1.
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
2.
1969 Major League Baseball season
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The 1969 Major League Baseball season was celebrated as the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, honoring the first professional touring baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. It was the first season of what is now called the Divisional Era, the winners of each division would compete against each other in a League Championship Series, then best-of-five, to determine the pennant winners that would face each other in the World Series. In a year marked by the expansion of the decade, the New York Mets. East Division with a league-best 100–62 record, and sweeping the N. L, West Division Champion Atlanta Braves in three games in the first National League Championship Series, the Miracle Mets became the first expansion team to win a pennant. East Division Champion Orioles, holders of the best record in baseball, West Division Champion Minnesota Twins in three games in the first American League Championship Series. The upstart Mets upset the heavily favored Orioles and won the World Series title in five games, in an effort to counteract a trend of low-scoring games, Major League Baseball adopted two measures during the Baseball Winter Meetings held in December 1968. The strike zone was reduced to the area over home plate between the armpits and the top of the knees of a batter. Also, the height of the mound was reduced from 15 inches to 10 inches. A save became an official MLB statistic to reward relief pitchers who preserve a lead while finishing a game, MLB called for a four-team expansion to take place in 1971 at the 1967 Winter Meetings, the first expansion since 1962. However, there was a complication, influential U. S, the Leagues agreed and moved expansion up to 1969, with the AL putting one of its new franchises in Kansas City. Ewing Kauffman won the bidding for that franchise, naming it the Kansas City Royals, the other AL team was awarded to Seattle. A consortium led by Dewey Soriano and William Daley won the bidding for the Seattle franchise, and named it the Seattle Pilots, a salute to the harbor pilots of the Puget Sound maritime industry. In the NL, one franchise was awarded to San Diego, California, arnholdt Smith, former owner of the AAA Pacific Coast Leagues San Diego Padres, won the bidding for the San Diego franchise, also naming it the Padres. Charles Bronfman, owner of Seagram, won the bidding for the Montreal franchise, naming them the Expos and this was the last NL expansion until the 1993 season. As part of the 1969 expansion, each league was to be split into two divisions of six each, with each league holding a best-of-five League Championship Series to decide the pennant. The AL was divided purely along geographic lines, but when it came to assign divisions in the NL and this alignment also addressed concerns that putting the leagues three strongest clubs—St. Louis, San Francisco, and the Cubs—in the west would result in divisional unequity, the Padres and Expos each finished with 110 losses and at the bottom of their respective divisions. The Royals did better, finishing 69–93 and in fourth in the AL West, the legal fallout of the battle would lead eventually to the expansion for the 1977 season
3.
Busch Memorial Stadium
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Busch Memorial Stadium, also known as Busch Stadium II, was a multi-purpose sports facility in St. Louis, Missouri, that operated for 40 years, from 1966 through 2005. It opened four days after the last baseball game was played at Sportsmans Park, the stadium was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel and built by Grün & Bilfinger. Edward Durell Stone designed the roof, a 96-arch Crown of Arches, the Crown echoed the Gateway Arch, which had been completed only a year before Busch Stadium opened. It was one of the first multipurpose cookie-cutter facilities built in the United States and its final event was the sixth game of the 2005 NLCS on October 19. The stadium was demolished by wrecking ball in late 2005 and part of its footprint is occupied by its replacement stadium—the new Busch Stadium. The baseball Cardinals had played at Sportsmans Park since 1920 and they originally were tenants of the St. Louis Browns of the American League. Although the Cardinals had long passed the Browns as St. Louis favorite team. In 1958, Charles Farris, the head of development. Groundbreaking occurred on May 25,1964, and construction took just under two years, the plan also included parking garages, a hotel, and office buildings. A few years later, it became the new home of the Spanish Pavilion from the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. The stadium opened on May 12,1966, one month into the baseball season, however, the Civic Center part was almost never used, and most people called it simply Busch Memorial Stadium. The stadiums grass was replaced with AstroTurf in 1970, in part because St. Louis notoriously hot summers made it difficult to keep the grass alive. The Cardinals retained the traditional dirt skin infield for eight seasons, with artificial turf, the playing conditions at Busch Stadium were among the hottest in baseball, with temperatures well above the local official readings. Anheuser-Busch bought the stadium in 1981 for $53 million and renamed it simply Busch Stadium, following Buschs last 1995 event—the Rams October 22 game prior to the opening of the now-Dome at Americas Center—the Cardinals retrofitted it into a baseball-only stadium. A large section of the upper deck outfield seats was closed, replaced with a scoreboard and flags commemorating the Cardinals retired numbers. The stadiums original natural grass field was restored, and the walls were repainted green from their original blue. Busch Memorial Stadium was originally slated to be imploded like most modern-day stadium demolitions to be able to finish construction on the new stadium in time for the 2006 season. Due to fear of damaging the nearby Metro subway and stadium station, it was decided to tear down the stadium with a ball, piece-by-piece
4.
1966 Major League Baseball season
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The 1966 Major League Baseball season was contested from April to October 1966. The Braves played their season in Atlanta, following their relocation from Milwaukee. Three teams played the 1966 season in new stadiums, on April 12, the Braves ushered in Atlanta Stadium with the Pittsburgh Pirates taking a 3–2 win in 13 innings. One week later, Anaheim Stadium opened with the California Angels losing to the Chicago White Sox, in the World Series the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 0. Williams receives 282 of a possible 302 votes, february 28 – Seeking an unprecedented 3-year $1.05 million to be divided evenly, the Dodgers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale begin a joint holdout. March 8 – The Special Veterans Committee waives Hall of Fame election rules and inducts Casey Stengel, march 17 – Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale escalate their threat of retirement by signing movie contracts. March 30 – Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale end their 32-day holdout, signing for $130,000, April 3 – USC pitcher Tom Seaver signs with the New York Mets. He had been drafted by the Atlanta Braves, but they had signed him to a league contract while he was still in college. This voided Seavers remaining eligibility, and voided the contract, the Mets won a special lottery over Cleveland and Philadelphia to win the right to sign him. April 11 – Emmett Ashford takes the field in Washington to officiate a 5–2 Washington Senators win over the Cleveland Indians and he is the first African-American umpire in Major League history. April 12 – Over 50,000 fans show up at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium to watch the Braves first home game in Atlanta, the Braves fall to the Pittsburgh Pirates 3–2 in 13 innings, however. May 8 – The visiting San Francisco Giants defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, may 14 – The San Francisco Giants Willie Mays hits his then National League record 512th home run – topping another Giant, Mel Ott. The Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6–1 at San Franciscos Candlestick Park, june 7 – The Kansas City Athletics use the second overall pick to draft Arizona State outfielder Reggie Jackson. June 10 – Sonny Siebert of the Cleveland Indians no-hits the Washington Senators 2–0 at Cleveland Stadium, the no-hitter is the first by an Indian since Bob Fellers third career no-hitter, in 1951. July 3 – Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger hits two grand slams in a game against the Giants, the first National League player and first pitcher in history to do so and his nine RBI in a game is a record for pitchers. July 12 – At St. July 25 – During his Hall of Fame induction speech and he specifically calls for the induction of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. September 22 – The Baltimore Orioles beat the host Kansas City Athletics 6–1 to clinch their first American League pennant since moving to Baltimore, both Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson have two RBIs. Frank Robinson will end the year as the Triple Crown winner and he clinches with a batting average of.316,49 home runs and 122 RBIs
5.
St. Louis
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St. Louis is an independent city and major U. S. port in the state of Missouri, built along the western bank of the Mississippi River, on the border with Illinois. Prior to European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by French fur traders Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, in 1764, following Frances defeat in the Seven Years War, the area was ceded to Spain and retroceded back to France in 1800. In 1803, the United States acquired the territory as part of the Louisiana Purchase, during the 19th century, St. Louis developed as a major port on the Mississippi River. In the 1870 Census, St. Louis was ranked as the 4th-largest city in the United States and it separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its own political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics, the economy of metro St. Louis relies on service, manufacturing, trade, transportation of goods, and tourism. This city has become known for its growing medical, pharmaceutical. St. Louis has 2 professional sports teams, the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the city is commonly identified with the 630-foot tall Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis. The area that would become St. Louis was a center of the Native American Mississippian culture and their major regional center was at Cahokia Mounds, active from 900 AD to 1500 AD. Due to numerous major earthworks within St. Louis boundaries, the city was nicknamed as the Mound City and these mounds were mostly demolished during the citys development. Historic Native American tribes in the area included the Siouan-speaking Osage people, whose territory extended west, European exploration of the area was first recorded in 1673, when French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette traveled through the Mississippi River valley. Five years later, La Salle claimed the region for France as part of La Louisiane. The earliest European settlements in the area were built in Illinois Country on the east side of the Mississippi River during the 1690s and early 1700s at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, migrants from the French villages on the opposite side of the Mississippi River founded Ste. In early 1764, after France lost the 7 Years War, Pierre Laclède, the early French families built the citys economy on the fur trade with the Osage, as well as with more distant tribes along the Missouri River. The Chouteau brothers gained a monopoly from Spain on the fur trade with Santa Fe, French colonists used African slaves as domestic servants and workers in the city. In 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, St. Louis was attacked by British forces, mostly Native American allies, the founding of St. Louis began in 1763. Pierre Laclede led an expedition to set up a fur-trading post farther up the Mississippi River, before then, Laclede had been a very successful merchant. For this reason, he and his trading partner Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent were offered monopolies for six years of the fur trading in that area
6.
Anheuser-Busch
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Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC /ˈænhaɪzər ˈbʊʃ/ is a brewing company founded and based in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev which also has its North American headquarters in St. Louis, the original Anheuser-Busch InBev was formed through successive mergers of three international brewing groups, Interbrew from Belgium, AmBev from Brazil and Anheuser-Busch. Hence, since 2008, Anheuser-Busch has been a division of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, Anheuser-Busch InBev is the largest beer producer in the world. In 1852, German American brewer and saloon operator George Schneider opened the Bavarian Brewery on Carondelet Avenue between Dorcas and Lynch streets in South St. Louis. In 1860, the brewery was purchased on the brink of bankruptcy by William DOench, a local pharmacist, and Eberhard Anheuser, DOench was the silent partner in the business until 1869, when he sold his half-interest in the company. From 1860 to 1875, the brewery was known as E, Anheuser & Co. and from 1875 to 1879 as the E. Adolphus Busch, a wholesaler who had immigrated to St. Louis from Germany in 1857, married Eberhard Anheusers daughter, Lilly, following his service in the American Civil War, Busch began working as a salesman for the Anheuser brewery. Busch purchased DOenchs share of the company in 1869, and he assumed the role of secretary from that time until the death of his father-in-law. By 1877, the owned a fleet of 40 refrigerated railroad cars to transport beer. Expanding the companys distribution range led to increased demand for Anheuser products, the expansions led production to increase from 31,500 barrels in 1875 to more than 200,000 in 1881. To serve these cars and switch them in and out of their St. Louis brewery, the shortline operated until 2011 when Anheuser-Busch sought to shut down operations. In 1876, Busch introduced Budweiser, with the ambition of transcending regional tastes and his companys ability to transport bottled beer made Budweiser the first national beer brand in the United States, and it was marketed as a premium beer. The company was renamed Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association in 1879, in 1880, the Busch family fully controlled the company through the generations until Anheuser-Buschs sale to InBev in 2008. During the 1880s and 1890s, Busch introduced a series of advertisements and marketing giveaways for the company, including bottle openers, calendars, corkscrews, pocketknives, postcards, and prints. Among the most well-known of these giveaways was Custers Last Fight, as a marketing tactic, Busch distributed thousands of copies of the print to bars in 1896, the same year Anheuser-Busch introduced its new super-premium brand, Michelob. Eventually more than one million copies of the print were produced, at the turn of the 20th century, Anheuser-Busch continued to expand its production facilities to keep up with demand. In 1905, the built an new stockhouse in St. Louis. After the death of Adolphus Busch in 1913, control of the passed to his son, August Anheuser Busch
7.
Joe Torre
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Joseph Paul Joe Torre is an American professional baseball executive, serving in the capacity of Major League Baseballs chief baseball officer since 2011. A former player, manager and television commentator, Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. With 2,342 hits during his career, Torre is the only major leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits and 2,000 wins as a manager. From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees, Torres lengthy and distinguished career in MLB began as a player in 1960 with the Milwaukee Braves, as a catcher, first baseman and third baseman. He also played for the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets until becoming a manager in 1977 and his managerial career covered 29 seasons, including tenures with the same three clubs for which he played, and the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, until 2010. From 1984 to 1989, he served as a color commentator for the California Angels. After retiring as a manager, he accepted a role assisting the Commissioner of Baseball as the vice president of baseball operations. A nine-time All-Star, Torre won the 1971 National League Most Valuable Player Award after leading the leagues in batting average, hits. After qualifying for the playoffs just once while managing the Mets, Braves and his clubs compiled a.605 regular season winning percentage and made the playoffs every year, winning four World Series titles, six American League pennants, and ten AL East division titles. In 1996 and 1998, he was the AL Manager of the Year and he also won two NL West division titles with the Dodgers for a total of 13 division titles. In 2014, Torre was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Joseph Torre was born July 18,1940, in Brooklyn, New York and his siblings include two older brothers, Frank Torre, and Rocco, and an older sister, Marguerite. Torre followed in his brother Frank Torres footsteps when he was signed by the Milwaukee Braves as a free agent in 1960. In his first season in the leagues with the Class A Eau Claire Bears. Torre made his league debut late in the season on September 25,1960. He was assigned to the Triple A Louisville Colonels for the 1961 season where, however, those plans were changed when Crandall injured his throwing arm in May 1961, forcing the Braves to promote Torre to the major leagues with just over a year of minor league experience. Torre rose to the occasion, hitting for a.278 batting average with 21 doubles and 10 home runs and he finished the season ranked second to Billy Williams in the 1961 National League Rookie of the Year voting. Crandall resumed his role as the number one catcher in 1962 while Torre stayed on as the back-up catcher, by the 1963 season, the Braves had begun to play Crandall at first base as Torre had taken over the starting catchers role
8.
KPLR-TV
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KPLR-TV, virtual channel 11, is a CW-affiliated television station located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The station is owned by the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of Tribune Media, the two stations share studio facilities located on Ball Drive in the northwestern St. Louis County community of Maryland Heights, KPLRs transmitter is located in Lemay. The station first signed on the air on April 28,1959, the stations call letters were derived from the name of its founding owner, St. Louis real estate developer and hotelier Harold Koplar. Despite losing in his quest to build the station from the ground up, CBS was originally granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission to build channel 11 in January 1957, prevailing over three other locally based competitors. But eight months later, CBS decided instead to purchase its existing St. Louis affiliate, as a condition of the channel 4 purchase, the FCC required CBS to relinquish the channel 11 license and construction permit. CBS did so by transferring it to the Koplar group, known as 220 Television, Incorporated, the U. S. Meanwhile, Koplar went to work building channel 11 on its own, no longer in the face of opposition. KPLR originally operated from studios within the Koplar-owned Chase Park Plaza Hotel, channel 11 would move into a separate facility adjacent to the hotel several years later. Starting in the mid-1960s, Harolds son Edward J. Ted Koplar began working behind the scenes at KPLR, Ted Koplar became president and chief executive officer of channel 11 in 1979, and gained complete control of the station upon his fathers death in 1985. For most of its existence, KPLR was a independent station featuring cartoons, sitcoms, movies, drama series. The station was available on many cable systems in Missouri, Illinois. Locally, channel 11s first and only came in 1969. KPLR turned down an offer to affiliate with the upstart Fox network in 1986, the Fox affiliation for the market went to KDNL when that network launched on October 9 of that year. On January 11,1995, KPLR became an affiliate for the first time when it became a charter station of The WB. Channel 11 turned down the ABC affiliation, which went to outgoing Fox affiliate KDNL on August 7,1995. Koplar Communications sold KPLR to ACME Communications in 1997, ending 38 years of local, family ownership, in the sale agreement, Ted Koplar signed a three-year contract to remain with KPLR-TV as its chief executive officer, along with serving as a consultant to ACME. However, Koplar resigned after one year, citing an irreconcilable rift, in 1999, KPLR began carrying UPN programming as a secondary affiliation, running select primetime shows and cartoons from the networks childrens program block, Disneys One Too. UPN programs had previously run on KDNL during overnight and weekend timeslots, St. Louis was one of the few top-50 markets without a UPN affiliate. The station continued carrying UPN in off-hours until WRBU disaffiliated from Home Shopping Network to join UPN in April 2003, in March 2003, ACME Communications sold KPLR-TV and its Portland, Oregon sister station KWBP to Tribune Broadcasting
9.
Al Hrabosky
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He also owns Al Hraboskys Ballpark Saloon, which is located right across the street from Busch Stadium. Hraboskys nickname is The Mad Hungarian because of his unusual last name, Hrabosky played at Savanna High School in Anaheim, California and was originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 11th round of the 1967 amateur draft, but did not sign with the club. Two years later the Cardinals made him their first round choice, within a year, at the age of 20, he made his major league debut, pitching a scoreless inning against the San Diego Padres. During his time with the Cardinals, Hrabosky became a fan favorite for his antics on the mound. Between each pitch he would turn his back to the batter, walk towards second base and he would then storm back to the mound, staring down the batter. Although the crowd would roar in delight, most batters were not fond of the pitchers routine, arguably, Hraboskys best year was 1975 when he led the National League in saves with 22 en route to winning the Sporting News NL Fireman of the Year award. After eight seasons in St. Louis, the Cardinals traded Hrabosky to the Kansas City Royals in a swap of closers for Mark Littell, following just two years with the Royals, he was released and signed with the Atlanta Braves. During his time with the Braves he saw diminished playing time, Hrabosky signed with the Chicago White Sox during Spring training in 1983 but retired before the season began. In 13 seasons he recorded 64 wins,35 losses, and 97 saves with an ERA of 3.10, early in his career with the Cardinals, Hrabosky enhanced his menacing appearance with long hair, and a handlebar moustache. However, when Vern Rapp became the Cardinals manager in 1977, Hrabosky had to cut his hair, perhaps Hraboskys most memorable performance came during an ABC Monday Night Baseball game on May 9,1977, against the Cincinnati Reds. In the top of the ninth with the tied at 5-5. As the Cardinals home crowd roared, Hrabosky went into his Mad Hungarian routine described above and proceeded to strike out right-handed power hitters George Foster, Johnny Bench, the Cardinals went on to win 6-5 on a Ted Simmons home run in the 10th inning. Following his playing career, he has provided commentary for Cardinals games since 1985 and has been with Fox Sports Midwest since 1997. Hrabosky also hosted his own show on KFNS 590AM in St. Louis. He also serves as an occasional fill-in analyst on the Cardinals Radio Network
10.
Joe Buck
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Joseph Francis Joe Buck is an American sportscaster and the son of sportscaster Jack Buck. He has won numerous Sports Emmy Awards for his work with Fox Sports, including his roles as lead announcer for the networks National Football League. Since 1996, he has served as the announcer for the World Series, each year. Buck was born in St. Petersburg, Florida and raised in the St. Louis area and he began his broadcasting career in 1989 while he was an undergraduate at Indiana University Bloomington. Buck called play-by-play for the then-Louisville Redbirds, a minor league affiliate of the Cardinals, in 1991, he did reporting for St Louis CBS affiliate KMOV. Also, in 1991 Buck began broadcasting for the Cardinals on local television and KMOX Radio, in the 1992–93 season, he was the play-by-play voice for University of Missouri basketball broadcasts. Buck continued to call Cardinals games after being hired by Fox Sports, initially with his father on KMOX and later on FSN Midwest television. As his network duties increased, however, his local workload shrank and this marked the first time since 1960 that a member of the Buck family was not part of the teams broadcasting crew. In 1994, Buck was hired by Fox, and at the age of 25 became the youngest man ever to announce a regular slate of National Football League games on network television. In 1996, he was named Foxs lead play-by-play voice for Major League Baseball, teaming with Tim McCarver, who had previously worked with his father on CBS. That year, he became the youngest man to do a national broadcast for a World Series, surpassing Sean McDonough, McDonough had replaced Jack Buck as CBS lead baseball play-by-play man after he was fired in late 1991. On September 8,1998 Buck called Mark McGwires 62nd home run that broke Roger Maris single-season record, the game was nationally televised live in prime time on Fox. It was a rarity for a nationally televised regular season game to not be aired on cable since the end of the Monday/Thursday Night Baseball era on ABC in 1989. This was the phrase with which Jack Buck had famously called Kirby Pucketts home run off Braves pitcher Charlie Leibrandt which ended Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. The similarity of both the call and the situation resulted in mentions on national news broadcasts. Another notable Red Sox game in the ALCS was in 2013, the Red Sox were trailing 5–1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, with the bases loaded with David Ortiz at-bat. Ortiz hit a grand slam off Tigers closer Joaquín Benoit. His call, Hard hit into right, back at the wall, and then he calls, TIE GAME. as the ball flies over Torii Hunter, Buck is currently paired with John Smoltz as his color analyst, and Ken Rosenthal and Erin Andrews are the field reporters
11.
KMOX
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KMOX is an AM radio station broadcasting from St. Louis, Missouri. It is a 50, 000-watt clear channel station, which permits its nighttime signal to be heard in most of the central U. S. and into Mexico. KMOX operates as NewsRadio 1120 and refers to itself as The Voice of St. Louis, KMOX is affiliated with the CBS Radio Network and licensed to a CBS Corporation subsidiary, CBS Radio. KMOXs transmitter is located in Pontoon Beach, Illinois, the KMOX studio is located at 1220 Olive Street in the Park Pacific Building at Olive Street and Tucker Boulevard. CBS Radio also has studios and offices there for its two other St. Louis radio stations, KYKY and 102.5 KEZK-FM, for many years, KMOX broadcast using C-QUAM AM stereo, but stereo transmissions ended in the spring of 2000. The station now broadcasts an HD Radio signal, the Federal Communications Commission requires a digital license for HD broadcasting. KMOX, along with WSDZ, are responsible for the activation of the Greater St. Louis Emergency Alert System for hazardous weather, disaster declarations, KMOX was started in the early days of broadcasting by a group of businessmen incorporated as The Voice of St. Louis Inc. According to the official website, the KMOX call letters were assigned by the Federal Radio Commission. The stations owners had hoped to be assigned KVSL, for Voice of St. Louis, the owners also applied for KMO, but those call letters had been in use by KMO in Tacoma since 1922. KMOX signed on December 24,1925, the X was added because the starting date was Christmas Eve, or Xmas eve. Although a local legend states the call letters mean Kirkwood, Missouri On Xmas, in 1927, the station gave prominent coverage to the Charles Lindbergh flight across the Atlantic, in his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis. That same year, KMOX became one of the first 16 stations in the CBS network, two years later CBS bought KMOX, and began the process of getting approval to build a 50, 000-watt transmitter tower. When completed, it gave the station a signal that could be heard as far away as New Zealand. Its signal has been picked up in Scotland and South Africa, in 1933, KMOX covered the first post-Prohibition case of Budweiser beer leaving the Anheuser-Busch St. Louis brewery for the White House, a story carried nationally by CBS. During the 1930s and 1940s, KMOX was one of several St. Louis stations broadcasting Cardinals, KMOX lost broadcasting rights in 1948 when a new Cardinals radio network was formed by the team, but by the 1950s, it became the flagship station of that network. During the 1950s, the slogan was k-mocks, pronouncing the way the stations call letters are spelled. In 1955 Robert Hyland Jr became KMOXs general manager, a role he held for forty years. On February 29 of that year, Jack Buck hosted the first At Your Service program and that program, like the sports talk programs that soon followed, pioneered a format for radio heavily dependent on interviews, guest appearances, and calls from listeners
12.
Jack Buck
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John Francis Jack Buck was an American sportscaster, best known for his work announcing Major League Baseball games of the St. Louis Cardinals. His play-by-play work earned him recognition from numerous Halls of Fame, such as the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he has also been inducted as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum. Buck was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts but moved to the Cleveland, after graduating from high school, he worked on large shipping boats that traveled the Great Lakes. Buck was drafted into the United States Army in June 1943, after completion of his military service in 1946, Buck enrolled at Ohio State University. His early sportscasting career included work for the minor league affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals, in 1954, Buck was promoted to radio play-by-play of Cardinal games on KMOX, a position that he maintained for nearly all of the next 47 years. He was known in St. Louis for his trademark phrase Thats a winner, which was said after every game that the Cardinals had won. In addition to his work with the Cardinals, Buck also earned assignments on many national sportscasts, including radio coverage of 18 Super Bowls and 11 World Series. In the final years of his life, Buck also became recognized for writing poetry, culminating in national attention for his poem For America, written after the terrorist attacks of September 11,2001. The later part of his career found him working side-by-side in the Cardinals booth with his son Joe Buck, Buck was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts as the 3rd of 7 children by Earle and Kathleen Buck. His father was an accountant who commuted weekly to New Jersey. From an early age, Buck dreamed of becoming an announcer with his early exposure to sports broadcasting coming from listening to Boston Red Sox baseball games announced by Fred Hoey. In 1939 his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio to join their father, soon after though, Bucks father died at the age of 49 due to uremic poisoning related to high blood pressure. Buck planned to quit school in 1941 to take a full-time job in an effort to support his family. Dissuaded by one of his teachers, Buck decided to finish high school, after graduation, he followed one of his friends and began working on an iron ore freight boat operated on the Great Lakes by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company. Buck served on a 700 foot steamer named The Sheadle, where he began as porter and was promoted to night cook. After performing various other shipping related jobs, Buck attempted to become a deck watch, a physical examination related to the deck watch application process revealed Buck was color blind, unable to differentiate between the colors green and brown. Ineligible for the promotion to watch, Buck subsequently became eligible for the military draft. The physicality of Bucks work on the Great Lakes left in him good physical condition at the time he entered the Army, Buck, who was 19 years old, stood 511 tall, and weighed 165 pounds at the time
13.
Mike Shannon
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Thomas Michael Mike Shannon is an American former Major League Baseball player and current radio sportscaster. Shannon is a broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was raised in St. Louis, Missouri and played with the Cardinals during some of the teams most successful years, Shannon was the proprietor of Mike Shannons Steaks and Seafood in downtown St. Louis until the restaurant closed January 30,2016. He still has Mike Shannons Grill in Edwardsville, IL and at Lambert St. Louis Airport run by his grandson Justin VanMatre, Shannon was born and raised in south St. Louis at 7045 Winona Avenue. Mike was the 2nd oldest of six children of Thomas A. Shannon, Mike attended grade school at Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic School, and graduated from Christian Brothers College High School in 1957. While at CBC Mike was the Missouri High School Player of the Year in both football and basketball his senior year and he is the only athlete to win both awards in the same year. He attended the University of Missouri before leaving in 1958 to begin his baseball career after signing with Bing Devine. Shannon has commented that if players were paid better during his era, he probably would have stayed at Missouri. He believed himself a football player, and his former coach, Frank Broyles, commented that had he stayed in school. Shannon began his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1962. In 1964, he became the regular right fielder, shifting to third base in 1967. Shannon played in three World Series for the Cardinals and he hit a game-tying two-run homer off Whitey Ford in the Game 1 of the 1964 World Series against the New York Yankees, which St. Louis won 9-5. One of his best years came in 1966 when he batted.288 in 137 games and he was named NL Player of the Month in July. He posted another excellent season in 1968, when he batted, in Game 3 of the 1967 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, Shannon hit a key home run off Gary Bell. In Game 7 of the 1968 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, Shannon also hit the last home run in the original Busch Stadium in 1966 and the first one for the Cardinals in the second Busch Stadium. In 1970, he contracted nephritis, a disease, which ended his playing career. Shannon joined the Cardinals promotional staff in 1971, a later he moved to the teams radio booth. For almost three decades Shannon was paired with Hall of Fame announcer Jack Buck on AM1120 KMOX, following Bucks death in 2002, he was named the teams lead radio voice, teaming with Joel Meyers, Wayne Hagin, and John Rooney
14.
St. Louis Cardinals
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The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. Busch Stadium has been their home ballpark since 2006, with origins as one of the early professional baseball clubs in St. Upon the discontinuation of the AA, St. Louis joined the NL in 1892, at time, they were called the Browns. One of the most successful franchises in history, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships. Their 19 National League pennants rank third in NL history, in addition, St. Louis has won 13 division titles in the East and Central divisions. While still in the AA, St. Louis won four league championships, the Cardinals have won 105 or more games in four different seasons and won 100 or more a total of nine times. Cardinals players have won 20 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards. Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, and Bruce Sutter. In 2016, Forbes valued the Cardinals at $1.6 billion, making them the 7th-most valuable franchise in MLB, their revenue the year was $300 million. Since their purchase in 1995, owner William DeWitt, Jr. s investment group has seen enormous growth from the $147 million purchase price, John Mozeliak is the general manager and Mike Matheny is the manager. Professional baseball began in St. Louis with the inception of the Brown Stockings in the National Association in 1875, the NA folded following that season, and the next season, St. Louis joined the National League as a charter member, finishing in third place at 45-19. George Bradley hurled the first no-hitter in Major League history, the NL expelled St. Louis from the league after 1877 due to a game-fixing scandal and the team went bankrupt. Without a league, they continued play as a barnstorming team through 1881. For the 1882 season, Chris von der Ahe purchased the team, reorganized it, and made it a member of the American Association. 1882 is generally considered to be the first year existence of the St. Louis Cardinals, the next season, St. Louis shortened their name to the Browns. Soon thereafter they became the dominant team in the AA, as manager Charlie Comiskey guided St. Louis to four pennants in a row from 1885 to 1888. Pitcher and outfielder Bob Caruthers led the league in ERA and wins in 1885 and he also led the AA in OBP and OPS in 1886 and finished fourth in batting average in 1886 and fifth in 1887
15.
1993 Philadelphia Phillies season
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The 1993 Philadelphia Phillies season saw the team win the National League East championship. The Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves in the 1993 National League Championship Series in six games, the 1993 Phillies were led by stars Darren Daulton, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, and Curt Schilling. The team was described as shaggy, unkempt, and dirty. The previous year, noting the presence of the clean-cut Dale Murphy, Kruk described his team as 24 morons and their character endeared them to fans, and attendance reached a record high the following season. As a play on the legendary 1927 New York Yankees Murderers Row, to the surprise of their city and the nation, the Phillies powered their way to a 97-65 record and an NL East Division title. Their 97 wins were the most since their back-to-back 101-win seasons in 1976 and 1977 and they had a formidable batting lineup, leading the National League in at-bats, runs scored, hits, doubles, walks, on-base percentage, and total bases. Center fielder Lenny Dykstra batted.305 and led the league in hits, with 194, left fielder Pete Incaviglia hit 24 home runs and drove in 89 runs in only 368 at-bats. Catcher Darren Daulton also hit 24 home runs and drove in 105 runs, steady-hitting right fielder Jim Eisenreich led the team with a.318 batting average and struck out only 36 times in 362 at-bats. First baseman John Kruk batted.316 and hit 14 home runs with 85 RBI, the Phillies also had one of the best pitching staffs in the Major Leagues that year, leading their league in complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts. Each of their five starting pitchers had at least one shutout during the regular season, Curt Schilling and Tommy Greene each won 16 games, Ben Rivera won 13, and Danny Jackson and Terry Mulholland won 12. Closer Mitch Williams walked 44 batters in 62.0 innings, during the season there were a multitude of memorable moments. In San Diego, a few later, left-fielder Milt Thompson saved a game by making a leaping catch on a potential grand slam by the Padres catcher Bob Geren. Terry Mulholland hurled the first shutout in Mile High Stadium, as the Phils swept the expansion Colorado Rockies in late May. On July 2, the Phils and Padres played a doubleheader that lasted almost 12 hours with rain delays, five days later, Lenny Dykstra ended a 7-6, 20-inning game against the Dodgers at Veterans Stadium with a ground-rule double. A three-game sweep of the St. However, a September slip caused some columnists in the city to compare the club to the infamous 1964 team. They lost five of seven games at home to the Cubs and Astros, all that was laid to rest on September 28, when the Phils clinched the NL East with a 10-7 win over in-state rival Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium. Mariano Duncan hit a grand slam to lead a comeback, and little-used Donn Pall closed out the game, outfielder Wes Chamberlain ended all the references to 1964, screaming, Its 1993, baby. Here is Phillies announcer Harry Kalass call of the out of the Division-clinching game against Pittsburgh, Ground ball
16.
Kansas City Royals
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The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball as a team of the American League Central division. The team was founded as a franchise in 1969, and has participated in four World Series, winning in 1985 and 2015. The name Royals originates from the American Royal, a show, horse show, rodeo. Entering the American League in 1969 along with the Seattle Pilots, since April 10,1973, the Royals have played at Kauffman Stadium, formerly known as Royals Stadium. The team remained competitive throughout the early 1990s, but then had one winning season from 1995 to 2012. For 28 consecutive seasons, the Royals did not qualify to play in the Major League Baseball postseason, the team broke this streak in 2014 by securing the franchises first wild card berth and advancing to the World Series. The Royals followed this up by winning the teams first Central Division title in 2015, the Royals began play in 1969 in Kansas City, Missouri. In their inaugural game, on April 8,1969, the Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 4–3 in 12 innings, in 1971, the Royals had their first winning season, with manager Bob Lemon leading them to a second-place finish. In 1973, under manager Jack McKeon, the Royals adopted their iconic powder blue road uniforms, the 1973 All-Star Game was hosted at Royals Stadium, with Otis and Mayberry in the AL starting lineup. The event was held at Municipal Stadium in 1960, when the Athletics were based in Kansas City. However, the Royals lost to the New York Yankees in three straight American League Championship Series encounters, after the Royals finished in second place in 1979, Herzog was fired and replaced by Jim Frey. Under Frey, the Royals rebounded in 1980 and advanced to the ALCS, the Royals vanquished the Yankees in a three-game sweep punctuated by a George Brett home run off of Yankees star relief pitcher Goose Gossage. After reaching their first World Series, the Royals fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in six games, Game 6 was also significant because it remains the most-watched game in World Series history with a television audience of 54.9 million viewers. In July 1983, while the Royals were headed for a second-place finish behind the Chicago White Sox another chapter in the rivalry with the New York Yankees occurred. After Yankee Manager Billy Martin came out of the dugout to talk to home plate umpire Tim McClelland, McClelland, McClelland then pointed to Brett in the dugout and gave the out sign, disallowing the home run. Brett stormed out of the dugout, angry and hysterical, the homer was later reinstated by AL President Lee MacPhail, and the Royals won the game after it was resumed several weeks later. The 1983 season was notable for some transitional changes in the Royals organization
17.
Lee Smith (baseball)
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Lee Arthur Smith is a retired American right-handed baseball pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball for eight teams. Pitching primarily for the Chicago Cubs, with whom he spent his first eight seasons, a native of Jamestown in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana, Smith was scouted by Buck ONeil and drafted by the Cubs in the 1975 Major League Baseball Draft. Smith was a figure on the pitchers mound at 6 feet,6 inches and 265 pounds with a 95-mile per hour fastball. After the end of his league career, Smith spent time working as a pitching instructor at the minor-league level with the San Francisco Giants. He then served as the coach for the South Africa national baseball team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and 2009 World Baseball Classic. Lee currently continues his job as a roving pitching instructor for the Giants. Lee Smith was born in Jamestown, Louisiana, and raised in the town of Castor in Bienville Parish. Buck ONeil claimed credit for having scouted him, at age 17, partly on ONeils recommendation, Smith was drafted in the second round as the 28th overall pick by the Chicago Cubs in the 1975 draft. Smith began his career as a starting pitcher. In 1978 with the Class AA minor league Midland Cubs, Smith struggled as a starter with an ERA near 6.00, Smith resisted the move and briefly tried college basketball at Northwestern State University. At the behest of former Cubs outfielder Billy Williams, Smith returned to Midland as a reliever for the 1979 season, with the major league Chicago Cubs struggling to a last-place finish, Smith came into the big leagues as a September call-up that season. Smith pitched one inning, giving up no hits, striking out one and he finished the season for the last-place Cubs and was invited back to the majors for 1981. He was used mostly as a relief pitcher. A streak of pitching was interrupted by the 1981 Major League Baseball strike. The Cubs closer for 1981, Dick Tidrow, had a 3–10 season with a 5.06 ERA, Smith pitched well and even started five games from mid-June to early July. In what would be the last start of his career, Smith picked up his first major league hit, Smith managed only two singles for the rest of his career. He saved 17 games during that season and performed as the closer for the Cubs. In 1983, Smith had his best season in the majors up to that point, by May 6, he had pitched in ten games without allowing any runs while allowing only three hits and striking out 12 batters
18.
300 save club
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In Major League Baseball, the 300 save club is the group of pitchers who have recorded 300 or more regular-season saves in their careers. The statistic was created by Jerome Holtzman in 1959 to measure the effectiveness of relief pitchers and was adopted as a statistic by MLB in 1969. The save has been measured for past pitchers where applicable. Hoyt Wilhelm retired in 1972 and recorded just 31 saves from 1969 onwards, for example, mariano Rivera holds the MLB save record with 652. Only Rivera and Trevor Hoffman have exceeded 500 or 600 saves, Rivera, Hoffman, Lee Smith, Francisco Rodríguez, John Franco, and Billy Wagner are the only pitchers to have recorded 400 or more saves. Rollie Fingers was the first player to record 300 saves, reaching the mark on April 21,1982, huston Street is the most recent, achieving his 300th on July 22,2015. In total,27 players have recorded 300 or more saves in their career. Only five relievers – Dennis Eckersley, Fingers, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter, Street, Rodríguez, Joe Nathan and Jonathan Papelbon are the only members of the 300 save club who are still active players. Of them, Rodríguez is the leader in saves with 431. Stats updated as of April 4,2017, List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders List of Major League Baseball career games finished leaders General Specific
19.
Stolen base
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In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which he is not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out at the next base, a stolen base most often occurs when a baserunner advances to the next base while the pitcher is pitching the ball to home plate. Successful base stealers are not only fast but have good baserunning instincts, ned Cuthbert, playing for the Philadelphia Keystones in either 1863 or 1865, was the first player to steal a base in a baseball game, although the term stolen base was not used until 1870. For a time in the 19th century, stolen bases were credited when a baserunner reached an extra base on a hit from another player. For example, if a runner on first base reached third base on a single, in 1887, Hugh Nicol set a still-standing Major League record with 138 stolen bases, many of which would not have counted under modern rules. Modern steal rules were implemented in 1898. Base stealing was popular in the early decades, with speedsters such as Ty Cobb. Wills record was broken in turn by Lou Brock in 1974, base stealing is an important characteristic of the small ball managing style. Such managers emphasize doing the things to advance runners and score runs, often relying on pitching. The Los Angeles Dodgers of the 1960s, led by pitcher Sandy Koufax, the antithesis of this is reliance on power hitting, exemplified by the Baltimore Orioles of the 1970s, which aspired to score most of its runs via home runs. Often the small ball model is associated with the National League, however, some successful recent American League teams, including the 2002 Anaheim Angels, the 2001 Seattle Mariners and the 2005 Chicago White Sox have excelled at small ball. The Kansas City Royals have embodied this style recently, leading the league in stolen bases but finishing last in home runs in 2013 and 2014. Successful teams often combine both styles, with a runner or two complementing hitters with power, such as the 2005 White Sox, who despite playing small ball, still hit 200 home runs. Baseballs Rule 8 specifies the pitching procedure in detail, a runner intending to steal on the pitcher breaks for the next base the moment the pitcher commits to pitch to home plate. The pitcher cannot abort the pitch and try to put the runner out, if the runner breaks too soon, the pitcher may throw to a base rather than pitch, and the runner is usually picked off by being tagged out between the bases. Past this moment, any delay in the runners break makes it likely that the catcher, after receiving the pitch. Before the pitch, the runner takes a lead-off, walking several steps away from the base as a start toward the next base. Even a runner who does not intend to steal takes a lead of a few more steps
20.
New York Yankees
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The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
21.
Ozzie Smith
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Osborne Earl Ozzie Smith is an American former baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals from 1978 to 1996. A 15-time All-Star, he accumulated 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases during his career and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2002. He was also elected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in the class of 2014. Smith was born in Mobile, Alabama, but his family moved to Watts, Los Angeles, drafted as an amateur player by the Padres, Smith made his major league debut in 1978. He quickly established himself as a fielder, and later became known for performing backflips on special occasions while taking his position at the beginning of a game. Smith won his first Gold Glove Award in 1980, and made his first All-Star Game appearance in 1981, when conflict with Padres ownership developed, he was traded to the Cardinals for shortstop Garry Templeton in 1982. Upon joining the Cardinals, Smith helped the team win the 1982 World Series, three years later, his game-winning home run during Game 5 of the 1985 National League Championship Series prompted broadcaster Jack Bucks Go crazy, folks. Despite a rotator cuff injury during the 1985 season, Smith posted career highs in multiple categories in 1987. Smith continued to earn Gold Gloves and All-Star appearances on a basis until 1993. During 1995 season, Smith had shoulder surgery and was out nearly three months, after tension with his new manager Tony La Russa developed in 1996, Smith retired at seasons end, and his uniform number was subsequently retired by the Cardinals. Smith also served as host of the television show This Week in Baseball from 1997 to 1998, Smith was born in Mobile, Alabama, the second of Clovi and Marvella Smiths six children. While the family lived in Mobile, his father worked as a sandblaster at Brookley Air Force Base, when Smith was six his family moved to the Watts section of Los Angeles. His father became a truck driver for Safeway stores, while his mother became an aide at a nursing home. His mother was a part of his life who stressed the importance of education. Smith played a variety of sports in his youth, but considered baseball to be his favorite, when not at the local YMCA or playing sports, Smith sometimes went with friends to the neighborhood lumberyard, springboarding off inner tubes and doing flips into sawdust piles. In 1965, at age ten, he endured the Watts Riots with his family, recalling that, while Smith was attending junior high school, his parents divorced. Continuing to pursue his interest in baseball, he would ride the bus for nearly an hour to reach Dodger Stadium, upon becoming a student at Locke High School, Smith played on the basketball and baseball teams. Smith was a teammate of future National Basketball Association player Marques Johnson on the team
22.
Todd Zeile
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Todd Edward Zeile is a former professional baseball player. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1989 to 2004, only four players in Major League Baseball history have played for more teams. Zeile broke into the majors in 1989 as a catcher and the Cardinals most anticipated prospect of the year, Zeile spent most of the 1990s as a third baseman. He was traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Florida Marlins along with Mike Piazza in 1998 for five players, in 1999, Zeile was part of a historic Rangers team. Along with Gregg Zaun and Jeff Zimmerman, he was one of three players on the team whose last names began with Z, not since the 1916 Chicago Cubs, with Heinie Zimmerman, Dutch Zwilling, and Rollie Zeider, had this occurred. Zeile ended the decade having committed more errors than any player during the 1990s. In 2000, then signed a contract with the New York Mets, where he rejoined Piazza, and moved to first base for the Mets in 2000, in 2002, he was traded to the Rockies, where he moved back to third base. He led all NL third basemen in errors in 2002, with 21, after one season with Colorado, Zeile became a free agent again and signed with the Yankees in 2003. He was released mid-August and was signed by Montreal three days later, having decided 2004 would be his last season, Zeile returned to the New York Mets. I have a pretty good record to judge that. Zeile retired following the 2004 season, having planned his retirement in advance, Mets manager Art Howe let Zeile once again start as a catcher, his original position, on September 18,2004. It was Zeiles first appearance there in 14 years and it was the second-longest span ever between appearances at the position. Gabby Street caught a game in 1931 after last having caught in 1912, Zeiles span is now the third longest, since Craig Biggio started the final game of his career at catcher after a 16-year span. Zeile got one start as a catcher two weeks later on October 3,2004 in the seasons final game, as the Mets regular catcher, Jason Phillipss foot hurt him. In the 6th inning, in his final at-bat as a Major Leaguer, in the 8th inning, in his final play as a major leaguer, Ryan Church popped up to him, as a catcher, in foul territory. It was also John Francos last out made as a Mets pitcher, the Mets won the game, 8-1. Both games Zeile caught in his final season were started by Tom Glavine. He also pitched an inning with the Mets when they didnt have any pitchers left and it was his second appearance as a pitcher, having also appeared in a game for the Rockies in 2002
