1.
Oklahoma City Dodgers
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The Oklahoma City Dodgers are a Minor League Baseball team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Pacific Coast League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers and they play at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, located in the Bricktown Entertainment District in downtown Oklahoma City. The team was known as the Oklahoma City 89ers from 1962 to 1997 when the team played at All Sports Stadium at the state fairgrounds. It first competed in the American Association in 1962, moved to the PCL from 1963 to 1968, in 1998, the team rejoined the PCL and became known as the Oklahoma RedHawks. In 1999, a name change resulted in the Oklahoma City RedHawks. Since the Los Angeles Dodgers purchased a share of the prior to 2015. Oklahoma City won the PCL championship in 1963 and 1965 as the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Colt. 45s/Astros, Oklahoma City has been home to professional baseball for all but a few years since 1904, when the Metropolitans were established as the citys first team. Oklahoma Citys teams and names have changed numerous times since, the team became known as the Indians in 1909 before returning to the original Mets name in 1910 and reverting again to the Indians name in 1911. Oklahoma City was home to the Senators in 1912, after one year without a baseball team, Oklahoma Citys squad became the Boosters in 1914. The Senators name returned from 1915 to 1916, but the Boosters name came back in 1917, the Oklahoma City Indians name returned in 1918 and the team name stuck until 1957. Oklahoma Citys current baseball franchise began competing in 1962 as the Oklahoma City 89ers following a period without professional baseball in the area. The franchises original name made reference to the Land Run of 1889, in July 1961, Spec Richardson, who was then general manager of the Houston Buffs, met with Oklahoma City officials and boosters, and agreed to move the team. After a unanimous approval from the American Associations board of directors, eventually, the Astros sold the team to Tulsa businessman, P. C. In 1973, a connection with the Cleveland Indians was established. A later affiliation with the Philadelphia Phillies lasted from 1976 until 1982, in 1983, the Texas Rangers became the parent club, a relationship that would continue as the 89ers adopted new colors and uniforms along with the nickname RedHawks in 1998. The team was renamed the RedHawks after the hawk, a bird of prey commonly seen throughout Oklahoma. When announcing the new name, team officials noted the raptors four-foot wingspan and migration patterns, a hawk is also part of the states official song. Prior to the 2009 season, the once again named itself after its home city
2.
First baseman
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First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that players team. A first baseman is the player on the team playing defense who fields the area nearest first base, in the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the first baseman is assigned the number 3. Also called first sacker or cornerman, the first baseman is ideally a tall player who throws left-handed and possesses good flexibility, flexibility is needed because the first baseman receives throws from the other infielders, the catcher and the pitcher after they have fielded ground balls. In order for the runner to be called out, the first baseman must be able to stretch towards the throw and they often are power hitters who have a substantial number of home runs and extra base hits while maintaining a.270 plus batting average. Good defensive first basemen, according to Bill James, are capable of playing off first base so that they can field ground balls hit to the side of first base. The first baseman then relies upon the pitcher to cover first base to receive the ball to complete the out, indications of a good defensive first baseman include a large number of assists and a low number of throwing errors by other infielders. The nature of play at first base often requires first basemen to stay close to the bag to hold runners or to reach the bag before the batter. First basemen are not typically expected to have the range required of a baseman, shortstop. As a result, first base is not usually perceived to be as physically demanding as other positions, however, it can also be a very hard position to play, a large amount of concentration and timing is required. Though many play at first base their entire career, it is common for players to be moved to first base in order to extend their careers or to accommodate other recently acquired players. Facing a possible trade or a reduction in playing time. Catchers and corner outfielders are often moved to first base due to deteriorating health or if their fielding abilities at their position are detrimental to the team. When first base is not occupied by a baserunner, the first baseman usually stands behind first base, the distance he plays from the base and foul line is dependent on the current hitter and any runners on base. The exact position may depend on the first basemans experience, preference. For a known right-handed pull hitter, the first baseman might position himself further towards the second basemans normal fielding position, for a known left-handed pull hitter, the first baseman will position himself closer to the foul line in order to stop a ball hit down the line. To protect against a bunt on the first base side of the infield, as soon as the pitcher commits to throwing towards home plate, the first basemen will charge towards the hitter to field the bunt. During these plays, it is the responsibility of the second basemen to cover first base, with a base runner present at first base, the first baseman stands with his right foot touching the base to prepare for a pickoff attempt. Once the pitcher commits to throwing towards home plate, the first baseman comes off the bag in front of the runner and gets in a fielding position
3.
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
4.
Strike zone
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In baseball, the strike zone is the volume of space through which a pitch must pass in order to count as a strike. The strike zone is defined as the volume of space above home plate, whether a pitch passed through the zone or not is decided by an umpire, who is generally positioned behind the catcher. Strikes are desirable for the pitcher and the team, as three strikes result in a strikeout of that batter. A pitch that misses the strike zone is called a ball, balls are desirable for the batter and the batting team, as four balls allow the batter to take a base on balls. There is more than one set of rules that govern baseball and softball and it depends on the level and league as to which set of rules are being used. The governing bodies for the different sets of rules may have different definitions. The top of the zone is defined in the Major League Official Rules as a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the batters shoulders and the top of the uniform pants. The bottom of the zone is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The right and left boundaries of the strike zone correspond to the edges of home plate, a pitch that touches the outer boundary of the zone is as much a strike as a pitch that is thrown right down the center. A pitch at which the batter does not swing and which does not pass through the zone is called a ball. The active tally of strikes and balls during a turn batting is called the count. This volume thus takes the form of a right pentagonal prism located above home plate. A pitch passing outside the front of the volume of the strike zone. Major League Baseball has occasionally increased or reduced the size of the zone in an attempt to control the balance of power between pitchers and hitters. After the record home run year by Roger Maris in 1961, in 1968, pitchers such as Denny McLain and Bob Gibson among others dominated hitters, producing 339 shutouts. Carl Yastrzemski would be the only American League hitter to finish the season with an average higher than.300. Although the de facto enforced strike zone can vary, the rules define a pitch as a strike if any part of the ball passes through any part of the strike zone. While baseball rules provide a definition for the strike zone, in practice
5.
Out (baseball)
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In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When three outs are recorded in an inning, a half of the inning, or their turn at batting. To signal an out, an umpire makes a fist with one hand. Home plate umpires often use a motion to signal a called third strike. The most common ways batters or runners are put out are by strikeouts, fly outs, tag outs, the ball is dead and no runner may score, nor runners advance, except runners forced to advance. In baseball statistics, each out must be credited to exactly one defensive player, when referring to outs credited to a defensive player, the term putout is used. Example, a batter hits a ball which is fielded by the shortstop. The shortstop then throws the ball to the first baseman, the first baseman then steps on first base before the batter reaches it. For this play, only the first baseman is credited with a putout, for a strikeout, the catcher is credited with a putout, because the batter is not out until the pitched ball is caught by the catcher. When an out is recorded without a direct involvement, such as where a runner is hit by a batted ball. Although pitchers seldom get credited with putouts, they are credited with their role in getting outs through various pitching statistics such as innings pitched and strikeouts. Safe Tie goes to the runner Official rules for batters, including when the batter is out Official rules for runners, including when the runner is out
6.
Hit by pitch
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In baseball, hit by pitch is a situation in which a batter or his clothing or equipment is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher, the batter is called a hit batsman. A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided that he made an honest effort to avoid the pitch, being hit by a pitch is often caused by a batter standing too close to, or crowding, home plate. If all these conditions are met, the ball is dead, rule 5.09 further clarifies that a hit by pitch is also called when a pitch touches a batters clothing. In the case where a batter swings and the pitch hits him anyway, the ball is dead and a strike is called. If the batter does not attempt to avoid the pitch, he is not awarded first base, and the pitch is ruled either a strike if in the strike zone or a ball if out of the strike zone. A famous instance of a non-hit by pitch was on May 31,1968, umpire Harry Wendelstedt ruled that Dietz made no effort to avoid the pitch, Dietz proceeded to fly out, and Drysdales scoreless streak continued to a then-record 58 2⁄3 innings. A hit-by-pitch can also be called on a pitch that has first touched the ground before hitting the batter. Such a bouncing pitch is like any other, and if a batter is hit by such a pitch, a batter hit by a pitch with the bases loaded is also credited with an RBI per MLB rule 10.04. A pitch ruled a hit by pitch is recorded as a ball in the pitch count, since by definition the ball must be outside the strike zone. The rule awarding first base to a hit by a pitch was instituted in 1887. Headhunter is a term for pitchers who have a reputation for throwing these kinds of pitches. However, throwing at a batter intentionally is illegal, and can be very dangerous, when an umpire suspects that a pitcher has thrown at a batter intentionally, but is not certain, a warning is issued to the pitcher and the managers of both teams. From that point on, any pitch thrown at a batter can cause the pitcher, serious offenses such as a ball thrown at the head can result in the immediate ejection of the pitcher, and the manager if he ordered the beanball, even without a warning. If the umpire is certain that the pitcher intentionally hit the batter with the pitch, managers may also order a pitcher to throw such a pitch. These pitches are often aimed at the back and slower than normal. The opposing team hits a batter in retaliation for this act. Such plunking duels are more common in the American League than in the National League, because in the NL the pitchers must bat for themselves and open themselves up to direct retaliation. The all-time record for a player being hit by a pitch is held by Hughie Jennings, the modern-day record is held by Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros, who had 285 as of the end of the 2007 season when he retired
7.
Interference (baseball)
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In baseball, interference occurs in situations in which a person illegally changes the course of play from what is expected. Interference might be committed by players on the offense, players not currently in the game, catchers, umpires, each type of interference is covered differently by the rules. Whenever this offensive interference occurs, the ball becomes dead, if the interference was committed by a batter or a baserunner, that player is called out and all other runners must return to the bases they occupied at the time of the interference. If interference is committed by a runner with the intent of preventing a double play. If interference is committed by a runner or by some other member of the offensive team. Also under NFHS rules only, all runners are required to attempt to avoid collisions, if a runner fails to do so, he is guilty of malicious contact, which is one kind of offensive interference. Malicious contact carries the penalty of ejection from the game. Any collision that occurs in this situation is not interference, because the action is in regard to a thrown ball. As long as such a runners actions are related to his attempt to reach the base, the most common case of this is when a runner is attempting to score and the catcher has control of the ball. This is usually attempted only when the play is close, when the catcher is set up and ready, the runner has little chance of knocking the ball away. Any such attempt presents a significant chance of injury to the baserunner, the batter physically hinders the catchers opportunity to throw out a baserunner while standing outside of the batters box. There are some exceptions to the penalty for offensive interference, if there are two outs in this situation, the normal interference penalty applies, the batter is out and the run does not score. At some levels of play, verbal as well as physical hindrance can be called for interference and this is not called as interference in professional or higher amateur baseball. The ball came loose, initially enabling Rodríguez to advance and the previous runner Derek Jeter to score, the play originally stood but on appeal, Rodríguez was ruled out on the interference and Jeter returned to first, under the general definition of the rule above. A famous alleged offensive interference occurred in the game of the 1975 World Series. With a runner on first, Cincinnati Reds player Ed Armbrister laid down a sacrifice bunt, Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk attempted to field the ball and throw to second base and get the lead runner out. However, Armbrister did not immediately run to first base but instead stood essentially still in the vicinity of home plate, as a result, Fisks throw went into center field, and the Reds ended up with runners on first and third with no outs. The Red Sox protested, saying that Armbrister interfered, but home plate umpire Larry Barnett refused to change the call
8.
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
9.
Hit (baseball)
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If a batter reaches first base because of offensive interference by a preceding runner, he is also credited with a hit. A hit for one base is called a single, for two bases a double, and for three bases a triple, a home run is also scored as a hit. Doubles, triples, and home runs are also called extra base hits, an infield hit is a hit where the ball does not leave the infield. Infield hits are uncommon by nature, and most often earned by speedy runners, a no-hitter is a game in which one of the teams prevented the other from getting a hit. Throwing a no-hitter is rare and considered an accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff. In most cases in the game, no-hitters are accomplished by a single pitcher who throws a complete game. A pitcher who throws a no-hitter could still allow runners to reach safely, by way of walks, errors, hit batsmen. If the pitcher allows no runners to reach base, the no-hitter is a perfect game, in 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls as hits. The result was skyrocketing batting averages, including some near.500, Tip ONeill of the St. Louis Browns batted.485 that season, the experiment was abandoned the following season. There is controversy regarding how the records of 1887 should be interpreted, the number of legitimate walks and at-bats are known for all players that year, so computing averages using the same method as in other years is straightforward. In 1968, Major League Baseball formed a Special Baseball Records Committee to resolve this issues, the Committee ruled that walks in 1887 should not be counted as hits. Most current sources list ONeills 1887 average as.435, as calculated by omitting his walks and he would retain his American Association batting championship. However, the variance between methods results in differing recognition for the 1887 National League batting champion, cap Anson would be recognized, with his.421 average, if walks are included, but Sam Thompson would be the champion at.372 if they are not. The official rulebook of Major League Baseball states in Rule 10, Rule 10.05 Comment, In applying Rule 10.05, the official scorer shall always give the batter the benefit of the doubt. Runner is called out for interference with a fielder attempting to field a batted ball, unless in the scorers judgment the batter-runner would have been safe had the interference not occurred
10.
At bat
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In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is a batters turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance, a batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during his turn at bat. A batter is credited with an at bat only if that plate appearance does not have one of the results enumerated below, a batter will not receive credit for an at bat if their plate appearance ends under the following circumstances, He receives a base on balls. He hits a fly or a sacrifice bunt. He is awarded first base due to interference or obstruction, usually by the catcher and he is replaced by another hitter before his at bat is completed, in which case the plate appearance and any related statistics go to the pinch hitter. In addition, if the inning ends while he is still at bat, in this case, the batter will come to bat again in the next inning, though the count will be reset to no balls and no strikes. Note that just because a player is described as being at bat in this sense, he will not necessarily be given an at bat in his statistics and this ambiguous terminology is usually clarified by context. To refer explicitly to the meaning of at bat described above. Batting order At bats with runners in scoring position
