1.
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
2.
Willemstad
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Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Formerly the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 2010, Willemstad is home to the Curaçao synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. The city centre, with its architecture and harbour entry, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Punda was established in 1634, when the Dutch captured the island from Spain, the original name of Punda was de punt in Dutch. Otrobanda, which was founded in 1707, is the section of the city and is considered to be the cultural centre of Willemstad. Its name originated from the Papiamentu otro banda, which means the other side, the Curaçao synagogue was built by Sephardic Portuguese Jews from Amsterdam and Recife, Brazil. Insel Air, the airline of Curaçao, has its corporate head office in Maduro Plaza. Tourism is an industry and the city has several casinos. The city centre of Willemstad has an array of architecture that is influenced by Dutch styles. Archaeological research has also been developed there, owing to its location near the Venezuelan oilfields, its political stability and its natural deep water harbour, Willemstad became the site of an important seaport and refinery. Willemstads harbour is one of the largest oil handling ports in the Caribbean, the refinery, at one point the largest in the world, was originally built and owned by Royal Dutch Shell in 1915. It was sold to the Curaçao government for the sum of one guilder in 1985 and is now leased to PDVSA. Schlumberger, the worlds largest oil field services company is incorporated in Willemstad, numerous financial institutions are incorporated in Willemstad due to Curaçaos favourable tax policies. Avalon University School of Medicine is located in Willemstad, Caribbean Medical University is located in Willemstad - close to downtown. Major League Baseball players Jair Jurrjens, Wladimir Balentien, Jurickson Profar, Andruw Jones, Kenley Jansen, pabao Little League has appeared in five Little League World Series, winning in 2004. S. Willemstad is served by Hato International Airport, Punda and Otrobanda are connected by Queen Emma Bridge, a long pontoon bridge. Although it is still in use, these days most road traffic now uses the Queen Juliana Bridge built in 1967 which arches high over the bay further inland, nearby is also the now non-functioning Queen Wilhelmina Bridge drawbridge. Willemstad has a tropical savannah climate, Baseball player Andruw Jones was born in Willemstad
3.
Netherlands Antilles
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The Netherlands Antilles was a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The country consisted of several island territories located in the Caribbean Sea, the islands were also informally known as the Dutch Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies. All the island territories that belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the kingdom today, as a group they are still commonly called the Dutch Caribbean, regardless of their legal status. The islands of the Netherlands Antilles are all part of the Lesser Antilles island chain, within this group, the country was spread over two smaller island groups, a northern group and a western group. No part of the country was in the southern Windward Islands and this island sub-group was located in the eastern Caribbean Sea, to the east of Puerto Rico. There were three islands, collectively known as the SSS islands, Sint Maarten Saba Sint Eustatius and they lie approximately 800–900 kilometers north-east of the ABC Islands. This island sub-group was located in the southern Caribbean Sea off the north coast of Venezuela, the Leeward islands are subject to hurricanes in the summer months, while those islands located in the Leeward Antilles are warmer and drier. Spanish-sponsored explorers discovered both the leeward and windward island groups, however, the Spanish Crown only founded settlements in the leeward islands. In the 17th century the islands were conquered by the Dutch West India Company, from the last quarter of the 17th century, the group consisted of six undisputedly Dutch islands, Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten. In the past, Anguilla, the present-day British Virgin Islands, St. Croix, the various islands were united as a single country — the Netherlands Antilles — in 1954. The country was dissolved on 10 October 2010, in the second half of the 18th century Sint Eustatius became the commercial hub of the north-eastern Caribbean, earning the nickname the Golden Rock. From 1815 onwards Curaçao and Dependencies formed a colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, slavery was abolished in 1863, and in 1865 a government regulation for Curaçao was enacted that allowed for some very limited autonomy for the colony. Although this regulation was replaced by a constitution in 1936, the changes to the government structure remained superficial, the island of Curaçao was hit hard by the abolition of slavery in 1863. Its prosperity was restored in the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil fields, colonial rule ended after the conclusion of the Second World War. In May 1948 a new constitution for the territory entered into force, among other things, universal suffrage was introduced. The territory was also renamed Netherlands Antilles, after the Dutch constitution was revised in 1948, a new interim Constitution of the Netherlands Antilles was enacted in February 1951. A consolidated version of this remained in force until the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010
4.
Atlanta Braves
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The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball franchise based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The franchise competes in Major League Baseball as a member of the National League East division, the Braves played home games at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium from 1966 to 1996, and Turner Field from 1997 to 2016. Since 2017, their stadium has been SunTrust Park, a new stadium 10 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta in Cumberland/Galleria, Georgia. The Braves play spring training games in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in January 2017, the Braves announced a formal agreement to move their spring training home to North Port, Florida. The Braves name, which was first used in 1912, originates from a term for a Native American warrior, from 1991 to 2005, the Braves were one of the most successful franchises in baseball, winning division titles an unprecedented 14 consecutive times in that period. The Braves won the NL West 1991–93 and the NL East 1995–2005, the Braves advanced to the World Series five times in the 1990s, winning the title in 1995. The Braves are the only Major League Baseball franchise to have won the World Series in three different home cities, the Braves and the Chicago Cubs are the National Leagues two remaining charter franchises. The Braves were founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1871, the team states it is the oldest continuously operating professional sports franchise in America. After various name changes, the team began operating as the Boston Braves. Then, in 1953, the moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The teams tenure in Atlanta is noted for Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruths career home run record in 1974, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, voted to dissolve after the 1870 season. The original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years, pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes. Led by the Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, the team became one of the National Leagues charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the Red Caps. The Boston Red Caps played in the first game in the history of the National League, on Saturday, April 22,1876, defeating the Athletics, although somewhat stripped of talent in the National Leagues inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the dominant teams during the 19th century. For most of time, their manager was Frank Selee. Boston came to be called the Beaneaters in 1883, while retaining red as the team color, the 1898 team finished 102–47, a club record for wins that would stand for almost a century
5.
Rawlings Gold Glove Award
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Managers are not permitted to vote for their own players. Additionally, a sabermetric component provided by Society for American Baseball Research accounts for approximately 25 percent of the vote, eighteen Gold Gloves are awarded each year, one at each of the nine positions in each league. In 1957, the glove manufacturer Rawlings created the Gold Glove Award to commemorate the best fielding performance at each position. The award was created from a made from gold lamé-tanned leather. For the first four seasons of the award, individual awards were presented to left fielders, center fielders, from 1961 through 2010, the phrase at each position was no longer strictly accurate, since the prize was presented to three outfielders irrespective of their specific position. Any combination of outfielders, often three center fielders, could win the award in the same year, critics called for awarding a single Gold Glove for each individual outfield position, arguing that the three outfield positions are not equivalent defensively. Starting in 2011, separate awards for each position were once again presented. In the 1985 American League voting, a tie for third-place resulted in the presentation of Gold Glove Awards to four outfielders, the Gold Gloves are selected by managers and coaches that may have seen a player as few as six times during the season. Bill Chuck of Comcast SportsNet New England wrote that Gold Glove voters frequently counted only errors to determine winners, geoff Baker of The Seattle Times said the votes for the Gold Gloves rely largely on a players past reputation. The Associated Press wrote that fans have viewed the Gold Gloves as mostly a popularity contest. Derek Jeter, winner of five Gold Gloves, believes that many defensive factors cannot be quantified, in 2013, Rawlings collaborated on the Gold Glove Award with SABR, who provided the SABR Defensive Index to add a sabermetric component to the selection process. The index accounted for 25 percent of the vote, while managers, afterwards, Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated wrote that the Gold Gloves appear to have significantly closed the gap on their more statistically-driven counterparts. The most Gold Gloves ever won by one player is 18 by pitcher Greg Maddux and he won 13 consecutive awards from 1990 to 2002, all in the National League. Brooks Robinson has the most wins as a third baseman, with 16 Gold Gloves, and is tied for the second-highest total overall with pitcher Jim Kaat, Iván Rodríguez has won the most Gold Gloves as a catcher, with 13 career awards in the American League. Ozzie Smith has 13 wins at shortstop, he and Rodríguez are tied for the fourth-highest total among all winners, among outfielders, Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays, who played primarily right field and center field, respectively, are tied for the lead with 12 Gold Gloves. Keith Hernandez, the leader at first base, has won 11 times, other players with 10 or more wins include shortstop Omar Vizquel, catcher Johnny Bench, third baseman Mike Schmidt, and outfielders Ken Griffey Jr. Ichiro Suzuki, Andruw Jones, and Al Kaline. The only player to win Gold Gloves as an infielder and outfielder is Darin Erstad, the only other player to win Gold Gloves at multiple positions is Plácido Polanco, who won at second base and third base. In 2016, Rawlings announced it would begin awarding a gold glove annually to a female fastpitch softball player in the National Pro Fastpitch league, NPF coaches and managers vote for a winner
6.
2013 World Baseball Classic
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The 2013 World Baseball Classic was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19,2013. This was the iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike the two previous WBCs, which consisted of the sixteen countries, only the twelve countries that won at least one game in the 2009 WBC were guaranteed a berth in the main tournament. The automatic qualifiers were Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the United States, and Venezuela. Four qualification brackets were held in late 2012 and respectively won by Canada, Taiwan, Spain, and Brazil, as in the 2006 tournament, the first round had a round-robin format, which led to South Korea being eliminated on a run difference tiebreaker. Venezuela also failed to advance out of a tough group, the fourth-place teams in each group – Brazil, Australia, Spain, and Mexico – will have to participate in the qualifying round in order to return for the 2017 tournament. The Netherlands improved on its surprising 2009 run by advancing to the semifinal game, however, the two-time defending champions Japan were eliminated in the semi-finals game against stunning Puerto Rico. In the final game, the Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico to become the first WBC champion from the Western Hemisphere, robinson Canó was named the Most Valuable Player of the Classic. JPBPA demanded a share of advertising and merchandise sponsorship revenue for the tournament. In July 2012 the JPBPA voted unanimously to boycott the 2013 World Baseball Classic, the move was interpreted by some news outlets as a non-final decision, aimed at raising the pressure on MLB. In September 2012, Japanese players agreed to part after reaching a compromise with tournament organizers on sharing sponsorship. The automatic qualifiers were Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the United States, and Venezuela. The other four teams from the 2009 tournament contested a round in late 2012. The qualifying round was organized as four independent modified double-elimination tournaments, the modification was that the final game was winner-take-all, even if won by the team emerging from the losers bracket. Although this modified format was used in some rounds of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, in that tournament the final game was only for seeding. As practiced in the 2013 qualifiers, the team emerging from the winners bracket might be eliminated from the tournament despite losing one game. The composition of the pools was determined based on geographical location, competitive balance. In Qualifier 1, South Africa took on France, Israel, in Qualifier 2, Canada took on the Czech Republic, Germany, and Great Britain, with the games taking place in Regensburg, Germany
7.
Major League Baseball
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Major League Baseball is a professional baseball organization, the oldest of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. A total of 30 teams now play in the National League and American League, the NL and AL operated as separate legal entities from 1876 and 1901 respectively. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities since 1903, the merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000. The organization also oversees Minor League Baseball, which comprises about 240 teams affiliated with the Major League clubs, with the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB manages the international World Baseball Classic tournament. Baseballs first professional team was founded in Cincinnati in 1869,30 years after Abner Doubleday supposedly invented the game of baseball, the first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one team or league to another. The period before 1920 in baseball was known as the dead-ball era, Baseball survived a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series, which came to be known as the Black Sox Scandal. The sport rose in popularity in the 1920s, and survived potential downturns during the Great Depression, shortly after the war, baseballs color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson. The 1950s and 1960s were a time of expansion for the AL and NL, then new stadiums, Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s, and media reports began to discuss the use of anabolic steroids among Major League players in the mid-2000s. In 2006, an investigation produced the Mitchell Report, which implicated many players in the use of performance-enhancing substances, today, MLB is composed of thirty teams, twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada. Baseball broadcasts are aired on television, radio, and the Internet throughout North America, MLB has the highest season attendance of any sports league in the world with more than 73 million spectators in 2015. MLB is governed by the Major League Baseball Constitution and this document has undergone several incarnations since 1875, with the most recent revisions being made in 2012. Under the direction of the Commissioner of Baseball, MLB hires and maintains the sports umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, MLB maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of Minor League Baseball. This ruling has been weakened only slightly in subsequent years, the weakened ruling granted more stability to the owners of teams and has resulted in values increasing at double-digit rates. There were several challenges to MLBs primacy in the sport between the 1870s and the Federal League in 1916, the last attempt at a new league was the aborted Continental League in 1960. The chief executive of MLB is the commissioner, Rob Manfred, the chief operating officer is Tony Petitti. There are five other executives, president, chief officer, chief legal officer, chief financial officer. The multimedia branch of MLB, which is based in Manhattan, is MLB Advanced Media and this branch oversees MLB. com and each of the 30 teams websites. Its charter states that MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the league, MLB Productions is a similarly structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media
8.
Kenley Jansen
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Kenley Geronimo Jansen is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He has played for the Dodgers since his MLB debut in 2010 and he appeared in the MLB All-Star Game in 2016. Jansen was born in Willemstad, Curaçao, the youngest of three sons of Isidor and Bernadette Jansen and his father worked in construction until suffering a stroke when Kenley was 12, his mother is a travel agent. He had two hits in 11 at-bats in three games for Ogden and he was back with the Gulf Coast team the following season, hitting.245 in 35 games. After the season he played for the North Shore Honu in the Hawaii Winter Baseball League, Jansen split 2007 between the Raptors and the Class-A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League, hitting.207 in 73 games. After the season, he played in Hawaii Winter Baseball. He was selected to the mid-season Midwest League All-Star game, in 2009, he was the starting catcher for the Netherlands team in the World Baseball Classic. In the Netherlands upset of the favored Dominican Republic team, Jansen threw out Willy Taveras on a steal of third base in the ninth inning. He began 2009 with the Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino, despite that, he appeared in eight games for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, but had just five hits in 27 at-bats. The Dodgers convinced Jansen that he had no future at catcher because of his offensive numbers. Under the tutelage of former major league Charlie Hough, he made the conversion in the half of the 2009 season at Inland Empire. He pitched 11 2⁄3 innings for the 66ers, allowing six earned runs and he continued the conversion in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Javelinas. Jansen was added to the Dodgers 40 man roster on November 19,2009 and he started with Inland Empire again and allowed only five runs in 18 innings while striking out 28 batters. On May 15,2010, he was promoted to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts and he pitched 27 innings in 22 games for the Lookouts, with a 1.67 ERA. On July 23,2010, Jansen was promoted to the Dodgers and he made his Major League debut in relief on July 24 against the New York Mets, where he pitched a scoreless inning, retiring all three batters he faced and striking out two. The very next day on July 25, he recorded his first Major League save, the hit was a single up the middle against Kyle Kendrick of the Philadelphia Phillies. Jansen recorded his first win against the Houston Astros on September 11 in Minute Maid Park and he appeared in 25 games with the Dodgers in 2010, working 27 innings with a 1–0 record and a 0.67 ERA. He also saved four games in 2010, in 2011 Jansen became a key member of the Dodgers bullpen
9.
Altus, Oklahoma
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Altus is a city and county seat in Jackson County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,813 at the 2010 census, a loss of 7.7 percent compared to 21,454 at the 2000 census, Altus is home to Altus Air Force Base, the United States Air Force training base for C-17, KC-46 and KC-135 aircrews. It is also home to Western Oklahoma State College and Southwest Technology Center, the town that would later be named Altus was founded in 1886. The community was originally called Frazer, a settlement of about 50 people on Bitter Creek that served as a trading post on the Great Western Trail, cowboys driving herds northward often stopped to buy buttermilk from John McClearan. Thus, the town was known locally as Buttermilk Station, the Frazer post office opened February 18,1886. A flash flood nearly destroyed Frazer on June 4,1891, the residents moved to higher ground 2.5 miles east of the original site. W. R. Baucum suggested renaming the town Altus, a Latin word meaning high and this name stuck, although the town was also known as Leger from July 10,1901, to May 14,1904, The city has seen relatively steady growth since the beginning. The population doubled between the time of Oklahoma statehood and the 1910 census and even increased during the Great Depression, although Altus had been designated as the Jackson county seat at the time of statehood, an election was held in 1908 to determine the permanent seat. The two towns contending were Altus and Olustee, Altus won by a vote of 2,077 to 1,365. The county courthouse was there in 1910. An irrigation project in the 1940s and World War II led to growth in the town as the nearby air field was used to train military pilots. It was later purchased by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and since 1991 is operated by the Wichita, Tillman, in 1908, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway built a line through Altus. Around the same time, the Altus, Wichita Falls and Hollis Railway constructed a line from Altus to the Oklahoma-Texas border, the railroads stimulated economic growth in the area and made Altus a regional agricultural center. By 1930, Altus had eight cotton gins, two cotton compresses, and eighteen wholesale businesses, Altus is located at 34°38′38″N 99°19′36″W. Altus is situated in what used to be Old Greer County, the city lies between the main channel and north fork of the Red River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 17.0 square miles. Altus has a subtropical climate bordering upon a semi-arid climate. Summers are very hot to sweltering, though heavy rainfall does occur due to remains of Gulf of Mexico hurricanes moving inland
10.
Philadelphia Phillies
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The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball franchise based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, the Phillies compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the National League East division. Since 2004, the home has been Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies have won two World Series championships and seven National League pennants, the first of which came in 1915, the franchise has also experienced long periods of struggle. The 77 season drought is the fourth longest World Series drought in Major League Baseball history, the longevity of the franchise and its history of adversity have earned it the dubious distinction of having lost the most games of any team in the history of American professional sports. Despite the teams lack of success historically, they are one of the more successful franchises since the start of the Divisional Era in Major League Baseball. The Phillies have won their division 11 times, which ranks 6th among all teams and 4th in the National League, the franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, replacing the team from Worcester, Massachusetts in the National League. The teams spring training facilities are located in Clearwater, Florida and its Double-A affiliate is the Reading Fightin Phils, which plays in Reading, Pennsylvania, and its Triple-A affiliate is the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, which plays in Allentown, Pennsylvania. After being founded in 1883 as the Quakers, the changed its name to the Philadelphias. This was soon shortened to Phillies, Quakers continued to be used interchangeably with Phillies from 1883 until 1890, when the team officially became known as the Phillies. Player defections to the newly formed American League, especially to the cross-town Philadelphia Athletics, poor fiscal management after their appearance in the 1915 World Series, however, doomed the Phillies to sink back into relative obscurity, from 1918 to 1948 they only had one winning season. Though Chuck Klein won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1932 and the National League Triple Crown in 1933, after lumber baron William B. Cox purchased the team in 1943, the Phillies rose out of the standings cellar for the first time in five years. As a result, the fan base and attendance at home games increased, but it soon became clear that not all was right in Coxs front office. Eventually Cox revealed that he had been betting on the Phillies, the new owner, Bob Carpenter, Jr. scion of the Delaware-based DuPont family, tried to polish the teams image by unofficially changing its name to the Bluejays. However, the new moniker did not take, and it was dropped by 1949. This led to the advent of the Whiz Kids, led by a lineup of players developed by the Phillies farm system that included future Hall of Famers Richie Ashburn. In contrast, the Philadelphia Athletics finished last in 1950 and long-time manager Connie Mack retired, the team struggled on for four more years with only one winning season before abandoning Philadelphia under the Johnson brothers, who bought out Mack. They began play in Kansas City in 1955, as part of the deal selling that team to the Johnson brothers, the Phillies bought Shibe Park, where both teams had played since 1938
11.
Jason Heyward
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Jason Alias Heyward, nicknamed J-Hey is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. Originally the Atlanta Braves first-round selection in the 2007 MLB draft from Henry County High School in Georgia, he began his minor league career at age 17. Heyward soon became one of the prospects in all of baseball for batting, speed, and defense. There, he played until being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals after the 2014 season, standing 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 245 pounds, he throws and bats left-handed. He has worn uniform #22 throughout his major career in honor of a high school friend. In 2009, he won a Minor League Player of the Year Award from both Baseball America and USA Today. That year, he batted.323 with 17 home runs,63 runs batted in, a.408 on-base percentage, and a.555 slugging percentage over 99 games. A consensus number-one MLB prospect entering the 2010 season, Baseball America, Keith Law of ESPN. com, after making his MLB debut for Atlanta in 2010, Heyward was named to the National League All-Star team and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Baseball America named him their MLB Rookie of the Year, injuries limited his playing time in 2011 and 2013. With a breakout season in 2012, he hit 27 home runs with 82 RBI and 21 stolen bases while finishing tenth in the NL in runs scored with 93 and he is widely regarded as one of the best outfield defenders in baseball. The son of Dartmouth graduates, Jason Heyward was born in Ridgewood and his father, Eugene, is from South Carolina, and mother, Laura, is from New York City, they met at Dartmouth. Eugene played basketball and majored in engineering and Laura studied French, eugenes uncle, Kenny Washington, played basketball for two John Wooden-led NCAA championship UCLA teams in 1964 and 1965. Jason has one brother, Jacob, who attends the University of Miami and plans to major within the school of communication. The Heywards moved to the Atlanta metropolitan area soon after he was born, Jason played and showed marked ability in baseball from an early age. Before he turned 10, he played for a national championship, in fact, Eugene helped fuel both of his sons passion for baseball. While his father emphasized that working hard and approaching the game with discipline were important, Heyward maintained this same approach throughout his youth and professional career. One tournament in which he played was the renowned East Cobb Baseball program, where he was a standout, Heyward attended Henry County High School in McDonough near Atlanta. Heyward briefly played basketball in his youth, but concentrated exclusively on baseball in school after his fathers urging
12.
Tampa Bay Rays
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The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball as a member of the American League East division, since its inception, the teams home venue has been Tropicana Field. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays began play in the 1998 Major League Baseball season and their first decade of play, however, was marked by futility, they finished in last place in the American League East in all but the 2004 season, when they finished second-to-last. Since then, the Rays have been consistent contenders, gaining postseason berths in 2010,2011, the Tampa Bay Rays chief rivals are the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Regarding the former, there have been several notable on-field incidents, the Rays also have an intrastate rivalry with the National Leagues Miami Marlins, whom they play in the Citrus Series. Unlike in the case of Green Bay, Wisconsin, there is no municipality known as Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay in the names of local professional sports franchises denotes that they represent the entire region, not just Tampa or St. Petersburg. Former civic leader and St. Petersburg Times publisher, Jack Lake, the notable influences Lake held in the sport are what led to the serious discussions that changed St. Petersburg from a spring training location to a major league city. He spoke to anyone who would listen about his desire to see the city of St. Petersburg have a Major league baseball team and his colorful direction dominated the mindset in both sports and business circles dating back to 1966. He was said to have the foresight and prominence to make it happen, local leaders made many unsuccessful attempts to acquire a major league baseball team in the 1980s and 1990s. The Florida Suncoast Dome was built in St. Petersburg in 1990 with the purpose of luring a major league team and that same year two separate groups, one in Tampa and another in Sarasota, were seeking to get an expansion team. When MLB announced that it would add two teams for the 1993 season, it was widely assumed that one of the teams would be placed in the Dome. However, in addition to the application from St. Petersburg, the two National League teams were awarded to Denver and Miami instead. In 1992, San Francisco Giants owner Bob Lurie agreed in principle to sell his team to a Tampa Bay-based group of investors led by Vince Naimoli, who would then move the team to St. Petersburg. However, at the 11th hour, MLB owners nixed the move under pressure from San Francisco officials, finally, on March 9,1995, new expansion franchises were awarded to Naimolis Tampa Bay group and a group from Phoenix. The new franchises were scheduled to play in 1998. The Tampa Bay area finally had a team, but the stadium in St. Petersburg was already in need of an upgrade. In 1993, the stadium was renamed the Thunderdome and became the home of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team, after the birth of the Rays, the naming rights were sold to Tropicana Products and $70 million was spent on renovations. The records of the Rays last five seasons in Major League Baseball and these statistics are current through the 2016 MLB season
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