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.
Rochester, New York
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Rochester is a city on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in the western portion of the U. S. state of New York, and the seat of Monroe County. The citys population was the third largest — after New York City. This area, which is part of the Western New York region, had a population of 1,079,671 at the time of the 2010 Census, a Census estimate of July 1,2012, raised that number to 1,082,284. Rochester was one of Americas first boomtowns, and rose to prominence as the site of many mills along the Genesee River. Several of the universities have renowned research programs. In addition, Rochester is the site of important inventions and innovations in consumer products. Until 2010, the Rochester metropolitan area was the second-largest regional economy in New York State, internal Revenue Service, after the New York City metropolitan area. Rochesters GMP has since ranked just below that of Buffalo, New York, the 25th edition of the Places Rated Almanac rated Rochester as the most livable city in 2007, among 379 U. S. metropolitan areas. In 2010 Forbes rated Rochester as the third-best place to raise a family, in 2012 Kiplinger rated Rochester as the fifth-best city for families, citing low cost of living, top public schools, and a low jobless rate. Of the 19 places in the United States named Rochester at least eight were named directly after Rochester, New York, having been founded or settled by former residents. These include Rochester, Indiana, Rochester, Texas, Rochester, Iowa, Rochester, Kentucky, Rochester, Michigan, Rochester, Minnesota, Rochester, Nevada, and Rochester, Ohio. The Seneca tribe of Native Americans lived in and around Rochester until they lost their claim to most of land in the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797. Settlement before the Seneca tribe is unknown, development of modern Rochester followed the American Revolution, and forced cession of their territory by the Iroquois after the defeat of Great Britain. Allied with the British, four major Iroquois tribes were forced from New York. As a reward for their loyalty to the British Crown, they were given a land grant on the Grand River in Canada. Rochester was founded shortly after the American Revolution by a wave of English-Puritan descended immigrants from New England who were looking for new agricultural land and they would be the dominant cultural group in Rochester for over a century. They chose the site because its three cataracts on the Genesee offered great potential for water power, beginning in 1811, and with a population of 15, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts. In 1817, the Brown brothers and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the village of Rochesterville, by 1821, Rochesterville was the seat of Monroe County
3.
Bloomington, Illinois
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Bloomington is a city in Illinois, United States and the county seat of McLean County. It is adjacent to Normal, and is the populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area. The 2010 census showed the city had a population of 76,610, making it the 12th most populated city in Illinois, combined with Normal, the twin cities have a population of roughly 130,000. Bloomington is located at 40°29′03″N 88°59′37″W, the city is at an elevation of 797 feet above sea level. According to the 2010 census, Bloomington has an area of 27.229 square miles. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.71 inches in February to 4.52 inches in May, the Bloomington area was at the edge of a large grove occupied by the Kickapoo people before the first Euro-American settlers arrived in the early 1820s. Springing from the settlement of Keg Grove, later called Blooming Grove, Bloomington was named as county seat on December 25,1830, when the County of McLean was incorporated, a county seat was established. However, the legislation stated the site of Bloomington would be located later, james Allin, one of the new countys promoters, offered to donate 60 acres of his land for the new town. His offer was accepted, and Bloomington was laid out and its lots were sold at a well-attended and noisy auction on the 4th of July 1831. At this time there were few roads, but rich soils brought new farmers who began commerce by conducting their business in the newly formed county. People came from all over to trade and do business at the center, known today as Downtown Bloomington, including Abraham Lincoln who was working as a lawyer in nearby Springfield. In 1900 an officer on patrol discovered a fire in a laundry across the street from the old City Hall and he sounded the alarm but the fire destroyed the majority of the downtown, especially the areas north and east of the courthouse. However, the burnt area was rebuilt from the designs of local architects George Miller. During the first two decades of the 20th century, Bloomington continued to grow, agriculture, the construction of highways and railroads, and the growth of the insurance business all influenced the growth of Bloomington and its downtown area. The downtown area became a shopping center attracting trade from adjoining counties. This trend has continued to the present day, where expansion has included many restaurants, as of the census of 2010, there were 76,610 people and 30,454 households within the city. The population density was 2,814.8 people per square mile, there were 34,339 housing units at an average density of 1,261.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 77. 5% White,10. 1% African American,0. 3% Native American,7. 0% Asian,1. 42% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 5. 6% of the population
4.
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
5.
History of the Boston Braves
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The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, the Boston Franchise played at South End Grounds from 1871 to 1914 and at Braves Field from 1915 to 1952. Braves Field is now Nickerson Field of Boston University, the franchise, from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta, is the oldest continuous professional baseball franchise. The Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, 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. Boston came to be called the Beaneaters by sportswriters in 1883, 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. The 1898 team finished 102-47, a record for wins that would stand for almost a century. The team was decimated when the American Leagues new Boston entry set up shop in 1901, many of the Beaneaters stars jumped to the new team, which offered contracts that the Beaneaters owners didnt even bother to match. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913, in 1907, the Beaneaters eliminated the last bit of red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to become infected. The American League clubs owner, Charles Taylor, wasted time in changing his teams name to the Red Sox in place of the generic Americans. The all-white outfits gave rise to the sobriquet Doves in 1907, however, clever monikers did nothing to change the National League clubs luck. The team adopted a name, the Braves, for the first time in 1912. Their owner, James Gaffney, was a member of New York Citys political machine, Tammany Hall, two years later, the Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4-18 start, the Braves seemed to be on pace for a last place finish, on July 4,1914, the Braves lost both games of a doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The consecutive losses put their record at 26-40 and the Braves were in last place,15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants, who had won the previous three league pennants
6.
Cincinnati Reds
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The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. They were a member of the American Association in 1882. The Reds played in the NL West division from 1969 to 1993 and they have won five World Series titles, nine NL pennants, one AA pennant, and 10 division titles. The team plays its games at Great American Ball Park. Bob Castellini has been executive officer since 2006. The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds can be traced to the expulsion of a team bearing that name. Both were important activities to entice the citys large German population, while Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was actually against league rules in those early years. On October 6,1880, however, seven of the eight team owners pledged at a league meeting to formally ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting that December. Only Cincinnati president W. H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, when these attempts failed, he formed a new independent ballclub known as the Red Stockings in the Spring of 1881, and brought the team to St. Louis for a weekend exhibition. The Reds first game was a 12–3 victory over the St. Louis club, upon arriving in the city, however, Caylor and Thorner discovered that no other owners had decided to accept the invitation, with even Phillips not bothering to attend his own meeting. By chance, the duo met a former pitcher named Al Pratt, the ploy worked, and the American Association was officially formed at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati with the new Reds a charter member with Thorner as president. The club never placed higher than second or lower than fifth for the rest of its tenure in the American Association, the National League was happy to accept the teams in part due to the emergence of the new Players League. This new league, a failed attempt to break the reserve clause in baseball. Because the National League decided to expand while the American Association was weakening and it was also at this time that the team first shortened their name from Red Stockings to Reds. The Reds wandered through the 1890s signing local stars and aging veterans, during this time, the team never finished above third place and never closer than 10½ games. At the start of the 20th century, the Reds had hitting stars Sam Crawford, seymours.377 average in 1905 was the first individual batting crown won by a Red. In 1911, Bob Bescher stole 81 bases, which is still a team record, like the previous decade, the 1900s were not kind to the Reds, as much of the decade was spent in the leagues second division
7.
Major League Baseball
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Major League Baseball is a professional baseball organization, the oldest of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. A total of 30 teams now play in the National League and American League, the NL and AL operated as separate legal entities from 1876 and 1901 respectively. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities since 1903, the merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000. The organization also oversees Minor League Baseball, which comprises about 240 teams affiliated with the Major League clubs, with the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB manages the international World Baseball Classic tournament. Baseballs first professional team was founded in Cincinnati in 1869,30 years after Abner Doubleday supposedly invented the game of baseball, the first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one team or league to another. The period before 1920 in baseball was known as the dead-ball era, Baseball survived a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series, which came to be known as the Black Sox Scandal. The sport rose in popularity in the 1920s, and survived potential downturns during the Great Depression, shortly after the war, baseballs color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson. The 1950s and 1960s were a time of expansion for the AL and NL, then new stadiums, Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s, and media reports began to discuss the use of anabolic steroids among Major League players in the mid-2000s. In 2006, an investigation produced the Mitchell Report, which implicated many players in the use of performance-enhancing substances, today, MLB is composed of thirty teams, twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada. Baseball broadcasts are aired on television, radio, and the Internet throughout North America, MLB has the highest season attendance of any sports league in the world with more than 73 million spectators in 2015. MLB is governed by the Major League Baseball Constitution and this document has undergone several incarnations since 1875, with the most recent revisions being made in 2012. Under the direction of the Commissioner of Baseball, MLB hires and maintains the sports umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, MLB maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of Minor League Baseball. This ruling has been weakened only slightly in subsequent years, the weakened ruling granted more stability to the owners of teams and has resulted in values increasing at double-digit rates. There were several challenges to MLBs primacy in the sport between the 1870s and the Federal League in 1916, the last attempt at a new league was the aborted Continental League in 1960. The chief executive of MLB is the commissioner, Rob Manfred, the chief operating officer is Tony Petitti. There are five other executives, president, chief officer, chief legal officer, chief financial officer. The multimedia branch of MLB, which is based in Manhattan, is MLB Advanced Media and this branch oversees MLB. com and each of the 30 teams websites. Its charter states that MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the league, MLB Productions is a similarly structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media
8.
World Series
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The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League champion team and the National League champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a playoff. As the series is played in October, during the season in North America. As of 2016, the World Series has been contested 112 times, with the AL winning 64, the 2016 World Series took place between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs. Seven games were played, with the Cubs victorious after game seven, the final score was 8–7, the game went into extra innings after a tied score of 6–6. This was the third World Series won by the Cubs, as well as their first title since 1908, in the National League, the St. As of 2016, no team has won consecutive World Series championships since the New York Yankees in 1998,1999, all championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. From 1884 to 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These series were disorganized in comparison to the modern World Series, the number of games played ranged from as few as three in 1884, to a high of fifteen in 1887. Both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game, the series was promoted and referred to as The Championship of the United States, Worlds Championship Series, or Worlds Series for short. In his book Krakatoa, The Day the World Exploded, August 27,1883, Simon Winchester mentions in passing that the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper, but this view is disputed. Until about 1960, some sources treated the 19th-century Series on a basis with the post-19th-century series. After about 1930, however, many authorities list the start of the World Series in 1903, following the collapse of the American Association after the 1891 season, the National League was again the only major league. The league championship was awarded in 1892 by a playoff between half-season champions and this scheme was abandoned after one season. Beginning in 1893—and continuing until divisional play was introduced in 1969—the pennant was awarded to the club in the standings at the end of the season. For four seasons, 1894–1897, the league played the runners-up in the post season championship series called the Temple Cup. A second attempt at this format was the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup series, in 1901, the American League was formed as a second major league. No championship series were played in 1901 or 1902 as the National and these series were arranged by the participating clubs, as the 1880s Worlds Series matches had been
9.
Dubuque, Iowa
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Dubuque /dəˈbjuːk/ is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2013, its population was 58,253, making it the tenth-largest city in the state This city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin and it serves as the main commercial, industrial, educational, and cultural center for the area. Geographically, it is part of the Driftless Area, a portion of North America that escaped all three phases of the Wisconsinian Glaciation and it is one of the few large cities in Iowa with hills, and a tourist destination featuring the citys unique architecture and river location. It is home to five institutions of education, making it a center for culture. Dubuque has long been a center of manufacturing, but the economy grew rapidly, by 2005, the city led the state and the Midwest in job growth, ranking as the 22nd fastest-growing economy in the US. Alongside industry, the city has large health care, education, tourism, publishing, the first permanent settler in what is now Dubuque was Quebecois pioneer Julien Dubuque, who arrived in 1785. In 1788, he received permission from the Spanish government and the local Meskwaki of American Indians to mine the rich lead deposits. Control of Louisiana and Dubuques mines shifted briefly back to France in 1800, then to the United States in 1803, following the Louisiana Purchase. The Meskwaki continued to mine with full support of the U. S. Government until 1830, the current City of Dubuque was named after Julien Dubuque, settled at the southern end of a large flat plain adjacent to the Mississippi River. The city was chartered in 1833, located in unorganized territory of the United States. The region was designated as the Iowa Territory in 1838, and was included in the newly created State of Iowa in 1846, after the lead resources were exhausted, the city became home to numerous industries. Dubuque became a center for the industry because of its proximity to forests in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Also important were boat building, brewing, and later, the railroad industry, between 1860 and 1880, Dubuque was one of the 100 largest urban areas in the United States. Iowas first church was built by Methodists in 1834, since then, Iowans have followed a variety of religious traditions. Beginning in the century and into the early 20th century, thousands of poor German. The citys large Roman Catholic congregations led to its designation as the seat of the newly established Archdiocese of Dubuque, numerous convents, abbeys, and other religious institutions were built. The ethnic German and Irish descendants maintain a strong Catholic presence in the city, nicholas E. Gonner, a Catholic immigrant from Pfaffenthal in Luxembourg, founded the Catholic Publishing Company of Dubuque, Iowa. Early in the 20th century, Dubuque was one of sites of a brass era automobile company, in this case Adams-Farwell, like most others
10.
The finger
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In Western culture, the finger or the middle finger is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is equivalent in meaning to fuck off, fuck you, shove it up your ass, up yours. It is performed by showing the back of a hand that has only the middle finger extended upwards, extending the finger is considered a symbol of contempt in several cultures, especially in the West. Many cultures use similar gestures to display their disrespect, although others use it to express pointing without intentional disrespect toward other cultures, the gesture is usually used to express contempt but can also be used humorously or playfully. The gesture dates back to Ancient Greece and it was used in Ancient Rome. In some modern cultures, it has gained increasing recognition as a sign of disrespect, and has been used by artists, actors, celebrities, athletes. Most still view the gesture as obscene, the index finger and ring finger besides the middle finger in more contemporary periods has been likened to represent the testicles. The middle finger gesture was used in Ancient times as a symbol of sexual intercourse, in a manner meant to degrade, intimidate and threaten the individual receiving the gesture. It also represented the phallus, with the next to the middle finger representing testicles, from its close association. In the 1st-century Mediterranean world, extending the finger was one of methods used to divert the ever-present threat of the evil eye. In Greek the gesture was known as the katapygon, in ancient Greek comedy, the finger was a gesture of insult toward another person, with the term katapugon also referring to a male who submits to anal penetration or katapygaina to a female. In Aristophaness comedy The Clouds, when the character Socrates is quizzing his student on poetic meters, Strepsiades declares that he knows quite well what a dactyl is, and gives the finger. The gesture is a pun on the two meanings of the Greek word dactylos, both finger and the rhythmic measure composed of a long syllable and two short, like the joints of a finger. Socrates reacts to the gesture as boorish and childish, the gesture recurs as a form of mockery in Peace, alongside farting in someones face, the usage is later explained in the Suda and included in the Adagia of Erasmus. The verb to play the Siphnian appears in a fragment of Aristophanes and has a meaning, the usage is once again explained in the Suda. Diogenes Laërtius records how the Cynic philosopher Diogenes directed the gesture at the orator Demosthenes in 4th-century BC Athens, in the Discourses of Epictetus, Diogeness target is instead one of the sophists. In Latin, the finger was the digitus impudicus, meaning the shameless. The poet Martial has a character in good health extend the indecent one toward three doctors, in another epigram, Martial wrote, Laugh loud, Sextillus, at whoever calls you a cinaedus and extend your middle finger
11.
Greg Maddux
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Gregory Alan Greg Maddux, nicknamed Mad Dog and The Professor, is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Maddux is best known for his accomplishments while playing for the Chicago Cubs, with the Braves, he won the 1995 World Series over the Cleveland Indians. During those four seasons, Maddux had a 75–29 record with a 1.98 earned run average, Maddux is the only pitcher in MLB history to win at least 15 games for 17 straight seasons. In addition, he holds the record for most Gold Gloves with eighteen, a superb control pitcher, Maddux won more games during the 1990s than any other pitcher and is 8th on the all-time career wins list with 355. Since the start of the post-1920 live-ball era, only Warren Spahn recorded more wins than Maddux. He is one of only 10 pitchers ever to achieve both 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts, and is the pitcher to record over 300 wins, over 3,000 strikeouts. Since his retirement as a player, Maddux has also served as an assistant to the general manager for both the Cubs and Texas Rangers. On January 8,2014, he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, in his first year of eligibility, Maddux was born in San Angelo, Texas and spent much of his childhood in Madrid, Spain, where the United States Air Force stationed his father. His father exposed him to baseball at an early age, upon his return to Las Vegas, Nevada, Maddux and his brother Mike Maddux trained under the supervision of Ralph Meder, a former scout from the majors. Meder preached the value of movement and location above velocity, Maddux would later say, I believed it. Though Meder died before Maddux graduated from Valley High School in Las Vegas in 1984, Maddux lives in the same community. While in Las Vegas, he played American Legion Baseball with Post 8 and he was named the organizations Graduate of the Year in 1994. Mike Maddux was drafted in 1982, when scouts went to observe the elder Maddux, their father Dave told them, You will be back later for the little one. Some baseball scouts were unimpressed by Madduxs skinny build, but Chicago Cubs scout Doug Mapson saw past the physique. Mapson wrote a review that read in part, I really believe this boy would be the number one player in the country if only he looked a bit more physical. At the time, Maddux was the youngest player in the majors and his first appearance in a major league game was as a pinch runner in the 17th inning against the Houston Astros. Maddux then pitched in the 18th inning, allowing a run to Billy Hatcher. His first start, five days later, was a game win
12.
Baseball card
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A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures. Cards are most often found in the U. S. but are common in countries such as Canada, Cuba, and Japan. Some companies that are notable for making these cards include Topps, Upper Deck, previous manufacturers include Fleer, Bowman, and Donruss. Baseball cards can be highly collectible and valuable, while baseball cards were first produced in the United States, as the popularity of baseball spread to other countries, so too did the production of baseball cards. Sets appeared in Japan as early as 1898, in Cuba as early as 1909, the obverse of the card typically displays an image of the player with identifying information, including, but not limited to, the players name and team affiliation. The reverse of most modern cards displays statistics and/or biographical information, many early trade cards displayed advertisements for a particular brand or company on the back. Tobacco companies were the most instrumental in the proliferation of baseball cards, although the function of trading cards had much in common with business cards, the format of baseball cards most resembled that of playing cards — at least initially. For an example, one need look no further than the design of 1951 Topps Baseball, while there are no firm standards that limit the size or shape of a baseball card, most cards of today are rectangular, measuring 2½ inches by 3½ inches. Since early baseball cards were produced primarily as a marketing vehicle, the system implemented by Jefferson Burdick in The American Card Catalog has become the de facto standard in identifying and organizing trade cards produced in the Americas pre-1951. The catalog itself extends into other areas of collecting beyond the sport of baseball. Sets like 1909–1911 White Borders,1910 Philadelphia Caramels, and 1909 Box Tops are most commonly referred to by their ACC catalog numbers, the rarest baseball cards are the ones which are difficult to find and also the most expensive ones. The rare type of cards are the oldest baseball cards and those from limited edition sets, a rare card generally must be kept in good condition in order to be valuable, although the rarest cards can be worth tens of thousands of dollars even in poor condition. Price also increases if there is an autograph on it, rare baseball cards or the vintage baseball cards do not have a certain price established. Their value is judged upon their quality, condition, rarity, vintage baseball cards have been a prime focus of countless collectors and historians of one of Americas favorite pastimes. Some baseball card collectors pay large sums of money to gain possession of these cards, since rare baseball cards are difficult to find, collectors seek for ways to be aware of the rare cards that come into the trading or selling market. Baseball card collectors normally obtain them from other card collectors or from specialized dealers, some collectors may sell rare baseball cards over the internet and very often on eBay. Rare baseball cards may also be purchased at major baseball card shows and these events are held periodically in different cities, allowing baseball card collectors and dealers to meet
