1.
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
2.
Puerto Cabello
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Puerto Cabello is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas, as of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the country and is thus a vital cog in the countrys vast oil industry, the word cabello translates to hair. The Spaniards took to saying that the sea was so calm there that a ship could be secured to the dock by tying it with a single hair. Puerto Cabellos location made it an easy prey to buccaneers and was a trading post for Dutch smugglers during the 17th century. Most of the contraband trade consisted of cocoa with neighboring island Curaçao, Puerto Cabello was also at that time under Dutch control. It was not until 1730 that the Spanish took over the port and this company built warehouses, wharves and an array of forts to protect the harbor. The commodore Charles Knowles at command of the 70-gun HMS Suffolk in 1743 received orders to carry out attacks on the Spanish settlements at Puerto Cabello, the Spanish governor Gabriel de Zuluaga, well informed of the plans, recruits extra defenders and were supplied with gunpowder by the Dutch. Consequently, an attack on La Guaira, on 18 February 1743, Knowles withdrew his force and refitted at Curaçao before attempting an assault on Puerto Cabello on 15 April, and again on 24 April, but both assaults were beaten back. Knowles called off the expedition and returned to Jamaica, by the 1770s Puerto Cabello came to be the most fortified town on the Venezuela’s coast. The San Felipe castle and the Solano fortress remain from the period, the frigate Santa Cecilia, under the command of Captain Don Ramon de Chalas, sat in Puerto Cabello until Captain Edward Hamilton, aboard HMS Surprise cut her out of the harbour on 25 October 1799. The Spanish casualties included 119 dead, the British took 231 Spaniards prisoner, Hamilton had 11 men injured, four seriously, but none killed. The forces of the First Republic of Venezuela briefly held San Felipe castle, in 1812 Simón Bolívar, then a colonel in the independist forces, was appointed commandante of Puerto Cabello. He left after a royalist rebellion broke out, in 1821 the Spanish retreated to the castle after their defeat at the decisive Battle of Carabobo. Puerto Cabello was the last Spanish royalist stronghold during Venezuela’s war for independence, the harbour came under Anglo-German attack in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902-1903 and according to press reports was left in ruins. In 1962, Puerto Cabello was the site of an uprising, known as El Porteñazo, by pro-Fidel Castro naval officers, marines, and members of the FALN. Although loyalist naval forces were able to take back the base and arrest the rebels, they were unable to prevent the marines from occupying the city. Despite ambushes and bloody fighting, loyal National Guard and mechanized regular forces were able to retake Puerto Cabello
3.
Venezuela
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Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a federal republic located on the northern coast of South America. It is bordered by Colombia on the west, Brazil on the south, Guyana on the east, Venezuela covers 916,445 km2 and has an estimated population of 31775371. The territory now known as Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522 amid resistance from indigenous peoples and it gained full independence as a separate country in 1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic governments. This new constitution changed the name of the country to República Bolivariana de Venezuela. Venezuela is a presidential republic consisting of 23 states, the Capital District. Venezuela also claims all Guyanese territory west of the Essequibo River, oil was discovered in the early 20th century, and Venezuela has the worlds largest known oil reserves and has been one of the worlds leading exporters of oil. Previously an underdeveloped exporter of commodities such as coffee and cocoa, oil quickly came to dominate exports. The recovery of oil prices in the early 2000s gave Venezuela oil funds not seen since the 1980s, the Venezuelan government then established populist policies that initially boosted the Venezuelan economy and increased social spending, significantly reducing economic inequality and poverty. However, such policies later became controversial since they destabilized the economy, resulting in hyperinflation, an economic depression. According to the most popular and accepted version, in 1499, the stilt houses in the area of Lake Maracaibo reminded the navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, of the city of Venice, so he named the region Veneziola Piccola Venezia. The name acquired its current spelling as a result of Spanish influence, where the suffix -uela is used as a term, thus. The German language 16th century-term for the area, Klein-Venedig, also means little Venice, however, Martín Fernández de Enciso, a member of the Vespucci and Ojeda crew, gave a different account. In his work Summa de geografía, he states that they found people who called themselves the Veneciuela. Thus, the name Venezuela may have evolved from the native word and it is not known how many people lived in Venezuela before the Spanish conquest, it has been estimated at around one million. In addition to indigenous peoples known today, the population included historic groups such as the Kalina, Auaké, Caquetio, Mariche, the Timoto-Cuica culture was the most complex society in Pre-Columbian Venezuela, with pre-planned permanent villages, surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields. They also stored water in tanks and their houses were made primarily of stone and wood with thatched roofs. They were peaceful, for the most part, and depended on growing crops, regional crops included potatoes and ullucos
4.
Earned run average
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In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched, runs resulting from defensive errors are recorded as unearned runs and omitted from ERA calculations. Henry Chadwick is credited with devising the statistic, which caught on as a measure of pitching effectiveness after relief pitching came into vogue in the 1900s. Some criterion was needed to capture the apportionment of earned-run responsibility for a pitcher in games that saw contributions from other pitchers for the same team, a pitcher is assessed an earned run for each run scored by a batter who reaches base while batting against that pitcher. The National League first tabulated official earned run average statistics in 1912, recently written baseball encyclopedias display ERAs for earlier years, but these were computed retroactively. Negro League pitchers are often rated by RA, or total runs allowed, as with batting average, the definition of a good ERA varies from year to year. During the dead-ball era of the 1900s and 1910s, an ERA below 2.00 was considered good, in the 1960s, sub-2.00 ERAs returned, as other influences such as ballparks with different dimensions were introduced. Today, an ERA under 4.00 is again considered good, the all-time record for the lowest single season earned run average by a pitcher pitching 300 or more innings is 1.12, set by Bob Gibson in 1968. The record for the lowest career earned run average is 1.82, held by Ed Walsh, but a purported record based on so few innings pitched is highly misleading. Over the years, more than a dozen part-time pitchers have pitched 105 or more innings and had a run average lower than 0.86. Some sources may list players with infinite ERAs and this can happen if a pitcher allows one or more earned runs without retiring a batter. Additionally, an undefined ERA occasionally occurs at the beginning of a baseball season and it is sometimes incorrectly displayed as zero or as the lowest ranking ERA, even though it is more akin to the highest. At times it can be misleading to judge relief pitchers solely on ERA, because they are charged only for runs scored by batters who reached base while batting against them. Thus, if a pitcher enters the game with his team leading by 1 run, with 2 outs and the bases loaded. If he retires the batter, his ERA for that game will be 0.00 despite having surrendered the lead. Starting pitchers operate under the rules but are not called upon to start pitching with runners already on base. The relievers freedom to use their energy for a few innings, or even for just a few batters. ERA, taken by itself, can also be misleading when trying to objectively judge starting pitchers, the advent of the designated hitter rule in the American League in 1973 made the pitching environment significantly different
5.
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
6.
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
7.
2001 Major League Baseball season
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The 2001 Major League Baseball season, the first of the 21st century, finished with the Arizona Diamondbacks defeating the New York Yankees in a Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. The September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D. C. pushed the end of the regular-season from September 30 to October 7, because of the tragedy, the World Series was not completed until November 4, therefore, it was called The November Series. The 2001 World Series was the only World Series to end in November, until the 2009 Series, World Series champion, Arizona Diamondbacks Postseason, October 9 to November 4 ±hosted the MLB All Star Game Hank Aaron Award, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds. Rolaids Relief Man Award, Mariano Rivera, Armando Benítez, all-Star Game, July 10 at Safeco Field, American League, 4–1, Cal Ripken, Jr. MVP Home Run Derby, July 9 – Luis González, Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball standings 2001
8.
Miami Marlins
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The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League East division. Their home park is Marlins Park, though one of only two MLB franchises to have never won a division title, the Marlins have won two World Series championships as a wild card team. The stadium was later called Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Land Shark Stadium, since the 2012 season, they have played at Marlins Park in downtown Miami, on the site of the former Orange Bowl in Little Havana, Florida. The new park, unlike Sun Life Stadium, was designed foremost as a baseball park, the new parks name is a temporary one until naming rights are purchased. Per agreement with the city and Miami-Dade County, the Marlins officially changed their name to the Miami Marlins on November 11,2011 and they also adopted a new logo, color scheme, and uniforms. The 2003 season was notable for the firing of manager Jeff Torborg after 38 games, the Marlins were in last place in the NL East with a 16–22 record at the time. Torborgs successor, 72-year-old Jack McKeon, led them to the NL wild card berth in the postseason, the Marlins moved into their new ballpark, Marlins Park in 2012, which coincided with a change in the team colors/uniforms and name to the Miami Marlins. No-Hitters, Marlins pitchers have pitched five no-hitters in team history, four coming against teams in the NL West. Hitting for the cycle, No Marlins player has hit for the cycle in franchise history. See also, List of Major League Baseball retired numbers § Alternative methods of recognition, from 1993 until 2011, the Marlins had retired the number 5 in honor of Carl Barger, the first president of the Florida Marlins who died prior to the teams inaugural season. Bargers favorite player was Joe DiMaggio, thus the selection of number 5, with the move to the new ballpark, the team opted to honor Barger with a plaque. Logan Morrison, a Kansas City native and fan of Royals Hall-of-Famer George Brett, after José Fernández death as a result of a boating accident on September 25,2016, the Miami Marlins announced plans to build a memorial at Marlins Park in his honor. However, Fernández number 16 has yet to be officially retired, the Marlins began construction of a new, state-of-the-art stadium at the Miami Orange Bowl site on July 18,2009. The now approved stadium was the subject of a legal battle. A lawsuit by local automobile franchise mogul and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman contested the legality of the deal with Miami-Dade County, however, Miami-Dade County Judge Beth Cohen dismissed all the charges in Bramans lawsuit. The seating capacity for Marlins Park is 36,742, making it the third smallest stadium in the MLB and its first regular season game was April 4,2012, against the St. Until a naming-rights deal is reached, the park will be known as Marlins Park, the Marlins flagship radio station from their inception in 1993 through 2007 was WQAM560 AM
9.
2012 Major League Baseball season
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The 2012 Major League Baseball season began on March 28 with the first of a two-game series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The new format was finalized for the 2012 season on March 2,2012, the regular season ended on Wednesday, October 3. The entire master schedule was released on September 14,2011, the Major League Baseball postseason was expanded to include a second wild card team in each league beginning in the 2012 season. The season marked the last for the Houston Astros as a member of the National League, the Civil Rights Game was held on August 18 at Turner Field, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the host Atlanta Braves, 6–2. At the end of the 2011 season, the teams made replacements to their managers. ** Melky Cabrera of the San Francisco Giants was ineligible to win the title, at his request. He finished the season with a.346 average, adam Dunn, Tied the Major League record for most opening-day home runs by hitting his eighth against the Texas Rangers on April 6. He tied the record held by Frank Robinson and Ken Griffey, Set the Major League record to strikeout at least once in each of his teams first 15 games of a season, by striking out in the first inning against the Seattle Mariners on April 22. He broke the record that was held by Howie Goss, who struck out in each of Houstons first 14 games in 1963, Dunn continued to 32 games before not striking out May 11 against the Kansas City Royals. Recorded his 1000th career RBI in the inning on August 13 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He became the 273rd player to reach this mark, Hit his 400th career home run against the Kansas City Royals on August 18. He became the 50th player to reach this mark, José Reyes, Recorded his 100th career triple in the ninth inning against the Cincinnati Reds on April 8. He became the 162nd player to reach this mark, alex Rodriguez, Tied Ken Griffey, Jr. for fifth place on the career home run list with his 630th home run on April 13. Then one week later on April 20, Rodriguez hit his 631st home run to pass Griffey for fifth place on the home run list. Tied Lou Gehrig for most career grand slams with his 23rd against the Atlanta Braves on June 12, adrián Beltré, Scored his 1000th career run in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins on April 14. He became the 314th player to reach this mark, todd Helton, Recorded his 350th career home run in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 21. He became the 85th player to reach this mark, rafael Furcal, Scored his 1000th career run in the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs on April 24. He became the 315th player to reach this mark, paul Konerko, Hit his 400th career home run against the Oakland Athletics on April 25
10.
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game usually occurs on either the second or third Tuesday in July, and is meant to mark a symbolic halfway-point in the MLB season. Both of the major leagues share a common All-Star break, with no games scheduled on the day before or two days after the All-Star Game itself. Some additional events and festivities associated with the game take place each year close to, no official MLB All-Star Game was held in 1945 including the official selection of players due to World War II travel restrictions. The first All-Star Game was held on July 6,1933 as part of the 1933 Worlds Fair in Chicago, at Comiskey Park and was initiated by Arch Ward, initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in making the game an annual one. The venue for the All-Star Game is chosen by Major League Baseball, the criteria for the venue are subjective, generally, cities with new ballparks and those who have not hosted the game in a long time—or ever—tend to get selected. New York City has hosted more than any city, having done so nine times in five different stadiums. At the same time, the New York Mets failed to host for 48 seasons, in the first two decades of the game there were two pairs of teams that shared ballparks, located in Philadelphia and St. Louis. This led to some shorter-than-usual gaps between the use of venues, The Cardinals hosted the game in 1940, and the Browns in 1948. The Athletics hosted the game in 1943, and the Phillies in 1952, the venues traditionally alternate between the American League and National League every year. This tradition has been several times, The first time was in 1951. Detroit Tigers were chosen to host the game as part of the citys 250th birthday. The second was when the format during the 1959–1962 seasons resulted in the A. L. being one game ahead in turn. This was corrected in 2007, when the N. L, San Francisco Giants were the host for the 2007 All-Star Game, which also set up the 2008 game to be held at the A. L. s Yankee Stadium in its final season. This decision was made following the announcement of Miami as host for the 2017 All Star Game, the coaching staff for each team is selected by its manager. This honor is given to the manager, not the team and this happened in 2003, when Dusty Baker managed the National League team despite having moved from the National League champion San Francisco Giants to the Chicago Cubs. This has also included situations where the person is no longer actively managing a team, mcGraw came out of retirement for that purpose. Dick Williams resigned after managing the Oakland Athletics to the 1973 World Series, in 1974, he became manager of the California Angels, whose uniform he wore for the game. Tony La Russa, who managed the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, in 1979, Bob Lemon managed the American League team after having been fired by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner
11.
2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 13,2004 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, the home of the Houston Astros of the National League. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 9–4, players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Notes a Player was selected to start, but did not play due to injury, B Player was selected as a reserve, but became a starting replacement. FV Player was selected by the fans through the All-Star Final Vote, jack McKeon became the oldest manager to manage an All-Star game after becoming the oldest manager to manage a World Series in 2003 with the Florida Marlins. Roger Clemens gave up six runs in one inning for the first time in his major-league career, in the top of the first inning, the American League hit for the cycle for the first time in All-Star Game history. This was the first All-Star game to be broadcast in high-definition
12.
2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 11,2006 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. The contest was the fifth hosted by the city of Pittsburgh – tying the Cleveland Indians for the record of most times hosted by a single franchise. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 3–2, as with each All-Star Game since 1970, the 8 starting position players of each league were elected by fan balloting. The remaining players were selected by a vote, each leagues team manager. In all,32 players were selected to each leagues team, the game was the fourth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in the World Series. The AL entered the game on an unbeaten streak. Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, National League starting pitcher Brad Penny set the tone for the evening, striking out Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter, and David Ortiz to start the game. His fastball had uncharacteristic speed, never going below 96 miles per hour, American League pitcher Kenny Rogers wasnt as overpowering as Penny, but still escaped the first relatively unscathed. The AL would get to Penny in the second as Vladimir Guerrero hit a solo home run that just cleared the right field fence. The NL would respond in the bottom of the inning with David Wright hitting his own home run to left field. Roy Halladay relieved Rogers in the bottom of the third and it was in this inning when the National League exemplified what it does best, playing small. Alfonso Soriano hit a single one out and stole second base on Gold Glove catcher Iván Rodríguez. He tried to score on a single by Carlos Beltran, but was out at home plate by Vernon Wells. Beltran would advance to second on the throw, then steal third and score on a pitch by Halladay. That lead would seem like enough for the NL for most of the evening, trevor Hoffman came on to try to earn the save in the ninth. However, Paul Konerko hit a single to left past third baseman Miguel Cabrera, troy Glaus hit a ground rule double down the left field line, forcing Lopez to hold at third. While it looked like the National League received a break, Hoffman allowed a triple to Michael Young. Mariano Rivera would now try to save the game for the American League, because Lopez pinch-ran for Konerko in the top of the ninth, the American League was left without any first basemen on the roster
13.
2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 79th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League, the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York City, home of the New York Yankees, on July 15,2008, the game ended at 1,38 a. m. ET the following morning. The home American League won 4–3 in 15 innings, giving home field advantage in the 2008 World Series to the AL champion, which eventually came to be the Tampa Bay Rays. By length of time, this was the longest MLB All-Star Game in history, second baseman Dan Uggla of the Florida Marlins committed three errors, an All-Star Game record, none of which resulted in a run. Drew of the Boston Red Sox was named Most Valuable Player due to his two-run game-tying home run in the seventh inning, Drew won a Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid and the Ted Williams Trophy. It was the second All-Star Game in which the winning run was batted in by the Texas Rangers Michael Young. As with each All-Star Game since 1970, the eight starting position players of each league, the remaining players were selected by a players vote, each leagues team manager, and a second fan balloting to add one more player to each roster. In all,32 players were selected to each leagues team, the game was the sixth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in the World Series, the AL having clinched each of the first five opportunities. The AL entered the game on an 11-game unbeaten streak as the NL continued to look for their first win since the 1996 game in Philadelphia, still holding a 40–37–2 lead in the series. The announcement of Yankee Stadium as the site of the game was made by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on January 31,2007, at New Yorks City Hall. Though it was the game hosted at the Stadium and the eighth held in New York City. Thus, it was seen as a tribute to the old stadium that it host an All-Star Game in its final season. It was the first All-Star Game to be played in a venue scheduled to close after that season, the DHL FanFest, an indoor amusement park and quasi-museum, took place over five days beginning on July 11 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Manhattans West Side. The XM All-Star Futures Game and the Taco Bell All-Star Legends, the Gatorade Workout Day and State Farm Home Run Derby was held July 14 at the stadium. 42 replicas of the Statue of Liberty were put on display beginning on June 20 at various sites throughout the city and they depicted every MLB team, the game logo, the league logo, and even the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. Balloting for the 2008 All-Star Game starters began on April 29, because the game was in an American League ballpark, fans were asked to select their favorite AL designated hitter in addition to all the position players. The top vote-getters at each position, and top three among outfielders, were named to start the game, votes were cast online and at the 30 MLB ballparks. Monster was the sponsor of the portion of balloting
14.
Silver Slugger Award
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Managers and coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980 and is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the award is a bat-shaped trophy,3 feet tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver. The prize is presented to outfielders irrespective of their specific position, embattled home run record-holder Barry Bonds won twelve Silver Slugger Awards in his career as an outfielder, the most of any player. He also won the award in five consecutive seasons twice in his career, from 1990 to 1994, retired catcher Mike Piazza and former New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez are tied for second, with ten wins each. Rodriguez awards are split between two positions, he won seven Silver Sluggers as a shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers, wade Boggs leads third basemen with eight Silver Slugger Awards, Barry Larkin leads shortstops with nine. Other leaders include Ryne Sandberg and Mike Hampton, todd Helton and Albert Pujols are tied for the most wins among first baseman with four, although Pujols has won two awards at other positions. David Ortiz has won seven awards at designated hitter position, the most at that position, inline citations Louisville Slugger – The Silver Slugger Award
15.
No-hitter
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In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a single hit. Major League Baseball officially defines a no-hitter as a game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher who prevents the team from achieving a hit is said to have thrown a no-hitter. This is an accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff, only 295 have been thrown in Major League Baseball history since 1876. In most cases in MLB, no-hitters are recorded by a pitcher who throws a complete game. The most recent no-hitter by a pitcher was thrown on April 21,2016 by Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs against the Cincinnati Reds at Cincinnatis Great American Ball Park. The most recent combined no-hitter was thrown by Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and it is possible to reach base without a hit, most commonly by a walk, error, or being hit by a pitch. A no-hitter in which no batters reach base at all is a perfect game, on two occasions, a team has thrown a nine-inning no-hitter and still lost the game. It is theoretically possible for opposing pitchers to throw no-hitters in the same game, although this has never happened in the majors. A no-hitter is defined by Major League Baseball as follows, An official no-hit game occurs when a pitcher allows no hits during the course of a game. Games lost by the team in 8½ innings but without allowing any hits do not qualify as no-hitters. Major League Baseball has officially recognized 295 no-hitters thrown since 1876, two no-hitters have been thrown on the same day twice, Ted Breitenstein and Jim Hughes on April 22,1898, and Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela on June 29,1990. Eight no-hitters were thrown by major league pitchers in the 1884 season, in the modern era, seven no-hitters were thrown in 1990,1991,2012, and 2015. The longest period between any two no-hitters in the era is 3 years,44 days between Bobby Burke on August 8,1931, and Paul Daffy Dean on September 21,1934. There was a drought of 3 years,11 months, without a no-hitter after the first National League no-hitter on July 15,1876, the most recent year without any no-hitters is 2005. The previous record was a 4, 015-game streak without a no-hitter from September 30,1984, the pitcher who holds the record for the most no-hitters is Nolan Ryan, who threw seven in his long career. His first two came exactly two months apart, while he was with the California Angels, the first on May 15,1973, and he had two more with the Angels on September 28,1974, and June 1,1975. Ryans fifth no-hitter with the Houston Astros on September 26,1981 and his sixth and seventh no-hitters came with the Texas Rangers on June 1,1990, and May 1,1991
16.
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
17.
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
18.
Relief pitcher
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Relief pitchers are further divided informally into various roles, such as closers, set-up relief pitchers, middle relief pitchers, left/right-handed specialists, and long relievers. A teams staff of relievers is normally referred to metonymically as a teams bullpen, which refers to the area where the relievers sit during games, in the early days of Major League Baseball, substituting a player was not allowed except for sickness or injury. An ineffective pitcher would switch positions with another player on the field, the first relief appearance in the major leagues was in 1876 with Boston Red Caps outfielder Jack Manning switching positions with pitcher Joe Borden. In this early era, relief pitchers changing from a role to the pitchers box in this way were often called change pitchers. This strategy of switching players between the mound and the outfield is still employed in modern baseball, sometimes in long extra inning games where a team is running out of players. In 1889, the first bullpen appearance occurred after rules were changed to allow a player substitution at any time, early relief pitchers were normally starting pitchers pitching one or two innings in between starts. In 1903, during the game of the inaugural World Series. Firpo Marberry is credited with being the first prominent reliever, from 1923 to 1935, he pitched in 551 games,364 of which were in relief. Baseball historian Bill James wrote that Marberry was a modern reliever—a hard throwing young kid who worked strictly in relief, worked often, another reliever, Johnny Murphy, became known as Fireman for his effectiveness when inserted into difficult situations in relief. Nonetheless, the full-time reliever who was entrusted with important situations was more the exception than the rule at this point, often, a teams ace starting pitcher was used in between his starts to close games. Later research would reveal that Lefty Grove would have been in his leagues top three in saves in four different seasons, had that stat been invented at the time, gradually after World War II, full-time relievers became more acceptable and standard. The relievers were usually pitchers that were not good enough to be starters, relievers in the 1950s started to develop oddball pitches to distinguish them from starters. For example, Hoyt Wilhelm threw a knuckleball, and Elroy Face threw a forkball, in 1969, the pitchers mound was lowered and umpires were encouraged to call fewer strikes to give batters an advantage. Relief specialists were used to counter the increase in offense, relievers became more respected in the 1970s, and their pay increased due to free agency. All teams began having a closer, the 1980s were the first time in MLB that the number of saves outnumbered complete games. In 1995, there were nearly four saves for every complete game and it is unclear whether the specialization and reliance on relief pitchers led to pitch counts and fewer complete games, or whether pitch counts led to greater use of relievers. As closers were reduced to one-inning specialists, setup men and middle relievers became more prominent, in past decades, the relief pitcher was merely an ex-starter who came into a game upon the injury, ineffectiveness, or fatigue of the starting pitcher. The bullpen was for old starters who had lost the ability to throw effectively, many of these pitchers would be able to flourish in this diminished role
19.
Home run
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In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is also the home run, increasingly rare in modern baseball. When a home run is scored, the batter is credited with a hit and a run scored. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit, a batted ball is also a home run if it touches either foul pole or its attached screen before touching the ground, as the foul poles are by definition in fair territory. A batted ball that goes over the wall after touching the ground is not a home run. A fielder is allowed to reach over the wall to attempt to catch the ball as long as his feet are on or over the field during the attempt. If the fielder successfully catches the ball while it is in flight the batter is out, however, since the fielder is not part of the field, a ball that bounces off a fielder and over the wall without touching the ground is still a home run. A home run accomplished in any of the above manners is a home run. This stipulation is in Approved Ruling of Rule 7.10, an inside-the-park home run occurs when a batter hits the ball into play and is able to circle the bases before the fielders can put him out. Unlike with a home run, the batter-runner and all preceding runners are liable to be put out by the defensive team at any time while running the bases. This can only happen if the ball does not leave the ballfield, with outfields much less spacious and more uniformly designed than in the games early days, inside-the-park home runs are now a rarity. They are usually the result of a ball being hit by a very fast runner, either way, this sends the ball into open space in the outfield and thereby allows the batter-runner to circle the bases before the defensive team can put him out. The speed of the runner is crucial as even triples are relatively rare in most modern ballparks, all runs scored on such a play, however, still count. An example of an unexpected bounce occurred during the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 10,2007, by the time the ball was relayed, Ichiro had already crossed the plate standing up. This was the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history, Home runs are often characterized by the number of runners on base at the time. A home run hit with the bases empty is seldom called a one-run homer, with one runner on base, two runs are scored and thus the home run is often called a two-run homer or two-run shot. Similarly, a home runs with two runners on base is a three-run homer or three-run shot, the term four-run homer is seldom used, instead, it is nearly always called a grand slam. Hitting a grand slam is the best possible result for the turn at bat
20.
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
21.
Ferguson Jenkins
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Ferguson Arthur Fergie Jenkins, Jr. CM is a Canadian former professional baseball player. He was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and he also played basketball in the off-season for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1967 to 1969, and pitched two seasons in Canada for the minor league London Majors following his major league career. In 1991, Jenkins became the first Canadian to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Jenkins played the majority of his career for the Cubs. He was a National League and Cubs All-Star for three seasons, and in 1971, he was the first Canadian and Cubs pitcher to win a Cy Young Award and he was a 20-game winner for seven seasons, including six consecutive seasons for the Cubs. He was the NL leader in wins, in 1971, and he was also the NL leader in complete games in 1967,1970, and 1971, and the AL leader in complete games in 1974. He led the NL in strikeouts in 1969 and had over 3,000 strikeouts during his career, Jenkins was born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, the only child of Delores and Ferguson Jenkins, Sr. His father, a chef and chauffeur, immigrated from Barbados, both of his parents were good athletes, his father was an amateur boxer and semi-pro baseball player. A talented athlete, Jenkins competed in track and field, ice hockey, when he began playing bantam baseball in his teens, he started out as a first baseman. He honed his skills by throwing pieces of coal from a local coal yard. He was also encouraged to continue working on his pitching by Gene Dziadura, a shortstop in the Chicago Cubs minor league system. Many training sessions between the two followed until Jenkins graduated from high school, in 1962, Jenkins was signed by Philadelphia Phillies scout Tony Lucadello. Jenkins made his debut as a 22-year-old in 1965, as a relief pitcher. He was traded the following year to the Chicago Cubs, along with Adolfo Phillips and John Herrnstein, for pitchers Larry Jackson, Jenkins would become one of the best pitchers in the majors. In his first full year as a starter for the Cubs and he finished tied for second in the Cy Young Award voting, following Mike McCormick of the San Francisco Giants. He was also selected for the All-Star Game for the first time that season, the following year his numbers improved, once again he won twenty games, his ERA dropped to 2.63 and his strikeout total increased to 260. Jenkins established a reputation for achieving his pitching feats and his statistics while spending most of his pitching in a hitters ballpark—Wrigley Field in Chicago. Furthermore, in 1968, Jenkins lost five of his starts in 1–0 ballgames, Jenkins had his best season in 1971. On April 6,1971, Jenkins started the Cubs opening-day game, the Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2–1 in 10 innings at Wrigley Field
22.
Sinker (baseball)
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In baseball, a sinker or sinking fastball is a type of fastball pitch which has significant downward and horizontal movement and is known for inducing ground balls. Pitchers who use the sinker tend to rely on it heavily, other pitchers normally change pitch speeds to achieve this effect. The sinker is much more used by right-handed pitchers than left-handed pitchers. Before the 1950s, pitchers did not know what caused their pitches to sink or hop and they regarded either ability as a gift from heaven. Bill James cites Curt Simmons as the first pitcher to be able to throw both sinkers and rising fastballs, apparently indicating that it was not known how to make a pitch sink and how to make one hop. One method of throwing the sinker is to grip the baseball along the two seams and throw it similar to a fastball. Some pitchers use a motion on their wrist when throwing it. The pitchers palm turns to the right at release for a right handed pitcher and this causes a sharper sink, but also has a greater risk of a wild pitch. This wrist movement is also called pronation, the sinker drops 3 to 6 inches more than a typical two-seam fastball which causes batters to hit ground balls more often than other fastballs, mostly due to the tilted sidespin on the ball. Horizontal movement also occurs when sinkers are thrown, sinkerball pitchers can often get called strikes and swinging strikes on the pitch, so sinkerball pitches can obtain large strikeout totals
23.
Split-finger fastball
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A split-finger fastball or splitter is a pitch in baseball derived from the forkball. It is named after the technique of putting the index and middle finger on different sides of the ball, despite the use of the word fastball, it is used as an off-speed pitch. The splitter grew out of an older pitch known as the forkball which was used in the major leagues since the 1920s. The modern splitter is often credited to baseball coach Fred Martin who threw the pitch in the leagues as a changeup of sorts. When a young Bruce Sutter returned from surgery to find his fastball had lost velocity, sutters success as a closer helped popularize the pitch. Another early proponent of the splitter was Roger Craig, a pitcher-turned-manager in the 1980s and he taught it to a number of pitchers on the teams he coached, the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants. According to Mike Scioscia, the splitter was the pitch of the 80s, the splitter eventually lost popularity after concerns arose that extensive use of the pitch could rob pitchers of fastball speed. Several major league teams actively discourage pitching prospects from throwing or learning the pitch, in 2011, only 15 starting pitchers used it as part of their regular repertoire. The split-finger grip is similar to the grip, but the forkball is pushed further back between the fingers and is usually thrown with a wrist flip that makes it slower than the splitter. The split-finger is often recommended as an alternative to breaking pitches to young players because of its simplicity, as it is an off-speed pitch, the splitter is generally thrown slower than a pitchers fastball. According to PITCHf/x, the average four-seam fastball from a pitcher in 2010 was 92 mph, while the average splitter was 85 mph. The motion of a pitch is similar to the outlawed spitball. When thrown, the pitcher must emphasize the downward pull of the pitch at the end of his motion, thrusting the hand and forearm downward is what causes the reduced backspin relative to a fastball, and thus the appearance of drop off the table movement from the pitch. The split-finger fastball is an effective pitch with runners on base. A common tactic is using the split-finger to cause the batter to hit into a double play, when thrown correctly, the split-fingers apparent last second drop causes many batters to hit the top half of the baseball therefore inducing a ground ball. David Cone was famous for his splitter, used most often in the middle, a major strikeout pitch for him, Cone would throw it hard like a fastball to get swinging strikes. He also was effective in throwing it slower, using it as a changeup to throw off hitters timing. Jack Morris learned the pitch from Roger Craig in 1980, Mike Scott also learned the pitch from Roger Craig after the 1984 season, and it turned his career around
24.
Four-seam fastball
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A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch in baseball. It is a member of the family of pitches and is usually the hardest ball thrown by a pitcher. A few pitchers at the league level can sometimes reach a pitch speed of up to 100 mph. The ball is gripped with the index and middle fingers set on or across a line of the seam that faces outward. The thumb is placed directly underneath the ball, it rests on smooth leather with the base of the thumb overlaying a seam on the underside of the ball, the four-seam fastball typically is thrown with a straight overhead swing of the throwing arm. Further, backspin combined with the rotation of four seams in alignment with the direction of the pitch stabilizes the balls flight-path. A successful four-seam fastball overpowers the batter with velocity, normally zipping through the zone before the batter can timely commit to swing. The faster a four-seamer pitch is thrown, the more effective it will be. It is very difficult for a batter to get around on the pitch—to quickly swing the bat around to meet the ball—because he/she must swing very early to catch up to the speedy pitch. Conversely, because the four-seamer doesnt break, it is quite hittable by the quick, moreover, its extreme velocity helps experienced batters to hit it extremely hard, that is, if a batter can square up on it, a four-seamer pitch can be readily hit for power. Further, a fastballs effectiveness decreases substantially if it is not accurately thrown, due to its straight and level flight an errant fastball will not fool many batters as to its direction, thus, it elicits fewer swings and produces more walks when thrown outside the strike zone. As a pitchers fastball loses heat, more batters will have sufficient time to read, pitching or throwing a fastball comes naturally to most athletes who throw baseballs. The fastball is typically one of the first pitches taught to young pitchers and it requires very little unnatural motion of the arm, elbow or shoulders, and the ball comes off the fingers easily when the pitch is completed as it is intended to be thrown. The fastball is the most common of pitches, as almost all pitchers throw a fastball as part of their standard repertoire. Scientific studies have shown that the four-seam and two-seam fastballs have essentially the same flight paths and speeds, but, typically, the perceived difference is due to flicker fusion threshold, which is defined as the frequency that a flashing light appears steady to the human eye. A major league pitcher throws a baseball with a spin of around 20 rotations per second, thus, the batter often perceives the four-seam fastball as faster and higher than a two-seam fastball
25.
Slider
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In baseball, a slider is a breaking ball pitch that tails laterally and down through the batters hitting zone, it is thrown with speed less than a fastball but greater than the pitchers curveball. The break on the pitch is shorter than that of the curveball, the slider is similar to the cutter, a fastball pitch, but is more of a breaking ball than the cutter. The slider is also known as a yakker or a snapper, the slider is released off the index finger, while the curveball is released off the middle finger. If the pitcher is snapping his wrist as he throws, and the movement is more downward than sideways, then he is throwing a curveball or slurve. When throwing a slider, the pitcher should create a dot on the baseball, this means that as the ball approaches home plate, on a good slider, the dot will be down where it is not noticeable for a hitter to pick up. From the batters perspective, this dot appears white, whereas the dot is red for a curve ball, by having the dot on the bottom part of the ball, the pitcher will create good depth to the pitch. A good, hard slider has a break across the plate. It is important when throwing a slider, or any breaking pitch in baseball, when the pitcher comes around the ball, the pitcher puts extra tension on his pitching arm to throw that pitch. As mentioned earlier the pitcher should create a dot on the ball when throwing a slider, the dot will be created with a regular arm motion, just like a fastball, then at the end the pitcher should turn the wrist so that the thumb faces downwards. It is important that the dot is on the half of the ball or else the slider will have little depth to it. To make sure that the dot is on the bottom, the pitcher must ensure that the stay on top of the ball at all times. Slider movement is a result of the fingertip pressure and grip. The pitcher may visualize throwing his fingers at the catcher in order to follow through. A Hall of Fame pitcher famous for his slider was lefty Steve Carlton, right-handed pitcher David Cone was famous for his slider, which he was able to use many different ways, as was Bob Gibson of the Cardinals. To right-handed batters, Cone would throw it to hook sharply outside the zone, getting hitters to chase. He threw the pitch from various arm angles to confuse the hitter. Cones slider was also a pitch to left-handed hitters, throwing it to curve back over the outside corner. Cone used the slider effectively during his game on July 18
26.
Mark Carlson (umpire)
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Mark Christopher Carlson is an umpire in Major League Baseball. He wore number 48 until the 2012 season, when his number changed to 6, Carlson began his career as a National League umpire in 1999, and has worked in both Major Leagues since 2000. Carlson was the field umpire in the 2003 All-Star Game. He was the plate umpire for the May 2,2012 no-hitter thrown by Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver. He was the base umpire on September 28,2012. MLB selected Carlson to officiate the 2014 Opening Series from March 20-23,2014 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Syndey, Carlson was involved in baseball throughout his childhood. He has one brother, Michael, who died in 2004, Carlson attended Joliet West High School and Parkland College, where he played catcher. He also served in the United States Marine Corps and served as a member for UMPS Care Charities before founding the Mark Carlsons Care childrens charity. He resides in Illinois with his wife and two daughters, list of Major League Baseball umpires MLB. com profile Retrosheet Umpire Ejection Fantasy League Profile
27.
Milwaukee Brewers
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The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team and are based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The team is named for the association with the brewing industry. Since 2001, the Brewers have played their games at Miller Park. The team was founded in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, an team of the American League, in Seattle. The Pilots played their games at Sicks Stadium. After only one season, the relocated to Milwaukee, becoming known as the Brewers. In 1998, the Brewers joined the National League and they are the only franchise to play in four divisions since the advent of divisional play in Major League Baseball in 1969. The teams only World Series appearance came in 1982, after winning the ALCS against the California Angels, the Brewers faced off against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, losing 4-3. In 2011, the Brewers won the NLDS versus the Arizona Diamondbacks 3–2, the Brewers were part of the American League from their creation in 1969 through the 1997 season, after which they moved to the National League Central Division. Milwaukee had previously been a National League city when its team was the Milwaukee Braves, in 1981, Milwaukee won the American League East Division in the second half of the strike-shortened season. In the playoffs, they lost the series to the New York Yankees. In 1982, Milwaukee won the American League East Division and the American League Pennant, in the Series, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, four games to three. In 1998, the Brewers changed leagues, going from the American League to the National League, in 2008, for the first time in the 26 years since their World Series appearance, the Brewers advanced to postseason play by winning the National League wild card. They were eliminated in the National League Division Series by the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, on September 23,2011, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first division title in 29 years. The first Brewers uniforms were hand-me-downs from the Seattle Pilots, because the move to Milwaukee received final approval less than a week before the start of the season, there was no time to order new uniforms. However, the outline of the Pilots logo remained visible, the uniforms had unique striping on the sleeves left over from the Pilots days. The cap was a version of the Milwaukee Braves cap in blue. Ultimately, it was decided to keep blue and gold as the team colors, the Brewers finally got their own flannel design in 1971
28.
Wrigley Field
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Wrigley Field /ˈrɪɡli/ is a baseball park located on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the citys two Major League Baseball franchises and it first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghmans Chicago Whales of the Federal League, which folded after the 1915 baseball season. The Cubs played their first home game at the park on April 20,1916, chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. of the Wrigley Company acquired complete control of the Cubs in 1921. It was named Cubs Park from 1920 to 1926, before being renamed Wrigley Field in 1927, in the North side community area of Lakeview in the Wrigleyville neighborhood, Wrigley Field is on an irregular block bounded by Clark and Addison Streets and Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. Wrigley Field is nicknamed The Friendly Confines, a phrase popularized by Mr. Cub, Hall of Fame shortstop and first baseman Ernie Banks. The oldest park in the National League, the current seating capacity is 41,268, it is the second-oldest in the majors after Fenway Park, between 1921 and 1970, it was also the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. The elevation of its field is 600 feet above sea level. Baseball executive Charles Weeghman hired his architect Zachary Taylor Davis to design the park, the original tenants, the Chicago Whales came in second in the Federal League rankings in 1914 and won the league championship in 1915. In late 1915, Weeghmans Federal League folded, the resourceful Weeghman formed a syndicate including the chewing gum manufacturer William Wrigley Jr. to buy the Chicago Cubs from Charles P. Taft for about $500,000. Weeghman immediately moved the Cubs from the dilapidated West Side Grounds to his two-year-old park, in 1918, Wrigley acquired the controlling interest in the club. In November 1926, he renamed the park Wrigley Field, in 1927, an upper deck was added, and in 1937, Bill Veeck, the son of the club president, planted ivy vines against the outfield walls. The Ricketts family has been pursuing a Wrigley Field renovation since buying the team. Their current plan, revealed during the annual Cubs Convention in January 2013, calls for a $575-million, the team could not come to terms with the rooftop owners who have a lease with the team until 2023 in exchange for paying 17% of the gross revenues. In May 2014 the Cubs announced they would pursue the original 2013 plan to modify the park, the 1060 Project – Phase One started Monday, September 29,2014. During the off-season, the bleachers in both outfields were expanded and the footprint was extended further onto both Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. A3,990 sq ft Jumbotron scoreboard was added to the left field bleachers and it is topped with a sign advertising Wintrust Financial, a Rosemont-based bank and a Cubs Legacy Partner, the W in Wintrust flashes after every Cubs win. A2,400 sq ft video scoreboard was added in the right field bleachers. After the close of the extended 2015 season, work began on Phase Two of the project, the previous clubhouse space was utilized to enlarge the dugout and add two underground batting cages, an auditorium, and more team office space
29.
Houston Astros
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The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros are members of the American League West division in Major League Baseball, the Astros have played their home games at Minute Maid Park since 2000. The Astros were established as the Houston Colt. 45s and entered the National League in 1962 with the expansion New York Mets. The current name—reflecting Houstons role as the center of the U. S. space program—was adopted three years later, when they moved into the Astrodome, the worlds first domed sports stadium. The Astros played in the NL from 1962 to 2012 and they played in the West division from 1969 to 1993, and the Central division from 1994 to 2012. The Astros have played in one World Series in 2005 against the Chicago White Sox, from 1888 until 1961, Houstons professional baseball club was the minor league Houston Buffaloes. Although expansion from the National League eventually brought an MLB team to Texas in 1962, Houston officials had been making efforts to do so for years prior. There were four men responsible for bringing Major League Baseball to Houston, George Kirksey and Craig Cullinan. They formed the Houston Sports Association as their vehicle for attaining a big league franchise for the city of Houston and they called the new league the Continental League. Wanting to protect potential new markets, both existing leagues chose to expand from eight teams to ten, however, plans eventually fell through for the Houston franchise after the Houston Buffaloes owner, Marty Marion, could not come to an agreement with the HSA to sell the team. To make matters worse, the Continental League as a whole folded in August 1960, however, on October 17,1960, the National League granted an expansion franchise to the Houston Sports Association in which their team could begin play in the 1962 season. Eventually, the Houston Sports Association succeeded in purchasing the Houston Buffaloes, at this point majority-owned by William Hopkins, the Buffs played one last minor league season as the top farm team of the Chicago Cubs in 1961 before being succeeded by the citys NL club. The new Houston team was named the Colt. 45s after a Name The Team contest was won by William Irving Neder, the Colt.45 was well known as the gun that won the west. The colors selected were blue and orange. The first team was formed mostly through a draft after the 1961 season. The Colt. 45s and their cousins, the New York Mets. Many of those associated with the Houston Buffaloes organization were allowed by the ownership to continue in the major league, Manager Harry Craft, who had joined Houston in 1961, remained in the same position for the team until the end of the 1964 season. General manager Spec Richardson also continued with the organization as business manager, similarly, the radio broadcasting team remained with the new Houston major league franchise
30.
Juan Cruz (baseball)
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Juan Carlos Cruz is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. Cruz attended Janaco Bonao High School in Bonao, Cruz was signed for the Chicago Cubs by scout Jose Serra. He began his pro career with the Cubs Rookie Level team, the Mesa Cubs, Cruz went 5–6 with a 5.94 for Chicagos Single-A affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds, in 1999. Cruz split the 2000 season between the Single-A Lansing Lugnuts and Daytona Cubs and his combined stats for the year included an 8–5 record, a 3.27 ERA and 160 Ks in 25 games and 140.1 innings. He also threw three complete games, Cruz made his big league debut for the Cubs on August 21,2001, against the Milwaukee Brewers. He went 3–1 with a 3.22 ERA in his first 8 starts, one of his highlights for the beginning of Cruzs season was that he was named to the All-Star Futures Team. Cruz went 3–11 with a 3.98 ERA in 45 games in 2002 and he also picked up his first career save. He went 2–7 with a 6.05 ERA in 2003 in 6 starts with the Cubs and he started the year in the Cubs bullpen but was sent down to the Iowa Cubs on June 3. On Opening Day in 2003, Cruz struck out 6 consecutive batters, on March 25,2004, Cruz, along with Steve Smyth, was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Andy Pratt and Richard Lewis. On March 25,2004, Cruz, along with Steve Smyth, were acquired by the Atlanta Braves, from the Chicago Cubs, for Andy Pratt, also, with runners in scoring position, opposing batters only hit.159 against him. On December 16,2004, the Braves traded Cruz to the Oakland Athletics, along with Dan Meyer and Charles Thomas, while Tim Hudson was sent to the Braves. On December 16,2004, the Oakland Athletics acquired Cruz, along with Dan Meyer and Charles Thomas, from the Atlanta Braves, in 2005, Cruz struggled in the beginning of the year and was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento in June. Cruz returned to the team in September 2005 when rosters expanded. His overall stats for the year were an 0–3 record and a 7.44 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 28 games in Oakland. After going 2–0 with 10.1 scoreless innings for Oakland in 2006 Spring Training, in March 2006, the Oakland Athletics traded Cruz to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Brad Halsey. Cruz pitched in four outings for the Dbacks in the spring after being traded. Cruz began the year in the rotation, and went 3–3 with a 4.05 ERA and 41 Ks in 14 games. Two days later, he was moved to the 15-day DL, Cruz bounced between the bullpen and the rotation in 2006, but was used strictly out of the bullpen in 2007
31.
Iowa Cubs
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The Iowa Cubs are a Triple-A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, that plays in the Pacific Coast League. Their home games are played in Des Moines, Iowa, at Principal Park, Triple-A baseball came to Iowas capital city in 1969, as the Iowa Oaks of the American Association began play. The Oaks were affiliates of the Oakland Athletics, the Chicago White Sox, the team became part of the Pacific Coast League in 1998 after the dissolution of the American Association. The current Player Development Contract with the Chicago Cubs runs through 2016, the Iowa Cubs are one of only four Triple-A clubs who bear the name of their parent club. Most minor league teams have moved towards a nickname representative of their community in order to provide consistent marketing regardless of what major league club their PDC is with. Their home ballpark is Principal Park, located at the confluence of the Des Moines, the franchise attendance record of 576,310 was set in 2007. As of 2008, the I-Cubs are owned by Raccoon Baseball, sam Bernabe serves as the teams president and general manager. The mascot of the Iowa Cubs is Cubbie Bear, a brown bear, many future Cubs stars have played in Des Moines before they were called up to Wrigley Field. Even today many Cubs stars such as Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo, the Iowa Oaks hosted many future Major League Baseball stars such as sluggers Bill McNulty, Harold Baines, Pat Tabler, and 1971 Cy Young and MVP Award winning left-handed pitcher Vida Blue. Rod Beck gained national attention while pitching for Iowa during his comeback for living in a mobile home behind the teams Sec Taylor Stadium in Des Moines, Beck warmly welcomed fans to drop by and visit, use his restroom, and have some Coors Light from his refrigerator. In 1993, Tuffy Rhodes hit a home run to win the American Association championship for the Iowa Cubs. In addition to players, Mike Quade, a former manager of the Chicago Cubs. Another former Chicago Cubs manager Bruce Kimm is an Iowa native who managed the Iowa Cubs from 2001 to 2002, in 2010, the I-Cubs had one of their best seasons ever with manager Ryne Sandberg named Pacific Coast League 2010 Manager of the Year. Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa managed the Iowa Oaks in 1979 prior to becoming manager for the Chicago White Sox, in May 2014, Manny Ramirez signed a contract as a part-time player/coach for the I-Cubs. net
32.
Mark Prior
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Mark William Prior is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Chicago Cubs from 2002 to 2006 in a career that was marred by injuries and his repertoire of pitches included a mid-90s mph fastball, a curveball, a slurve, and a changeup. He is currently working in the front office of the San Diego Padres Organization, Prior graduated from the University of San Diego High School. He was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 1998 amateur draft, Prior attended his fathers alma mater, Vanderbilt University for his freshman year. He transferred to the University of Southern California, where he played baseball for the USC Trojans. In 2001, Prior won several collegiate player of the awards, including the Dick Howser Trophy, the Golden Spikes Award. In 2001, Prior re-entered the draft, and was considered by some to be the top prospect, but the Minnesota Twins, fearing signability problems, the Twins opted to take local talent catcher Joe Mauer, leaving Prior to be taken 2nd overall by the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had also been considering drafting Georgia Tech third baseman Mark Teixeira, the Cubs signed Prior to a contract for $10.5 million, which stood as the record amount for a draft pick until 2009. However, sportswriters and fans began to criticize Dusty Baker on the high pitch counts of the two hurlers, despite those concerns, Prior and Wood continued to pitch high counts throughout the season. In 2003, Prior averaged 113.4 pitches per starts in regular season, in the month of September, Prior recorded 126 pitches per start. Prior averaged another 120 pitches in games in the postseason and struggled with an injury the next season, pundits often blame Baker for ruining the careers of both pitchers. The Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves in the first round, but lost to the eventual World Series Champion Florida Marlins in the NLCS, Prior, who was the winner in Game 2, was on the mound for the infamous Steve Bartman/Moisés Alou foul ball incident in Game 6. At the time, the Cubs were holding onto a lead in the 8th inning. Prior struggled with his command and gave up the lead with the aid of poor play, most notably the booted double play grounder. The Marlins scored eight runs in the 8th inning, winning 8-3 in Game 6, Prior was forced to miss the first two months of the 2004 season due to an achilles tendon injury. After coming off the disabled list Prior did not pitch up to expectations, however, towards the end of the 2004 season, Prior seemed to return to form. He struck out a career high 16 Cincinnati Reds in his last start of the season, Prior finished 2004 with a 6-4 record and a 4.02 ERA in 21 starts. Priors 2005 season was marred with missed games due to injuries
33.
Kerry Wood
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Kerry Lee Wood is an American former baseball pitcher who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees. The game also made Wood the co-holder of the MLB record for strikeouts in a single game and he was later named the 1998 National League Rookie of the Year. Wood would go on to record over 200 strikeouts in four out of his first five seasons, with a high of 266 in 2003, in particular, in MLB history, he is second only to Randy Johnson in career strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Though he struggled with injuries throughout his career, Wood was twice named an All-Star, Wood transitioned to a relief pitcher in 2007 due to continued struggles with injuries, ultimately reviving his career as a closer. During his career Wood was placed on the disabled list 14 times in 14 major league seasons, after a slow start to the 2012 season, Wood retired on May 18,2012. Wood attended MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, for his first three seasons of high school baseball and he continued his education at Grand Prairie High School for his final season as a high school player. The Chicago Cubs drafted Wood as the fourth selection in the 1995 Amateur Draft. He spent three years playing in the Minor Leagues and his best season in the Minors came in 1996, when he posted a 10–2 record for the Daytona Cubs. He also played for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, in 1997, he led all minor league pitchers in walks, with 131. Wood made his first appearance in the Major Leagues on April 12,1998, Wood allowed only two baserunners, Ricky Gutiérrez on an infield single and Craig Biggio who was hit by a pitch with a count of two strikes and one ball. Only seven balls reached fair territory, five were grounders that never left the infield, one was a short fly along the right field line, and another was a fly to center. A foul pop was caught by first baseman Mark Grace and the remaining twenty putouts were credited to catcher Sandy Martínez, who caught the entire game. Wood had no special advantages – the Astros went on to lead the league in on-base-percentage, the performance garnered a game score of 105 – the highest number ever calculated for a pitcher in a nine-inning game. Wood finished the 1998 season with a 13–6 record, despite missing the last month of the season with elbow soreness and he pitched one game in the playoffs, losing against the Atlanta Braves. During spring training of 1999, Wood underwent Tommy John surgery to repair damage to the collateral ligament in his right elbow. Wood returned in 2000 and had an 8–7 record, but the following season, in 2001, Wood went 12–6 with a 3.36 ERA. The following season, Wood finished 12–11 with a 3.67 ERA and he had 217 strikeouts in both seasons. In 2003, Wood set career highs with 266 strikeouts,14 wins, a 3.20 ERA and he threw the fastest fastball in the majors among starters, averaging 95.4 miles per hour
34.
Curt Schilling
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Curtis Montague Schilling is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, former video game developer, and former baseball color analyst. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in 1993, Schilling retired with a career postseason record of 11–2, and his.846 postseason winning percentage is a major-league record among pitchers with at least ten decisions. He is a member of the 3, 000-strikeout club and has the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio of any of its members and he is tied for third for the most 300-strikeout seasons. Of post 19th century pitchers, Schilling has the second highest JAWS of any pitcher not in the Hall of Fame, after retiring, he founded Green Monster Games, which was renamed 38 Studios. The company released Kingdoms of Amalur, Reckoning in February 2012, as a radio-personality Schilling was signed by the Howie Carr radio network to do a Saturday morning politics and sports show. An outspoken conservative, Schilling joined the website Breitbart. com in 2016, Schilling graduated from Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1985, before attending Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona. Schilling began his career in the Boston Red Sox farm system as a second-round pick in what would be the final January draft in MLB. He began his career with the Elmira Pioneers, then a Red Sox affiliate. After two and a half years in the leagues, he and Brady Anderson were traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 1988 for Mike Boddicker. He debuted in the Major League with the Orioles, and then spent one year with the Houston Astros, during the Phillies pennant run in 1993, Schilling went 16–7 with a 4.02 ERA and 186 strikeouts. Schilling led the Phillies to an upset against the two-time defending National League champion Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. Although he received no decisions during his two appearances in the series, Schillings 1.69 ERA and 19 strikeouts were enough to earn him the 1993 NLCS Most Valuable Player Award. The Phillies went on to face the world champion Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. After losing Game 1, he pitched brilliantly in his next start, with the Phillies facing elimination the day after losing a bizarre 15–14 contest at home in Veterans Stadium, Schilling pitched a five-hit shutout that the Phillies won, 2–0. Schilling was named to the NL All-Star team in 1997,1998, in 1997, he finished 14th in NL MVP voting and fourth in NL Cy Young voting. Unhappy with the performance, he requested a trade to a contender in 2000 and was subsequently dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Schilling was traded to the Diamondbacks on July 26,2000, for first baseman Travis Lee and pitchers Vicente Padilla, Omar Daal, with Arizona, he went 22–6 with a 2.98 ERA in 2001, leading the majors in wins and innings pitched. He also went 4–0 with a 1.12 ERA in the playoffs, in the 2001 World Series, the Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees in seven games
35.
Arizona Diamondbacks
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The Arizona Diamondbacks, often shortened as the D-backs, are an American professional baseball franchise based in Phoenix, Arizona. The club competes in Major League Baseball as a member of the National League West division, since the teams inception in 1998, the franchise has played home games at Chase Field, formerly known as Bank One Ballpark. The ballpark was renamed in 2005, as a result of Bank One Corporations merger with JPMorgan Chase & Co, on March 9,1995, Arizona was awarded a franchise to begin play for the 1998 season. A $130 million franchise fee was paid to Major League Baseball and on January 16,1997, since their debut, the Diamondbacks have won five National League West titles, one National League Championship pennant, and the 2001 World Series. The Diamondbacks original colors were purple, black, teal and copper and their first logo was an italicized block letter A with a diamond pattern, and the crossbar represented by a snakes tongue. Prior to their season, they released their baseball caps. The home cap had a cream color crown with a purple visor, the road cap was black and had a turquoise visor and button. Their alternate cap had a crown with a purple visor. Depending on the cap, the A logo on the front of the cap had different color variations, in the Diamondbacks second season, they introduced a new logo which was a copper color snake in the shape of a letter D. It was used on a black cap, which in the beginning, was worn as a road cap. The franchise unveiled new uniforms and colors of Sedona Red, Sonoran Sand, the red shade is named for the sandstone canyon at Red Rock State Park near Sedona, while the beige shade is named for the Sonoran Desert. A sleeve patch was added featuring a lowercase d and b configured to look like a snakes head, the team also kept the D logo, but was slightly altered and put on an all red cap to be used as their game cap. They also kept the A logo with the new colors applied to it, a similar color scheme is currently used by the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. The primary television play-by-play voice for the teams first nine seasons of play was Thom Brennaman, Brennaman was the TV announcer for the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds before being hired by Diamondbacks founder Jerry Colangelo in 1996, two years before the team would begin play. In October 2006, Brennaman left the Diamondbacks to call games with his father for the Reds beginning in 2007, the English language flagship radio station is KTAR. Jeff Munn is a backup radio announcer, he served as the regular public address announcer at Chase Field in the early days of the franchise. He is well-known to many Phoenix area sports fans, having served as the public address announcer for the Suns at America West Arena in the 1990s. He is also the radio voice for ASU womens basketball
36.
Shea Hillenbrand
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Shea Matthew Hillenbrand is a former professional Major League Baseball player who played for six major league teams from 2001–2007, and was twice named an All-Star. He played both first base and third base, and was frequently employed as a designated hitter. Hillenbrand played 72 games in 1996 for the Low-A Lowell Spinners in the New York–Penn League, despite being drafted as a shortstop, he played at first base and third base his first two years in the minors. In 1998, still with Michigan, he was converted to catcher and responded with his best season in the minors. This earned him a promotion in 1999 to AA Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League, however, a leg injury restricted him to only 69 games. The 2000 season saw Hillenbrand back at Trenton, now back to playing first base and third base as the injury prevented him from catching. Hillenbrand played 139 games for the Sox in his season, mostly at third base. In 2001, he had the lowest range factor among all AL third basemen, however, he retained his spot on the roster for 2002, and responded with a much better season, hitting 20 home runs with a.330 on-base percentage and a.459 slugging average. Hillenbrands play earned him the third base spot in the All-Star Game. He tied Robin Ventura for the Major League lead in errors by a third baseman, however, nevertheless, Hillenbrand entered 2003 the subject of trade rumors. With Mueller hitting around.380 and playing a third base. Hillenbrand was involved in a feud with Epstein following the incident and he finished the season with a combined.280 batting average and career highs in RBI and home runs, including a three-homer game with the Diamondbacks in July. Mueller went on to win the AL Batting Title, in 2004, Hillenbrand hit a career-high.310 with 15 home runs and 80 RBI over 148 games. At the same time, he shared the Major League lead in errors for a first baseman and he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays at the end of the 2004 season. In 2005, his first year with the Blue Jays, Hillenbrand hit.291 with 18 home runs and 82 RBI over 152 games and he also led the league in being hit by pitches in 2005 with 22 a mark that remains a Blue Jays club record. On July 19,2006, Hillenbrand criticized the Blue Jays organization for failing to congratulate him on his recent adoption of a baby girl and not playing him upon his return. He was also disgruntled about sharing first base duties with Lyle Overbay, Hillenbrand refused to sit with his team in the dugout during that nights game. This led to a confrontation between Hillenbrand and Gibbons, Gibbons threatened to quit as team manager if Hillenbrand ever played for the Blue Jays again
37.
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
38.
Rafael Furcal
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Rafael Antoni Furcal is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, with St. Louis, he won their 2011 World Series championship over the Texas Rangers. Furcal grew up in Loma de Cabrera, a village in the Dominican Republic near the Dajabón River and border with Haiti. His father, Silvino, drove a taxi and his mother, Furcal had three older brothers, José, Manuel and Lorenzo, and a sister. Silvino Furcal was an outfielder during an era when Dominican ballplayers did not get much recognition from Major League scouts. Silvino introduced his sons to baseball and Rafael credited his father teaching him how to enjoy the game. Until his death in 2010, Silvino would often call Rafael to give him advice after games, Manuel Furcal pitched in the Seattle Mariners organization and Lorenzo played in the Oakland Athletics system before suffering career-ending injuries. José Furcal committed suicide in 1999 and Manuel died that year in an accident. Furcal attended Jose Cabrera High School and was prepared to enroll in engineering school before being spotted by a scout at a tryout in Santo Domingo and he was subsequently signed as an amateur free agent by the Atlanta Braves on November 9,1996 for $5,000. He began his career as a second baseman with the Gulf Coast Braves in 1997. The following season, with the Danville Braves he hit.328 and he was named Danvilles Player of the Year and Appalachian League All-Star Second Baseman. In 1999, he switched to shortstop and joined the Macon Braves in A ball and he was transferred to the advanced A team in Myrtle Beach and hit.293 for them with 23 steals in 43 games. He led all of minor league baseball with 96 steals total and he was named to Baseball Americas first team All-Star team and the South Atlantic League All-Star team. In addition, he was the Braves Minor League Player of the Year, the South Atlantic League Most Outstanding Prospect, an injury to Braves shortstop Walt Weiss prior to the 2000 season led to Furcal improbably making the jump from A ball to the Major League roster. He made his Major League debut on April 4,2000 against the Colorado Rockies and his first hit was against Rockies pitcher Rolando Arrojo. Furcal went on to hit.295 with 40 stolen bases for the Braves and he missed most of the 2001 season because of a dislocated left shoulder, suffered while stealing second base in a July 6 game at Boston. The Braves learned Furcals true age, then 23, at the start of the 2002 season, before then, he had claimed he was only 21. He returned to the lineup that season and tied a modern Major League record with three triples in a game on April 21 against Florida
39.
Sammy Sosa
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Samuel Kelvin Sammy Peralta Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder. Sosa played with four Major League Baseball teams over his career, Sosas Major League career began with the Texas Rangers in 1989. After three seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Sosa became a member of the Cubs in 1992, Sosa hit his 400th home run in his 1, 354th game and his 5, 273rd at-bat, the quickest in National League history. In 1998, Sosa and Mark McGwire achieved national fame for their home run-hitting prowess in pursuit of Roger Maris home run record, Sosa finished his career with brief stints with the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers. With the Rangers, Sosa hit his 600th career home run to become the player in MLB history to reach the milestone. He is also the home run leader among foreign-born MLB players. Sosa is one of only three National League players since 1900 to ever reach 160 RBIs in a season, a milestone he reached in 2001, Sosa is the only player to have hit 60 or more home runs in a single season three times. Sosa is known to family and friends as Mikey and his maternal grandmother, who had suggested his birth name of Samuel, also came up with his nickname, heard the name on a soap opera she liked and decided from that moment on he would be Mikey. Sosa was born in the Dominican Republic, though born in Consuelo, his officially registered birthplace is San Pedro de Macorís, which was the largest town nearby. Both Consuelo and San Pedro de Macorís are in San Pedro de Macorís Province, Sosa made his major league debut on June 16,1989, with the Texas Rangers, wearing #17 and leading off as the starting center fielder. He hit his first career home run off Roger Clemens, later in the season, the Rangers traded Sammy to the Chicago White Sox where he would don the #25. In 1990, Sosa batted.233 with 15 home runs,70 runs batted in,10 triples, however, he also struck out 150 times, fourth most in the American League. Sosa started the 1991 season by hitting 2 home runs and driving in 5 runs, however, he would slump for the rest of the year and ended up batting.203 with 10 home runs and 33 runs batted in. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder George Bell before the 1992 season, Sosa batted.260 with 8 home runs and 25 RBIs in his first season with the Cubs. Although not spectacular numbers, it showed that Sosa improved as a hitter, in 1993, Sosa batted.261 with 33 home runs with 93 RBIs. He also showed his speed by stealing 38 bases and he became the Cubs first 30-30 player in their history. Sosa continued to hit for power and speed in 1994 but he improved his batting average. He ended up batting.300 with 25 home runs,70 RBIs, Sosa was named to his first All-Star team in 1995
40.
Josh Beckett
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Joshua Patrick Beckett is an American former professional baseball pitcher. A three-time Major League Baseball All-Star, he played for the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. After a stellar high school career, where he was regarded as one of the top prospects in the country and he was traded from the Marlins to the Red Sox in 2006 and from the Red Sox to the Dodgers in 2012, both as part of multi-player transactions. However, his season was cut short due to an injury. Beckett grew up idolizing fellow Texans Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, as a youth, he starred on Little League All-Star teams. He later attended Spring High School in Spring, Texas and he had trouble with grades and not paying attention to his coach during his freshman year. His coach was so frustrated with him he threw him off the team and he went through a growth spurt before his sophomore year and added speed to his fastball. He also raised his GPA and was able to get back on the team, as a high school junior, Beckett was ranked by Baseball America as the top high school prospect in the country and his team as the top high school baseball team. He went 13–2 and struck out 2.1 batters per inning while walking only 20 batters all season and his high school coach said I’ve never seen a pitcher with his ability—ever. In his senior season, Beckett, by this point nicknamed Kid Heat, was named the High School player of the year by USA Today. Beckett signed a letter of intent to pitch for Texas A&M University, concerned about Becketts perceived arrogance, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays picked Hamilton with the first pick. Beckett was selected with the pick by the Florida Marlins. Marlins scouting director Al Avila said at the time, Beckett has good size and has an overpowering fastball, hes a bulldog on the mound. Showing his confidence, Beckett predicted that he would make it to the leagues within two years and play in an All-Star game by 2001.625 million signing bonus. His signing bonus was larger than what the Marlins were paying everyone on the Major League roster, Beckett impressed the Marlins in his first spring training with the team in March 2000, with a fastball clocked at 94 to 96 miles per hour and a good curveball. He also showed his commitment to the team by donating $100,000 to the charitable foundation. He was assigned to the Kane County Cougars of the Class A Midwest League to make his professional debut, as the Opening Day starter for the Cougars, he pitched four innings and allowed only one run, on a double by Albert Pujols. He would later say, I tried to get too strong too quick and he pitched in 13 games for the Cougars and finished with a record of 2–3 with a 2.12 ERA and 61 strikeouts
41.
Colorado Rockies
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The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League West division. The teams home venue is Coors Field, located in the Lower Downtown area of Denver, the Rockies have won one National League championship, in 2007, after having won 21 of their final 22 games in order to secure a Wild Card position. In the World Series they were swept by the American League champion Boston Red Sox in four games and they are one of two MLB franchises to have never won a division title. Denver had long been a hotbed of Denver Bears/Zephyrs Minor League Baseball, following the Pittsburgh drug trials, an unsuccessful attempt was made to purchase the Pittsburgh Pirates and relocate them. However, in 1991, as part of Major League Baseballs two-team expansion, Monus were granted a franchise, they took the name Rockies due to Denvers proximity to the Rocky Mountains, which is reflected in their logo. Monus and Antonucci were forced to out in 1992 after Monus reputation was ruined by an accounting scandal. Trucking magnate Jerry McMorris stepped in at the 11th hour to save the franchise, the Rockies shared Mile High Stadium with the National Football League s Denver Broncos for their first two seasons while Coors Field was constructed. It was completed for the 1995 Major League Baseball season, in 1993, they started play in the Western division of the National League. Since that date, the Rockies have reached the Major League Baseball postseason three times, each time as the National League wild card team, twice they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. In 2007, the Rockies advanced to the World Series, only to be swept by the Boston Red Sox, the Rockies have played their home games at Coors Field since 1995. Their newest Spring training home, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the start of the 2012 season, the Rockies introduced Purple Mondays in which the team wears its purple uniform every Monday game day. No inducted members of the Baseball Hall of Fame have played for or managed the Rockies. 1997 – Larry Walker 2007 – Matt Holliday In 1998, Todd Helton finished second in Rookie of the Year voting 2002 – Jason Jennings In 2007, jackie Robinsons number,42, was retired throughout all of baseball in 1997. Keli McGregor had worked with the Rockies since their inception in 1993, rising from senior director of operations to team president in 2002 and he is honored at Coors Field alongside Helton and Robinson with his initials. As of 2010, Rockies flagship radio station is KOA 850AM, Jerry Schemmel and Jack Corrigan are the radio announcers which both serve as backup TV announcers whenever Drew Goodman is not on the broadcast. The Rockies Radio Network is composed of 38 affiliate stations in eight states, as of 2013, Spanish broadcasts of the Rockies are heard on KNRV1150 AM. As of 2013, all games will be produced and televised by Root Sports Rocky Mountain, all 150 games produced by Root Sports Rocky Mountain will be broadcast in HD
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