the 13th inning. In 1956, he finished second in the National League in home runs, runs batted in, following the season he was replaced as Cleveland manager by Alvin Dark. Adcock managed two years in the minor leagues before settling down at his 288-acre ranch in Coushatta to raise horses. He died in Coushatta at age 71 in 1999 from Alzheimers Disease
33.
Gil Hodges
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Gilbert Ray Hodges, ne Hodge was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and manager who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1982, Hodges is generally considered to be the best defensive first baseman in the 1950s. He was an All-Star for eight seasons and a Gold Glove Award winner for three consecutive seasons, Hodges and Duke Snider are the only players to have the most home runs or runs batted in together during the decade with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hodges was the National League leader in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each. He ranked second in NL history with 1,281 assists and 1,614 double plays when his career ended, Hodges also managed the New York Mets to the 1969 World Series title, one of the greatest upsets in Fall Classic history. In 2014, Hodges appeared for the time as a candidate on the National Baseball Hall of Fames Golden Era Committee election ballot for possible Hall of Fame consideration in 2015. He and the candidates all missed getting elected. The Committee meets and votes on ten selected from the 1947 to 1972 era every three years. Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana, the son of coal miner Charles and he had an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Marjorie. The family moved to nearby Petersburg when Hodges was seven and he was a star four-sport athlete at Petersburg High School, earning a combined seven varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball and track. He declined a 1941 contract offer from the Detroit Tigers, instead attending Saint Josephs College with the hope of becoming a collegiate coach. Hodges spent two years at St Josephs, competing in baseball, basketball and briefly in football and he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, and appeared in one game for the team as a third baseman that year. Hodges entered the United States Marine Corps during World War II after having participated in its Reserve Officers Training Corps program at Saint Josephs. He served in combat as a gunner in the battles of Tinian and Okinawa. Hodges only appearance in the 1947 World Series against the New York Yankees was as a hitter for pitcher Rex Barney in Game seven. As a rookie in 1948, he batted.249 with eleven home runs, on June 25,1949, he hit for the cycle on his way to his first of seven consecutive All-Star teams. For the season, his 115 RBI ranked fourth in the NL, defensively, he led the NL in putouts, double plays and fielding average. Facing the Yankees again in the 1949 Series, he batted only.235 but drove in the run in Brooklyns only victory
34.
Joe Pignatano
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Joseph Benjamin Pignatano, nicknamed Piggy, is a retired American professional baseball player and coach. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches tall and he is a native and lifelong resident of Brooklyn, New York. He signed with his hometown Dodgers in 1948, and spent almost seven seasons in their farm system before three brief auditions with the 1957 big-league team. On Tuesday, September 24,1957, Pignatano was behind the plate during the five innings of the Brooklyn Dodgers last home game. He relieved starting catcher Roy Campanella in the top of the inning with the Dodgers leading 2–0. The Dodgers played their three games in 1957 on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies, then moved to Los Angeles during the off-season. In January 1958, Campanella was tragically paralyzed in a car accident, Pignatano was Roseboros backup in both 1958–59 and the third-string Dodger receiver in 1960. He hit a career-high nine home runs in 1958 and played a key role in the Dodgers late-season 1959 pennant drive, in the 12th, with two out and Gil Hodges on base, Pignatano singled off Bob Rush to keep the inning alive and send Hodges to second. The next hitter, Carl Furillo, delivered the game- and pennant-winning run on an infield hit, Pignatano then appeared in one inning as a defensive replacement of the 1959 World Series and earned a world championship ring when the Dodgers prevailed over the Chicago White Sox in six games. Pignatano was a semi-regular for the 1961 Athletics, splitting the duties with Haywood Sullivan. He hit above.240 only once and batted.234 lifetime with 161 hits,25 doubles, in his last MLB at bat, for the 1962 Mets on September 30, he bounced into a 4–3–6 triple play. During his years as the Mets bullpen coach, Pignatano cultivated a garden in the bullpen. Hes also related to two other former Met players, pitchers Pete Falcone and John Franco, a cousin, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
35.
Carl Furillo
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Carl Anthony Furillo, nicknamed The Reading Rifle and Skoonj, was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. Furillo was born in Stony Creek Mills, Pennsylvania and he left school in the eighth grade, and often felt awkward among his teammates as a result, they would later recall that he rarely socialized with players who were better-educated. His other nickname, Skoonj, came from the Italian word scungilli, arriving in the major leagues in 1946, he batted.295 for the 1947 NL pennant winners, finishing the year ninth in the league with 88 runs batted in. In 1950 he batted.305 with 18 home runs,106 RBI, in that year he set a team record with 667 at bats, exceeding Ivy Olsons 1921 total of 652, Maury Wills broke his mark with 695 in 1962. On August 27,1951, he threw out Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Mel Queen by two feet at first base after Queen had apparently singled into right field, Furillo batted only.247 for the 1952 pennant winners, though he was selected to his first All-Star team. Diagnosed with cataracts, he had surgery in the offseason and returned with perhaps his best season, winning the batting title and collecting 21 home runs and 92 RBI with a career-best 38 doubles. His.344 average was the highest by a right-handed Dodgers hitter since Oyster Burns hit.354 in 1894 and he was again named an All-Star, ending the year fifth in the league in slugging, and finished ninth in the MVP balloting. Furillo got Durocher in a headlock, and in the brawl, Monte Irvin of the Giants stepped on Furillos hand. For the 1955 champions he was seventh in the league with a.314 average, along with 95 RBI and a career high of 26 homers. With the 1956 team which repeated as NL champions, earning the teams seventh pennant in ten years, he slipped to a.289 average but maintained solid power totals with 21 homers,83 RBI and 30 doubles. He hit.306 in the Dodgers last season in Brooklyn in 1957, with the 1959 pennant team, his playing time was reduced to only 50 games, with just 25 of them in the outfield. He would later maintain that he was blackballed as a result and was unable to find a job within the sport – a charge denied by Commissioner Ford Frick. Furillo played in seven World Series with the Dodgers, six of them against the New York Yankees, winning in 1955, in the 1953 World Series he hit. In the victorious 1955 Series he started the scoring with a home run in his first at bat of Game 1. The two runs held up for a 2–0 victory, and Brooklyn earned the first World Series title in franchise history, in the 1959 Series he was limited to four pinch-hitting appearances and his 2-run single in the seventh inning of Game 3 broke a scoreless tie. Los Angeles held on for a 3–1 win, as an outfielder, he had 3322 putouts,151 assists,34 double plays and 74 errors for 3547 total chances and a.979 fielding percentage. If he had one hit in his career, he would have statistically had a.300 batting average. After retiring, Furillo left the sport for good, while writing his 1972 book The Boys of Summer about the 1952 and 1953 pennant-winning teams, author Roger Kahn located Furillo installing elevators at the World Trade Center
36.
Cleveland Indians
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The Cleveland Indians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. Since 1994, they have played at Progressive Field, the teams spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The Indians current World Series championship drought is the longest active drought, the name Indians originated from a request by club owner Charles Somers to baseball writers to choose a new name to replace Cleveland Naps following the departure of Nap Lajoie after the 1914 season. The name referenced the nickname Indians that was applied to the Cleveland Spiders baseball club during the time when Louis Sockalexis, common nicknames for the Indians include the Tribe and the Wahoos, the latter being a reference to their logo, Chief Wahoo, a controversial Native American caricature. The teams mascot is named Slider, the franchise originated in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers, a minor league team in the Western League. The team moved to Cleveland in 1900 and changed its name to the Cleveland Lake Shores, one of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the major league incarnation of the club was founded in Cleveland in 1901. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds, the played in League Park until moving permanently to Cleveland Stadium in 1946. At the end of the 2016 season, they had a regular season record of 9. In 1857 baseball games were a spectacle in Clevelands Public Squares. City authorities tried to find an ordinance forbidding it, to the joy of the crowd, – Harold Seymour 1865–1868 Forest Citys of Cleveland 1869–1872 Forest Citys of Cleveland From 1865 to 1868 Forest Citys was an amateur ball club. During the 1869 season, Cleveland was among several cities which established professional baseball teams following the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional team. In the newspapers before and after 1870, the team was called the Forest Citys. In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, ultimately, two of the leagues western clubs went out of business during the first season and the Chicago Fire left that citys White Stockings impoverished, unable to field a team again until 1874. Cleveland was thus the NAs westernmost outpost in 1872, the year the club folded, Cleveland played their full schedule to July 19 followed by two games versus Boston in mid-August and disbanded at the end of the season. 1879–1881 Cleveland Forest Citys 1882–1884 Cleveland Blues In 1876, the National League supplanted the NA as the professional league. Cleveland were not among its members, but by 1879 the league was looking for new entries. The Cleveland Forest Citys baseball team was then re-created, the National League required distinct colors for the 1882 season, so the Cleveland Forest Citys became the Cleveland Blues
37.
Comiskey Park
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Comiskey Park was a ballpark in Chicago, Illinois, the home of the Chicago White Sox from 1910 through 1990. Built by owner Charles Comiskey and designed by Zachary Taylor Davis, it hosted four World Series, the field was also the site of the 1937 heavyweight title match in which Joe Louis defeated then champion James J. Braddock in eight rounds. The Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League also called Comiskey Park home when they werent playing at Normal Park or Soldier Field, the Cardinals won the 1947 NFL Championship Game over the Philadelphia Eagles at Comiskey Park. A new ballpark opened in 1991, across 35th Street and south of its predecessor, originally also called Comiskey Park, it was renamed U. S. Cellular Field in 2003 and Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016, the park was built on a former city dump that Comiskey bought in 1909 to replace the wooden South Side Park. It was originally built as White Sox Park, but within three years was renamed for White Sox founder and owner Charles Comiskey, the original name, White Sox Park, was restored in 1962, but it went back to the Comiskey Park name in 1976. Comiskey Park was very modern for its time and it was the third concrete-and-steel stadium in the major leagues to be built since 1909. As originally built, it seated almost 32,000, a record at the time, briefly, it retained the nickname The Baseball Palace of the World. The parks design was influenced by Sox pitcher Ed Walsh. Later changes were made, but the park remained more or less favorable to defensive teams, for many years this reflected on the White Sox style of play, solid defense, and short, quick hits. The park was unusual in that no player ever hit 100 home runs there, the first game in Comiskey Park was a 2–0 loss to the St. Louis Browns on July 1,1910. The last game at Comiskey was a win, 2–1, over the Seattle Mariners on September 30,1990, the White Sox won their first-ever home night game, over St. Louis on August 14,1939, 5–2. The first no-hitter at Comiskey Park was hurled by Vern Kennedy on August 31,1935, Comiskey Park was the site of four World Series. In 1917, the Chicago White Sox won games 1,2 and 5 at Comiskey Park, in 1918, Comiskey Park hosted the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox. The Cubs borrowed Comiskey Park for the series because of its seating capacity. The Red Sox defeated the Cubs four games to two, games one, two and three were played at Comiskey Park. The Red Sox won games one and three, attendance was under capacity in that war year. The best crowd was game 3, with some 27,000 patrons, in 1919, the White Sox lost the infamous Black Sox World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, five games to three in a nine-game series
38.
Central Time Zone
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The North American Central Time Zone is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, during summer most of the zone uses daylight saving time, and changes to Central Daylight Time which is five hours behind UTC. The province of Manitoba is the province or territory in Canada that observes Central Time in all areas. Also, most of the province of Saskatchewan is on Central Standard Time year-round, major exceptions include Lloydminster, a city situated on the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city charter stipulates that it shall observe Mountain Time and DST, putting the community on the time as all of Alberta, including the major cities of Calgary. As a result, during the summer, clocks in the province match those in Alberta. The Central Time Zone is the second most populous in the US after the Eastern Time Zone, lanett and Valley observe Eastern Time historically because they were textile mill towns and the original home office of their mills was in West Point, Georgia. Some eastern counties observe Central Time because they are close to the border of the Middle Tennessee counties surrounding the Nashville metropolitan area. Louisiana Michigan, All of Michigan observes Eastern Time except the four Upper Peninsula counties that border Wisconsin, other westernmost counties from this area such as Ontonagon observe Eastern Time. South Dakota, Eastern half as divided by the Missouri river adjacent to the state capital, note, the metropolitan area of Pierre is Central, including Fort Pierre. Wisconsin Most of Mexico—roughly the eastern three-fourths—lies in the Central Time Zone, except for six northwestern states, the federal entities of Mexico that observe Central Time, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua all use Central Standard Time year-round. The Galápagos Islands in Ecuador uses Central Standard Time all year-round, Daylight saving time is in effect in much of the Central time zone between mid-March and early November. The modified time is called Central Daylight Time and is UTC−5, in Canada, Saskatchewan does not observe a time change. One reason that Saskatchewan does not take part in a change is that, geographically. The province elected to move onto permanent daylight saving by being part of the Central Time Zone, Mexico decided not to go along with this change and observes their horario de verano from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In December 2009, the Mexican Congress allowed ten border cities, eight of which are in states that observe Central Time, to adopt the U. S. daylight time schedule effective in 2010
39.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
40.
Illinois
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Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
