1.
2012 Major League Baseball season
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The 2012 Major League Baseball season began on March 28 with the first of a two-game series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The new format was finalized for the 2012 season on March 2,2012, the regular season ended on Wednesday, October 3. The entire master schedule was released on September 14,2011, the Major League Baseball postseason was expanded to include a second wild card team in each league beginning in the 2012 season. The season marked the last for the Houston Astros as a member of the National League, the Civil Rights Game was held on August 18 at Turner Field, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the host Atlanta Braves, 6–2. At the end of the 2011 season, the teams made replacements to their managers. ** Melky Cabrera of the San Francisco Giants was ineligible to win the title, at his request. He finished the season with a.346 average, adam Dunn, Tied the Major League record for most opening-day home runs by hitting his eighth against the Texas Rangers on April 6. He tied the record held by Frank Robinson and Ken Griffey, Set the Major League record to strikeout at least once in each of his teams first 15 games of a season, by striking out in the first inning against the Seattle Mariners on April 22. He broke the record that was held by Howie Goss, who struck out in each of Houstons first 14 games in 1963, Dunn continued to 32 games before not striking out May 11 against the Kansas City Royals. Recorded his 1000th career RBI in the inning on August 13 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He became the 273rd player to reach this mark, Hit his 400th career home run against the Kansas City Royals on August 18. He became the 50th player to reach this mark, José Reyes, Recorded his 100th career triple in the ninth inning against the Cincinnati Reds on April 8. He became the 162nd player to reach this mark, alex Rodriguez, Tied Ken Griffey, Jr. for fifth place on the career home run list with his 630th home run on April 13. Then one week later on April 20, Rodriguez hit his 631st home run to pass Griffey for fifth place on the home run list. Tied Lou Gehrig for most career grand slams with his 23rd against the Atlanta Braves on June 12, adrián Beltré, Scored his 1000th career run in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins on April 14. He became the 314th player to reach this mark, todd Helton, Recorded his 350th career home run in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 21. He became the 85th player to reach this mark, rafael Furcal, Scored his 1000th career run in the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs on April 24. He became the 315th player to reach this mark, paul Konerko, Hit his 400th career home run against the Oakland Athletics on April 25
2.
American League
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The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League, is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a league based in the Great Lakes states. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season,25 years after the formation of the National League. At the end of season, the American League champion plays in the World Series against the National League champion. Through 2016, American League teams have won 64 of the 112 World Series played since 1903, the 2016 American League champions are the Cleveland Indians. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League titles, the most in the history, followed by the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics. Originally a minor league known as the Western League, the American League later developed into a major league after the American Association disbanded, in its early history, the Western League struggled until 1894, when Ban Johnson became the president of the league. Johnson led the Western League into major league status and soon became the president of the newly renamed American League, babe Ruth, noted as one of the most prolific hitters in Major League Baseball history, spent the majority of his career in the American League. The American League has one notable difference versus the National League, in 1902, the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis and were renamed the St. Louis Browns. In 1902, The Cleveland Bluebirds were also renamed the Cleveland Broncos, in 1903, the Broncos were renamed the Cleveland Naps. In 1915, the Naps were renamed the Cleveland Indians, in 1903, the Baltimore Orioles moved to New York and were renamed the New York Highlanders. In 1913, the Highlanders were renamed the New York Yankees, in 1904, the Chicago White Stockings were renamed the Chicago White Sox. In 1908, the Boston Americans were renamed the Boston Red Sox, in 1954, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and were renamed as the Baltimore Orioles. In 1955, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City and were renamed as the Kansas City Athletics, in 1961, the league expanded and added two teams as the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators, expanding the league to 10 teams. The original Senators team moved to Minneapolis/St, Paul in 1961 and were renamed as the Minnesota Twins. The Angels team name changed to the California Angels in 1966, then to the Anaheim Angels in 1997, the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots were added to the American League, expanding the league to 12 teams. In 1970, the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and were renamed the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1972, the Washington Senators relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and were renamed the Texas Rangers. In 1977, the league expanded to fourteen teams, when the Seattle Mariners, in 1998, the Tampa Bay Rays was added to the American League and at the same time, the Milwaukee Brewers were switched to the National League, leaving the American League with 14 teams
3.
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
4.
Angel Stadium
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Angel Stadium of Anaheim, originally known as Anaheim Stadium and later Edison International Field of Anaheim, is a modern-style ballpark located in Anaheim, California. The stadium is referred to by its unofficial nickname The Big A. It is the fourth-oldest active Major League Baseball stadium, behind Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and it hosted the 1967,1989, and 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Games. Located near the boundary of the parking lot is the landmark Big A sign and electronic marquee. The halo located near the top of the 230 tall, 210-ton sign is illuminated following games in which the Angels win, which gives rise to the fan expression, Light up the Halo. The station provides convenient access to the stadium, the nearby Honda Center, and Disneyland from various communities along the route, which links San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, and San Diego. The Anaheim Resort Transit stops at the center along with Orange County Transportation Authority buses. and 2 to 3 AMA Supercross Championship races a year, the stadium also houses the studios and offices of the Angels owned and operated flagship radio station, KLAA. Angel Stadium has been the home of the Angels since their move from Los Angeles, on August 31,1964, ground was broken for Anaheim Stadium and in 1966, the then-California Angels moved into their new home after having spent four seasons renting Dodger Stadium from the Dodgers. The stadium was built on a parcel of about 160 acres of land originally used for agricultural purposes by the Allec, Russell. Consistent with many sports stadiums built in the 1960s, it is located in a suburban area. The field dimensions were derived from a study conducted by the Angels. Based on the air density at normal times, the Angels tried to formulate dimensions that were fairly balanced between pitcher, hitter and average weather conditions. The Angels tinkered with those dimensions several times, expanding or contracting parts of the outfield by a few here and there. One of the no-hitters, on June 1,1975, was his fourth, the Coliseum seated almost 100,000 people, and the Rams had trouble filling it even in their best years. Rosenbloom brokered a deal by which the Rams would move from Los Angeles to an expanded Anaheim Stadium, to add more seats for football games, the mezzanine and upper decks were extended completely around the playing field, resulting in a roughly trapezoidal, completely enclosed stadium. An elevated bank of bleachers was built in right field, and temporary seats were placed underneath, another bank of bleachers was built in left field. As a result, the view of the mountains and State Highway 57 was lost. A black and white scoreboard/instant replay video board was installed above the newly constructed upper deck seats in left field, a triangular metal spire was added to the top of the Jumbotron to evoke the original emplacement of the Big A
5.
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
6.
Anaheim, California
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Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 336,265, making it the most populous city in Orange County, Anaheim remained largely a rural community until Disneyland opened in the city in 1955. This led to the construction of hotels and motels around the area. The city also developed into a center, producing electronics, aircraft parts. Anaheims city limits extend from Cypress in the west to the Riverside County line in the east and encompass a diverse collection of neighborhoods, Anaheim Hills is a master-planned community located in the citys eastern stretches that is home to many of the citys affluent. Downtown Anaheim has three historic districts, the largest of which is the Anaheim Colony. The Anaheim Resort, a district, includes Disneyland, Disney California Adventure. The Platinum Triangle, a redevelopment district surrounding Angel Stadium, is planned to be populated with mixed-use streets. Finally, Anaheim Canyon is a district north of California State Route 91. Anaheims name is a blend of Ana, after the nearby Santa Ana River, and heim, the city of Anaheim was founded in 1857 by 50 German-Americans who were residents of San Francisco and whose families had originated in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Franconia in Bavaria. For $750 a share, the formed the Anaheim Vineyard Company. Their new community was named Annaheim, meaning home by the Santa Anna River in German, the name later was altered to Anaheim. To the Spanish-speaking neighbors, the settlement was known as Campo Alemán, although grape and wine-making was their primary objective, the majority of the 50 settlers were mechanics, carpenters and craftsmen with no experience in wine-making. The community set aside 40 acres for a center and a school was the first building erected there. The first home was built in 1857, the Anaheim Gazette newspaper was established in 1870, for 25 years, the area was the largest wine producer in California. However, in 1884, a disease infected the grape vines, other crops – walnuts, lemons and oranges – soon filled the void. Fruits and vegetables had become viable cash crops when the Los Angeles – Orange County region was connected to the railroad network in 1887. The famous Polish actress Helena Modjeska settled in Anaheim with her husband and various friends, among them Henryk Sienkiewicz, Julian Sypniewski, while living in Anaheim, Helena Modjeska became good friends with Clementine Langenberger, the second wife of August Langenberger
7.
Arte Moreno
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Arturo Arte Moreno is an American businessman. On May 15,2003, he became the first Mexican-American to own a sports team in the United States when he purchased the Anaheim Angels baseball team from the Walt Disney Company. Moreno was born to a Mexican-American family in Tucson, Arizona and his father ran a small print shop, his grandfather owned Tucsons first Spanish-language newspaper. In 1965, graduated high school and in 1966, he was drafted into the United States Army. After returning to life in 1968, he enrolled at the University of Arizona where he graduated in 1973 with a degree in marketing. After school, he was hired to work at the Eller Outdoor advertising company. He traveled across the country for the seven years, relocating several times and in 1984, he moved back to Arizona, settling in Phoenix. In 1996, Moreno took Outdoor Systems public, the companys stock soared, and in 1998 Moreno sold the company to Infinity Broadcasting for $8 billion. With baseball being Morenos favorite pastime, he applied his business acumen in that arena, as well, the group owned the team until 1992, and the venture proved to be a resounding financial success. By 2001, Moreno was hungry to own a Major League Baseball team and he attempted to buy controlling interest in his homestates Arizona Diamondbacks, however no deal could be reached. He nonetheless remained determined to own a Major League team, in April 2003, it was announced that Moreno had reached a deal with The Walt Disney Company to purchase the team for $180 million. On May 15,2003, MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced that the sale of the Angels to Moreno had been approved, one of the first people to congratulate Moreno after the news was Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo, a personal friend who declared it a good opportunity for Moreno. All of these moves proved popular with fans. In the first year of his ownership, the Angels drew more than three million fans,750,000 more than their championship season, but the move outraged Anaheim city officials, who responded by suing the team. It also angered a substantial segment of the Angels fan base in Orange County, eventually, the team won the lawsuit filed by the city. Whatever displeasure fans felt over the change has not translated into diminished support for the team. Aside from the controversy, Morenos first few seasons as owner of the Angels have been largely successful. The ten-year deal significantly increased the television revenue
8.
Mike Scioscia
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Michael Lorri Scioscia is an American former Major League Baseball catcher and current manager for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. As a player, Scioscia made his league debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1980. He was selected to two All-Star Games and won two World Series over the course of his 13-year MLB career, which was spent entirely with the Dodgers. He was signed by the San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers late in his career, as a manager, Scioscia led the Angels to their only-to-date World Series championship in 2002. He is the Angels all-time managerial leader in wins, games managed, Scioscia was honored with the official American League Manager of the Year Award in 2002 and 2009. On May 8,2011 Scioscia became the 56th manager to win 1,000 or more games and just the 23rd to have all 1,000 or more victories with a single team. Mike Scioscia was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1st round of the 1976 amateur draft, debuting for the Dodgers in 1980 and went on to play 12 years for the team. Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda helped lobby Scioscia to sign with the Dodgers after the team drafted him out of Springfield High School, Scioscia immediately made himself invaluable to the Dodgers by making the effort to learn Spanish in order to better communicate with rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. When I made Mike the No.1 catcher, the writers came to me and said, I made him the No.1 catcher because Im Italian. Scioscia went to the San Diego Padres in 1993, but suffered a rotator cuff injury during spring training that year. He closed out his career with the Texas Rangers in 1994 after an attempt to come back from the injury. Exclusively a catcher, the 6-foot, 2-inch,230 pound Scioscia was primarily known for his defense, former Dodgers vice president Al Campanis once called Mike Scioscia the best plate-blocking catcher he had seen in his 46-year baseball career. In one collision with St. Louis Cardinals slugger Jack Clark in July,1985, Scioscia was knocked unconscious, Scioscia, however, has claimed he had an even harder plate collision the following season. The one collision that absolutely I got hit harder than anybody else was Chili Davis in 1986 when he was with the Giants, Chili plays hard, hes 63, looks like Apollo Creed, got a nice lean. That was the hardest Ive been hit, including my years of playing football and it was a heck of a collision…He was out that time. Scioscias technique for blocking the plate and making a tag varied slightly from the traditional manner employed by most catchers. When applying the tag, most catchers hold the baseball in their bare hand, Scioscia preferred to hold the ball in his catchers mitt without making use of his bare hand. Scioscia used the same catchers mitt for most of his playing career, indeed, Scioscia was noted for his durability
9.
Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket
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The channels broadcast regional coverage of professional and collegiate sports events in California, focusing primarily on professional sports teams based in the Greater Los Angeles area. Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket maintain general offices and studios based at the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles. Unlike many of the regional networks in operation at the time of Prime Tickets launch. The network originally broadcast for seven hours a day, each evening from 5,00 p. m. to 12,00 a. m. The first contract with Prime Ticket was negotiated and signed by Tony Acone, who was appointed as president of the channel, and Bob Kerstein, chief financial officer of Falcon Cable TV. Leslie Watson, a public accountant employed by the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand. Its original general offices were located in an office building located across the street from the Great Western Forum in Inglewood. Prime Ticket became one of the regional sports networks in the United States. The network was founded at the height of the Lakers 1980s championship run, in late 1988, Daniels partnered with Tele-Communications Inc. to form a new group of regional sports networks, known as the Prime Sports Network. In 1990, Prime Ticket acquired the television rights to the California Angels. The channel carried the Clippers NBA games during the 1990-91 season, in August 1994, Buss and Daniels sold Prime Ticket to the Prime Networks parent company, Liberty Media, which subsequently rechristened the channel Prime Sports West. On November 1,1996, the Fox/Liberty joint venture relaunched the Prime Network affiliates as part of the new Fox Sports Net, as a result, the channel was officially rebranded as Fox Sports West. The launch of Fox Sports West 2 allowed Fox Sports West to focus its major sports coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings. In 2001, Fox Sports West and West 2 relocated their offices and studios from the Century City section of Los Angeles to Downtown, in an office building two blocks east of the Staples Center. During this time, a studio for the channels game telecasts opened at the exterior of the Staples Center. In 2004, the two channels respectively rebranded under the shortened names FSN West and FSN West 2, as part of Fox Sports de-emphasis of the Fox Sports Net brand across its regional networks. On April 3,2006, FSN West 2 rebranded as FSN Prime Ticket, the network adopted a new philosophy to concentrate more on local originally-produced content and less on supplemental national programming provided by Fox Sports Net. FSN West reverted to the Fox Sports West moniker in 2008, in the fall of 2009, just as rival ESPN opened its new Los Angeles-based broadcast center directly across the street at the L. A
10.
KCOP-TV
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KCOP-TV, channel 13, is a MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated television station located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The station is owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, the two stations share studio facilities at the Fox Television Center in West Los Angeles, KCOPs transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson. Channel 13 first signed on the air on September 17,1948 as KMTR-TV and then later the letters changed into KLAC-TV. It was originally co-owned with local radio station KMTR, operating as an independent station early on, it began running some programming from the DuMont Television Network in 1949 after KTLA disaffiliated from the network after a one-year tenure. One of KLAC-TVs earlier stars was veteran actress Betty White, who starred in Al Jarviss Make-Believe Ballroom from 1949 to 1952, and then her own sitcom, Life with Elizabeth from 1952 to 1956. Television personality Regis Philbin and actor/director Leonard Nimoy once worked behind the scenes at channel 13, the KMTR call letters are currently used by NBC affiliate in Eugene, Oregon. That station is unrelated to KCOP-TV, on December 23,1953, the Copley Press purchased KLAC-TV and changed its call letters to the current KCOP. A Bing Crosby-led group purchased the station shortly thereafter, in 1960, the NAFI Corporation, which would later merge with Chris-Craft Boats to become Chris-Craft Industries, bought channel 13. NAFI/Chris-Craft would be channel 13s longest-tenured owner, running it for over 40 years, for most of its first 46 years on the air, channel 13 was a typical general entertainment independent station. It was usually the third or fourth highest-rated independent in Southern California, the station carried Operation Prime Time programming at least in 1978. During the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the Los Angeles home of Star Trek, The Next Generation, The Arsenio Hall Show, KCOP was the original Los Angeles home of the syndicated versions of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Both of which moved to KCBS-TV in 1989, and later to KABC-TV in 1992, the station tried airing movies six nights a week in 1992, however, it fared poorly. In 1993, KCOP added more syndicated programs. Along with Chris-Crafts other stations, KCOP carried the Prime Time Entertainment Network programming service from 1993 to 1995, KCOP carried Spelling Premiere Network at its launch in August 1994 on Thursday nights. In 1994, Chris-Craft and its subsidiary, United Television. KCOP became the networks Los Angeles station, which debuted on January 16,1995, at the networks launch, KCOP served as UPNs West Coast flagship station. In 2000, Viacom bought Chris-Crafts 50% ownership interest in UPN, upon being sold to Fox, the Fox Kids weekday block moved to KCOP in the mid-afternoons, only for it to be discontinued nationwide in January 2002. Soon after, the station ran an hour-long morning cartoon block, Channel 13 was the last local television station to air cartoons on weekdays, like the other local stations, the cartoons were replaced with informercials
11.
MyNetworkTV
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Despite concerns about UPNs future that came up after Fox purchased the Chris-Craft stations, UPN signed three-year affiliation renewals with the networks Fox-owned affiliates in 2003. The CWs initial affiliation agreements did not include any of the UPN stations owned by Fox Television Stations. In fact, as part of an affiliation deal with The WBs part-owner, Tribune Broadcasting. In response to the announcement, Fox promptly removed all references from logos and promotional materials on its UPN affiliates. However, in all three cases, the WB affiliate was the station, CW executives were on record as preferring the strongest WB. Fox chose the route, and announced the launch of MyNetworkTV on February 22,2006, less than a month after CBS. MyNetworkTV began operations on September 5,2006, with the premieres of its two initial series, some affiliates unofficially began branding their stations on September 4,2006 – Labor Day – with supplied preview specials. Initially, programming aired Monday through Saturdays from 8,00 to 10,00 p. m, with the services switch to an all-rerun schedule in 2009, this effectively allows stations to pre-empt repeat programming at will to fit in sporting events without much consequence. During the telenovela era, affiliates often scheduled contractual make goods of the daily schedule between 3,00 and 6,00 a. m. local time. Not only are these light viewing hours, but they air after Nielsen processes its preliminary morning network ratings. WPWR-TV in Gary, Indiana/Chicago moved MyNetworkTV to an after primetime 10,00 p. m. -midnight timeslot on September 1,2016, and became the CW affiliate for Chicago, replacing WGN-TV. KRON-TV/San Francisco airs MyNetworkTV programming on a delay from 9,00 to 11,00 p. m. which is bookended by local evening newscasts. KPDX/Portland, Oregon airs MyNetworkTV programs from 10, 00PM to 12,00 AM, newscast that is produced by NBC-affiliated sister station KCRA-TV. KQCA then presented MyNetworkTV programming in pattern, with the 7,00 PM hour being filled by syndicated reruns until the 2014–15 television season. At that point KQCA started filling the 8,00 to 10,00 PM block with syndicated comedies, KQCA airs MyNetworkTV programming in late night. During its time as a MyNetworkTV affiliate, KJZZ-TV/Salt Lake City, the service had originally aired from 11,00 PM to 1,00 AM. at the networks launch. St. George independent station KCSG replaced KJZZ as Utahs MyNetworkTV affiliate on August 18,2008. KUSG, a former KUTV satellite, added MyNetworkTV to its schedule on September 20,2010, however, kEVU-CD/Eugene, Oregon airs the MyNetworkTV schedule from 9,00 to 11,00 PM Pacific Time, following a two-hour block of syndicated talk shows
12.
Mark Gubicza
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He currently does color commentary for Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim games on Fox Sports. Gubicza was born August 14,1962 in Philadelphia and he attended the William Penn Charter School. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 2nd round of the 1981 Amateur Draft, the 34th overall pick. He began his baseball career at age 18 with the Royals Gold in the Gulf Coast League. He played for Fort Myers in the Florida State Class A League in 1982, in 1983, he was assigned to the Jacksonville Suns, the Royals AA team in the Southern League, managed by Gene Lamont. Gubicza was 14-12 with a 2.72 ERA, and 146 strikeouts in 196 innings and he made his major league debut on April 6,1984 against the Cleveland Indians at Royals Stadium. He pitched 6 innings, gave up 5 hits,1 run, Gubicza was a member of Kansas Citys 1984 American League Western Division winning team and as well as their 1985 World Series winning team. However, he didnt get a chance to pitch in the 1985 World Series as the Royals decided to go with a starting rotation. He was elected to American League All-Star Teams in 1988 and 1989.70 ERA and he led the American League in games started in 1989 and 1995. Gubicza has served as an MLB Analyst on Dodgers and Angels pre-game and post-game shows for Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket, in 2007, he was paired with José Mota on fifty Angels telecasts on Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket and KCOP. He also co-hosts Angels in the Infield with Bill Macdonald, the Angels announced that he will work roughly 75 games on television during the 2008 season. Gubizca was slated to work with Rory Markas on Angels broadcasts in 2010 before Markass sudden death on January 4,2010, on March 3,2010, Victor Rojas was named as Markas replacement. He appeared in 30 for 30, You Dont Know Bo, The Legend of Bo Jackson, in 2005 and 2006, Gubicza was the Head Baseball Coach at Chaminade High School in West Hills, California. One of the students he coached was Kevin Pillar, now the center fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays, Mark Gubiczas career statistics at Baseball-Reference. com Honoring Mark Gubicza at Royals Review
13.
KLAA (AM)
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KLAA is a sports radio station licensed to the city of Orange, California, and broadcasting at 830 AM. It is owned by LAA1, LLC, composed of the owners of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team, studios for KLAA are located on the grounds of Angel Stadium of Anaheim, with the transmitter in Chino, California. 830 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency, on which WCCO in Minneapolis, Minnesota is the dominant Class A station, as of 2014, President Dennis Kuhl carries out the duties of the General Manager. 830 AM first came on air on January 9,1986 as KSRT, the station was directional day and night, with day power of 2,500 watts and 1,000 watts night. Former National Football League placekicker Danny Villanueva was co-owner and general manager, the transmitter site was at Oak Flat in the Santa Ana Mountains between Sierra Peak and Santiago Peak. While mountain tops are good for FM transmission, AM stations need low, the poor ground conductivity yielded a poor signal for KSRT. In 1991, the station was sold to Childrens Radio Network, the downfall of Radio AAHS came when the Walt Disney Company established a competitor, Radio Disney. After the sign-off of Radio AAHS in January 1998, the parent company, Childrens Broadcasting Corporation, KPLS and the other nine CBC-owned and operated Radio AAHS stations flipped to Beat Radio, which broadcast electronic dance music 12 hours a day. KPLS was sold in late October 1998 to Catholic Family Radio, during this period, the station was owned by John Lynch, father of the veteran National Football League cornerback of the same name. Lynch was former CEO of Noble Broadcasting of San Diego, in 2000 the station was granted a power increase by the FCC. A new transmitter site was built east of Orange County in Chino, KPLS programming foundered and it transitioned to a conservative talk station as HotTalk 830 – LAs Conservative Voice which featured Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage. KPLS had close ties to the Orange County community and was the station of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team. In 2003, the station was sold to Radiovisa Corp. for $38 million and it was the Angels flagship station in that language. Its slogan was ¡Así Se Habla, the station sold again in February 2006 for $44 million, this time to LAA1, LLC headed by Angels Baseball owner Arte Moreno, which changed the call letters to KLAA. The station added English-language programs in the summer of 2006 and gradually phased out Spanish-language shows except for sporting events. The general talk format lasted from fall of 2007 to April 4,2010, talk show hosts included Rusty Humphries, Glenn Beck, Dr. Roy Masters and Michael Savage. The brokered shows included Ridin Dirty, ROEX Health Show, and The American Advisor, today, KSRT is a Spanish-language station in Cloverdale, California and KMXE is a classic rock station near Billings, Montana. In 2006–07, it assumed the broadcast rights for the Anaheim Ducks and that team went on to win the Stanley Cup in June 2007
14.
KSPN (AM)
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KSPN-AM is a sports radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving the Greater Los Angeles Area. The station is owned by The Walt Disney Company and operated through ESPN Radio, the KSPN broadcast license is held by ABC Radio Los Angeles Assets, LLC. KSPN is licensed by the U. S. Federal Communications Commission to broadcast in the HD format, 710-AM began its life as KRLO on February 19,1927, broadcasting from Beverly Hills. It was broadcasting at 1170 AM, and didnt switch to 710 until it was sold to new owners in November 1929 and it took its well-known call letters of KMPC in March 1930 and kept those for nearly 70 years. KMPC soon became Southern Californias destination for sports programming, as it carried Pacific Coast League baseball, Los Angeles Rams football, legendary singer and actor Gene Autry bought KMPC in 1952, making it the centerpiece of his broadcasting company, Golden West Broadcasters. During 1958 and 1959, it was also the station for the Los Angeles Dodgers radio network. In 1961, it became the flagship of the new Los Angeles Angels, throughout the 1950s and most of the 1960s, KMPC played middle of the road music, best described as a combination of older standards and soft rock. Dick Whittinghill, Geoff Edwards, Wink Martindale, Gary Owens, Bob Arbogast, KMPC later adopted a standards format which featured big band music extensively. During this time, the legendary Robert W. Morgan began a stint as morning host, and KMPC aired a daily sports-talk show hosted by Scott St. James. In the early 1980s, KMPC changed to talk radio and fired its DJs, Whittinghill, Owens, Johnny Magnus and Pete Smith went over to KPRZ and played The Music of Your Life. A few years later, KMPC returned to standards as The Station of the Stars, in 1992, KMPC became one of the first all sports stations on the West Coast, billing itself as all sports, all hours. Other show hosts included Brian Golden and Paola Boivin, Chris Roberts and Jack Snow, Fred Wallin, however, in 1994, the station was sold off to ABC and began a general talk format to complement KABC-AM. Hosts such as Tom Leykis and Stephanie Miller headlined this new format, in February 1997, ABC Radio changed the stations call letters to KTZN and began a womens talk format. The station committed to the format by hiring multiple new hosts, humor writer Merril Markoe, psychologist Toni Grant, under this format, the station failed to make the top 30 in LA. On August 26,1997, Radio Disney was launched on the station as the fifth affiliate, KSPN started at 1110 AM in December 2000, after ABC purchased the former KRLA-AM from CBS Infinity Broadcasting due to ownership limits. The KMPC call letters were retired until AM1540 acquired them in 2000,710 would flip back to sports, this time as an ESPN Radio affiliate, in 2003. The football and basketball programs of the University of Southern California, the football announcing team is veteran Pete Arbogast and John Jackson. The basketball announcers are Chris Fisher and Jim Hefner, in 2010, Fisher replaced Rory Markas, who died in January of that year
15.
KWKW
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KWKW is an AM radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California. The station is owned by Lotus Communications Corporation, through licensee Lotus Los Angeles Corp, KWKW was one of the first Spanish-language radio stations in the Greater Los Angeles area. Currently, the broadcasts a all-sports format as a network affiliate of ESPN Deportes Radio. The station operates at 5,000 watts around the clock, although at night, to avoid interfering with other stations on AM1330, the studios and offices are on Barham Avenue in Los Angeles. The transmitter is off Chesapeake Avenue, also in Los Angeles, KWKW is one of the oldest radio stations in Los Angeles, first signing on the air as KJS on March 10,1922. KWKW along with KSAN San Francisco and KGST Fresno were among the first Spanish-language radio stations in California, since the 1950s, KWKW played various forms of Spanish-language music on AM1300 from its original studios in Pasadena, California. It was the Spanish language station of the Los Angeles Dodgers from their first year in L. A. in 1958 to the 1990s. In 1989, KWKW traded licences and therefore frequencies with KAZN, with the switch to 1330 AM, KWKW started to focus on Regional Mexican music, calling itself La Mexicana. In 2004, KWKW stopped playing music and began all-sports programming as an affiliate of ESPN Deportes Radio, the station still airs some non-sports programs on a time brokerage basis on Sunday nights. KWKW broadcasts Spanish-language play-by-play of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings and they had been the Los Angeles Avengers en español flagship station until the team folded in April 2009. The station has carried the FIFA World Cup. In 2010, KWKW interrupted its normal Spanish-language feed to carry most of ESPN Radios English-language coverage and this allowed English-language ESPN affiliates KSPN and KLAA to continue with their normal program schedules. The 2006 coverage was in Spanish, KWKW had been the Spanish-language home of Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball from 1959 to 1978 and from 1987 to 2007. The Dodgers left KWKW, the teams Spanish-language broadcast home for most of its history, in the 2016 season, KWKW began airing Spanish-language play-by-play coverage of the Los Angeles Rams. KWKW is simulcast on KTMZ,1220 AM in Pomona, California, KTMZ operates at 250 watts, from a transmitter in Chino, California, giving KWKW better coverage in Pomona, Ontario and surrounding communities. KTMZ has broken from the simulcast on occasion, most notably in the early 2000s when, as KWKU, KTMZ also breaks from its simulcast with KWKW when two different live sporting events occur at the same time. Query the FCCs AM station database for KWKW Radio-Locator Information on KWKW Query Nielsen Audios AM station database for KWKW FCC History Cards for KWKW KWKW Staff Contact Information
16.
2011 Los Angeles Angels season
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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2011 season was the franchises 51st season and 46th in Anaheim. The date of the franchises actual 50th anniversary is December 6,2010, after an incredibly disappointing 2010 season, the Angels priority in the offseason was to fix what went horribly wrong so the team can return to the postseason in 2011. Owner Arte Moreno has gone on record saying that money not be an issue. As of December 3,2010, the Angels have declined to offer Matsui arbitration, tendered contracts to Morales, Weaver, Aybar, Kendrick, Callaspo, Willits, and Napoli. The Angels also declined to tender a contract to Frandsen, who would become an agent, and Shields. On December 2,2010, the Angels signed former Mets reliever Hisanori Takahashi in their first move of the offseason, then signed Blue Jays reliever Scott Downs, and also acquired outfielder Vernon Wells from Toronto in exchange for outfielder Juan Rivera and catcher Mike Napoli. See the game log below for detailed game-by-game regular season information, the season for the Angels began Thursday, March 31 with a road game against Kansas City. Their first home game was Friday, April 8 against Toronto and their longest homestand will be from June 27 – July 10, and their longest road trip will be June 13–26. Their final game of the season will be on Wednesday. After winning the first game of the season against Kansas City, the Halos led at one point in each of those three losses and the suspect bullpen was a large reason why they dropped those three in a row. After the Kansas City series, manager Mike Scioscia shook up the bullpen by demoting Fernando Rodney from the closers role, the Angels proceeded to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg and win and go 4–2 on their opening homestand against the Blue Jays and Indians. However, the Angels hit a wall when they returned home to Angel Stadium being swept by arch-rival Boston in a four-game series, texas, in the mean time took back the top spot in the AL West. After their abysmal showing against Boston, the Angels rebounded slightly by taking 2 of 3 from division rival Oakland finishing out the homestand 2–5. Going back to Tampa Bay, the Angels took the series 2–1 only losing the game of the series on a wild pitch by relief pitcher Fernando Rodney in the 10th inning. The second game of the series also featured Joel Piñeiros first start of the season where he gave up one run over 7 innings pitched. The Angels started out the month of May by finishing off a series with Tampa Bay that they won 2–1, after that series, the Angels flew to Boston to take on the team that swept them in Anaheim just a week prior. In the fourth game, the Angels pounded out 8 runs off of their former ace John Lackey, returning home to Anaheim where the Angels had a 6–7 mark, they were to face the red-hot Cleveland Indians in a three-game series. They won the first game in extra innings behind an excellent outing by rookie Tyler Chatwood and they did win the rubber game of the series on Mothers Day in a game that saw the lead change many times
17.
Los Angeles Angels
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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are an American professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League West division. The Angels have played games at Angel Stadium of Anaheim since 1966. Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs at the time, in 2009, the Angels won the AL West division championship for the third straight season. The team name started in 1892, in 1903, the name continued in L. A. through the PCL. After the Angels joined the Major Leagues, some players from the Angels PCL team joined the Major League Angels in 1961. The Angels were one of two teams established as a result of the 1961 Major League Baseball expansion, along with the second incarnation of the Washington Senators. The team then moved in 1962 to newly built Dodger Stadium, which the Angels referred to as Chavez Ravine, the teams founder, entertainer Gene Autry, owned the franchise for its first 36 years. During Autrys ownership, the made the playoffs three times, but never won the pennant. When The Walt Disney Company took control of the team in 1997, it extensively renovated Anaheim Stadium, the City of Anaheim contributed $30 million to the $118 million renovation with a renegotiated lease providing that the names of both the stadium and team contain the word Anaheim. The team was renamed the Anaheim Angels and became a subsidiary of Disney Sports, under Disneys ownership and the leadership of manager Mike Scioscia, the Angels won their first pennant and World Series championship in 2002. In 2005, new owner Arturo Moreno added Los Angeles to the name in order to better tap into the teams history. He also stated that as Los Angeles is the second largest market in the U. S. its addition would benefit the team greatly. In compliance with the terms of its lease with the city of Anaheim, which required Anaheim be a part of the teams name, local media in Southern California tend to omit a geographic identifier and refer to the team as the Angels or as the Halos. The Associated Press, the most prominent news service in the U. S. refers to the team as the Los Angeles Angels, the mantra Win One for the Cowboy is a staple that is deeply rooted in Angels history for fans. The saying refers to the Angels founder and previous owner, Gene Autry, years went by as the team experienced many losses just strikes away from American League pennants. Autrys #26 was retired as the 26th man on the field for the Angels, Angel Stadium of Anaheim is nicknamed The Big A. It has a section in center field nicknamed the California Spectacular, each game begins with the song Calling All Angels by Train being played on the P. A. with Norman Greenbaums Spirit in the Sky being played during the teams starting lineup announcement
18.
Tony Reagins
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Tony Demetrius Reagins is a former executive in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Reagins had previously served as manager of the Angels from 2007 until his 2011 resignation. He was the fourth African-American General Manager of a Major League Baseball club in history and he was promoted on October 16,2007, having previously held the position of director of player development since 2002. Reagins pledged the Theta Upsilon chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity in 1988, while attending California State University, in 1991, he earned a Bachelors degree in Marketing from CSUF. He had previously received an AA degree in Business Administration from the College of the Desert, Reagins joined the Angels as an intern in the clubs marketing department in 1991, and moved permanently to the teams baseball staff in 1998 as manager of baseball operations. He is a member of the Buck ONeil Scout Association and a supporter of Major League Baseballs Urban Youth Academy. Reagins began his career as an intern in Baseball Operations in the Angels organization 1992 and he then held an internship in marketing/advertising sales in 1993 before being named Marketing Assistant in 1994. He moved to Sponsorship Services Representative from 1996 until returning to Baseball Operations in April 1998 and he served six seasons as the Angels Director of Player Development, a position he held until becoming General Manager of the Angels. The Angels farm system posted winning records in four of the six seasons and was named Minor League Organization of the Year in 2003 by The Sporting News, Minor League News named the Angels 2007 Farm System of the Year. As general manager of the Angels, Reagins was quick to make changes to the Angels roster. A little more than a month after taking over for Bill Stoneman as G. M, Reagins traded Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the Chicago White Sox for starting pitcher Jon Garland. Two days later, Reagins signed free agent outfielder Torii Hunter to a 5-year, at the 2008 trading deadline, Reagins dealt first baseman Casey Kotchman to the Atlanta Braves for Mark Teixeira. Reagins tenure with the Angels has been in contrast to that of Stoneman, after the 2009 season, in which the Angels were the AL West Division Champions, the Angels gave Reagins a contract extension. Although no details of the length was divulged, Reagins described it as long-term, adding theres a comfort level from Arte Moreno. I am honored and I appreciate deeply the confidence that Arte has shown in not only myself, on September 30,2011, Reagins resigned as GM. Many widely respected baseball analysts considered the Wells trade one of the worst trades in the era of Major League Baseball. Reagins remained with the organization as assistant to team chairman Dennis Kuhl
19.
Albert Pujols
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José Alberto Pujols Alcántara, better known as Albert Pujols, is a Dominican American professional baseball first baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. He stands 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds and he previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals, where he received three National League MVP awards and was a nine-time MLB All-Star. He was also an All-Star with the Angels in 2015, Pujols was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States in 1996. After one season of baseball, he was selected by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1999 MLB draft. As a rookie for the Cardinals in 2001, he was voted the NL Rookie of the Year. Pujols played for the Cardinals for 11 seasons, contributing to two World Series championships in 2006 and 2011, after the 2011 season, Pujols became a free agent and later signed a 10-year contract with the Angels. Pujols is a highly regarded hitter who has shown a combination of hitting ability, patience. He is a six-time Silver Slugger who has led the NL in home runs. He is significantly above-average in career regular season batting average, walk rate, Pujols is considered a strong future candidate for the Hall of Fame. Born on January 16,1980, Pujols was raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, mostly by his grandmother America Pujols and 10 of his uncles and his father, Bienvenido Pujols, was a softball pitcher, but he was also an alcoholic. Albert often had to take his home when his father got drunk following the games. Growing up, Pujols practiced baseball using limes for balls and a milk carton for a glove, Pujols, his father, and his grandmother immigrated in 1996 to New York City, where Albert witnessed a shooting at a grocery store. Partly because of the shooting, they moved to Independence, Missouri, Pujols played baseball at Fort Osage High School in Independence and was named an All-State athlete twice. As a senior, he was walked 55 times in protest because opposing coaches believed he was older than 18, one of his home runs travelled 450 feet. After graduating from school a semester early in December 1998. Pujols hit a grand slam and turned a triple play in the first game of his only college season. Playing shortstop, he batted.461 with 22 home runs as a freshman before deciding to enter the Major League Baseball draft, few teams were interested in Pujols because of uncertainty about his age, which position he would play, and his build. Tampa Bay Rays scout Fernando Arango recommended that his team sign Pujols, Pujols was not drafted until the 13th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, when the St. Louis Cardinals selected him with the 402nd overall pick
20.
C. J. Wilson
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Christopher John C. J. Wilson is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Wilson pitched in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers from 2005 to 2011, Wilson played outfield, first base, starting pitcher, and relief pitcher at Loyola Marymount University during the 2001 season. Wilson was drafted by the Rangers in the round of the 2001 MLB draft. After starting the 2001 season in Pulaski of the Appalachian League he was promoted to Class A with the Savannah Sand Gnats and he moved through High-A Charlotte and into Double-A Tulsa by late 2002. For 2003, Wilson returned to Double-A with Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League and his up and down season was cut short due to injury which resulted in season-ending Tommy John surgery on August 12. After missing all of 2004 due to the injury, Wilson was able to return to Double-A in 2005 before being called up to the majors later that season. He posted a 1–7 record and 6.94 ERA in 24 games during his campaign with the Rangers. Later in the season, Texas placed him in the bullpen full-time where he went 1–2 with a 2.73 ERA in 18 relief appearances. He started the 2006 season on the 15-day disabled list with a strained hamstring before returning to the team going 1–2 with a 5.16 ERA with the Rangers before getting optioned to Triple-A on June 1. While in the minors, he went 1–0 with a 2.45 ERA with two saves, and in 11 innings, he struck out 17 and walked five in nine appearances. He proved especially tough against lefties, with an ERA of 1.77 with 19 strikeouts in 20⅓ innings, following the trade of Éric Gagné, Wilson was used to close out games for the Rangers in 2007 converting his first 11 consecutive chances. Overall, he finished with career bests in, ERA, appearances, innings, strikeouts, WHIP, holds and he was named the Rangers closer for the 2008 season. He had a 6.06 ERA and converted 24 of 28 save opportunities, in 2009, Wilson returned to role of set-up man as Frank Francisco was named the closer. In 2010, Wilson returned to his past role as a pitcher with Texas. Wilson had expressed an interest in returning to the rotation as early as 2006 and was told to report to spring training in condition to start. Early conjecture amongst sports writers and fans covering the Rangers spring training debated if Wilson would actually be able to earn a spot in the rotation. After making several impressive spring starts pitching coach Mike Maddux was asked if Wilson was making the rotation a tough call to which Maddux said, Wilson was named the third starting pitcher in the rotation behind Scott Feldman and Rich Harden. At the end of April, Wilson was leading the Rangers rotation with an ERA of 1.76 after 4 starts, on May 7 against the Kansas City Royals, Wilson threw a complete game winning 4–1
21.
Chris Iannetta
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Christopher Domenic Iannetta is an American professional baseball catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, christopher Domenic Iannetta is the son of Maria and Domenic Iannetta. His mother Maria was born in Casa Nova, Italy and his father Domenic was born in Scapoli and he has a younger brother Matt. Chris and his wife Lisa have a daughter Ashlyn Brooke Iannetta and he went to St. Ann School in Providence, Rhode Island, and attended St. Raphael Academy, a Roman Catholic high school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His jersey was retired there, and is there for all to see. He was awarded All-State honors on three consecutive occasions, dona Manyard Award which is given to a male athlete who excels in the classroom and on the field. He graduated from St. Raphael Academy high school in 2001, Iannetta attended the University of North Carolina, where he played catcher and first base while majoring in mathematics. As a sophomore in 2003, he finished fourth on the squad with a.319 batting average, Iannetta was named to the 2003 NCAA Starkville Regional All-Tournament Team after tallying five hits and four RBI in the Tar Heels NCAA Tournament run. As a junior in 2004, he was selected as one of three finalists for the Johnny Bench Award, presented annually to the top collegiate catcher. Iannetta was also named a third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, during his college career, Iannetta played summer baseball in the Cape Cod League and the New England Collegiate Baseball League. His 2002 season with the Chatham As of the Cape Cod League, led to him being featured in the book The Last Best League, One Summer, One Season, One Dream by Jim Collins. In his 2003 season with the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, Iannetta batted.302 with 20 RBIs and he was also named the leagues Defensive Player of the Year. The Colorado Rockies selected Iannetta in the round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft. He began his league career with the Asheville Tourists. He played the majority of the 2006 season with Double-A Tulsa Drillers before being promoted to the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Iannetta made his Major League Debut with the Rockies on August 27,2006. Iannetta got his first career hit on August 27,2006 off Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres and he hit his first career home run off of Jonathan Sánchez of the San Francisco Giants. Iannetta played 21 games during 2006 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI, in 2007, he was named the starting catcher coming out of spring training over Yorvit Torrealba, but struggled at the plate and was demoted to backing up Torrealba. During 2007, Iannetta played in 67 games with a.218 average,4 home runs, and 27 RBI
22.
Tyler Chatwood
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Tyler Cole Chatwood is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball. He has also pitched in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Chatwood was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the second round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft out of Redlands East Valley High School. Chatwood made his league debut on April 11,2011 in a loss against the Cleveland Indians where he went five innings. In his second start against the Chicago White Sox he earned his first major win, pitching seven innings, only giving up one run on five hits. Chatwood remained in the rotation for most of the season, making 25 starts for the Angels and his hits allowed and inability to control his pitches led to him finishing with an ERA of 4.75 and a 6-11 record. On November 30,2011, Chatwood was traded to the Colorado Rockies for catcher Chris Iannetta, Chatwood began the 2012 season in the Rockies bullpen, appearing in 4 games while recording 1 save. At the beginning of August, Chatwood was inserted in the rotation and he finished with a record of 5-6 with a 5.43 ERA in 19 games. In 2013, Chatwood had his best season despite missing half the season because of injury, Chatwood made 20 starts, going 8-5 with a 3.15 ERA and inducing an over 50% groundball rate for the Rockies. In July 2014, Chatwood underwent Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow in his pitching arm and he signed a two-year, $2 million extension with the Rockies on January 14,2015. After sitting out the entire 2015 season to recover from Tommy John surgery and he made 27 starts in 2016, posting a 12-9 record with a 3.87 ERA over 158 innings. Despite his struggles at Coors Field in 2016, Chatwood led all qualified pitchers in road ERA, he finished 2016, with a 1.69 road ERA over 80 innings, in January 2017, Chatwood and the Rockies avoided arbitration. The two sides settled on a one deal for 4.4 million dollars for the 2017 season. Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference
23.
Jeff Mathis
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Jeffrey Stephen Mathis is an American professional baseball catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He made his MLB debut on August 12,2005 for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Mathis was born and raised in Marianna, Florida, the son of Danny and Bunnee Mathis. He has one brother, Jake, who played in the Minor Leagues and he was a first round draft selection by the Angels out of high school in 2001, which he accepted in lieu of attending Florida State University. He moved up the ranks to Triple-A Salt Lake by 2005 and he earned the Angels minor league Defensive Player of the Year award. Noted for his skills at the catcher spot, he also had a career-best year with the bat. Following the 2005 season, the Angels declined to pursue the return of their free agent starting catcher, Bengie Molina, after a solid 2006 spring training, Mathis was expected to see substantial playing time at catcher, sharing the position with José Molina. However, once the season began, he struggled greatly on both defense and offense. With Mathis batting only.108 and the team compiling just a 2–9 record in games that he started, Mathis was replaced on the Angels roster by catcher Mike Napoli. In 2008, he batted just.194, below the Mendoza Line, Mathis hit an 11th-inning walk-off RBI double in game three of the American League Championship Series defeated the New York Yankees 5–4. His impressive 2009 playoff offensive statistics became important in his 2010 arbitration hearings, the arbitration hearing was also something of a watershed in the amount of consideration paid to Mathis defensive statistics. Mathis had been among the AL leaders in pitchers earned run averages while behind the plate, in 2010, Mathis was ranked by Beyond the Box Score as one of the worst defensive catchers in baseball. He also matched his career-worst batting average of.194, while posting a sub-.500 OPS in over 200 at bats, on December 3,2011, following the acquisition of Chris Iannetta, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Brad Mills. Nine days later, Mathis signed a contract with the Blue Jays to avoid arbitration and he signed a one-year deal and was guaranteed to earn $1.5 million. Mathis made his first career pitching appearance in a game against the Texas Rangers on May 25, pitching in the 8th inning, Mathis gave up a hit and walked a batter, but ended the inning without surrendering a run. He became the position player for the Blue Jays to pitch in a game. He made a pitching appearance exactly two months later, mopping up in a 16-0 loss against Oakland. In that game, Mathis gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in 1 inning of work, on August 14,2012, Mathis was signed to a two-year contract extension worth $3 million. It included a 2015 club option worth $1.5 million, Mathis was hitting.215 with 6 home runs over 147 plate appearances at the time of extension
24.
LaTroy Hawkins
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LaTroy Hawkins is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. At the time of his retirement, Hawkins was the active player to be a member of the 1, 000-games-pitched club. Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, Hawkins attended West Side High School, aside from baseball, Hawkins also competed in basketball and football. Hawkins was drafted out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in the 1991 amateur draft. His major league debut early in the 1995 season was a start against the Baltimore Orioles. By the 1998 season, Hawkins was inserted into the Twins rotation and he led the team with 33 starts but also led the team in most runs allowed, walks and the worst WHIP among Twins starters. He was the starting pitcher during the perfect game by Yankees pitcher David Wells on May 17,1998. In 1999, Hawkins suffered one of the worst statistical season in the majors and his 6.66 ERA was the worst in the Majors among starters with at least 30 starts. He was tied with Brad Radke for most losses on the team, by 2000, Hawkins was in the Twins bullpen, appearing in 66 games while sporting an ERA of 3.39 along with 14 saves. In 2001, Hawkins would revert to poorness, having one of the worst statistical seasons for a closer in the history of the MLB and he led the Twins in saves but he had 5.96 ERA while having a WHIP of 1.91 in 61 games. Hawkins rebounded the next two seasons, combining to pitch in 139 games while being replaced as closer by Eddie Guardado and he also had ERAs of 2.13 and 1.86 respectively. Hawkins became an agent after the 2003 season. Hawkins drew interest from a number of teams before signing a three-year, Hawkins was signed by the Cubs to pitch the 8th inning to set up for Joe Borowski, but Borowski went down with an injury early in the season, and Hawkins took over closing duties. On September 11, Hawkins struck out the side on nine pitches in a game against the Florida Marlins. Despite a better-than-average ERA of 2.63 on the year and 25 saves, Hawkins blew nine saves on the year, the blown saves earned him the ire of Cubs fans, who made a habit of booing him loudly at Wrigley Field when he came on in relief. Hawkins appeared in 21 games for the Cubs in 2005 before being traded to the Giants, when Hawkins came back in 2005 as a member of the San Francisco Giants the Cub fans chanted Hawkins Sucks. which angered then manager Dusty Baker and first baseman Derrek Lee. On May 28,2005, the Cubs traded Hawkins to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for pitchers Jerome Williams, upon arrival in San Francisco, Hawkins was initially converted back into a set-up role, with the team cautiously optimistic about a return to form. However, Hawkins only showed flashes of his previous ability en route to a league-average performance for the Giants
25.
Kendrys Morales
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Kendrys Morales Rodríguez is a Cuban Dominican professional baseball designated hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. He previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Morales suffered an ankle injury on May 29,2010, during a celebration of his walk-off grand slam, which kept him out of Major League Baseball for nearly two years. On April 6,2012, Morales returned to the Angels line-up for the opener against the Kansas City Royals. Morales has also played first base and right field during his MLB career, Morales played in Cubas equivalent of the United States Triple-A level. With 16- to 17-year-olds in the category, he was the first starter of the staff, and fourth in the batting order. Morales joined the Cuban national baseball team in 2002 and immediately became a star player—despite being the first teenager to make the team in twenty years. He was the cleanup hitter on the team during its dramatic 2003 World Cup championship and his grand slam in the final round against Taiwan secured a 6–3 Cuban victory, one game after hitting a home run that provided the winning runs against Brazil. In his first—of two and a season with Havanas Industriales of the Cuban National Series, in 2002. In his second season, he suffered an injury and did not hit as many runs as in his rookie season. Morales stardom in Cuba was short-lived, however and he was sent back to Cuba from Panama during the Olympic qualifying round in November 2003 for making contact with an agent. It was the last time he would suit up as a Cuban, by early 2004, Cubas national team and the Industriales banned Morales from their teams for disciplinary reasons due to their belief that he had met with people in an attempt to flee the nation. Morales denies this accusation, telling a reporter Thats not true, I never talked to any agent. But from that moment on, I just wanted to leave, I tried to do it several times without success, occasionally ending up in jail. He escaped on a raft in June 2004 to the shores of southern Florida, but, as is the usual practice of defectors, he chose to leave the country to establish foreign residency so as to avoid the MLB draft. He left once again, this time to the Dominican Republic, preston Gómez, in his role as consultant to Angels general manager Bill Stoneman, ended up signing him to a six-year deal with three-million dollars up front in December 2004. Morales played winter ball for the Estrellas Orientales Dominican team to keep himself in game shape, because he was not yet a citizen, the Dominican government held up granting Morales the necessary passport to fly back to the U. S. for several months. He was not able to get all his paperwork in order until late May, to help his new club scout his ability against U. S. pitching, Morales began his minor league career with nearby Rancho Cucamonga. After three weeks of easy hitting, he was moved up to Double-A Arkansas, where he was second on the team in home runs despite playing there for half the season
26.
Jerome Williams (baseball)
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Jerome Lee Williams is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. Williams was the San Francisco Giants first-round draft pick in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft and he spent 4 and a half years in the minors, compiling a record of 27–26 before being called up in 2003. He was a starter in the Giants rotation in 2003–2004. In 2004, Williams started 22 games for the Giants, recording 10 wins with a 4.24 ERA, in 2005, Williams started 3 games for the Giants before being traded to the Cubs. He was acquired by the Chicago Cubs along with David Aardsma for LaTroy Hawkins during the 2005 season, in Williams Cubs debut, he pitched 7 innings, giving up 2 runs and striking out six Milwaukee Brewers players, and ended up going 6–8 for the Cubs. Williams, however, played most of 2006 with the Cubs Triple-A affiliate, on January 12,2007, Williams was signed by the Washington Nationals organization and in spring training earned a slot in the Nationals starting rotation. But he sprained his ankle sliding into second base. He came back on May 15, lasting two innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, and leaving with a rotator-cuff injury. His rehabilitation in the minors did not go well, and after 14 appearances with Double-A Harrisburg, in which he compiled a 9.08 ERA, on August 5, on August 8,2007, he signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins. Williams, however, struggled mightily with Rochester and in 8 games had an ERA of 9.00 and was let go after the season, in April 2008, he signed a contract with the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League. On June 24,2008, the Los Angeles Dodgers purchased his contract, at the end of the minor league season, September 5,2008, Williams was waived by the Dodgers and then claimed by the Oakland Athletics. Williams did not play for Oakland and was not tendered a contract after the season and he subsequently re-signed with Oakland and spent 2009 with their top farm club, the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League. Williams played winter baseball for the Indios de Mayaguez in Puerto Rico in 2008–09 and he played for the Uni-President Lions of CPBL in Taiwan during 2010. On June 16,2011, Williams signed a league contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was assigned to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, Williams had his contract purchased on August 16, after recording a 3.91 ERA in 11 games and 73 2⁄3 innings in Triple-A. On August 21,2011, Williams acquired his first major win since 2005 in his first major league start since 2007. He finished the season with a 4–0 record in 10 games, in June 2012, Williams had breathing problems and later collapsed in the clubhouse, forcing the Angels to place him on the disabled list. For the first time since his year, Williams spent the whole season in the big leagues
27.
Spring training
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Practices andthe start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, Spring training typically starts in mid-February and continues until just before Opening Day of the regular season, traditionally the first week of April. In some years, teams not scheduled to play on Opening Day will play spring training games that day, pitchers and catchers report to spring training first because pitchers benefit from a longer training period. A few days later, position players arrive and team practice begins, Spring training by major league teams in sites other than their regular season game sites first became popular in the 1890s and by 1910 was in wide use. Hot Springs, Arkansas has been called the birthplace of Spring Training baseball. The location of Hot Springs and the concept of getting the players ready for the season was the brainchild of Chicago White Stockings team President Albert Spalding. In 1886, the White Stockings traveled to Hot Springs to prepare for the upcoming season, practicing at the Hot Springs Baseball Grounds, the White Stockings had a successful season and other teams took notice and began holding spring training in Hot Springs. The Cleveland Spiders, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, Whittington Park/Ban Johnson Park, Majestic Park and Fogel Field were all built in Hot Springs to host Major League teams. Famously, a young pitcher named Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox was playing a game at first base on St. Patricks Day,1918. Ruth would hit two home runs that day in Hot Springs, and the second was a 573-foot shot that landed across the street from Whittington Park in a pond of the Arkansas Alligator Farm, soon he was playing the field more often. The First Boys of Spring is a 2015 documentary about Hot Springs Spring Training, the film was narrated by area native, actor Billy Bob Thornton, and produced by filmmaker Larry Foley. The documentary began airing nationally on the MLB Network in February,2016. The Detroit Tigers are credited with being the first team to conduct spring training camp in Arizona and they trained in Phoenix at Riverside Park at Central Avenue and the Salt River in 1929. The Philadelphia Phillies were the first of the current major-league teams to train in Florida, Spring training in Florida began in earnest in 1913, when the Chicago Cubs played in Tampa, and the Cleveland Indians in Pensacola. One year later, two teams moved to Florida for spring training, the real start of the Grapefruit League. Since 2010, major league teams have been divided during spring training. All but six of the league teams have gone to spring training in Florida at one time or another. Many of the most famous players in history have called Florida home for 4–6 weeks every spring. According to the autobiography of former Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck, in 1947, Veeck was the owner of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers and the team trained in Ocala, Florida
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Tempe Diablo Stadium
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Tempe Diablo Stadium is a baseball field located in Tempe, Arizona. It is the training home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The stadium was built in 1968 and holds 9,558 people, the stadium underwent an extensive $20 million renovation and was rededicated on Mar.3,2006. The renovation included the stadium, the Major League Fields. In return for the updated stadium, the Angels agreed to extend their spring training lease through Dec.31,2025. $12 million of the renovations were funded by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, Tempe Diablo Stadium can be seen from the Maricopa Freeway. Tempe Diablo Stadium at the City of Tempe web page
29.
Tempe, Arizona
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Tempe, also known as Haydens Ferry during the territorial times of Arizona, is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece, Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix, it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale on the north, Chandler on the south, and Mesa on the east. Tempe is also the location of Arizona State University, the Hohokam lived in this area and built canals to support their agriculture. They abandoned their settlements during the 15th century, with a few individuals, fort McDowell was established approximately 25 mi northeast of present downtown Tempe on the upper Salt River in 1865 allowing for new towns to be built farther down the Salt River. The two settlements were Haydens Ferry, named after a service operated by Charles T. Hayden, and San Pablo. The ferry became the key river crossing in the area, the Tempe Irrigating Canal Company was soon established by William Kirkland and James McKinney to provide water for alfalfa, wheat, barley, oats, and cotton. Pioneer Darrell Duppa is credited with suggesting Tempes name, adopted in 1879, after comparing the Salt River valley near a 300-foot -tall butte, to the Vale of Tempe near Mount Olympus in Greece. The Maricopa and Phoenix Railroad, built in 1887, crossed the Salt River at Tempe, the Tempe Land and Improvement Company was formed to sell lots in the booming town. Tempe became a hub for the surrounding agricultural area. The completion of Roosevelt Dam in 1911 guaranteed enough water to meet the needs of Valley farmers. Less than a later, Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. In the 20th and 21st centuries, Tempe has expanded as a suburb of Phoenix, Tempe is the headquarters and executive office of one Fortune 500 company, Insight Enterprises. Limelight Networks, LifeLock, First Solar, the Salt River Project, Circle K, Fulton Homes, cold Stone Creamery was originally headquartered in Tempe and location #0001 is still in operation today at 3330 S McClintock Drive in Tempe. Tempe is also home to the first and largest campus of Arizona State University and it was the longtime host of the Fiesta Bowl, although the BCS game moved to University of Phoenix Stadium, located in Glendale, in 2007. It then began hosting the Insight Bowl which is now known as the Cactus Bowl, edward Jones Investments has a regional headquarters in Tempe. China Airlines operates the Phoenix office in Tempe, Tempe houses several great performance venues including Gammage Auditorium and the Tempe Center for the Arts. On New Years Eve, the city hosts the Fiesta Bowl Block Party, the event typically has a national band heading a concert, along with several other local and national bands. Gammage Auditorium was also the site of one of the three Presidential debates in 2004, and Super Bowl XXX was played at Sun Devil Stadium, additionally, Tempe is the spring training host city of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
30.
2012 Los Angeles Angels season
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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheims 2012 season was the franchises 52nd season and 47th in Anaheim. On October 27,2011, it was reported that the Angels will hire Jerry Dipoto to serve as the eleventh general manager. The Angels also signed a new television deal with Fox Sports worth $3 billion over a span of 20 years which works out to $150 million a year. It is the new TV deal, that many speculate, enabled the Angels to spend so much in the 2011–12 offseason. On December 8,2011, the Angels shocked the world by signing former St. Louis Cardinals star Albert Pujols. According to analysts, Pujols was regarded as the best offensive player, the two prize signings were introduced to the Southern California media and fans on December 10 in front of the two large hats at Angel Stadium. Because the press conference was outdoors and in front of the stadium, fans were encouraged to attend, on December 7, the Angels signed veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins a fact that was somewhat overshadowed by the Pujols and Wilson signings just a day later. The Angels also re-signed pitcher Jerome Williams to a one-year deal, the Angels gave 2B Howie Kendrick a 4-year $33 million deal They also released OF Chris Pettit and signed Francisco Rodriguez to a $2 million deal. The Cactus League slate of games for the Angels began on Monday 1, March on the road against Oakland and their first home game at Tempe Diablo Stadium was a 6–2 win on Tuesday, March 6 against the Chicago White Sox. The 2012 season marks the Angels 20th season at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, because of the high expectations for the Angels in 2012, the Angels are expecting larger than usual crowds in Tempe this spring. One of the biggest questions surrounding the Angels franchise going into the Spring training was whether or not Kendrys Morales would make a comeback from breaking his ankle in 2010. Morales played in his first baseball game in two years on March 16,2012 in a minor league game and played in his first major league game of any kind on March 22. In that game, Morales went two for three with a run scored and was described by Angels personnel and Morales as a step forward for the slugger. According to the Angels radio broadcaster Terry Smith, the Angels have already sold out six games at Tempe Diablo Stadium. The first sell-out crowd of the spring was for an Angels loss to the San Diego Padres on March 9, the average attendance at Tempe Diablo Stadium was 8,675 which was an average of 90. 76% capacity. The Angels also sold out 9 of their 15 home Cactus League games, see the game log below for detailed game-by-game regular season information. The season for the Angels begins on Friday, April 6 at home against Kansas City and their first road game will be on Monday, April 9 at Minnesota. Their longest homestand will be from July 20–29, and their longest road trip will be May 18–27 and their final game of the regular season will be on Wednesday, October 3 on the road against Seattle
31.
Opening Day
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Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth, writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book titled, Why Time Begins on Opening Day. Many feel that the occasion represents a newness or a chance to forget last season, in that all 30 of the league clubs. Opening Day festivities extend throughout the sport of baseball, from hundreds of Minor League Baseball franchises to college, high school, since Major League Baseball generally starts their season first among professional leagues, their Opening Day is the one most commonly recognized by the general public. Most of the minor leagues start a few later, but within the same week. Opening Day ignores the exhibition games played during spring training in the leading up to Opening Day. For generations, Opening Day has arrived amid pageantry, in Cincinnati, home of the sports first professional team, the annual Findlay Market Parade marks an official city holiday with young and old alike taking the day off to cheer on the Reds. For decades, the first pitch of every league season officially took place in Cincinnati. The Chicago Cubs have been the Reds most common Opening Day opponent, visiting Cincinnati 36 times on Opening Day, most recently in 2007. Since 1994 ESPN has televised a game the night before Opening Day and recent years have seen the staging of season-opening series in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan. While these are technically opening games, Major League Baseball still reserves the title Opening Day for the first day in multiple games are played. Hall of Fame pitcher Early Wynn, who played for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, once said, theres that little extra excitement, a faster beating of the heart. You have that anxiety to get off to a start, for yourself. You know that when you win the first one, you cant lose em all, prior to Opening Day, the teams managers have to decide the starting pitchers for the game, an assignment typically given to the ace of each teams staff. For a pitcher to start on Opening Day is considered an honor, in 1907, the New York Giants forfeited their game at the Polo Grounds to the Philadelphia Phillies, 9–0, after rowdy fans made and threw snowballs. Without police available to order, umpire Bill Klem awarded the game to the Phillies. In 1940, Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller threw a no-hitter to open the season against the Chicago White Sox and it remains the only no-hitter in Opening Day history
32.
Erick Aybar
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Erick Johan Aybar is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Atlanta Braves, Aybar was signed by the then Anaheim Angels as an amateur free agent in 2002 and made his Major League debut on May 16,2006 a pinch runner against the Toronto Blue Jays. He recorded his first Major League hit, in his first start, on May 20,2006 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Aybar hit his first career major league home run on September 25,2007, in a game against the Texas Rangers. On September 5,2009, Aybar tied a record for most triples in a game,2. On September 8,2009, Aybar had his first career walk-off hit, in 2009, Aybar hit.312 and posted the fourth-best OPS of all AL shortstops. On November 1,2011, Aybar was awarded his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award, on July 10,2014, Aybar was named an All Star for the first time in his career, replacing injured Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon. Aybar was hitting.283 with six runs and 45 RBIs through 89 games at the time of his selection. On November 12,2015, the Angels traded Aybar, Sean Newcomb, Chris Ellis and cash to the Atlanta Braves for Andrelton Simmons, on August 16,2016, the Braves traded Aybar to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Mike Avilés and Kade Scivique. At the time of the trade, Aybar was batting an average of.242 with two runs and twenty-six RBI. Aybar signed a league contract with the San Diego Padres for the 2017 season. Aybar is the youngest brother of former Tampa Bay Rays infielder/outfielder Willy Aybar, career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference Finale lifts Venezuela to title
33.
Howie Kendrick
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Howard Howie Joseph Kendrick III is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from 2006 to 2014, in 2011, he appeared in the MLB All-Star Game. While primarily a second baseman throughout his career, he has played first base. Kendrick attended Hilliard Middle-Senior High School and then West Nassau High School in Callahan and he tried out for several colleges but had no interest until he landed at St. Johns River Community College in Palatka, Florida, where he was named Conference Player of the Year. It was by chance that Angels scout Tom Kotchman discovered him there in 2002 and my goodness, the kid hit the ball, he recalled. I couldnt believe there werent other scouts there, and other JCs cut this guy. He was named the 12th top prospect by Baseball America in 2006, Kendrick made his MLB debut on April 26,2006, as the starting second baseman for the Angels against the Detroit Tigers. He grounded out to first in his first at-bat, off Mike Maroth and was hitless in four at-bats in the game and his first hit was a line drive single to center off Héctor Carrasco of the Oakland Athletics in his next start, on May 1. Kendrick hit his first home run against Shawn Camp of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on July 26 and he hit.285 with 4 homers and 30 RBI in 72 games during that season. Kendrick had a collision with actor Ben Affleck during his rookie season in the stands on the first base side of Fenway Park. On a foul ball that was hit towards where Affleck was sitting, Kendrick beat Affleck to the ball, fans sitting nearby booed Affleck for not taking the ball away from Kendrick. The event landed Kendricks picture in People magazine, in an edition of the syndicated Access Hollywood, Kendrick presented Affleck an autographed baseball for his birthday. After the incumbent starter, Adam Kennedy, signed as an agent with the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2006-2007 offseason. He batted.322 in 88 games and again batted over.300 in 2008, Kendrick struggled in the first half of the 2009 season, batting only.239 with 4 homers, and was optioned to the minors. After returning from the minors, Kendrick hit extremely well, batting.358 in the half with a.558 slugging percentage. Kendrick extended his positional versatility in the 2011 season, seeing time at first base, in 2011, Kendrick was selected to serve as an American League reserve in the 2011 All-Star Game. He joined teammates Jered Weaver and Jordan Walden as the Angels representatives in Phoenix, through the All-Star break on July 10, Kendrick was hitting. 302/. 360/.462 with 8 home runs,9 stolen bases and 29 RBI in 301 at-bats. On January 7,2012, Kendrick agreed to a new contract worth $33.5 million
34.
Torii Hunter
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Torii Kedar Hunter is an American former professional baseball center fielder and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Hunter was a five-time All-Star, won nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards as a center fielder and was a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. Born and raised in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Hunter attended Pine Bluff High School, Hunter, along with his three brothers, were raised in poverty and lived in a rough neighborhood, but were able to find sports as an outlet. Hunter began playing baseball at the age of eight and also playing football from a young age. At Pine Bluff High, Hunter excelled in baseball, football, basketball, early on in high school, Hunter was actually a stand out in sports other than baseball, but would receive All-State honors for his junior and senior seasons. According to the coach of the team, Hunter once hit a ball 550 feet for a home run. In 1992, Hunter made the U. S, junior Olympic team, and when he struggled to pay the $500 fee for the team, Hunter wrote then-governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, a letter asking for help, which Clinton accepted. Hunter had the option of attending Pepperdine University to play baseball, Hunter was selected as the Twins first-round pick in 1993 out of high school, and made his debut with the Twins as a pinch runner in Baltimore on August 22,1997. It was not until 1999 that Hunter began starting regularly, playing in 135 games for the Twins and he finished with only one error in 292 chances in the outfield. Hunter exploded onto the scene in the beginning of April in 2000, after a 16-game hitting streak, four consecutive games with home runs and three grand slams, Hunter was recalled by the Twins on July 28. Hunter was named both Best Defensive Outfielder and Most Exciting Player in Pacific Coast League by Baseball America for 2000. In 2001, Hunter led the Twins in at bats, home runs and outfield assists, Hunter led all major league center fielders in range factor, and was named Best Defensive Outfielder in the American League by Baseball America. He also won his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2001, in 2002, Hunter began to post near-MVP numbers, and was a contender for the award a good portion of the year. In the month of April, he went 39–105 with nine runs and 20 RBI. Hunter was selected by the fans to his first All-Star Game, in Milwaukee in 2002, one of the biggest moments came in the first inning, when, with two outs, Barry Bonds sent what appeared to be a towering home run to right-center field. Hunter, who had built a reputation for his outfield thievery in the American League, jumped and caught the ball over the wall. Although there were no awards given at the All-Star game, because the game ended in a tie, the catch was later awarded as the This Year in Baseball Best Defensive Play of the Year by the fans. Hunter, along with a team and solid bullpen pitching
