1.
Aaron Boone (American football)
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Aaron Rostenbach Boone is a former American professional gridiron football wide receiver. He played college football at Kentucky and he was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League in 2003. In his career, Boone has also played for the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, Berlin Thunder, Philadelphia Soul, Kansas City Brigade, and Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League. In 2011, before suffering a career ending knee surgery, he became the Utah Blazes all-time leading receiver in all categories including receptions, yards, Boone attended Millard High School in Fillmore, Utah, where he was an All-State selection in baseball, basketball and football. In his senior year he led his team as quarterback to a 2-A state championship title in 1995, Boone originally attended Snow College where he was named First-team All-America by the JC Gridwire and All-America by the National Junior College Athletic Association. In 2001, Boone then committed to play at the University of Kentucky, as a junior in 2001 he recorded 18 receptions for 268 yards and six touchdowns. As a senior in 2002, he recorded 41 receptions for 706 yards and 10 touchdowns, in 2002, during the game leading up to the Bluegrass Miracle, he recorded three touchdown passes from quarterback Jared Lorenzen. In 2014, Boone was a member of the inaugural Snow College Athletic Hall of Fame, after going undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft, Boone signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2003. In December 2003, he was signed by the Chicago Bears and he recorded 13 receptions for 221 yards and four touchdowns. Berlin finished the season with a record of 9–1 and defeated the Frankfurt Galaxy 30–24 in World Bowl XII and he was cut during final cuts for the 2004 season. In 2005, Boone signed with the Carolina Panthers and was allocated to the Berlin Thunder. He played in 10 regular season games and recorded 43 receptions,582 yards and he helped the team to a berth in World Bowl XIII. After the NFL Europe season, he returned to the Carolina Panthers, Boone joined the Philadelphia Soul in 2006. Later that season, he was traded to the Kansas City Brigade and he recorded 66 receptions for 748 yards and 19 touchdowns. In 2007, Boone signed with the Utah Blaze, where he played in seven games. For the season he recorded 32 receptions for 420 yards and eight touchdowns, in 2008, Boone completed his second year with the Blaze recording 135 receptions,1,527 yards and 23 touchdowns. In 2010, Boone recorded a career-best season, earning him All-Arena honors and he played in 16 games where he led the Blaze in all receiving statistical categories. Boone finished with 146 receptions for 1,448 yards and 46 touchdowns and this was the second straight season Boone had recorded over 135 receptions,1,400 yards and 25 touchdowns
2.
Third baseman
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In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the third baseman is assigned the number 5. The third baseman requires good reflexes in reacting to batted balls, the third base position requires a strong and accurate arm, as the third baseman often makes long throws to first base. The third baseman sometimes must throw quickly to second base in time to start a double play, the third baseman must also field fly balls in fair and foul territory. Third base is known as the hot corner, because the third baseman is relatively close to the batter, a third baseman must possess good hand-eye coordination and quick reactions in order to catch hard line drives sometimes in excess of 125 miles per hour. Third basemen often must begin in an even closer to the batter if a bunt is expected. As with middle infielders, right-handed throwing players are standard at the position because they do not need to turn their body before throwing across the infield to first base. Mike Squires, who played fourteen games at third base in 1982 and 1983, is a rare example of a third baseman who threw lefty. Some third basemen have been converted from middle infielders or outfielders because the position does not require them to run as fast. Players who could hit with more ability often were not suited for third base, since the 1950s the position has become more of a power position with sluggers such as Eddie Mathews, Mike Schmidt and Ron Santo becoming stars. There are fewer third basemen in the Baseball Hall of Fame than there are Hall of Famers of any other position
3.
Manager (baseball)
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In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized. A manager is essentially equivalent to the coach in other North American professional sports leagues. How much control a manager takes in a games strategy varies from manager to manager and from game to game. Some managers control pitch selection, defensive positioning, decisions to bunt, steal, pitch out, managers are typically assisted by two or more coaches. Typically, the title of manager is used in professional baseball. In many cases, a manager is a professional, semi-professional or college player. Many current and former managers are former catchers which include Mike Matheny, John Gibbons, Brad Ausmus, Joe Torre, Mike Scioscia, Bruce Bochy, the managers responsibilities normally are limited to in-game decisions, with off-the-field and roster management decisions falling to the teams general manager. The term manager used without qualification almost always refers to the field manager, some owners carried out both GM and field managerial duties themselves. Major League Baseball managers differ from the coaches of most other professional sports in that they dress in the same uniform as the players and are assigned a jersey number. The wearing of a uniform is frequently practiced at other levels of play. The manager may be called skipper or skip informally by his players
4.
La Mesa, California
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La Mesa is a city in Southern California, located 9 miles east of Downtown San Diego in San Diego County. The population was 57,065 at the 2010 census, up from 54,749 at the 2000 census and its civic motto is the Jewel of the Hills. La Mesa in Spanish means the table, or alternately the plateau, La Mesa was part of a larger tract, Mission San Diego de Alcalá, and was used by Spanish Missionaries. La Mesa was founded in 1869 and The City of La Mesa was incorporated on February 16,1912, as such, it does not have a city charter but operates under the laws of the state of California in all respects not specifically covered by any city ordinance. Its official flower is the bougainvillea, La Mesa is located at 32°46′17″N 117°1′22″W. It is bordered by the city of San Diego on the west and north, Spring Valley and Lemon Grove on the south and it includes the neighborhood of Grossmont. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 9.1 square miles. 9.1 square miles of it is land and 0.04 square miles of it is water, La Mesa is approximately 12 mi ) east of the Pacific Ocean. Because of this, La Mesa typically experiences more extreme temperatures than San Diego, La Mesa has a Semi-arid Steppe climate. La Mesa typically has hot, dry summers and warm winters with most of the precipitation falling between November and March. The city has dry weather with around 13 of annual precipitation, summer temperatures are generally hot, with average highs of 78 °F-92 °F and lows of 56 °F–68 °F. Winter temperatures are warm, with high temperatures of 66 °F–77 °F. The climate in the San Diego area, like much of California, in San Diegos case, this is mainly due to the citys topography. This happens every year in May and June, even in the absence of June gloom, inland areas tend to experience higher temperatures than areas closer to the coast. The 2010 United States Census reported that La Mesa had a population of 57,065, the population density was 6,259.6 people per square mile. The Census reported that 56,408 people lived in households,124 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 1,731 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 243 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 8,004 households were made up of individuals and 2,924 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.30. There were 13,767 families, the family size was 2.94
5.
Batting average
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Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batsmen in cricket and batters in baseball. The development of the statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. In cricket, a batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out. The number is also simple to interpret intuitively, if all the batsmans innings were completed, this is the average number of runs they score per innings. If they did not complete all their innings, this number is an estimate of the average number of runs they score per innings. Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players relative skills since the 18th century, most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40. This is also the range for wicket-keepers, though some fall short. All-rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen typically average something between 20 and 30,15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers. Under this qualification, the highest Test batting average belongs to Australias Sir Donald Bradman, given that a career batting average over 50 is exceptional, and that only four other players have averages over 60, this is an outstanding statistic. The fact that Bradmans average is so far above that of any other cricketer has led several statisticians to argue that, statistically at least, he was the greatest sportsman in any sport. As at 21 October 2016, Adam Voges of Australia has recorded an average of 72.75 from 27 innings played and it should also be remembered, especially in relation to the ODI histogram above, that there were no ODI competitions when Bradman played. If their scores have a geometric distribution then total number of runs scored divided by the number of times out is the maximum likelihood estimate of their true unknown average, Batting averages can be strongly affected by the number of not outs. A different, and more developed, statistic which is also used to gauge the effectiveness of batsmen is the strike rate. It measures a different concept however – how quickly the batsman scores – so it does not supplant the role of batting average and it is used particularly in limited overs matches, where the speed at which a batsman scores is more important than it is in first-class cricket. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed, in baseball, the batting average is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three places and read without the decimal, A player with a batting average of.300 is batting three-hundred. A point is understood, in only, to be.001. If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the.001 measurement, henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball
6.
Home run
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In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is also the home run, increasingly rare in modern baseball. When a home run is scored, the batter is credited with a hit and a run scored. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit, a batted ball is also a home run if it touches either foul pole or its attached screen before touching the ground, as the foul poles are by definition in fair territory. A batted ball that goes over the wall after touching the ground is not a home run. A fielder is allowed to reach over the wall to attempt to catch the ball as long as his feet are on or over the field during the attempt. If the fielder successfully catches the ball while it is in flight the batter is out, however, since the fielder is not part of the field, a ball that bounces off a fielder and over the wall without touching the ground is still a home run. A home run accomplished in any of the above manners is a home run. This stipulation is in Approved Ruling of Rule 7.10, an inside-the-park home run occurs when a batter hits the ball into play and is able to circle the bases before the fielders can put him out. Unlike with a home run, the batter-runner and all preceding runners are liable to be put out by the defensive team at any time while running the bases. This can only happen if the ball does not leave the ballfield, with outfields much less spacious and more uniformly designed than in the games early days, inside-the-park home runs are now a rarity. They are usually the result of a ball being hit by a very fast runner, either way, this sends the ball into open space in the outfield and thereby allows the batter-runner to circle the bases before the defensive team can put him out. The speed of the runner is crucial as even triples are relatively rare in most modern ballparks, all runs scored on such a play, however, still count. An example of an unexpected bounce occurred during the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 10,2007, by the time the ball was relayed, Ichiro had already crossed the plate standing up. This was the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history, Home runs are often characterized by the number of runners on base at the time. A home run hit with the bases empty is seldom called a one-run homer, with one runner on base, two runs are scored and thus the home run is often called a two-run homer or two-run shot. Similarly, a home runs with two runners on base is a three-run homer or three-run shot, the term four-run homer is seldom used, instead, it is nearly always called a grand slam. Hitting a grand slam is the best possible result for the turn at bat
7.
Run batted in
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A run batted in, plural runs batted in, is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored. For example, if the batter bats a base hit, then another player on a base can go home. Prior to the 1920 Major League Baseball season, runs batted in were not a baseball statistic. Nevertheless, the RBI statistic was tabulated—unofficially—from 1907 through 1919 by baseball writer Ernie Lanigan, common nicknames for an RBI include ribby, rib, and ribeye. The plural of RBI is generally RBIs, although some commentators use RBI as both singular and plural, as it can stand for runs batted in. The official scorers judgment must determine whether a run batted in shall be credited for a run that scores when a fielder holds the ball or throws to a wrong base. The perceived significance of the RBI is displayed by the fact that it is one of the three categories that comprise the triple crown, in addition, career RBIs are often cited in debates over who should be elected to the Hall of Fame. This implies that better offensive teams—and therefore, the teams in which the most players get on base—tend to produce hitters with higher RBI totals than equivalent hitters on lesser-hitting teams, totals are current through October 8,2015
8.
Cincinnati Reds
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The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. They were a member of the American Association in 1882. The Reds played in the NL West division from 1969 to 1993 and they have won five World Series titles, nine NL pennants, one AA pennant, and 10 division titles. The team plays its games at Great American Ball Park. Bob Castellini has been executive officer since 2006. The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds can be traced to the expulsion of a team bearing that name. Both were important activities to entice the citys large German population, while Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was actually against league rules in those early years. On October 6,1880, however, seven of the eight team owners pledged at a league meeting to formally ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting that December. Only Cincinnati president W. H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, when these attempts failed, he formed a new independent ballclub known as the Red Stockings in the Spring of 1881, and brought the team to St. Louis for a weekend exhibition. The Reds first game was a 12–3 victory over the St. Louis club, upon arriving in the city, however, Caylor and Thorner discovered that no other owners had decided to accept the invitation, with even Phillips not bothering to attend his own meeting. By chance, the duo met a former pitcher named Al Pratt, the ploy worked, and the American Association was officially formed at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati with the new Reds a charter member with Thorner as president. The club never placed higher than second or lower than fifth for the rest of its tenure in the American Association, the National League was happy to accept the teams in part due to the emergence of the new Players League. This new league, a failed attempt to break the reserve clause in baseball. Because the National League decided to expand while the American Association was weakening and it was also at this time that the team first shortened their name from Red Stockings to Reds. The Reds wandered through the 1890s signing local stars and aging veterans, during this time, the team never finished above third place and never closer than 10½ games. At the start of the 20th century, the Reds had hitting stars Sam Crawford, seymours.377 average in 1905 was the first individual batting crown won by a Red. In 1911, Bob Bescher stole 81 bases, which is still a team record, like the previous decade, the 1900s were not kind to the Reds, as much of the decade was spent in the leagues second division
9.
New York Yankees
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The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
10.
Cleveland Indians
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The Cleveland Indians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. Since 1994, they have played at Progressive Field, the teams spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The Indians current World Series championship drought is the longest active drought, the name Indians originated from a request by club owner Charles Somers to baseball writers to choose a new name to replace Cleveland Naps following the departure of Nap Lajoie after the 1914 season. The name referenced the nickname Indians that was applied to the Cleveland Spiders baseball club during the time when Louis Sockalexis, common nicknames for the Indians include the Tribe and the Wahoos, the latter being a reference to their logo, Chief Wahoo, a controversial Native American caricature. The teams mascot is named Slider, the franchise originated in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers, a minor league team in the Western League. The team moved to Cleveland in 1900 and changed its name to the Cleveland Lake Shores, one of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the major league incarnation of the club was founded in Cleveland in 1901. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds, the played in League Park until moving permanently to Cleveland Stadium in 1946. At the end of the 2016 season, they had a regular season record of 9. In 1857 baseball games were a spectacle in Clevelands Public Squares. City authorities tried to find an ordinance forbidding it, to the joy of the crowd, – Harold Seymour 1865–1868 Forest Citys of Cleveland 1869–1872 Forest Citys of Cleveland From 1865 to 1868 Forest Citys was an amateur ball club. During the 1869 season, Cleveland was among several cities which established professional baseball teams following the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional team. In the newspapers before and after 1870, the team was called the Forest Citys. In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, ultimately, two of the leagues western clubs went out of business during the first season and the Chicago Fire left that citys White Stockings impoverished, unable to field a team again until 1874. Cleveland was thus the NAs westernmost outpost in 1872, the year the club folded, Cleveland played their full schedule to July 19 followed by two games versus Boston in mid-August and disbanded at the end of the season. 1879–1881 Cleveland Forest Citys 1882–1884 Cleveland Blues In 1876, the National League supplanted the NA as the professional league. Cleveland were not among its members, but by 1879 the league was looking for new entries. The Cleveland Forest Citys baseball team was then re-created, the National League required distinct colors for the 1882 season, so the Cleveland Forest Citys became the Cleveland Blues
11.
Miami Marlins
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The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League East division. Their home park is Marlins Park, though one of only two MLB franchises to have never won a division title, the Marlins have won two World Series championships as a wild card team. The stadium was later called Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Land Shark Stadium, since the 2012 season, they have played at Marlins Park in downtown Miami, on the site of the former Orange Bowl in Little Havana, Florida. The new park, unlike Sun Life Stadium, was designed foremost as a baseball park, the new parks name is a temporary one until naming rights are purchased. Per agreement with the city and Miami-Dade County, the Marlins officially changed their name to the Miami Marlins on November 11,2011 and they also adopted a new logo, color scheme, and uniforms. The 2003 season was notable for the firing of manager Jeff Torborg after 38 games, the Marlins were in last place in the NL East with a 16–22 record at the time. Torborgs successor, 72-year-old Jack McKeon, led them to the NL wild card berth in the postseason, the Marlins moved into their new ballpark, Marlins Park in 2012, which coincided with a change in the team colors/uniforms and name to the Miami Marlins. No-Hitters, Marlins pitchers have pitched five no-hitters in team history, four coming against teams in the NL West. Hitting for the cycle, No Marlins player has hit for the cycle in franchise history. See also, List of Major League Baseball retired numbers § Alternative methods of recognition, from 1993 until 2011, the Marlins had retired the number 5 in honor of Carl Barger, the first president of the Florida Marlins who died prior to the teams inaugural season. Bargers favorite player was Joe DiMaggio, thus the selection of number 5, with the move to the new ballpark, the team opted to honor Barger with a plaque. Logan Morrison, a Kansas City native and fan of Royals Hall-of-Famer George Brett, after José Fernández death as a result of a boating accident on September 25,2016, the Miami Marlins announced plans to build a memorial at Marlins Park in his honor. However, Fernández number 16 has yet to be officially retired, the Marlins began construction of a new, state-of-the-art stadium at the Miami Orange Bowl site on July 18,2009. The now approved stadium was the subject of a legal battle. A lawsuit by local automobile franchise mogul and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman contested the legality of the deal with Miami-Dade County, however, Miami-Dade County Judge Beth Cohen dismissed all the charges in Bramans lawsuit. The seating capacity for Marlins Park is 36,742, making it the third smallest stadium in the MLB and its first regular season game was April 4,2012, against the St. Until a naming-rights deal is reached, the park will be known as Marlins Park, the Marlins flagship radio station from their inception in 1993 through 2007 was WQAM560 AM
12.
Washington Nationals
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The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D. C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League East division. From 2005 to 2007, the played in RFK Stadium. The Nationals are the major league franchise to be based in Washington, D. C. The original Washington Senators, who were referred to as the Nationals. They were followed by a second Washington Senators franchise in 1901, a member of the new American League. The second Senators franchise moved to Minnesota in 1961 and became the Minnesota Twins and they were replaced that season by a third Senators franchise, who eventually moved to Arlington, Texas, after the 1971 season and became the Texas Rangers. The current National League club was founded in 1969 as the Montreal Expos, part of the MLB expansion, which included the Seattle Pilots, Kansas City Royals, based in Montreal, the Expos were the first Major League team in Canada. Home games were played at Jarry Park Stadium and later in Olympic Stadium, the franchise had its highest winning percentage in the strike-shortened season of 1994, when the team had the best record in baseball. While the team struggled after moving to Washington, the Nationals have experienced moderate success in recent years, winning division titles in 2012,2014. Two of the teams first overall picks in the MLB Draft, Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Bryce Harper in 2010, attracted new levels of attention to the team. At the time of his selection, Strasburg was called the pick in draft history. The Montreal Expos joined the National League in 1969, along with the San Diego Padres, with a majority held by Charles Bronfman. Named after the Expo 67 Worlds Fair, the Expos initial home was Jarry Park, starting in 1977, the teams home venue was Montreals Olympic Stadium, built for the 1976 Summer Olympics. Two years later, the team won a franchise-high 95 games, the team spent most of the 1980s in the middle of the NL East pack, finishing in third or fourth place in eight out of nine seasons from 1982 to 1990. Buck Rodgers was hired as manager before the 1985 season and guided the Expos to a.500 or better five times in six years, with the highlight coming in 1987. They finished third, but were just four games behind the division-winning Cardinals, Bronfman sold the team to a consortium of owners in 1991, with Claude Brochu as the managing general partner. Rodgers, at that second only to Gene Mauch in number of Expos games managed, was replaced partway through the 1991 season
13.
2008 Major League Baseball season
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The Civil Rights Game, an exhibition, in Memphis, Tennessee took place March 29 when the New York Mets beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–2. The All-Star Game was played on July 15 at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York City, for the eighth straight season, a defending World Champion – the Boston Red Sox – failed to defend their championship. The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series 4 games to 1 over the Tampa Bay Rays and this was Philadelphias second championship, and also the first World Series appearance for the Rays. The Angels clinched home field on September 26 when the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Detroit Tigers. On September 20, the Chicago Cubs became the team to get their passport to October with a win over the St. Louis Cardinals. This marked the first time since 1907 and 1908 that the Cubs appeared in consecutive postseasons, two days later, the Cubs clinched the home field advantage through the National League Playoffs by beating the New York Mets. Also on September 20, the Tampa Bay Rays guaranteed a spot in the playoffs for the first time in history by beating the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay won its first American League East title six days later, on September 23, the Boston Red Sox clinched a playoff spot, their fifth in the last six years. The Red Sox win also eliminated the Yankees from the post-season for the first time since 1993, on September 26, the Yankees handed the Rays the American League East title by beating the Red Sox by a 19–8 score, making Boston the Wild Card. On September 25, the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, on September 27, the Philadelphia Phillies clinched the National League East title for the second straight year with their win over the Washington Nationals, 4–3. This marks the first time they would play in consecutive postseasons since the 1980 and 1981 seasons, the 1981 appearance made possible by the split season due to the players strike. The previous season, the Marlins beat the Mets while the Phillies beat the Nationals on the last day to knock the Mets out of the postseason as the Phillies won the NL East. The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins in a playoff by 1–0 at U. S. Cellular Field on September 30, becoming the winner of the American League Central, note, Major League Baseballs playoff format automatically seeds the Wild Card team 4th. Normally, the No.1 seed plays the No.4 seed in the Division Series, hence, Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs did not face each other in the NLDS. In scores, home teams are in italics, winning team is boldface, Tampa Bay Rays vs. John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves recorded his 3, 000th strikeout against Felipe López of the Washington Nationals April 22. Kenny Rogers of the Detroit Tigers became the all-time career pickoff leader with 92, on May 9, Rogers picked off Wilson Betemit of the New York Yankees, passing Mark Langston. Greg Maddux of the San Diego Padres recorded his 350th career win against the Colorado Rockies on May 10, Brad Ausmus of the Houston Astros recorded his 1, 500th hit on May 12 against the Giants
14.
Houston Astros
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The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros are members of the American League West division in Major League Baseball, the Astros have played their home games at Minute Maid Park since 2000. The Astros were established as the Houston Colt. 45s and entered the National League in 1962 with the expansion New York Mets. The current name—reflecting Houstons role as the center of the U. S. space program—was adopted three years later, when they moved into the Astrodome, the worlds first domed sports stadium. The Astros played in the NL from 1962 to 2012 and they played in the West division from 1969 to 1993, and the Central division from 1994 to 2012. The Astros have played in one World Series in 2005 against the Chicago White Sox, from 1888 until 1961, Houstons professional baseball club was the minor league Houston Buffaloes. Although expansion from the National League eventually brought an MLB team to Texas in 1962, Houston officials had been making efforts to do so for years prior. There were four men responsible for bringing Major League Baseball to Houston, George Kirksey and Craig Cullinan. They formed the Houston Sports Association as their vehicle for attaining a big league franchise for the city of Houston and they called the new league the Continental League. Wanting to protect potential new markets, both existing leagues chose to expand from eight teams to ten, however, plans eventually fell through for the Houston franchise after the Houston Buffaloes owner, Marty Marion, could not come to an agreement with the HSA to sell the team. To make matters worse, the Continental League as a whole folded in August 1960, however, on October 17,1960, the National League granted an expansion franchise to the Houston Sports Association in which their team could begin play in the 1962 season. Eventually, the Houston Sports Association succeeded in purchasing the Houston Buffaloes, at this point majority-owned by William Hopkins, the Buffs played one last minor league season as the top farm team of the Chicago Cubs in 1961 before being succeeded by the citys NL club. The new Houston team was named the Colt. 45s after a Name The Team contest was won by William Irving Neder, the Colt.45 was well known as the gun that won the west. The colors selected were blue and orange. The first team was formed mostly through a draft after the 1961 season. The Colt. 45s and their cousins, the New York Mets. Many of those associated with the Houston Buffaloes organization were allowed by the ownership to continue in the major league, Manager Harry Craft, who had joined Houston in 1961, remained in the same position for the team until the end of the 1964 season. General manager Spec Richardson also continued with the organization as business manager, similarly, the radio broadcasting team remained with the new Houston major league franchise
15.
2009 Major League Baseball season
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The 2009 Major League Baseball season began on Sunday, April 5,2009 with the New York Yankees defeating the 2008 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies 4–2. The regular season ended on October 6, extended two days for a playoff between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins to decide the American League Central Division champion. The postseason began the day with the Division Series. This was the time the season was completed in November. The American League champion had home advantage for the World Series by virtue of winning the All-Star Game on July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Both teams wore replicas of their 1965 uniforms in the contest, the New York Yankees, with 103 wins, clinched Major League Baseballs best record in the 2009 season, and the #1 seed in the American League by winning the AL East. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won the second seed with a 97–65 record, in the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers in a one-game playoff for the division championship and the #3 seed. The Los Angeles Dodgers had the National Leagues best record, clinching the top seed in the Senior Circuit, the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies, who were defending their 2008 title, was the #2 seed with a 93–69 record. The St. Louis Cardinals, from the NL Central, notched a 91–71 record, note, Major League Baseballs playoff format automatically seeds the Wild Card team 4th. Normally, the No.1 seed plays the No.4 seed in the Division Series. † –11 innings † –13 innings ‡ –11 innings The Seattle Mariners named Milwaukee Brewers scouting director Jack Zduriencik its new manager on October 22. Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden resigned on March 1 amid allegations that he was skimming money from Latin American players. During the last days of the season, two teams fired their general managers, effective at the end of the season. On October 3, the Toronto Blue Jays fired J. P. Ricciardi after eight seasons, the following day, the San Diego Padres axed Kevin Towers, who had been the longest-tenured GM in Major League Baseball at 14 seasons. Gaston had previously been the Blue Jays manager from 1989 until 1997, on January 15, the owners of the 30 Major League Baseball clubs approved two rule changes governing the playing of postseason and one-game playoff games. The game is resumed when conditions permit at the location from the point of suspension. This rule change codifies the controversial interpretation of the rules made by MLB commissioner Bud Selig during Game 5 of the 2008 World Series. Coin tosses will no longer be used to determine home-field advantage for one-game tiebreakers held to determine division champions or wild card teams, instead, performance-based criteria—including head-to-head record between the tied clubs—will be used to determine home-field advantage
16.
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game usually occurs on either the second or third Tuesday in July, and is meant to mark a symbolic halfway-point in the MLB season. Both of the major leagues share a common All-Star break, with no games scheduled on the day before or two days after the All-Star Game itself. Some additional events and festivities associated with the game take place each year close to, no official MLB All-Star Game was held in 1945 including the official selection of players due to World War II travel restrictions. The first All-Star Game was held on July 6,1933 as part of the 1933 Worlds Fair in Chicago, at Comiskey Park and was initiated by Arch Ward, initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in making the game an annual one. The venue for the All-Star Game is chosen by Major League Baseball, the criteria for the venue are subjective, generally, cities with new ballparks and those who have not hosted the game in a long time—or ever—tend to get selected. New York City has hosted more than any city, having done so nine times in five different stadiums. At the same time, the New York Mets failed to host for 48 seasons, in the first two decades of the game there were two pairs of teams that shared ballparks, located in Philadelphia and St. Louis. This led to some shorter-than-usual gaps between the use of venues, The Cardinals hosted the game in 1940, and the Browns in 1948. The Athletics hosted the game in 1943, and the Phillies in 1952, the venues traditionally alternate between the American League and National League every year. This tradition has been several times, The first time was in 1951. Detroit Tigers were chosen to host the game as part of the citys 250th birthday. The second was when the format during the 1959–1962 seasons resulted in the A. L. being one game ahead in turn. This was corrected in 2007, when the N. L, San Francisco Giants were the host for the 2007 All-Star Game, which also set up the 2008 game to be held at the A. L. s Yankee Stadium in its final season. This decision was made following the announcement of Miami as host for the 2017 All Star Game, the coaching staff for each team is selected by its manager. This honor is given to the manager, not the team and this happened in 2003, when Dusty Baker managed the National League team despite having moved from the National League champion San Francisco Giants to the Chicago Cubs. This has also included situations where the person is no longer actively managing a team, mcGraw came out of retirement for that purpose. Dick Williams resigned after managing the Oakland Athletics to the 1973 World Series, in 1974, he became manager of the California Angels, whose uniform he wore for the game. Tony La Russa, who managed the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, in 1979, Bob Lemon managed the American League team after having been fired by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner
17.
2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 15,2003 at U. S. Cellular Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League, the game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 7–6, thus awarding an AL team home-field advantage in the 2003 World Series. This game was the first All-Star Game to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the winning league, in the days leading up to the game, Fox advertised it with the tagline, This time it counts. Subsequent editions altered the slogan to This one counts to reflect the new method of determining the World Series home-field advantage, both the five-man color guard and the sheriffs department officers accompanied Michael Bublé, who sang O Canada, and Vanessa Carlton, who sang The Star-Spangled Banner. Bublés performance of O Canada was not televised until after the game in the Chicago area, players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Notes a Player was unable to due to injury. B Player was selected to start, but was unable to due to injury. C Player replaced an injured player, FV Player was selected by the fans through the All-Star Final Vote. Starters Esteban Loaiza and Jason Schmidt were sharp early on, each throwing a couple of innings to start the game. In the third, Roger Clemens relieved Loaiza and threw a scoreless inning himself, randy Wolf could not do the same, allowing Carlos Delgado to single home Ichiro Suzuki with the games first run, and a 1–0 lead for the AL. The lead would stand until the inning, when Todd Helton gave the NL the lead with a two-run homer off Shigetoshi Hasegawa. The National League would go on to three more runs that inning, on the strength of a two-run double from Andruw Jones. In the sixth, Garret Anderson hit a homer off Woody Williams to bring the AL back within two. Andruw Jones would get one of those runs back the next inning by hitting a shot off Mark Mulder. Jason Giambi got the run back with a solo shot off Billy Wagner in the seventh. In the eighth came Éric Gagné, who did not blow any saves in the 2003 regular season, the All-Star Game would prove to be the one blemish on his record for the year. Staked to a 6–4 lead, Gagne gave up a double to Garret Anderson. Vernon Wells singled Mora home to make it a one-run game, then Hank Blalock hit a dramatic, two-out go-ahead home run to put the AL up 7–6
18.
Infielder
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An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive infield positions on the baseball field. In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. Although there are rules to baseball, in general the team playing offense tries to score runs by batting balls into the field that enable runners to make a complete circuit of the four bases. There are nine defensive positions on a baseball field, the part of the baseball field closest to the batter is known as the infield The infield is composed of four positions, first base, second base, third base and shortstop. Generally, the first three have responsibility for plays at their bases, although the shortstop often shares responsibility for second base with the second baseman. Each position requires a different set of skills, the second baseman tries to field balls hit between first and second base. The shortstop does the same second and third base. Once fielded, the balls must be thrown to the first baseman before the batter can reach first base, second basemen and shortstops—known as the middle infielders—also share responsibility for tagging runners who are attempting to steal second base. Because a shortstop has a throw to make to first base, he must reach the ball faster. For this reason, the shortstop must have the best fielding skills of any infielder, the third baseman primarily fields balls hit and bunted down the third base line, but can also attempt to reach balls hit between second and third base. The third baseman must also have a strong arm, since the throw from his position to first base is the longest on the infield. The first baseman is largely responsible for keeping one foot on first base while catching throws from the three infielders before the batter can reach first base. Because these throws are often hurried and thus off-target, the first baseman must have the ability to cleanly field thrown balls that hit the ground before they reach first base. Since the first baseman mostly stands close to his base, his mobility and throwing skills do not need to be high, good hitters who are slow of foot are often placed at first base. In some cases, a third baseman or outfielder who has lost some speed but is still a good hitter will be moved to first base to keep his bat in the line-up
19.
Bob Boone
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Robert Raymond Boone is an American former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball who was a four-time All-Star. All four family members were named All-Stars during their careers, Bob Boone was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the sixth round of the 1969 amateur draft after attending Stanford University, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity. He made the National League All-Star team three times in a Phillies uniform, and helped the team win the 1980 World Series. But Boone rebounded by throwing out 21 of the first 34 steal attempts and helping the Angels to the AL West title, on September 30,1984, Boone caught Mike Witts perfect game. Boone stayed with the Angels for seven seasons and was let go in 1988, as a free agent, he signed with the Kansas City Royals, but a broken finger in 1990 led to his retirement at age 42 following his shortened season. Boone was a career.254 hitter with 105 home runs and 826 RBI in 2,264 games and he was selected an All-Star in 1976, 1978–79, and 1983. He was one of the top defensive catchers of his era, Boone caught 2,225 games in a 19-year Major League career, a record which was later broken by Carlton Fisk. He caught 117 shutouts during his career, ranking him 14th all-time among major league catchers and he returned to the Royals in 1995 as the manager of the team, but was let go during the 1997 season after a third straight sub-.500 season. In 2001, he was hired to be the skipper of the Cincinnati Reds, however, after another two and a half sub-.500 seasons, the Reds fired Bob Boone on July 28,2003. In 2005, Boone was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame and he currently serves as Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Development for the Washington Nationals. Besides his baseball family, Bob and his family are descendants of American pioneer Daniel Boone Bob Boone and his wife, two of his sons, Aaron Boone and Bret Boone, were former Major League Baseball players. Bob Boones extended family are considered sportsmen and his mother, Patsy Boone, was a synchronized swimmer who swam with Esther Williams in the movies. His sister Terry Boone was a swimmer, and his brother Rod Boone was a college baseball star who played Triple-A ball in the Astros. Third-generation Major League Baseball families Peter Gammons, Bob Boone, He Helps Keep Pitchers Within Strike Zone. Bob Boone, The Majors Most Durable Catcher, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
20.
Ray Boone
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Raymond Otis Boone was an American Major League Baseball player. Boone was born in San Diego, California, an infielder, he broke into the major leagues on September 3,1948, with the Cleveland Indians. In a thirteen-year career, he hit.275 with 151 home runs in 1373 games for Cleveland, the Detroit Tigers, the Chicago White Sox, the Kansas City Athletics, the Milwaukee Braves and the Boston Red Sox. Boone was followed into the majors by son, Bob Boone, who was a catcher from 1972 to 1990 and grandsons Bret Boone, who played from 1992 to 2005, and Aaron Boone, who played 1997 to 2009. The Boone family was the first to three generations of players to the All-Star Game. In 1973, Boone was also inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diegos finest athletes both on and off the playing field. Boone, in his years, spent over three decades as a Red Sox scout and was well known as the leader of the local San Diego National Lumberjack Association chapter. Boone was a descendant of American pioneer Daniel Boone
21.
Bret Boone
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Bret Robert Boone is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. During his career Boone was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and he is a member of the Boone family, one of the most recognizable families in baseball. Boone was born in El Cajon, California to Susan G. Roel and he is also the grandson of former major leaguer Ray Boone and brother of former major leaguer Aaron Boone, as well as the descendant of pioneer Daniel Boone. As a child, Boone hung out in the Phillies clubhouse with Pete Rose Jr. his brother Aaron, Ryan Luzinski and he is a graduate of El Dorado High School and the University of Southern California. In 1992, Boone became the first-ever third-generation big-leaguer in baseball history and his grandfather Ray was an infielder for the Indians, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics, Milwaukee Braves and Boston Red Sox. In 2001 Boone returned to the Seattle Mariners, the organization with which he came up from 1990 to 1993 and he also broke the Mariners team record of home runs for a second baseman with his 37 home runs while hitting 37 doubles. Boone started in the All Star Game in Seattle, received a Silver Slugger Award and finished third in the AL MVP voting. His Mariners paced the league with a record 116 wins, earning the AL West championship and advancing to the ALCS, tying the all-time team record for wins in a season with the 1906 Chicago Cubs. The following year Boone won a Gold Glove for his defense and continued to show the power he had demonstrated the previous years, hitting 24 home runs with 34 doubles. On May 2,2002, Boone and teammate Mike Cameron became the first teammates to hit two home runs in a single inning, doing so in the first inning against the White Sox. With local media and behind the scenes he was famous for his humorous behavior and he was designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners on July 3,2005, and later traded on July 11 to Minnesota for cash and a player to be named later. Minnesota released Boone on August 1 after only 14 games, where the second baseman struggled with a.221 batting average, with 7 home runs and 37 RBI in 88 games for the Mariners and Twins. On January 4,2006, Boone signed a league contract with the New York Mets. He received an invitation to spring training, but on March 1, only a few days into spring training, he announced his retirement from baseball. On February 18,2008, Boone came out of retirement, at first he was assigned to the minor league camp, but after five days, he was invited to the teams major league spring training camp. On March 21,2008, Boone was reassigned to minor league camp after hitting.189 and began the season with the Columbus Clippers and he had hoped to get signed by a major league club, and left the Clippers in late April to work out on his own. However, on May 28, he again announced his retirement. On March 9,2010, he was named manager of the Victoria Seals of the Golden Baseball League, on May 27,2010, after managing just four games, the Seals announced Boone was leaving the team permanently to deal with family matters
22.
Walk-off home run
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In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be a run that gives the home team the lead in the bottom of the final inning of the game. Thus the losing team must then walk off the field immediately afterward, the winning runs must still be counted at home plate. Because the home team always bats last, any kind of walk off scenario, although the concept of a game-ending home run is as old as baseball, the adjective walk-off attained widespread use only in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The first known usage of the word in print appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 21,1988, Section D, Page 1. Chronicle writer Lowell Cohn wrote an article headlined What the Eck. about Oakland reliever Dennis Eckersleys unusual way of speaking, For a translation, I go in search of Eckersley. I also want to know why he calls home runs street pieces. Sportscasters also use the term walk-off hit if any kind of hit drives in the run to end the game. It is a stretch of the term to call a hit a walk-off when what ends the game is not the hit. Starting in the 1990s, a grand slam that erases a three-run deficit has come to be known as an ultimate grand slam. There have been 28 such instances documented in major league history – all taking place during the season,15 of those coming with two outs. No player has accomplished more than once. Of the 28 home runs, only Roberto Clementes was hit inside the park, pirates manager/third base coach Bobby Bragan instructed him to stop at third, but Clemente ran through the stop sign to score the winning run. Alan Trammells June 21,1988 and Chris Hoiles May 17,1996 grand slams occurred under the situation, bases loaded. This was later referred to as the ultimate, ultimate grand slam, the most recent ultimate grand slam was by Rajai Davis, who performed the feat in the ninth inning as the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 5–4 on June 30,2014. Lindy McDaniel of the Chicago Cubs, in 1963, to Bob Aspromonte of the Houston Colt. 45s on June 11, and to Jim Hickman of the New York Mets on August 9. Lee Smith of the California Angels, in 1995, to Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics, on June 30, and to Albert Belle of the Cleveland Indians on July 18. Francisco Rodríguez of the New York Mets, in 2009, to rookies Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres, on August 7, Rodríguez is the only pitcher to surrender two game-winning grand slams to two rookies
23.
2003 American League Championship Series
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The 2003 American League Championship Series was played between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees from October 8 to 16,2003. The Yankees won the four games to three to advance to the World Series. This series delivered yet another blow to Red Sox fans hopes of winning a World Series for the first time since 1918, the series seemed evenly matched, with the lead being held first by the Red Sox, then by the Yankees. The Red Sox also set an ALCS record with home runs in the series. New York won the series, 4–3, Mike Mussina pitched three shutout innings before allowing a leadoff single to Manny Ramirez in the fourth, then David Ortiz homered to put the Red Sox up 2–0. Next inning, Todd Walker and Manny Ramirez each hit home runs off of Mussina to put the Red Sox ahead 4–0. In the top of the seventh, Jeff Nelson allowed a single to Ramirez. However, the Yankees would not score again as the Red Sox took a 1-0 series lead, in the bottom of the inning, Derek Lowe issued a leadoff walk to Jorge Posada and one out later, Nick Johnsons home run put the Yankees up 2-1. Next inning, Lowe allowed three consecutive singles, the last of which by Bernie Williams scored Derek Jeter to make it 3-1 Yankees. In the fifth, Williams doubled with one out and scored on a single by Hideki Matsui, variteks home run in the sixth off of Pettitte made it 4-2 Yankees. In the seventh, Lowe allowed a single to Jason Giambi and walked Williams before being relieved by Scott Sauerbeck. Their lead held, tying the series at 1-1 heading to Boston, early on, Karim Garcia was hit in the back by a Martinez fastball. Words were exchanged and Martinez threateningly gestured towards Yankee catcher Jorge Posada, when Garcia was forced out at second, he slid hard into Todd Walker. The following inning, Manny Ramírez took exception to a high Clemens pitch, both benches cleared, but the resulting brawl turned surreal when 72-year-old Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer charged Pedro Martínez. Martinez sidestepped and brushed the charging Zimmer down, Zimmer then stumbled and fell onto the ground as Yankee trainer Gene Monahan and various Yankee players attended to him. The game would not end quietly, a Fenway groundskeeper got into a scuffle with Yankee reliever Jeff Nelson in the middle of the 9th inning in the bullpen area. In the bottom of the first, Clemens allowed a single to Johnny Damon. After Nomar Garciaparra struck out, Manny Ramirezs double put the Red Sox up 2-0, the Yankees cut it to 2-1 in the second off of Martinez when Jorge Posada hit a leadoff double and scores on Karim Garcias single two outs later
24.
ESPN
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ESPN is a U. S. -based global cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc. a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Corporation. ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut, the network also operates offices in Miami, New York City, Seattle, Charlotte, and Los Angeles. John Skipper currently serves as president of ESPN, a position he has held since January 1,2012, as of February 2015, ESPN is available to approximately 94,396,000 paid television households in the United States. In 2011, ESPNs history and rise was chronicled by These Guys Have All the Fun, Bill Rasmussen conceived the concept of ESPN in late May 1978, after he was fired from his job with the World Hockey Associations New England Whalers. One of the first steps in Bill and his son Scotts process was finding land to build the channels broadcasting facilities, the Rasmussens first rented office space in Plainville, Connecticut. However, the plan to base ESPN there was put on hold because a local ordinance prohibiting buildings from bearing rooftop satellite dishes and this helped the credibility of the fledgling company, however there were still many doubters to the viability of their sports channel concept. ESPN launched on September 7,1979, beginning with the first telecast of what would become the flagship program. Taped in front of a live audience inside the Bristol studios. ESPNs next big break came when the acquired the rights to broadcast coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Tournament. It first aired the NCAA tournament in March 1980, creating the modern day television event known as March Madness. The channels tournament coverage also launched the career of Dick Vitale. In April of that year, ESPN created another made-for-TV spectacle, the next major stepping stone for ESPN came over the course of a couple of months in 1984. During this time period, the American Broadcasting Company purchased 100% of ESPN from the Rasmussens, for years, the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball refused to consider cable as a means of broadcasting some of their games. However, with the backing of ABC, ESPNs ability to compete for major sports contracts greatly increased, later in 1984, the U. S. ESPNs Sunday Night Football games would become the highest-rated NFL telecasts for the next 17 years. In 1992, ESPN launched ESPN Radio, a sports talk radio network providing analysis. It became the fastest growing cable channel in the U. S. during the 1990s, ownership of ABC, and in effect control of ESPN, was acquired first by Capital Cities Communications in 1985, and then by The Walt Disney Company in 1996. In 2012, ESPN generated more revenue for Disney than any of its other properties combined, alongside its live sports broadcasts, ESPN also airs a variety of sports highlight, talk, and documentary-styled shows. 30 for 30 started airing in 2009 and continues airing to this day, each episode is through the eyes of a well known filmmaker and has featured some of the biggest directors in Hollywood
25.
Baseball Tonight
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Baseball Tonight is a program that airs on ESPN. The show, which recapitulates the days Major League Baseball action, has been on the air since 1990 and its namesake program also airs on ESPN Radio at various times of the day during the baseball season, with Marc Kestecher as host. Baseball Tonight is also the title of a daily podcast hosted by Buster Olney with frequent appearances by Jayson Stark, Tim Kurkjian, Karl Ravech, and Jerry Crasnick. Baseball Tonight appears nightly on ESPN throughout the season at 10,00 p. m. ET and 12,00 a. m. ET on ESPN2. The 10 PM show airs on ESPN2 in the event of a conflict, following the cancellation of The Trifecta in late 2006, the 12,00 a. m. run of Baseball Tonight was expanded to a full 40 minutes. The show has permission from Major League Baseball to show in-progress highlights, the show is also seen at 12,30 p. m. ET and 7,00 p. m. ET on Sundays, the latter show leading up to the Sunday Night Baseball telecast. The midnight edition usually re-aired at 12,00 p. m. ET the following day and that practice ended Monday August 11,2008, when SportsCenter went to live editions in the mornings. e. A show from the rooftop at Fenway Park and a show one of the Wrigley Rooftops at Wrigley Field in 2005. It aired live from the field at Fenway Park on April 26,2009 before the Sunday Night Baseball game between the Yankees–Red Sox game, which featured an interview with Dustin Pedroia. On June 28,2009, it aired from Citi Field in anticipation of that nights Subway Series game between the Mets and the Yankees, the ESPN Baseball Tonight Theme music was written by Jon Cobert for Roger Tallman Associates in 1990. Cobert and Tallman are listed as writers on the Copyright form, the theme has been arranged and re-arranged many times over the years, but the original melody still remains the same. On January 3,2000, the segment Web Gems was coined and created by then-producer Judson Burch, the segment originally featured great defensive plays followed by viewer internet voting on the web. The phrase web gem is now common vernacular in baseball broadcasts, in 2002, the home run segment Going, Going, Gone, complete with the immensely popular screaming baseball animation was replaced with a tamer segment Touch Em All sans screaming baseball. Airing begins in March during spring training and ends after the World Series in October, in 2006, Baseball Tonight introduced new graphics. The opening sequence features players on baseball cards moving and a ball going from one to another via a throw or off a bat, a much longer variation of this is also used to open ESPNs live game broadcasts. The theme music also was updated from the orchestral treatment to a livelier rock vamp. In 2007, a new segment entitled Thats Nasty. was introduced, the new segment featured top pitching performances of the day, including the best individual pitches. These clips often include extremely high velocity fastballs, 12–6 curveballs, prior to the 2007 All-Star Game, a modified version of the opening sequence was used which featured various San Francisco landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge
26.
Villa Park High School
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Villa Park High School is a suburban public high school in Villa Park, California. The school was built in 1964 and is one of four high schools in the Orange Unified School District. The campus serves students residing in Villa Park and portions of the cities of Orange, enrollment at VPHS is 2,491 students. The ethnic breakdown of the student population is 20. 9% Asian,56. 7% Hispanic. 16% African American and 16. 5% white. The professional staff includes 88 teachers, five counselors, a media specialist, a career adviser, an activities director. A dedicated classified staff also supports the school program, the school Academic Performance Index for the 2011–2012 school year was 815, a 6-point increase over the previous year. The regular school day begins at 7,55 AM and ends at 2,46 PM, a small number of earlier classes are available for students who want to begin and finish their school day earlier. These zero period classes meet from 6, 55—7,56 A. M, the school mascot is a Spartan and its colors are Columbia blue, silver, and black. S. National and World Long Driving Champion, official school website Class of 1980 official website
27.
Villa Park, California
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Villa Park is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 5,812, the city is largely zoned for single-family residences on lots that average about 20,000 square feet, or 1/2 acre, in size. Within the city there is one small shopping center. City Hall, including a community room, and a branch of the Orange County Public Libraries system is adjacent to the only shopping center. After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolà, a Spanish expedition led by Father Junipero Serra named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana, on November 1,1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the areas first permanent European settlement in Alta California, New Spain. In 1810, the Spanish Empire granted 62,500 acres to Jose Antonio Yorba, yorbas rancho included the lands where the cities of Olive, Orange, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach stand today. After the Mexican-American war in 1848, Alta California became part of the United States in 1850, Villa Park was known as Mountain View in the 1860s. It was then an area producing, in turn, grapes, walnuts. Finally, citrus became the crop for about 60 years. Ranchers established the Serrano Water District, which still provides Villa Parks water, Villa Park is located at 33°48′58″N 117°48′40″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 2.1 square miles. There are no parks within city limits, many homes have pools and/or tennis courts. Unlike more urban areas of Orange County west of the city, Villa Park has winding streets with few sidewalks, throughout are trees and flower beds in planted medians and parkways. The 2010 United States Census reported that Villa Park had a population of 5,812, the population density was 2,796.6 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Villa Park was 4,550 White,42 African American,34 Native American,854 Asian,1 Pacific Islander,162 from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 598 persons. The census reported that 5,767 people lived in households,40 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 36 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 8 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 208 households were made up of individuals and 144 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.92. There were 1,728 families, the family size was 3.11
28.
Stolen base
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In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which he is not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out at the next base, a stolen base most often occurs when a baserunner advances to the next base while the pitcher is pitching the ball to home plate. Successful base stealers are not only fast but have good baserunning instincts, ned Cuthbert, playing for the Philadelphia Keystones in either 1863 or 1865, was the first player to steal a base in a baseball game, although the term stolen base was not used until 1870. For a time in the 19th century, stolen bases were credited when a baserunner reached an extra base on a hit from another player. For example, if a runner on first base reached third base on a single, in 1887, Hugh Nicol set a still-standing Major League record with 138 stolen bases, many of which would not have counted under modern rules. Modern steal rules were implemented in 1898. Base stealing was popular in the early decades, with speedsters such as Ty Cobb. Wills record was broken in turn by Lou Brock in 1974, base stealing is an important characteristic of the small ball managing style. Such managers emphasize doing the things to advance runners and score runs, often relying on pitching. The Los Angeles Dodgers of the 1960s, led by pitcher Sandy Koufax, the antithesis of this is reliance on power hitting, exemplified by the Baltimore Orioles of the 1970s, which aspired to score most of its runs via home runs. Often the small ball model is associated with the National League, however, some successful recent American League teams, including the 2002 Anaheim Angels, the 2001 Seattle Mariners and the 2005 Chicago White Sox have excelled at small ball. The Kansas City Royals have embodied this style recently, leading the league in stolen bases but finishing last in home runs in 2013 and 2014. Successful teams often combine both styles, with a runner or two complementing hitters with power, such as the 2005 White Sox, who despite playing small ball, still hit 200 home runs. Baseballs Rule 8 specifies the pitching procedure in detail, a runner intending to steal on the pitcher breaks for the next base the moment the pitcher commits to pitch to home plate. The pitcher cannot abort the pitch and try to put the runner out, if the runner breaks too soon, the pitcher may throw to a base rather than pitch, and the runner is usually picked off by being tagged out between the bases. Past this moment, any delay in the runners break makes it likely that the catcher, after receiving the pitch. Before the pitch, the runner takes a lead-off, walking several steps away from the base as a start toward the next base. Even a runner who does not intend to steal takes a lead of a few more steps
29.
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
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University of Southern California
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The University of Southern California is a private research university founded in 1880 with its main campus in Los Angeles, California. As Californias oldest private university, USC has historically educated a large number of the regions business leaders. In recent decades, the university has also leveraged its location in Los Angeles to establish relationships with research and cultural institutions throughout Asia, an engine for economic activity, USC contributes $8 billion annually to the economy of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and California. For the 2014–15 academic year, there were 18,740 students enrolled in undergraduate programs. USC also has 23,729 graduate and professional students in a number of different programs, including business, law, engineering, social work, and medicine. The university is one of the top fundraising institutions in the world, consistently ranking among the top 3 in external contributions, multiple academic rankings list the University of Southern California as being among the top 25 universities in the United States. With an acceptance rate of 16 percent, USC is also among the most selective academic institutions in the nation. USC maintains a tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship, with alumni having founded companies such as Lucasfilm, Myspace, Salesforce. com, Intuit, Qualcomm, Box, Tinder. As of 2014, the university has produced the fourth largest number of billionaire alumni out of all institutions in the world. USC is home to the world’s most powerful computer, which is presently housed in a super-cooled. The only other commercially available quantum computing system is operated jointly by NASA, USC was also one of the earliest nodes on ARPANET and is the birthplace of the Domain Name System. Other technologies invented at USC include DNA computing, dynamic programming, image compression, VoIP, USC sponsors a variety of intercollegiate sports and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Members of the teams, the Trojans, have won 102 NCAA team championships, ranking them third in the nation. Trojan athletes have won 288 medals at the Olympic games, more than any university in the United States. If USC were a country, its athletes would have received the 12th-most Olympic gold medals in history. In 1969, it joined the Association of American Universities, the University of Southern California was founded following the efforts of Judge Robert M. Hellman. The three donated 308 lots of land to establish the campus and provided the seed money for the construction of the first buildings. Originally operated in affiliation with the Methodist Church, the school mandated from the start that no student would be denied admission because of race, the university is no longer affiliated with any church, having severed formal ties in 1952
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College baseball
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College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a role in developing professional players. Moving directly from school to the professional level is more common in baseball than in football or basketball. However, if players enroll at a college, they must complete three years to regain eligibility, unless they reach age 21 before starting their third year of attendance. Players who enroll at junior colleges regain eligibility after one year at that level, in the most recently completed 2016 season, there were 300 NCAA Division I teams in the United States. As with most other U. S. intercollegiate sports, competitive college baseball is played under the auspices of the NCAA or the NAIA, the NCAA writes the rules of play, while each sanctioning body supervises season-ending tournaments. The final rounds of the NCAA tournaments are known as the College World Series, the College World Series for Division I takes place in Omaha, Nebraska in June, following the regular season. The playoff bracket for Division I consists of 64 teams, with four teams playing at each of 16 regional sites, the 16 winners advance to the Super Regionals at eight sites, played head-to-head in a best-of-three series. The eight winners then advance to the College World Series, an elimination tournament to determine the two national finalists. The finalists play a series to determine the Division I national champion. In 2016, Coastal Carolina won the College World Series, the first intercollegiate baseball game took place in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on July 1,1859, between squads representing Amherst College and Williams College. As these efforts resulted in players and overall programs, more television. The ESPN family of greatly increased television coverage of the NCAA playoffs. Soon, in many regions, baseball came to be considered a major sport. And even non-warm weather schools started to recognize baseballs potential and began to put more emphasis on it. Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Oregon State are three examples of cold weather schools with very successful programs. The first two made the College World Series when warm-weather schools placed major emphasis on baseball as well as had the advantage of playing earlier and more games because of favorable climates. Oregon State won back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007, at time, archrival Oregon had been without baseball for a quarter-century
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USC Trojans baseball
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The USC Trojans baseball program represents the University of Southern California in college baseball. Established in 1888, the team is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the head coach of the Trojans is Dan Hubbs, who has held the position since the start of the 2013 season. USC homes field is Dedeaux Field, which is named in honor of former head coach, the USC Trojans are one of the most successful programs in the history of college baseball. The Trojans have won more national championships than any other program across all divisions of college baseball. With 12 national championships, USC is far and away the leader in that category, as of May 31,2015, USC also ranks fourth in all-time College World Series appearances with 21, tied with Florida State and trailing only Texas, Miami, and Arizona State. The Trojans have won more individual CWS games than any program, USC also ranks fourth in all-time NCAA Tournament wins with 173—trailing only Texas, Miami, and Florida State —and eighth in total NCAA Tournament appearances with 37. USCs most notable coach was Rod Dedeaux, who coached from 1942 from 1986 and led the school to 11 of its NCAA championships. The first Trojan national championship came in 1948, the 12th and most recent NCAA championship came in 1998. The Trojans began recognizing baseball as a sport in 1889. As with many programs during the late 19th century and early 20th century, the Trojans lacked a consistent head coach and it was not until 1908 that the Trojans had an official head coach, Harvey Holmes, but Holmes only coached the team for one year. Holmes also coached other sports at USC including football and track, the team would get another coach during the 1911 season, Curtiss Bernard. Bernard also only coached for a year, and in 1912 the Trojans once again had a coach in Len Burrell. During the World War I years, the USC baseball team was made up mostly of law school students, following the conclusion of the war, the baseball team was coached by Gloomy Gus Henderson in 1920. Henderson would join forces with Willis Hunter as co-coaches for the 1921 season, in 1923 the team was coached by George Wheeler, who also coached the law students during the 1914 season. Wheeler coached the team for a year, and would mark the last time the Trojan baseball team has lacked consistency at the coaching position, long-time Major League Baseball player and multiple MLB record-holder Sam Crawford took over as head coach of USC baseball in 1924. Crawford would mark the end of inconsistency at the ranks for the baseball program. During his tenure, the program began to rise to national prominence. Crawford coached the Trojans for six years turning the reigns over to Sam Barry
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Orleans Firebirds
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The Orleans Firebirds are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League and they were known as the Orleans Cardinals from 1946-2008. Orleans currently plays its games at Eldredge Park and has been among the league leaders in attendance in recent years. The Firebirds finished the 2007 season in a third place tie in the Eastern Division with 47 points, Orleans has won two Cape Cod Baseball League Championships in the 21st century, most recently in 2005 when they defeated the Bourne Braves two games to one in the championship series. Orleans has fielded a team since the days of the Cape League. In the final fifteen years of the Pre-Modern Era, Orleans won a total of seven championships, including back to back titles in 1949 and 1950. Their title in 1957 had been their most recent title up until 1986, the early part of the modern era for the Cardinals were plagued with the teams inability to break through in the playoffs. Despite qualifying for the eleven times between 1967 and 1985, the team was unable to win any league crowns. Orleans would fall in the series two more times in 1974 and 1981 before finally winning their first title in the modern era in 1986. That year, manager John Castleberry led the Cardinals to the best record in the league in the regular season, Orleans would sweep their semi-final series against the Chatham Athletics and eliminate the two-time defending Cape League champion Cotuit Kettleers two games to none in the championship series. In the 1990s, Orleans would win another Cape League title in 1993 and their Eastern Division Regular Season Championship in 1994 was their only regular season crown until 2002. Orleans has seen success in the 21st century, making the championship series three times, and winning the title twice, in 2003 and 2005. Wanting to maintain their independence and longstanding relationship with local vendors, the current logo is a Firebirds inside of an O. Its all about the O. Orleans won the East division title in 2011, the Firebirds led the Cape Cod League with 31 wins in 2015. They made the playoffs again in 2016 as the #3 seed in the East. T
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Cape Cod Baseball League
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The Cape Cod Baseball League is a collegiate summer baseball league located on Cape Cod in the U. S. state of Massachusetts. Many future Major League Baseball players have started there during their college years, during the 2014 MLB season,265 CCBL alumni played in the majors, additionally over 1,000 CCBL alumni were playing in professional baseball in 2006. The CCBL Hall of Fame is located in the Dugout, the lower-level of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum in Hyannis, the Cape Cod Baseball League is one of 10 leagues in the National Alliance of Summer Baseball. The Cape Cod League regular season starts in mid-June and runs through mid-August, the playoffs determine the East and West Division Champions, who then compete for the League Championship. At one time, six of the teams in the Cape League shared their names with Major League Baseball teams. However, in late 2008 MLB announced that it would enforce its trademarks, MLB could not enforce the Mariners trademark against the Harwich Mariners because that team predated the 1977 American League expansion and the entry of the Seattle Mariners into MLB. Three other teams eventually changed their names, first, in 2009, the Chatham Athletics became the Anglers, and the Orleans Cardinals became the Firebirds. In March 2010 the Hyannis Mets joined the Anglers and Firebirds, the Bourne Braves and Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox chose to use MLB licensees for their merchandise. The 2003 documentary film Touching the Game by Jim Carroll chronicled the 2003 CCBL season, Baseball by the Beach by Christopher Price was published in 1998 and discusses the league and its history. In 2002, writer Jim Collins followed the Chatham Athletics for the season and wrote The Last Best League about the team, Baseball on Cape Cod by Dan Crowley has many photos of the early and modern Cape League eras. The 2004 novel Slider by Patrick Robinson takes place in a Maine summer league, in 2005, Beach Chairs and Baseball Bats by author Steve Weissman and Cape Crusaders by author Mike Thomas were published. The latter focuses on interviews, while the former goes behind the scenes of a typical Cape League season. There are also several blogs that follow the Cape League, including Right Field Fog
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Second baseman
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In baseball and softball, second baseman is a fielding position in the infield, between third and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, in addition, second basemen are usually right-handed, only four left-handed throwing players have ever played second base since 1950. In the numbering system used to record plays, the second baseman is assigned the number 4. Good second basemen need to have very good range, since they have to field balls closer to the first baseman who is often holding runners on, on a batted ball to right field, the second baseman goes out towards the ball for the relay. Due to these requirements, second base is sometimes a primarily defensive position in the modern game, the second baseman catches line drives or pop flies hit near him, and fields ground balls hit near him and then throws the ball to a base to force out a runner. In this case, if the runner is to be forced out at second base then that base is covered by the shortstop. With a runner on first base, on a ball to the shortstop or third baseman the second baseman will cover second base to force out the runner coming from first. com
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Shortstop
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Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. The position is filled by defensive specialists, so shortstops are generally relatively poor batters who bat later in the batting order. In the numbering used by scorers to record defensive plays. More hit balls go to the shortstop than to any position, as there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters. Like a second baseman, a shortstop must be agile, for example performing a 4-6-3 double play. Also, like a third baseman, the shortstop fields balls hit to the side of the infield. Doc Adams of the Knickerbockers created the concept of the position, according to Thorn. In the first five years the Knickerbockers played, the team fielded anywhere from eight to eleven players, the only infielders were the players covering each of the bases, if there were more than eight players, extra outfielders were sometimes used. The outfielders had difficulty throwing baseballs into the infield, because of the light weight. Adams shortstop position, which he started playing at some time from 1849 to 1850, was used to field throws from the outfielders, with the advent of higher-quality baseballs, Adams moved to the infield, since the distance the balls could travel increased. Adams had a playing career with the Knickerbockers, he remained a player with the team until 1860. The shortstop ordinarily is positioned near second base on the third-base side, a shortstop must also be extremely agile, because balls hit to or near the shortstop position are usually hit harder than to other infield positions. Shortstops are required to cover second base in double play situations when the ball is hit to the second baseman or first baseman and they also cover second when a runner is attempting a stolen base, but only when a left-handed hitter is batting. This is because the infield will respond to a batter by shifting toward first base. They often become the man on balls to any part of the outfield that are being directed towards third base and all balls to left. Depending on the system the shortstop may cut balls from left field heading home, however, the emphasis on defense makes the position unusually difficult to fill. Historically, a strong shortstop did not have to be a good hitter.200, since the 1960s, however, such mediocre hitting has become rarer as teams increasingly demand players with ability to both field and hit. Alex Rodríguez, Michael Young, or Miguel Tejada, the year in which the player was inducted is given in brackets after his name
