1.
Third baseman
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In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the third baseman is assigned the number 5. The third baseman requires good reflexes in reacting to batted balls, the third base position requires a strong and accurate arm, as the third baseman often makes long throws to first base. The third baseman sometimes must throw quickly to second base in time to start a double play, the third baseman must also field fly balls in fair and foul territory. Third base is known as the hot corner, because the third baseman is relatively close to the batter, a third baseman must possess good hand-eye coordination and quick reactions in order to catch hard line drives sometimes in excess of 125 miles per hour. Third basemen often must begin in an even closer to the batter if a bunt is expected. As with middle infielders, right-handed throwing players are standard at the position because they do not need to turn their body before throwing across the infield to first base. Mike Squires, who played fourteen games at third base in 1982 and 1983, is a rare example of a third baseman who threw lefty. Some third basemen have been converted from middle infielders or outfielders because the position does not require them to run as fast. Players who could hit with more ability often were not suited for third base, since the 1950s the position has become more of a power position with sluggers such as Eddie Mathews, Mike Schmidt and Ron Santo becoming stars. There are fewer third basemen in the Baseball Hall of Fame than there are Hall of Famers of any other position
2.
Left fielder
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In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate, in the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the left fielder is assigned the number 7. Outfielders must cover large distances - speed, instincts, and quickness in reacting to the ball are key and they must be able to catch fly balls above their head and on the run. Amateur players may find it difficult to concentrate on the game, emphasizing the correct position will give outfield players something to concentrate on at each pitch. Hits to left field tend to curve toward the left field foul line, of all outfielders, the left fielder often will have the weakest arm, as they generally do not need to throw the ball as far to prevent the advance of any baserunners. The left fielder still requires good fielding and catching skills, the left fielder also backs up third base on pick-off attempts from the catcher or pitcher and bunts, when possible. Also if a runner is stealing third base the left fielder must back up the throw from the catcher, left fielders must also back up third base when a ball is thrown from right field, and back up center field when a pop fly is hit into the pocket. Despite giving their teams the advantage of accommodating a player with a weak arm, after being converted to left field, Alfonso Soriano led the league with 22 and 19 outfield assists in 2006 and 2007, respectively, his first two years playing the outfield. Despite regularly leading the league in errors and often coming out of the game for a replacement in late innings. When most left fielders are older or struggling defensively, they move to first base or designated hitter. Third basemen will sometimes move to left, Ryan Braun and Alex Gordon are examples, jose Bautista is an example, that third basemen move to the corner outfield positions. Baseball Hall of Fame Gold Glove Award
3.
DeLand, Florida
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DeLand is a city in the U. S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Volusia County, the city sits approximately 34 miles north of the central business district of Orlando, and approximately 23 miles west of the central business district of Daytona Beach. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the city had a population of 27,031 and it is a part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL metropolitan statistical area, which was home to 590,289 people as of the 2010 census. The city was founded in 1876, and was named for its founder, DeLand is home to Stetson University, Floridas oldest private college, as well as the Museum of Art - DeLand. On February 2,2007, DeLand and the area was the site of a major tornado outbreak. Known as Persimmon Hollow for the wild persimmon trees that grow around the natural springs and it was settled in 1874 by Captain John Rich, who built a log cabin. Henry Addison DeLand, a soda magnate from Fairport, New York, visited there in 1876. That year he bought land and founded the town, naming it after himself and it was the first city in Florida to have electricity. In 1877 Henry A. DeLand built a school for the town. To enhance the stature and culture, and to enhance the value of his local real estate holdings, in 1883 Henry A. DeLand established DeLand Academy. However, in 1885, a freeze destroyed the orange crop, like many other would-be real estate magnates in the area at the time, his Florida investments were nearly worthless after the freeze, and he returned to his home in the North. DeLand entrusted the academy to his friend John B, Stetson, a wealthy hat manufacturer from Philadelphia and one of the institutions founding trustees. In 1889, it was renamed John B, Stetson University in its patrons honor. In 1900 it founded the first law school in Florida and its various sports teams are called the Hatters. Since 1992, the city has hosted the DeLand Fall Festival of the Arts, as of 2009, the event has an annual attendance of more than 50,000 over the weekend immediately prior to Thanksgiving each year. DeLand is located at 29°1′44″N 81°18′2″W, approximately halfway between Orlando and Daytona Beach. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 17.8 square miles, of which 17.6 square miles is land and 0.19 square miles. DeLand is drained by the St. Johns River, as of the census of 2013, there were 28,237 people,9,950 households, and 4,631 families residing in the city
4.
Batting average
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Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batsmen in cricket and batters in baseball. The development of the statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. In cricket, a batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out. The number is also simple to interpret intuitively, if all the batsmans innings were completed, this is the average number of runs they score per innings. If they did not complete all their innings, this number is an estimate of the average number of runs they score per innings. Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players relative skills since the 18th century, most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40. This is also the range for wicket-keepers, though some fall short. All-rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen typically average something between 20 and 30,15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers. Under this qualification, the highest Test batting average belongs to Australias Sir Donald Bradman, given that a career batting average over 50 is exceptional, and that only four other players have averages over 60, this is an outstanding statistic. The fact that Bradmans average is so far above that of any other cricketer has led several statisticians to argue that, statistically at least, he was the greatest sportsman in any sport. As at 21 October 2016, Adam Voges of Australia has recorded an average of 72.75 from 27 innings played and it should also be remembered, especially in relation to the ODI histogram above, that there were no ODI competitions when Bradman played. If their scores have a geometric distribution then total number of runs scored divided by the number of times out is the maximum likelihood estimate of their true unknown average, Batting averages can be strongly affected by the number of not outs. A different, and more developed, statistic which is also used to gauge the effectiveness of batsmen is the strike rate. It measures a different concept however – how quickly the batsman scores – so it does not supplant the role of batting average and it is used particularly in limited overs matches, where the speed at which a batsman scores is more important than it is in first-class cricket. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed, in baseball, the batting average is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three places and read without the decimal, A player with a batting average of.300 is batting three-hundred. A point is understood, in only, to be.001. If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the.001 measurement, henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball
5.
Hit (baseball)
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If a batter reaches first base because of offensive interference by a preceding runner, he is also credited with a hit. A hit for one base is called a single, for two bases a double, and for three bases a triple, a home run is also scored as a hit. Doubles, triples, and home runs are also called extra base hits, an infield hit is a hit where the ball does not leave the infield. Infield hits are uncommon by nature, and most often earned by speedy runners, a no-hitter is a game in which one of the teams prevented the other from getting a hit. Throwing a no-hitter is rare and considered an accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff. In most cases in the game, no-hitters are accomplished by a single pitcher who throws a complete game. A pitcher who throws a no-hitter could still allow runners to reach safely, by way of walks, errors, hit batsmen. If the pitcher allows no runners to reach base, the no-hitter is a perfect game, in 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls as hits. The result was skyrocketing batting averages, including some near.500, Tip ONeill of the St. Louis Browns batted.485 that season, the experiment was abandoned the following season. There is controversy regarding how the records of 1887 should be interpreted, the number of legitimate walks and at-bats are known for all players that year, so computing averages using the same method as in other years is straightforward. In 1968, Major League Baseball formed a Special Baseball Records Committee to resolve this issues, the Committee ruled that walks in 1887 should not be counted as hits. Most current sources list ONeills 1887 average as.435, as calculated by omitting his walks and he would retain his American Association batting championship. However, the variance between methods results in differing recognition for the 1887 National League batting champion, cap Anson would be recognized, with his.421 average, if walks are included, but Sam Thompson would be the champion at.372 if they are not. The official rulebook of Major League Baseball states in Rule 10, Rule 10.05 Comment, In applying Rule 10.05, the official scorer shall always give the batter the benefit of the doubt. Runner is called out for interference with a fielder attempting to field a batted ball, unless in the scorers judgment the batter-runner would have been safe had the interference not occurred
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
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.
1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 9,1996, at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League. This marked the fifteenth and final all star game appearance of Ozzie Smith, Smith entered the game in the top of the sixth inning. His first at-bat was greeted by chants of Oz-zie, Oz-zie from the Philadelphia crowd, iron Man Cal Ripken, Jr. who was in the midst of his record-breaking run of consecutive games played, broke his nose during the pre-game AL team picture. However, he was ready to go at game time and started at SS, during the pregame ceremonies, Kelsey Grammer of Frasier sang the American National Anthem and Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan sang the Canadian National Anthem. Congressman Jim Bunning joined other Phillies hall of fame alumni Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Richie Ashburn, joe Carter, the Toronto Blue Jays representative to the All-Star Game, received good-natured boos from the crowd for his home run that ended the 1993 World Series. The game resulted in the National League defeating the American League 6–0, the National League would not win another All-Star Game until 2010. After the game, then-Chairman of the Executive Committee Bud Selig presented the All-Star Game MVP Award to Mike Piazza, bobby Brown had presented the MVP Award in 1993, while National League President Len Coleman had presented the award in 1994 and 1995. After presenting the MVP Award at the 1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and this is the only All-Star Game in which not a single pitcher walked a batter, appropriately, Braves closer Mark Wohlers was the final pitcher of the game. Veterans Stadium also held the distinction of being the most recent host stadium to be closed down, players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
12.
1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 7,1998, at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, the home of the Colorado Rockies of the National League. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 13-8 and it was the highest-scoring All-Star Game in MLB history. Hills National Anthem performance was preceded by actress Gloria Reubens performance of The Canadian National Anthem, twelve-year-old Elias Kurts was given the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, the first non-celebrity so honored. Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
13.
2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 11,2000 at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia, home of the Atlanta Braves of the National League. The result of the game was the American League defeating the National League by a score of 6–3. The 2000 All-Star Game was one of the few occurrences in which the manager of the host team also managed the team of the game, in this case. It is remembered for Chipper Jones home run off James Baldwin and this was also the last MLB All-Star Game that was broadcast on NBC. Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, All-Star Game site Lineups, boxscore, and more
14.
2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 10,2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington, home of the Seattle Mariners of the American League. The American League defeated the National League, 4–1 and this was Cal Ripken, Jr. s 19th and final All-Star Game. It was also the final All-Star Game for San Diego Padres legendary right fielder Tony Gwynn, in the first inning, Alex Rodriguez elected to switch to third base so Cal Ripken, Jr. could play his original shortstop position, which the crowd applauded. The move allowed Ripken to set the record for most MLB All-star appearances at shortstop, seattles own Ichiro Suzuki gave his hometown fans something to cheer for early, when in the first, he singled off starter Randy Johnson, and then stole second. Randy Johnson stranded him at second to hold the AL scoreless in the first inning, Ripken followed this with a solo home run in the third inning, which also got a standing ovation, to put the AL up 1–0. The AL scored one run in the fifth when Iván Rodríguez singled home Jason Giambi to make it 2–0. Ryan Klesko hit a fly to cut the lead to one in the sixth. In the sixth, with the score 2–1, Derek Jeter and that ended the scoring for the night. Mariner closer Kazuhiro Sasaki retired the side in order in the ninth to secure the win for the AL, Cal Ripken was awarded the games MVP, becoming the fourth player ever to win two All-Star Game MVP awards. Cal Ripken, Jr. most famous during his career as a shortstop, was elected as a third baseman to start the game, texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez was elected to start at short. However, Rodriguez insisted that Ripken play shortstop for the first inning, American League manager Joe Torre agreed and allowed the change. When fans noticed the change, they gave both players a standing ovation. This was the first All-Star Game to be awarded by Commissioner Bud Selig after being named to that post, American League starting pitcher Roger Clemens was booed in the pregame ceremonies for striking out 15 Mariners in a one-hit shutout in the previous seasons playoffs. Also in the ceremony, the Fort Lewis color guard provided the colors presentation, accompanied by Tacoma and Everett. All-Star Game site Lineups, boxscore, and more
15.
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
16.
2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 82nd in-season exhibition game between the All-Stars of the National League and the American League, the leagues composing Major League Baseball. The event was held on Tuesday, July 12,2011 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, the game ended in a 5–1 win for the National League, their second straight All-Star victory. It was the first MLB All-Star Game to be held in Arizona, with a combination of injuries and rule enforcements, a record 84 players were named to the All-Star rosters. This broke the record of 82 players that were on rosters for the 2010 game, as with each All-Star Game since 1970, the nine 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, Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin confirmed on April 10,2009 that Arizona would host the 2011 All-Star Game and it was officially announced by Commissioner Bud Selig the next day. Phoenix had never hosted the All-Star Game before, the last first-time host city was Denver, the game was the ninth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in the World Series. Prior All-Star games had used the designated hitter rule when in American League parks. However, the 2011 game was the first to feature a DH in a NL park following a change in 2010. The NL came into the game having won the years match. Others considered asking club owners, sponsors and even players to boycott the All-Star Game if the law was implemented, however, Selig announced on May 13,2010 that the game would remain at Chase Field in Phoenix as planned. Balloting for the 2011 All-Star Game starters began online April 26, fan voting also took place in each MLB stadium, beginning May 10 and ending on June 24. The top vote-getters at each position and the top three among outfielders, were named the starters for their respective leagues, the results were announced on July 3. A record 32.5 million votes were cast, beating out the record from 2009 by roughly 9 million. José Bautista was the leading vote-getter with 7,454,753 votes, easily breaking the previous single-player vote record of 6,069,688 held by Ken Griffey, three other American League players also topped Griffeys record. Ryan Braun was the National Leagues leading vote getter, receiving a NL record 5,928,004 votes, the winners of the final vote were Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox and Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies. Victorino became the first ever two-time Final Vote winner, having won in 2009. Adrian Gonzalezs home run off of Cliff Lee and Fielders home run off of C. J. Wilson makes it the first time in All-Star Game history where there were two lefty-versus-lefty home runs
17.
2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 83rd edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It was held on July 10,2012, during the 2012 Major League Baseball season at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, home of the Kansas City Royals. This marked the time the Mid-summer Classic had been played in Kansas City, with Kauffman Stadium last hosting the event in 1973. The event was held at Municipal Stadium in 1960, when the Athletics were still based there. The game was televised in the United States by Fox, the National League shutout the American League for the sixth time in All-Star Game history. It was the third-largest margin of victory for any Mid-summer Classic, the TV ratings fell even further than the 2011 edition, earning a 6.8 rating and 12 share on Fox. The total number of viewers who watched any portion of the game was up 7 percent from the year, however. The referendum passed in an election on April 4,2006, as a result of the deal, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig promised the area that the team would host a future All-Star Game no later than 2014. On June 16,2010, Selig officially awarded the rights to host the game to Kansas City for the 2012 season, fenway Park was also in contention for hosting the 2012 All-Star Game to celebrate that parks centennial. However Boston had most recently hosted the 1999 All-Star game, balloting for the 2012 All-Star Game starters began online April 20 and continued through June 28. Fan voting also took place in each MLB stadium, beginning May 8, the top vote-getters at each position and the top three among outfielders, were named the starters for their respective leagues. The results were announced on July 1, a record 40.2 million votes were cast, beating out the previous record from 2011 by a little under eight million. Josh Hamilton was the leading vote-getter with 11,073,744 votes, buster Posey set a new NL record for votes this year with 7,621,370 votes. After the rosters were revealed, a ballot of five players per league was created for the All-Star Final Vote to determine the 34th. The online balloting was conducted from Sunday afternoon, July 1, through Thursday afternoon, the winners of the All-Star Final Vote were Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers and David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals. Chipper Jones, of the Atlanta Braves, was removed from the ballot on July 3 after he replaced Matt Kemp on the due to injury. The only position player able to participate who was not used was Adam Dunn, lance Lynn and Huston Street were the pitchers not used by the National League. For the American League, pitchers Yu Darvish, Félix Hernández, Jake Peavy, in the first inning, the National League scored five runs, highlighted by Pablo Sandovals three run bases clearing triple to the right field corner
18.
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
19.
1995 World Series
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The 1995 World Series matched the Atlanta Braves against the Cleveland Indians. The Braves won in six games to capture their third World Series championship in franchise history and this was also Clevelands first Series appearance in 41 years and marked the resumption of the Fall Classic after the previous years Series was canceled due to a players strike. The Series was also remarkable in that five of the six games were won by one run, including the sixth game. After losing the World Series in 1991 to the Minnesota Twins and in 1992 to the Toronto Blue Jays and this World Series, despite being in an odd-numbered year, opened in the NL home because of the omission of the 1994 World Series. Until 2003, the World Series would begin in the AL home in even-numbered years, the Braves overcame some early inconsistency to win their division by 21 games. In the playoffs, which featured a new first round, the Braves overwhelmed the third-year Colorado Rockies, then swept the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. The team relied on hitting and its powerful pitching rotation, which was made up of perennial Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz. After decades of futility, the city of Cleveland finally had a winner in town, the Indians dominated the American League in 1995, winning 100 of their 144 games. Furthermore, in just 144 games, they won the AL Central by 30 games, the 1995 Cleveland Indians featured a very impressive batting line-up, one that hit for high average, good power, and had good speed. In addition to leading the AL in batting average, the Indians in 1995 also led the American League in runs scored, home runs, while this line-up was filled with star players, Albert Belle stood out among all of them in 1995. Powered by a strong second half of the season, Belle, the Indians clean-up hitter in 1995, finished 1995 with a 0.317 batting average,126 RBI. Further to be noted is the fact that, in hitting 50 HR and 52 doubles in 1995, Belle became the first Major League player to hit at least 50 home runs, the Indians also led the 1995 AL in ERA. While their starting pitching—led by veterans Dennis Martínez and Orel Hershiser—was respectable, Mesa, in his first year as closer, posted a league-leading 46 saves in 1995, and set a then-Major League record of 38 consecutive saves without a blown save. Two of the members of the 1995 Indians pitching staff—Dennis Martínez, thus it was that this Series presented an entertaining match-up of baseballs two best teams, each with reasons to be confident going into the Series. The Atlanta Braves were veterans to the post-season in the 1990s, in 1948, the Boston Braves faced the Cleveland Indians. Even before that, in 1892, the Boston Beaneaters, a forerunner of the Braves, were also National League Champions in 1892, the Beaneaters beat the Spiders that year to win that baseball championship. NBC was originally scheduled to televise the entire Series, however, due to the cancellation of the 1994 Series, Game 5 is, to date, the last Major League Baseball game to be telecast by ABC. This was the only World Series to be produced under the Baseball Network umbrella, in July 1995, both networks announced that they would be pulling out of what was supposed to be a six-year-long venture
20.
Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award
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The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America, MVP voting takes place before the postseason, but the results are not announced until after the World Series. The BBWAA began by polling three writers in each city in 1938, reducing that number to two per league city in 1961. The BBWAA does not offer a definition of what most valuable means. First basemen, with 34 winners, have won the most MVPs among infielders, followed by second basemen, third basemen, of the 24 pitchers who have won the award,15 are right-handed while 9 are left-handed. Walter Johnson, Carl Hubbell, and Hal Newhouser are the pitchers who have won multiple times. Barry Bonds has won the most often and the most consecutively, jimmie Foxx was the first player to win multiple times,9 players have won three times, and 19 have won twice. Frank Robinson is the player to win the award in both the American and National Leagues. The awards only tie occurred in the National League in 1979, there have been 18 unanimous winners, who received all the first-place votes. The New York Yankees have the most winning players with 22, the award has never been presented to a member of the following four teams, Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, and Tampa Bay Rays. The most recent recipients are Mike Trout in the American League, in recent decades, pitchers have rarely won the award. When Justin Verlander won the AL award in 2011, he became the first pitcher in league to be named the MVP since Dennis Eckersley in 1992. Verlander also became the first starting pitcher to win this award since Roger Clemens had accomplished the feat in 1986. The National League went even longer without an MVP award to a pitcher—after Bob Gibson won in 1968, the 1910 race for best average in the American League was between the Detroit Tigers widely disliked Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie of the Cleveland Indians. On the last day of the season, Lajoie overtook Cobbs batting average with seven bunt hits against the St. Louis Browns, American League President Ban Johnson said a recalculation showed that Cobb had won the race anyway, and Chalmers ended up awarding cars to both players. The following season, Chalmers created the Chalmers Award, a committee of baseball writers were to convene after the season to determine the most important and useful player to the club and to the league. Since the award was not as effective at advertising as Chalmers had hoped, in 1922 the American League created a new award to honor the baseball player who is of the greatest all-around service to his club. Winners, voted on by a committee of eight baseball writers chaired by James Crusinberry, received a bronze medal, voters were required to select one player from each team and player-coaches and prior award winners were ineligible
21.
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
22.
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, and operated by private interests. The Halls motto is Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations, the word Cooperstown is often used as shorthand for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The Hall of Fame was established in 1939 by Stephen Carlton Clark, Clark had sought to bring tourists to a city hurt by the Great Depression, which reduced the local tourist trade, and Prohibition, which devastated the local hops industry. A new building was constructed, and the Hall of Fame was dedicated on June 12,1939, the erroneous claim that U. S. Civil War hero Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown was instrumental in the early marketing of the Hall. An expanded library and research facility opened in 1994, dale Petroskey became the organizations president in 1999. In 2002, the Hall launched Baseball As America, an exhibit that toured ten American museums over six years. The Hall of Fame has since also sponsored educational programming on the Internet to bring the Hall of Fame to schoolchildren who might not visit, the Hall and Museum completed a series of renovations in spring 2005. The Hall of Fame also presents an annual exhibit at FanFest at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Jeff Idelson replaced Petroskey as president on April 16,2008. In 2012, Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed a law ordering the United States Mint to produce and sell commemorative, non-circulating coins to benefit the private, non-profit Hall. The bill, House Bill H. R.2527, was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Rep. Richard Hanna, a Republican from New York, the coins, which depict baseball gloves and balls, are the first concave designs produced by the Mint. The mintage included 50,000 gold coins,400,000 silver coins, the Mint released them on March 27,2014, and the gold and silver editions quickly sold out. The Hall receives money from surcharges included in the sale price,114 members of the Hall of Fame have been inducted posthumously, including four who died after their selection was announced. Of the 35 Negro league members,29 were inducted posthumously, the Hall of Fame includes one female member, Effa Manley. The newest inductees, enshrined on July 24,2016, are players Mike Piazza, the incoming class of 2017, to be formally enshrined on July 30, consists of executives John Schuerholz and Bud Selig and players Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Iván Rodríguez. In addition to honoring Hall of Fame inductees, the National Baseball Hall of Fame has presented 40 men with the Ford C, while Frick and Spink Award honorees are not members of the Hall of Fame, they are recognized in an exhibit in the Hall of Fames library. ONeil Award honorees are also not Hall of Fame members, but are listed alongside a permanent statue of the namesake and first recipient, Buck ONeil. From a final ballot typically including 25–40 candidates, each writer may vote for up to 10 players, until the late 1950s, any player named on 75% or more of all ballots cast is elected. A player who is named on fewer than 5% of ballots is dropped from future elections, players receiving 5% or more of the votes but fewer than 75% are reconsidered annually until a maximum of ten years of eligibility
23.
Americans
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Americans are citizens of the United States of America. The country is home to people of different national origins. As a result, Americans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, although citizens make up the majority of Americans, non-citizen residents, dual citizens, and expatriates may also claim an American identity. See Names for United States citizens. S, virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands in the 20th century. It also includes influences of African-American culture, westward expansion integrated the Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced a variety of elements, immigration from Asia, Africa, and Latin America has also had impact. A cultural melting pot, or pluralistic salad bowl, describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics, in addition to the United States, Americans and people of American descent can be found internationally. As many as seven million Americans are estimated to be living abroad, the United States of America is a diverse country, racially, and ethnically. Some other race is also an option in the census and other surveys, people of European descent, or White Americans, constitute the majority of the 308 million people living in the United States, with 72. 4% of the population in the 2010 United States Census. They are considered people who trace their ancestry to the peoples of Europe, the Middle East. Of those reporting to be White American,7,487,133 reported to be Multiracial, with largest combination being white, additionally, there are 29,184,290 White Hispanics or Latinos. Non-Hispanic Whites are the majority in 46 states, there are four minority-majority states, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii. In addition, the District of Columbia has a non-white majority, the state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans is Maine. The largest continental ancestral group of Americans are that of Europeans who have origins in any of the peoples of Europe. This includes people via African, North American, Caribbean, Central American or South American and Oceanian nations that have a large European diaspora, the Spanish were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the United States. Martín de Argüelles born 1566, San Agustín, La Florida, was the first person of European descent born in what is now the United States. Twenty-one years later, Virginia Dare born 1587 Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, was the first child born in the Thirteen Colonies to English parents. 8% of the total population, Hispanic or Latino Americans constitute the largest ethnic minority in the United States. They form the second largest group after non-Hispanic Whites in the United States, hispanic/Latino Americans are very racially diverse, and as a result form an ethnic category, rather than a race
24.
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
25.
National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
26.
Eddie Murray
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Eddie Clarence Murray, nicknamed Steady Eddie, is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and designated hitter. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth in history in both games played and hits. Though Murray never won a Most Valuable Player Award, he finished in the top ten in MVP voting several times, after his playing career, Murray coached for the Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003, in the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Murray is described as the fifth-best first baseman in major league history. He was 77th on the list of the Baseballs 100 Greatest Players by The Sporting News, Murray was the eighth child of twelve and still has five sisters and four brothers. He has often quipped that as a child he did not have to go far for a baseball game. The games were quite fierce and his brothers never let him win. Murray played Little League baseball under coach Clifford Prelow, a minor leaguer. Prelow remembers that young Murray was a well behaved player, Murray attended Locke High School in Los Angeles, where he batted.500 as a senior and was a teammate of Ozzie Smith. Murray was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the round of the 1973 amateur draft and had several successful seasons in the minor leagues. He debuted at the league level on April 7,1977. He won the American League Rookie of the Year award by batting.283, hitting 27 home runs and contributing 88 RBI. With the Orioles from 1977 until 1988, Murray averaged 28 home runs and 99 RBI and was a candidate for the MVP award. His best season was 1983, when he hit. 306/. 393/.538 with 110 RBI, the Orioles also appeared in the post-season twice, in 1979 and 1983, and won the World Series in 1983. He won the Gold Glove Award three consecutive times from 1982 to 1984, Murrays close-knit friendship with fellow Oriole Cal Ripken, Jr. was highly publicized in Baltimore at the time. Murray was traded on December 4,1988 to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Juan Bell, Brian Holton, louis Cardinals to the American Leagues Oakland As. McGee won the NL batting crown with a.335 average, prior to the 1992 season, Murray signed a two-year deal with the New York Mets. Murray was one of several acquisitions the Mets made to try to regain their winning ways, however, in Murrays two years with the team they finished with 90 and 103 losses, respectively
27.
Pierson, Florida
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Pierson is a town in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,736 at the 2010 census, Pierson bills itself as the Fern Capital of the World. The town is heavily reliant on agriculture which mainly consists of fern growing and its ferns are exported worldwide for use in floral arrangements and other decorations. Pierson is located at 29°14′30″N 81°27′24″W and it is the northwesternmost incorporated town in Volusia County. U. S. Route 17 and County Road 3 pass through the town. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 8.7 square miles. Chipper Jones, Major League Baseball star for the Atlanta Braves As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 1,736 people residing in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 39. 9% White,4. 6% Black,0. 3% Native American,0. 3% Asian,0. 1% from some other race and 0. 6% from two or more races. 54. 1% were Hispanic or Latino of any race, as of the census of 2000, there were 2,596 people,484 households, and 378 families residing in the town. The population density was 319.1 inhabitants per square mile, there were 514 housing units at an average density of 63.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 81. 93% White,4. 93% African American,0. 27% Native American,0. 08% Asian,11. 48% from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 62. 44% of the population. 18. 0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9. 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 3.35 and the average family size was 3.71. In the town, the population was out with 21. 7% under the age of 18,18. 7% from 18 to 24,38. 4% from 25 to 44,14. 2% from 45 to 64. The median age was 28 years, for every 100 females there were 142.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 149.9 males, the median income for a household in the town was $26,773, and the median income for a family was $27,461. Males had an income of $30,247 versus $14,605 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,450, about 22. 8% of families and 33. 6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39. 9% of those under age 18 and 21. 8% of those age 65 or over. The Town Hall for Pierson is in a building shared with the branch of BB&T bank
28.
Little League Baseball
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Each league can structure itself to best serve the children in the area in which the league operates. Several specific divisions of Little League baseball and softball are available to children ages 4 to 16, the organization holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code. The organizations administrative office is located in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the first Little League Baseball World Series was played in Williamsport in 1947. Some MLB players played in Little League, Carl Stotz, a resident of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, founded Little League Baseball in 1939. He began experimenting with his idea in the summer of 1938 when he gathered his nephews, Jimmy and Major Gehron and they tried different field dimensions over the course of the summer and played several informal games. The following summer Stotz felt that he was ready to establish what later became Little League Baseball, the first league in Williamsport had just three teams, each sponsored by a different business. The first teams, Jumbo Pretzel, Lycoming Dairy, and Lundy Lumber, were managed by Carl Stotz, the men, joined by their wives and another couple, formed the first-ever Little League Board of Directors. The first League game took place on June 6,1939, lardy Lumber defeated Lycoming Dairy, 23-8. Lycoming Dairy came back to claim the league championship and they, the first-half-season champions, defeated Lundy Lumber, the second-half champs, in a best-of-three season-ending series. From 1951 through 1973, Little League was for boys only, for tournament purposes, Little League Baseball is divided into 16 geographic regions, eight National and eight international. Each summer, Little League operates seven World Series tournaments at various locations throughout the U. S.1939, the first season is played in a lot close to Bowman Field. Lycoming Dairy is the first season champion,1946, Little League has expanded to 12 leagues, all in Pennsylvania. 1947, The first league outside of Pennsylvania is founded in Hammonton, maynard League of Williamsport defeats a team from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania to win the first Little League World Series. Allen Yearick is the first Little League graduate to play baseball when he is signed by the Boston Braves. 1948, Little League has grown to include 94 leagues, Lock Haven returns to the Little League World Series and defeats a league from St. Petersburg, Florida. The first corporate sponsor, U. S. Rubber, is announced,1949, Little League is featured in the Saturday Evening Post and on newsreels. Carl Stotz gets hundreds of requests for information on how to form leagues at the level from all over the United States. Little League incorporates in New York,1950 or 1951 Kathryn Kay Johnston -Massar became the first girl to play Little League baseball
29.
Bolles School
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The Bolles School is an American private college preparatory day and boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. It has a school, a middle school, and a high school, spread across four campuses around the Jacksonville area. The school was founded in 1933 as a military academy. It dropped its military focus in 1962 and became coeducational in 1971 and its athletics programs have been recognized as some of the best in the Florida High School Athletic Association by Sports Illustrated magazine. The school was founded as a military academy in 1933 by Agnes Cain Painter. The original campus, now known as the San Jose Campus, was founded in a hotel on San Jose Boulevard near the east bank of the St. Johns River. Bolles announced that it would drop its military status in 1961 and it began admitting girls in 1971. Today, male and female students are enrolled in relatively equal numbers, international students have enrolled at Bolles since the late 1930s, and the school maintains separate boys and girls boarding facilities for 90 students from other states and 22 foreign counties. The school also has an active Student exchange program with schools in Japan, France, participants live with the host family while attending school. He was succeeded by Brian E. M. Johnson for the 2012-13 school year, who was succeeded by Bradley R. Johnson 79, in September of 2016, Southern Living magazine named Bolles One of the Souths most beautiful High Schools. In September of 2015, Bolles was ranked fifth in the nation on Town & Country magazines list of 19 Boarding Schools That Look More Like Relais & Châteaux Properties Than High School Campuses, Bolles has been a fully accredited Florida high school since 1934. Bolles operates on an academic year, with each semester split into two quarters. Bolles offers Advanced Placement courses in, Bolles offers arts programs, in 2005, Sports Illustrated named Bolless athletic program the ninth best in the country, and second best in Florida. Of the top schools, Bolles was the only one with an Upper School enrollment of under 1,000 students. Bolles has received the Florida High School Athletic Associations Dodge Sunshine Cup/Floyd E. Lay All-Sports Award for 21 of the past 22 years, including the past eleven consecutive years. The outdoor field where it seven outdoor sports teams practice is called George H. Hodges Field, the swim team has been coached by Gregg Troy, current head coach at the University of Florida, and 2012 US Olympic mens team head coach. Troy was followed as head coach by Olympic medalist Sergio Lopez until 2014 when Lopez left to become the Singapore National team head coach, the current Bolles coach is former Olympic swimmer Jon Sakovich. The schools swimming facility has its own offices, weight room, the Bolles Sharks, Bolless club swim team, compete and practice year-round
30.
Jacksonville, Florida
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Jacksonville is a seaport city and the seat of Duval County, Florida, United States. With an estimated 868,031 residents as of 2015, Jacksonville is the most populous city in both the state of Florida and the southeastern United States. It is estimated to be the 12th most populous city in the United States and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. The Jacksonville metropolitan area has a population of 1,603,497 and is the 34th largest in the United States and fourth largest in the state of Florida. The city is situated on the banks of the St. Johns River, in the First Coast region of North Florida, prior to European settlement, the Jacksonville area was inhabited by Native American people known as the Timucua. In 1564, the French established the colony of Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. Johns River. In 1822, a year after the United States gained Florida from Spain, Jacksonville is the cultural, commercial and financial center of North Florida. A major military and civilian deep-water port, the citys riverine location supports two United States Navy bases and the Port of Jacksonville, Floridas third largest seaport. The two US Navy bases, Blount Island Command and the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Jacksonville is also home to several colleges and universities, including University of North Florida, Jacksonville University and Florida State College at Jacksonville. The area of the city of Jacksonville has been inhabited for thousands of years. In the 16th century, the beginning of the era, the region was inhabited by the Mocama. At the time of contact with Europeans, all Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful chiefdom known as the Saturiwa, centered around the mouth of the St. Johns River. One early map shows a village called Ossachite at the site of what is now downtown Jacksonville, French Huguenot explorer Jean Ribault charted the St. Johns River in 1562 calling it the River of May because he discovered it in May. Ribault erected a column near present-day Jacksonville claiming the newly discovered land for France. In 1564, René Goulaine de Laudonnière established the first European settlement, Fort Caroline, philip II of Spain ordered Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to protect the interest of Spain by attacking the French presence at Fort Caroline. On September 20,1565, a Spanish force from the nearby Spanish settlement of St. Augustine attacked Fort Caroline, the Spanish renamed the fort San Mateo, and following the ejection of the French, St. Augustines position as the most important settlement in Florida was solidified. The location of Fort Caroline is subject to debate but a reconstruction of the fort was established on the St. Johns River in 1964. Spain ceded Florida to the British in 1763 after the French and Indian War, the British introduced the cultivation of sugar cane, indigo and fruits as well the export of lumber
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Macon Braves (baseball)
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The Macon Peaches was the predominant name of the American minor league baseball franchise representing Macon, Georgia, during the 20th century. The Peaches nickname was used from 1961–1964, 1966–1967. Much of that time, the Peaches played in the original South Atlantic Sally League, although they made appearances in the Southeastern League. During the 1980s, the Peaches were members of the modern South Atlantic League, after 1929, the team played at Luther Williams Field. Macon was represented by baseball teams in the 19th century. From 1956–1960, Macons team was known as the Macon Dodgers, in 1980, a new Macon Peaches team formed and after 1982, this franchise adopted the name Redbirds and then Pirates. This team relocated to Augusta, Georgia and became the Augusta Pirates and were renamed again to Augusta GreenJackets, the Macon Braves relocated to Rome, Georgia and were renamed Rome Braves. From 1962–1964, the Peaches were an important upper-level affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, producing Pete Rose, Tony Pérez, Lee May, all four were members of Cincinnatis first Big Red Machine team, the 1970 National League champions. Macon was Roses last minor league address before he launched his Major League career as the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year and he had batted.330 for the 1962 Peaches. The Macon Braves were a minor league baseball team associated with the Atlanta Braves and was the transplanted Sumter Braves. The team was known as the Macon Braves from 1991 to 2002, in 2003, the Macon Braves were moved to Rome, Georgia. The team is now known as the Rome Braves, Luther Williams Field was the home stadium for the Macon Braves. Many well known major league players came from the Macon Braves, such as Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Rafael Furcal, Tony Graffanino, John Rocker, John Smoltz, an independent league baseball team called the Macon Peaches played in the 21st century Southeastern League in 2003. Macon Braves Macon Dodgers Notes Sources
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Minor League Baseball
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All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses. Most are members of the organization known as Minor League Baseball. Several leagues, known as independent baseball leagues, do not have any links to Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball teams may enter into a PDC for a two- or four-year term. At the expiration of a PDC term, teams may renew their affiliation, or sign new PDCs with different clubs, though many relationships are renewed and endure for extended time periods. Minor League teams that are owned directly by the major league club do not have PDCs with each other and are not part of the reaffiliation shuffles that occur every other year, several more independent leagues operate in the United States and Canada. The earliest professional baseball association, the National Association of 1871 to 1875 and this system proved unworkable, however, as there was no way to ensure competitive balance, and financially unsound clubs often failed in midseason. This problem was solved in 1876 with the formation of the National League, with a membership which excluded less competitive. Professional clubs outside the National League responded by forming regional associations of their own, there was a series of ad hoc groupings, such as the New England Association of 1877 and the Eastern Championship Association of 1881. These were loose groups of independent clubs which agreed to play a series of games for a championship pennant, the first minor league is traditionally considered to be the Northwestern League of 1883 to 1884. Unlike the earlier minor associations, it was conceived as a permanent organization and it also, along with the National League and the American Association, was a party to the National Agreement of 1883. Included in this was the agreement to respect the reserve lists of clubs in each league, teams in the National League and the American Association could only reserve players who had been paid at least $1000. Northwest League teams could reserve players paid merely $750, implicitly establishing the division into major and minor leagues, over the next two decades, more minor leagues signed various versions of the National Agreement. Eventually, the minor leagues joined together to negotiate jointly, in the late 1890s, the Western League run by the fiery Ban Johnson decided to challenge the National Leagues position. Representatives of the different minor leagues met at the Leland Hotel in Chicago on September 5,1901, in response to the National–American battle, they agreed to form the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, called the NAPBL, or NA for short. The purpose of the NA at the time was to maintain the independence of the leagues involved, several did not sign the agreement and continued to work independently. Powers was made the first president of the NAPBL, whose offices were established in Auburn, in 1903, the conflict between the American and National Leagues ended in the National Agreement of 1903. The NAPBL became involved in the stages of the negotiations to develop rules for the acquisition of players from their leagues by the National
33.
Durham Bulls
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The Durham Bulls are a Triple-A minor league baseball team that currently plays in the International League. The Bulls play their games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park located in the downtown area of Durham. Durham Bulls Athletic Park is often called the DBAP or D-Bap, the Bulls are the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Since 1991, the team has been owned by the Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Company, the Durham Bulls are operated by the operating entity Durham Bulls Baseball Club, Inc. which is also owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Company. The Bulls were founded in 1902 as the Durham Tobacconists, the official date when the franchise formed was March 18, with William G. Bramham, later President of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, as the first owner. The Tobacconists took the field for the first time on April 24 in a game against Trinity College. Their first game in the North Carolina League was at Charlotte on May 5 against the Hornets, the league, however, folded in July, not having played a full season. In December 1912, the Durham Tobacconists re-formed as the Durham Bulls in the North Carolina State League and their first game was on April 24,1913 at Hanes Field on the Trinity College campus. They defeated the Raleigh Capitals 7-4, on May 30,1917, however, the North Carolina State League folded due to Americas joining of the Allied Powers during World War I. The Bulls were declared league champions, even though the season was shortened to only 36 games, on October 31,1919, the Bulls joined the Piedmont League, a minor league with clubs scattered around Virginia and North Carolina. Seven years later, in 1926, the team moved from Hanes Field to El Toro Park. The park was dedicated on July 26 by the Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who put on a show by riding a real bull, the team mascot, onto the playing field. Six years later, in 1932, the team affiliated with the National Leagues Philadelphia Phillies. The next year, the city of Durham purchased El Toro Park, the Bulls were unable to operate for the 1934 and 1935 seasons due to the Great Depression. The Bulls franchise, however, was re-activated by having the operations of the Wilmington ball club integrated into the Bulls, the Reds then switched affiliations from the former Wilmington ball club to the Bulls and the Bulls continued as the same franchise. On the evening of June 17,1939, the Durham Athletic Park burned to the ground, the groundskeeper, Walter Williams, who was asleep under the grandstand when the blaze began, was able to escape, though the fire nearly killed him. Damage costs were more than $100,000, in a remarkable two-week turnaround, Durham Athletic Park was functioning again by July 2, with the old wooden grandstand replaced by concrete and steel. Temporary bleachers were added and seated 1,000
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Greenville Braves
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The Greenville Braves were an American minor league baseball franchise, based in Greenville, South Carolina, that served as the Class AA farm team of the Atlanta Braves between 1984 and 2004. The Braves played in Greenville Municipal Stadium for all 21 years of their existence, the team had much success and many famous future Atlanta players such as Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Javy López, Jason Marquis, Eddie Pérez, and Andruw Jones played there. After the 2004 season, the parent club in Atlanta transferred the G-Braves to Pearl, Mississippi, with the Greenville Braves out, the Greenville Bombers, Class A South Atlantic League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, moved into the old Braves stadium in 2005. In 2006, a new stadium located in Downtown Greenville, Fluor Field at the West End, opened. Greenville also hosted a team in the low Class A Western Carolinas League—the former identity of the South Atlantic League—called the Braves as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves in 1963 and 1964 and this two-year affiliation was brief, but produced the 1963 playoff champions of the WCL. When the New York Mets replaced the Braves as the parent in 1965. 1990 National League Rookie of the Year, tommy Greene, All Star Pitcher who threw a no hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies. Kent Mercker, Played in the leagues for 17 years, started a no-hitter for the Atlanta Braves in 1991. The following is a list of the Greenville Braves season-by-season record
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Triple-A (baseball)
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Triple-A is the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Mexico. Before 2008, Triple-A leagues also fielded teams in Canada, a total of 30 teams play in the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League, with 14 teams in the IL and 16 in the PCL. The MLB-independent Mexican League fields 16 teams, interleague play between the International League and Pacific Coast League occurs twice each season. In July, each leagues All-Star team competes in the Triple-A All-Star Game, in September each leagues regular season champions play each other in the Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game to determine an overall champion of Triple-A baseball. The Triple-A classification was created before the 1946 season, prior to then, the top level of the minors had been designated as Double-A since 1912. The modern Double-A classification also dates to 1946, when the former Class A1 level was renamed, Triple-A teams main purpose is to prepare players for the Major Leagues. ESPN wrote in 2010, Winning is nice, but secondary, players on the 40-man roster of a major league team are eligible for promotion to the major league club once the major league roster expands on September 1. For teams in contention for the postseason, these create the flexibility needed to rest regular starters in late regular-season games. For those not in contention, using such players lets the teams evaluate them under game conditions, teams at this level are divided into three leagues, the International League, the Pacific Coast League, and the MLB-independent Mexican League. The Mexican League fields teams throughout Mexico, the International League traditionally fielded teams in the Northeastern United States, and now fields teams in the Midwest and South as well. The Pacific Coast League originally fielded teams on the West Coast, each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams has an affiliation with one Triple-A team in the United States. However, Mexican Triple-A teams are not included in the farm team system. The Triple-A All-Star Game is a game held between the two affiliated Triple-A leagues—the International League and the Pacific Coast League. Each league fields a team composed of the top players in their respective leagues as voted on by fans, the media, the event has taken place every year since 1988 when the first Triple-A All-Star Game was played in Buffalo, New York. Prior to 1998, a team of American League-affiliated Triple-A All-Stars faced off against a team of National League-affiliated Triple-A All-Stars, traditionally, the game has taken place on the day after the mid-summer Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The game is meant to mark a symbolic halfway-point in the season, both Triple-A leagues share a common All-Star break, with no regular-season games scheduled for two days before the All-Star Game itself. Some additional events, such as the All-Star Fan Fest and Triple-A Home Run Derby, take each year close to. It was originally held annually at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, since 2011, the game has been held in a different Triple-A city each year
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Richmond Braves
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The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. The Braves played their game on September 1,2008, against their long-time intrastate rivals. Richmond won, 9–3, in front of a crowd of 12,167. After the game players and alumni threw balls and other keepsakes to fans in the stands, in 2010, the Double-A Eastern Leagues Connecticut Defenders, a San Francisco Giants affiliate, moved to Richmond to play as the Richmond Flying Squirrels. The R-Braves won the Governors Cup, the championship of the International League, five times and their predecessor team, the Richmond Virginians, a New York Yankees International League franchise from 1954 through 1964, played in only one championship. Gwinnett Braves web site Press Release Announcing Connecticut Defenders plan to move to Richmond
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Manny Ramirez
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Manuel Arístides Manny Ramírez Onelcida is a Dominican-American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, Ramirez is recognized for having had great batting skill and power. He was a nine-time Silver Slugger and was one of 25 players to hit 500 career home runs and his 21 grand slams are third all-time, and his 29 postseason home runs are the most in MLB history. He appeared in 12 All-Star Games, with a streak of consecutive games beginning in 1998 that included every season that he played with the Red Sox. Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, when he was 13 years old, he moved to New York City with his parents, Onelcida and Aristides. He attended George Washington High School and became a baseball standout and he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the 1991 MLB draft, 13th overall. He made his MLB debut on September 2,1993, in 1994, Ramirez became a major league regular, and finished second in voting for the Rookie of the Year Award. By 1995, he had become an All-Star and he was with the Indians in playoff appearances in 1995,1996,1997,1998, and 1999, this included an appearance in the 1995 and 1997 World Series. In 1999, Ramirez set the Indians single-season RBIs record with 165 RBIs, after the 2000 season, Ramirez signed with the Boston Red Sox. During his time in Boston, Ramirez and teammate David Ortiz became one of the best offensive tandems in baseball history. Ramirez led the Red Sox to World Series Championships in 2004 and 2007 before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008 as part of a three team deal also involved the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2009 Ramirez was suspended 50 games for violating baseballs drug policy by taking human chorionic gonadotropin, in the spring of 2011, Ramirez was informed by MLB of another violation of its drug policy, which would result in a 100-game suspension. He chose to retire on April 8 rather than face a 100-game suspension, however, in September 2011, Ramirez wished to be reinstated and agreed in December with the league to a reduced 50-game suspension. Though he played at various points in the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, as a child, Ramirez was obsessed with baseball. When he was eight years old, his grandmother got him a Dodgers uniform with the number 30 on the back, in 1985, he moved to the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City with his parents. He would often play ball at the nearby Snake Hill, the same place Lou Gehrig played during his childhood, despite living just a short distance from Yankee Stadium, Ramirez rooted for the Toronto Blue Jays and would watch games when the Blue Jays were in town. Ramirez attended George Washington High School from 1987 to 1991, leaving at the age of 19 without graduating, during his time on the team, GWHS was seeing a large increase in the number of immigrants. This was apparent, as GWHSs baseball team was composed entirely of Dominicans, as a youth, Ramirez preferred to not be the center of attention and was often very modest
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Jim Thome
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James Howard Jim Thome is a former American baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1991 to 2012. He played for six different teams, most notably the Cleveland Indians during the 1990s, a prolific power hitter, Thome hit 612 home runs during his career—the seventh-most all time—along with 2,328 hits,1,699 runs batted in, and a.276 batting average. He was a member of five All-Star teams and won a Silver Slugger Award in 1996, Thome grew up in Peoria, Illinois, as part of a large blue-collar family of athletes, who predominantly played baseball and basketball. After attending Illinois Central College, he was drafted by the Indians in 1989, early in his career, he played third base before eventually becoming a first baseman. With the Indians, Thome was part of a core of players led the franchise to two World Series appearances in three years during the mid-1990s. He spent over a decade with Cleveland before leaving via free agency after the 2002 season to join the Philadelphia Phillies, by this point in his career, back pain limited Thome to being a designated hitter. After stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins, he made brief returns to Cleveland, upon retiring, Thome accepted an executive position with the White Sox. Throughout his career, Thomes strength was power hitting, in six different seasons, he hit more than 40 home runs, and in 2003, he led the National League in home runs with 47. His career on-base plus slugging of.956 is 19th all time, in 2011, he became the eighth MLB player to hit 600 home runs. As of 2017 Thome is the leader in walk-off home runs with 13. One of Thomes trademarks was his unique batting stance, in which he held the bat out with his hand and pointed it at right field before the pitcher threw. Thome was known for his positive attitude and gregarious personality. An active philanthropist during his career, he was honored with two Marvin Miller Man of the Year Awards and a Lou Gehrig Memorial Award for his community involvement. Thome was born in Peoria, Illinois, on August 27,1970, one day during his youth, Thome sneaked into the Cubs clubhouse at Wrigley Field in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain an autograph from his favorite player, Dave Kingman. Though Thome received signatures from several players, this experience influenced him to be generous with signing autographs for fans during his playing career. Like his older brothers, Thome attended Limestone High School where he achieved all-state honors in basketball, Thome graduated in 1988 and, after not being drafted, enrolled at Illinois Central College where he continued his baseball and basketball careers. After one season, he was drafted by MLBs Cleveland Indians as an afterthought in the 13th round of the 1989 MLB draft, for the 1989 season, Thome was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Indians, a minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. He finished the year with a.237 batting average, no home runs, after his rookie season, he met hitting guru Charlie Manuel, who later became his manager and mentor
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Ron Gant
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He joined the 30–30 club in 1990 and 1991 with the Braves. He collected 22 hits in 83 at bats, including two home runs, during the 1988 season, the rookie Gant was an everyday player for the struggling Braves, who finished with a record of 54–106. Additionally, Gant stole thirty-three bases in 1990, qualifying for the 30–30 club and he duplicated that feat in 1991, joining Willie Mays and Bobby Bonds as the only players in Major League history to that point to have two 30 home run/30 stolen base seasons in a row. Barry Bonds later eclipsed the accomplishment, qualifying for the 30-30 Club in three seasons, from 1995–1997. His RBI numbers also increased to 105, the Braves lost to the Minnesota Twins in the 1991 World Series. Gant batted.267 in the series, with 4 RBIs, as the Twins won it in a close, during Game 2 of the 1991 World Series, Gant had a memorable and controversial confrontation with Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek. As Gant was trying to make it back to first base to avoid Twins pitcher Kevin Tapanis pickoff, he claimed Hrbek pulled his leg off the base during the swipe tag and Gant was called out. Drew Coble, the first base umpire, ruled that Gants momentum would have carried him off the bag, also, New York Times writer Claire Smith wrote that Hrbek seemed to lift Gants leg right off the bag as the Braves center fielder fought to keep his balance. This play caused the Braves bench to empty during the argument, in both 1991 and 1993, he was in the top 5 in the league in runs batted in. His speed and power made him a bidworthy item. Before the 1992 season, Gant got into an altercation with future congressman Connie Mack IV. In 1992, Gant made his last World Series appearance, where he got 1 double in 8 at-bats, and the Braves lost again, this time in 6 games to the Toronto Blue Jays. On September 15,1993 during a televised game on ESPN against the Cincinnati Reds. The Braves trailed, 6–2, going into the bottom of the 9th, shortly after signing one of the richest contracts in Braves history in 1994, Gant broke his right leg in an ATV accident. The Braves ended up releasing him, He wouldnt play again until 1995,1997 was the low point of Gants career, when he struck out 162 times and batted.229 for the Cardinals. The next year, Gant would have his last real quality season, with the Phillies in 1999, he batted a solid.260 with 17 home runs and 77 RBIs. He had 13 stolen bases and 107 runs scored, with 27 doubles and 2 triples, after a non-productive 2003 season with the As, Gant retired at age 38. In a 16-season career, Gant batted.256 with 321 home runs and 1008 RBIs and he had 243 stolen bases and 1080 runs scored in 1832 games
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Types of motorcycles
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There are many systems for classifying types of motorcycles, describing how the motorcycles are put to use, or the designers intent, or some combination of the two. Six main categories are recognized, cruiser, sport, touring, standard, dual-purpose. Sometimes sport touring motorcycles are recognized as a seventh category, strong lines are sometimes drawn between motorcycles and their smaller cousins, mopeds, scooters, and underbones, but other classification schemes include these as types of motorcycles. There is no system for classifying all types of motorcycles. There are also informal classifications or nicknames used by manufacturers, riders, street motorcycles are motorcycles designed for being ridden on paved roads. They have smooth tires with a tread pattern and engines generally in the 125 cc. Most are capable of speeds up to 100 mph, and many of speeds in excess of 125 mph, standards, also called naked bikes or roadsters, are versatile, general-purpose street motorcycles. They are recognized primarily by their upright riding position, partway between the reclining posture of the cruisers and the forward leaning sport bikes. Footpegs are below the rider and handlebars are high enough to not force the rider to reach far forward, because of their flexibility, lower costs and their engines of moderate output, standards are particularly suited to motorcycle beginners. Standards usually do not come with fairings or windscreens, or if they have them, standard is often a synonym for naked bike, a term that became popular in the 1990s in response to the proliferation of fully faired sport bikes. The standard seemed to have disappeared, fueling nostalgia for the return of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle, which were admired for their simplicity, quality, and versatility. Muscle bike is a nickname for a type, derived from either a standard or sport bike design. Roadster is equivalent to standard or naked, cruisers are styled after American machines from the 1930s to the early 1960s, such as those made by Harley-Davidson, Indian, and Excelsior-Henderson. Harley-Davidsons largely define the category, and large-displacement V-twin engines are the norm, although other engine configurations. Their engines are tuned for torque, making them less demanding to ride because it is not necessary to shift as frequently to accelerate or maintain control. The riding position places the feet forward and the hands are up relatively high, cruisers have limited cornering ability due to a lack of ground clearance. Choppers are a type of cruiser, so called because they are a chopped, or cut-down, choppers are usually custom projects that result in a bike modified to suit the owners ideals, and, as such, are a source of pride and accomplishment. Stereotypically, a chopper may have raked-out forks, small fuel tanks, choppers were popularised in the Peter Fonda film Easy Rider
