1.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
2.
Pitcher
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In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important defensive player, there are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and closer. The National League in Major League Baseball and the Japanese Central League are among the leagues that have not adopted the designated hitter position. In most cases, the objective of the pitcher is to deliver the pitch to the catcher without allowing the batter to hit the ball with the bat. A successful pitch is delivered in such a way that the batter either allows the pitch to pass through the zone, swings the bat at the ball and misses it. If the batter elects not to swing at the pitch, it is called a strike if any part of the passes through the strike zone. A check swing is when the batter begins to swing, If the batter successfully checks the swing and the pitch is out of the strike zone, it is called a ball. There are two legal pitching positions, the windup and the set position or stretch, either position may be used at any time, typically, the windup is used when the bases are empty, while the set position is used when at least one runner is on base. Each position has certain procedures that must be followed, a balk can be called on a pitcher from either position. A power pitcher is one who relies on the velocity of his pitches to succeed, generally, power pitchers record a high percentage of strikeouts. A control pitcher succeeds by throwing accurate pitches and thus records few walks, nearly all action during a game is centered on the pitcher for the defensive team. A pitchers particular style, time taken between pitches, and skill heavily influence the dynamics of the game and can determine the victor. Meanwhile, a batter stands in the box at one side of the plate. The type and sequence of pitches chosen depend upon the situation in a game. The relationship between pitcher and catcher is so important that some teams select the starting catcher for a game based on the starting pitcher. Together, the pitcher and catcher are known as the battery, although the object and mechanics of pitching remain the same, pitchers may be classified according to their roles and effectiveness. The starting pitcher begins the game, and he may be followed by relief pitchers, such as the long reliever, the left-handed specialist, the middle reliever. In Major League Baseball, every team uses Baseball Rubbing Mud to rub game balls in before their pitchers use them in games, a skilled pitcher often throws a variety of different pitches to prevent the batter from hitting the ball well
3.
Strikeout
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In baseball or softball, a strikeout occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means the batter is out, a strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denoted by K. Although a strikeout suggests that the pitcher dominated the batter, the style that generates home runs also leaves batters susceptible to striking out. Some of the greatest home run hitters of all time — such as Alex Rodriguez, Gorman Thomas, Reggie Jackson, and Sammy Sosa — were notorious for striking out. A pitched ball is ruled a ball by the if the batter did not swing at it and, in that umpires judgment. Any pitch at which the batter swings or, that in that umpires judgment passes through the zone, is ruled a strike. Each ball and strike affects the count, which is incremented for each pitched ball with the exception of a ball on any count with two strikes. That is, a strike may only occur by the batter swinging and missing at a pitched ball. A pitched ball that is struck by the batter with the bat on any count, a batter may also strike out by bunting, even if the ball is hit into foul territory. In Japan, this is called furinige, or swing and escape, in Major League Baseball, it is known as an uncaught third strike. When this happens, a strikeout is recorded for both the pitcher and the batter, but no out is recorded, because of this, a pitcher may occasionally be able to record more than three strikeouts in one half-inning. In baseball scorekeeping, a strikeout is recorded as a K. A strikeout looking is often scored with a backward K, and sometimes as a K-L, CK, despite the scorekeeping custom of using K for strikeout, SO is the official abbreviation used by Major League Baseball. K is still used by fans and enthusiasts for purposes other than official record-keeping. The K may be placed backward in cases where the batter strikes out looking, the use of K for a strikeout was invented by Henry Chadwick, a newspaper journalist who is widely credited as the originator of the box score and the baseball scorecard. As is true in much of baseball, both the box score and scorecard remain largely unchanged to this day, Chadwick decided to use K, the last letter in struck, since the letter S was used for sacrifice. Chadwick was responsible for several other scorekeeping conventions, including the use of numbers to designate player positions and those unaware of Chadwicks contributions have speculated that K was derived from the last name of 19th century pitcher Matt Kilroy. If not for the evidence supporting Chadwicks earlier use of K, Kilroy raised the prominence of the strikeout, setting an all-time single-season record of 513 strikeouts in 1886, only two years after overhand pitching was permitted
4.
Baseball field
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A baseball field, also called a ball field or a baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term is used as a metonym for baseball park.5 inches. Adjacent to each of the two parallel 8. 5-inch sides is a batters box, the point of home plate where the two 12-inch sides meet at right angles is at one corner of a ninety-foot square. The other three corners of the square, in order from home plate, are called first base, second base. Three canvas bags fifteen inches square mark the three bases and these three bags along with home plate form the four points at the corners of the infield. All the bases, including home plate, lie entirely within fair territory, thus, any batted ball that touches those bases must necessarily be in fair territory. Thus, although the points of the bases are 90 feet apart, the lines from home plate to first and third bases extend to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction and are called the foul lines. The portion of the field between the foul lines is fair territory, the rest is foul territory. The area in the vicinity of the square formed by the bases is called the infield, most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is set at a distance ranging from 300 to 420 feet from home plate. Most professional and college baseball fields have a right and left foul pole and these poles are at the intersection of the foul lines and the respective ends of the outfield fence and, unless otherwise specified within the ground rules, lie in fair territory. Thus, a ball that passes over the outfield wall in flight and touches the foul pole is a fair ball. First base is the first of four bases that must be touched by a player on the team in order to score a run. Unlike when a player reaches second or third base, it is permissible for a batter-runner to overrun first base without being in jeopardy of being put out. After contact is made with the base, the batter-runner may slow down and return to first base at his leisure, the runner cannot be tagged out if he is touching the base with any part of his body. The first baseman is the player responsible for the area near first base. A professional first baseman is often a slow runner and tall, a tall first baseman presents a large target to which other fielders can throw, and his height gives him a larger range in reaching and catching errant throws. Also, a right-handed first baseman must, when setting himself up to receive a throw from an infielder, execute a half-pivot near the base, there are three infield positions that can only effectively be occupied by right-handed players, 2nd base, 3rd base, and shortstop
5.
Albert Pujols
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José Alberto Pujols Alcántara, better known as Albert Pujols, is a Dominican American professional baseball first baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. He stands 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds and he previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals, where he received three National League MVP awards and was a nine-time MLB All-Star. He was also an All-Star with the Angels in 2015, Pujols was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States in 1996. After one season of baseball, he was selected by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1999 MLB draft. As a rookie for the Cardinals in 2001, he was voted the NL Rookie of the Year. Pujols played for the Cardinals for 11 seasons, contributing to two World Series championships in 2006 and 2011, after the 2011 season, Pujols became a free agent and later signed a 10-year contract with the Angels. Pujols is a highly regarded hitter who has shown a combination of hitting ability, patience. He is a six-time Silver Slugger who has led the NL in home runs. He is significantly above-average in career regular season batting average, walk rate, Pujols is considered a strong future candidate for the Hall of Fame. Born on January 16,1980, Pujols was raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, mostly by his grandmother America Pujols and 10 of his uncles and his father, Bienvenido Pujols, was a softball pitcher, but he was also an alcoholic. Albert often had to take his home when his father got drunk following the games. Growing up, Pujols practiced baseball using limes for balls and a milk carton for a glove, Pujols, his father, and his grandmother immigrated in 1996 to New York City, where Albert witnessed a shooting at a grocery store. Partly because of the shooting, they moved to Independence, Missouri, Pujols played baseball at Fort Osage High School in Independence and was named an All-State athlete twice. As a senior, he was walked 55 times in protest because opposing coaches believed he was older than 18, one of his home runs travelled 450 feet. After graduating from school a semester early in December 1998. Pujols hit a grand slam and turned a triple play in the first game of his only college season. Playing shortstop, he batted.461 with 22 home runs as a freshman before deciding to enter the Major League Baseball draft, few teams were interested in Pujols because of uncertainty about his age, which position he would play, and his build. Tampa Bay Rays scout Fernando Arango recommended that his team sign Pujols, Pujols was not drafted until the 13th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, when the St. Louis Cardinals selected him with the 402nd overall pick
6.
St. Louis Cardinals
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The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. Busch Stadium has been their home ballpark since 2006, with origins as one of the early professional baseball clubs in St. Upon the discontinuation of the AA, St. Louis joined the NL in 1892, at time, they were called the Browns. One of the most successful franchises in history, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships. Their 19 National League pennants rank third in NL history, in addition, St. Louis has won 13 division titles in the East and Central divisions. While still in the AA, St. Louis won four league championships, the Cardinals have won 105 or more games in four different seasons and won 100 or more a total of nine times. Cardinals players have won 20 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards. Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, and Bruce Sutter. In 2016, Forbes valued the Cardinals at $1.6 billion, making them the 7th-most valuable franchise in MLB, their revenue the year was $300 million. Since their purchase in 1995, owner William DeWitt, Jr. s investment group has seen enormous growth from the $147 million purchase price, John Mozeliak is the general manager and Mike Matheny is the manager. Professional baseball began in St. Louis with the inception of the Brown Stockings in the National Association in 1875, the NA folded following that season, and the next season, St. Louis joined the National League as a charter member, finishing in third place at 45-19. George Bradley hurled the first no-hitter in Major League history, the NL expelled St. Louis from the league after 1877 due to a game-fixing scandal and the team went bankrupt. Without a league, they continued play as a barnstorming team through 1881. For the 1882 season, Chris von der Ahe purchased the team, reorganized it, and made it a member of the American Association. 1882 is generally considered to be the first year existence of the St. Louis Cardinals, the next season, St. Louis shortened their name to the Browns. Soon thereafter they became the dominant team in the AA, as manager Charlie Comiskey guided St. Louis to four pennants in a row from 1885 to 1888. Pitcher and outfielder Bob Caruthers led the league in ERA and wins in 1885 and he also led the AA in OBP and OPS in 1886 and finished fourth in batting average in 1886 and fifth in 1887
7.
Bill Buckner
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William Joseph Buckner is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He appeared in MLB from 1969 through 1990, during his career, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, and Kansas City Royals. Buckner accumulated over 2,700 hits in his career, won a batting title in 1980. Buckner was born in Vallejo, California and grew up in American Canyon and he graduated from Napa High School in 1968 after playing on the schools baseball and football teams. While playing football, he was a two-time All-Statewide receiver Coaches, Buckner was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft. His friend, Bobby Valentine, was the Dodgers first round pick, upon signing with the Dodgers, Buckner was assigned to the Ogden Dodgers of the Pioneer League. After two minor league seasons, in which he batted.323, Buckner made his league debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a September call-up in 1969 at the age of 19. He appeared in one game, September 21 against the San Francisco Giants, Buckner began the 1970 season with the Dodgers, but after batting.121 with no home runs and no RBIs, he was returned to Triple-A Spokane. His.335 batting average with the Spokane Indians earned him a second chance and he batted.257 in the months of September and October, with four RBIs and five runs scored. Buckner earned a job with the Dodgers in 1971 as their opening day right fielder. Buckner played a role in a baseball milestone on April 8,1974. Playing left field, Buckner climbed the fence in an attempt to catch Hank Aarons 715th home run, in his Dodger career, Buckner batted.289 with 38 home runs and 277 runs batted in in 773 games. Following the season, Buckner was traded to the Chicago Cubs with Iván DeJesús and Jeff Albert for Rick Monday and Mike Garman. He had suffered an infection in his ankle in 1976, so the Cubs shifted him to first base. During his career in Chicago, he batted over.300 four times, leading the league in 1980 at.324, and was the Cubs sole representative at the 1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. On May 17,1979, in a famous slugfest at Wrigley Field that included three homers by Dave Kingman and two by Mike Schmidt, Buckner went four-for-seven with a grand slam and seven RBIs. When manager Herman Franks resigned late in the 1979 season, he made comments about several players. Early in the 1984 season, the Boston Red Sox were in the market for an upgrade at first base, on May 25, they acquired Buckner from the Cubs for Dennis Eckersley and Mike Brumley
8.
Boston Red Sox
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The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League East division. The Red Sox have won eight World Series championships and have played in 13, founded in 1901 as one of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the Red Sox home ballpark has been Fenway Park since 1912. The Red Sox name was chosen by the owner, John I. Taylor, around 1908, following the lead of previous teams that had known as the Boston Red Stockings. Boston was a dominant team in the new league, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903 and winning four more championships by 1918. Following their victory in the 2013 World Series, they became the first team to win three World Series trophies in the 21st century, including championships in 2004 and 2007. Red Sox history has also marked by the teams intense rivalry with the Yankees. The Boston Red Sox are owned by Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Liverpool F. C. of the Premier League in England. The Red Sox are consistently one of the top MLB teams in road attendance. From May 15,2003 to April 10,2013, the Red Sox sold out every home game—a total of 820 games for a professional sports record. Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline has become an anthem for the Red Sox, the name Red Sox, chosen by owner John I. Taylor after the 1907 season, refers to the red hose in the team uniform beginning 1908. Sox had been adopted for the Chicago White Sox by newspapers needing a headline-friendly form of Stockings. The team name Red Sox had previously used as early as 1888 by a colored team from Norfolk. The Spanish language media sometimes refers to the team as Medias Rojas, the official Spanish site uses the variant Los Red Sox. The Red Stockings nickname was first used by a team by the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Managed by Harry Wright, Cincinnati adopted a uniform with white knickers and red stockings and earned the famous nickname, the Boston Red Stockings won four championships in the five seasons of the new National Association, the first professional league. Other names were used before Boston officially adopted the nickname Braves in 1912
9.
Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. The team plays its games at Wrigley Field, located on the citys North Side. The Cubs are one of two league teams in Chicago, the other, the Chicago White Sox, is a member of the American League Central division. The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, was a member of the NL in 1876. The Cubs have appeared in a total of eleven World Series, the 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of.763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox by four games to two. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, the 108-year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major North American sports. Since the start of play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason eight times through the 2016 season. The Cubs are known as the North Siders, a reference to the location of Wrigley Field within the city of Chicago, there is a divisional rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals and also a newer rivalry with the Milwaukee Brewers. There is also a rivalry with the White Sox. The Cubs began play in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, joining the National League as a charter member. Owner William Hulbert signed multiple star players, such as pitcher Albert Spalding and infielders Ross Barnes, Deacon White, the White Stockings played their home games at West Side Grounds and quickly established themselves as one of the new leagues top teams. Spalding won forty-seven games and Barnes led the league in hitting at.429 as Chicago won the first ever National League pennant, which at the time was the games top prize. After back-to-back pennants in 1880 and 1881, Hulbert died, and Spalding, the White Stockings, with Anson acting as player-manager, captured their third consecutive pennant in 1882, and Anson established himself as the games first true superstar. In 1885 and 86, after winning N. L. pennants, both seasons resulted in match ups with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, with the clubs tying in 1885 and with St. Louis winning in 1886. This was the genesis of what would become one of the greatest rivalries in sports. In all, the Anson-led Chicago Base Ball Club won six National League pennants between 1876 and 1886. As a result, Chicagos club nickname transitioned, and by 1890 they had known as the Chicago Colts, or sometimes Ansons Colts
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.
Jeff Bagwell
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Jeffrey Robert Bagwell is an American former professional first baseman and coach who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball playing career with the Houston Astros. Originally a Boston Red Sox fourth-round selection from the University of Hartford as a third baseman in the 1989 amateur draft, he was then traded to the Astros in 1990. The National League Rookie of the Year in 1991, Bagwell then won the NL Most Valuable Player in 1994, was a four-time MLB All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger winner and they qualified for the playoffs six times, culminating in Bagwells lone World Series appearance in 2005. He was elected to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, Bagwell was part of the trade that sent relief pitcher Larry Andersen to the Red Sox, now regarded as one of the most lopsided trades in sports history. Andersen pitched just 22 innings for Boston while Bagwell hit 449 home runs for the Astros and he excelled at every major aspect of the game, including hitting, on-base ability, running, defense, and throwing. One of the most consistent players of his generation, in each of his first 11 seasons and his 1994 season was perhaps his finest. In 1999, he finished second in the MVP voting, producing his second career 30–30 season. He is just one of 12 players in history to hit 400 home runs and record an on-base percentage of.400, overall, Bagwell batted over.300 six times, had a career OBP of.408 and a slugging percentage of.540. He is the only first baseman to achieve the 30–30 club more than once and his 79.6 career WAR per Baseball-Reference. com ranks sixth all-time among first basemen. Since his playing career ended, Bagwell has served in sporadic instructor assignments with the Astros, born in Boston, Massachusetts, as the only son of Janice and Robert Bagwell, Jeff Bagwell and his family moved to Killingworth, Connecticut, when he was one year old. Much of Bagwells family is from the Greater Boston area, including both his parents, and are fans of the Boston Red Sox. His favorite player, Carl Yastrzemski, was a left fielder for the Red Sox. Robert, from Watertown, pitched college baseball at Northwestern University, Janice, a police officer, grew up in Newton and played softball in local Boston leagues until her 20s. Bagwells parents divorced when he was 11, precocious and demonstrating much athletic ability early in life, he played a wide variety of sports as a youth. Recalled Janice, Jeff could throw a ball before he could walk, when he was six months old, we’d throw a ball to him and he would throw it back. Bagwell graduated from Xavier High School, a private all-male Catholic school located in Middletown, a versatile athlete, he excelled at soccer, setting the school goal-scoring mark, played shortstop, and lettered in basketball. In early 1989, Bagwell was honored by Xavier for his character and he also excelled in American Legion Baseball under coach Fred Tremalgia for Post 75 in Middletown and went on to be named the 2003 American Legion Baseball Graduate of the Year. Bagwell accepted the invitation and Denehy switched him to third base, over three seasons playing for Hartford, he batted.413 in 400 at bats, a school record, and, for a time, a New England collegiate record
12.
Keith Hernandez
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Keith Hernandez is a former Major League Baseball first baseman who played the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets. Hernandez was a five-time All-Star who shared the 1979 NL MVP award, a contact hitter with a.296 career average and a great walk rate of 12. 5%, Hernandezs career hitting productivity was 31% above league average, by wRC+. For his defensive work he received Gold Glove awards in consecutive seasons. Hernandez retired as a player after spending one year with the Cleveland Indians in 1990. Since 1999, he has served as a broadcaster for Mets games. Hernandez was born in San Francisco, and grew up in Pacifica and Millbrae and he attended Terra Nova High School in Pacifica during his freshman year, then transferred to Capuchino High School in nearby San Bruno for the remainder of his high school years. Hernandez was an athlete in high school and graduated in 1971. One of his teammates at Terra Nova High School was future major league pitcher Bob McClure, given his surname, and the fact that he is from California, it was incorrectly assumed that Hernandez was of Mexican descent, and he was nicknamed Mex by his teammates. In actuality, his fathers ancestry is Spanish and his mothers is Scots-Irish, Hernandez was perceived as having poor attitude issues because he sat out his entire senior year of high school due to a dispute with a coach. He batted and threw left-handed, and through most of his career was listed as being 6 tall and 195 lbs, during his childhood, Hernandezs brother bought a book on Civil War history. His passion for Civil War history landed him guest spots on KMOX radio when with the Cardinals and was featured in the New York Times when he was with the Mets. Hernandezs batting average hovered around.250 for most of his league career. With the Cardinals triple-A affiliate, Hernandez batted.333 with five home runs, the following season, Hernandezs average jumped to.351, earning him a promotion to the big league club. He made his league debut at Candlestick Park on August 30,1974, against the San Francisco Giants. Following the season, the Cards traded first baseman Joe Torre to the New York Mets for Tommy Moore, Hernandez ended up splitting 1975 between Tulsa and the Cardinals. Though his fielding was spectacular, Hernandez struggled with major league pitching, batting only.250 with three runs and twenty RBIs. Hernandez wore uniform number 18 for the first two years of his career, in 1976, he switched to number 37, insisting that his uniform number end with a 7 in honor of Mickey Mantle. While Hernandez became more comfortable with his bat, he was recognized as a fielder first
