1.
Barry Bonds
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Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. Bonds received seven NL MVP awards and 14 All-Star selections, and is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Bonds was regarded as an exceptional hitter, and finished his regular season career with a very high on-base percentage and isolated power. He holds many MLB hitting records, including most career runs, most home runs in a single season. He also received eight Gold Gloves for his defense in the outfield and he is ranked second in career Wins Above Replacement among all major league position players by both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. com, behind only Babe Ruth. Bonds led a career, notably as a central figure in baseballs steroids scandal. In 2007, he was indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to the grand jury during the federal governments investigation of BALCO. The perjury charges against Bonds were dropped, and he was initially convicted of obstruction of justice. Bonds has not been elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first four years of eligibility, in the 2016 season, Bonds served as the hitting coach for the Miami Marlins. He played on the varsity team during his freshman year. He batted for a.467 batting average his senior year, Bonds attended Arizona State University, hitting.347 with 45 home runs and 175 runs batted in. In 1984 he batted.360 and had 30 stolen bases, in 1985, he hit 23 home runs with 66 RBIs and a.368 batting average. He was a Sporting News All-American selection that year and he tied the NCAA record with seven consecutive hits in the College World Series as sophomore and was named to All-Time College World Series Team in 1996. He graduated from Arizona State in 1986 with a degree in criminology and he was named ASU On Deck Circle Most Valuable Player, other winners include Dustin Pedroia, Willie Bloomquist, Paul Lo Duca, and Ike Davis. During college, he played part of one summer in the amateur Alaska Baseball League with the Alaska Goldpanners, the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Bonds as the sixth overall pick of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. He joined the Prince William Pirates of the Carolina League and was named July 1985 Player of the Month for the league, in 1986, he hit.311 in 44 games for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League. Before Bonds made it to the leagues in Pittsburgh, Pirate fan attendance was low. Bonds made his league debut on May 30,1986. In 1986, Bonds led National League rookies with 16 home runs,48 RBI,36 stolen bases and 65 walks and he played center field in 1986, but switched to left field with the arrival of centerfielder Andy Van Slyke in 1987
2.
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
3.
Sadaharu Oh
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Sadaharu Oh, also known as Wang Chen-chih, is a retired Japanese–Chinese baseball player and manager who played 22 seasons for the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball from 1959 to 1980. Oh holds the world lifetime home run record, having hit 868 home runs during his professional career and he established many NPB batting records, including runs batted in, slugging percentage, bases on balls, and on-base plus slugging. In 1977, Sadaharu Oh became the first recipient of the Peoples Honour Award and he was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. Oh batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base, originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri Giants in 1959 as a pitcher, Oh was soon converted to a full-time hitter. Under the tutelage of coach Hiroshi Arakawa, Oh developed his distinctive flamingo leg kick and it took Oh three years to blossom, but he went on to dominate the baseball league in Japan. He was a 15-time home-run champion and was named to the All-Star team 18 times, more than just a power hitter, Oh was a five-time batting champion and won the Japanese Central Leagues batting triple crown twice. With Sadaharu Oh at first base, the Yomiuri Giants won 11 championships, Oh was named the Central Leagues Most Valuable Player nine times. In addition to the career home run record, he held Japans single-season home run record with 55. Oh played his professional career with Japans Yomiuri Giants and was their manager from 1984 to 1988. He also managed the Fukuoka Daiei/Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from 1995 to 2008 and he was the manager of the Japanese national team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. The Japanese team defeated the Cuban national team for the championship and he is currently the chairman of the Hawks. Oh was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Chinese father, although born in Japan, he had Taiwanese citizenship, which he holds today, as his father left China when the ROC governed the mainland and chose to remain a Chinese citizen. In high school, Oh made many appearances at Koshien Stadium, in 1957, Waseda Jitsugyo High School made it to the Spring Koshien Tournament with the second-year Oh as its ace pitcher. Right before the tournament started, Oh suffered serious blisters on two fingers of his pitching hand, the only way to heal the injury was with rest, but Oh refused to let his team down. Hiding his injury so as not to demoralize his team, Oh pitched the entire first game at Koshien, Ohs catcher noticed the bloodstained ball but agreed to keep the injury secret from the rest of the team. The next day, Oh pitched another complete game and earned the victory, and again his catcher kept the injury a secret, the pain and infection was unbearable, and now Oh faced the prospect of pitching two more games — on back-to-back days — for the championship. All the same, Oh pitched and won another complete game, after the game, on the eve of the final, he had already lost all feeling in his fingertips, and was convinced he could not pitch in the final. That night, Oh was paid a visit by his father
4.
Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. A run is scored when a player advances around the bases, Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team, which tries to prevent runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the team who reaches a base safely can later attempt to advance to subsequent bases during teammates turns batting. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the team records three outs. One turn batting for both teams, beginning with the team, constitutes an inning. A game is composed of nine innings, and the team with the number of runs at the end of the game wins. Baseball has no clock, although almost all games end in the ninth inning. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century and this game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the sport of the United States. Baseball is now popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, in the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball teams are divided into the National League and American League, each with three divisions, East, West, and Central. The major league champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series, the top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games is difficult to trace with precision, a French manuscript from 1344 contains an illustration of clerics playing a game, possibly la soule, with similarities to baseball. Other old French games such as thèque, la balle au bâton, consensus once held that todays baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders, popular in Great Britain and Ireland. Baseball Before We Knew It, A Search for the Roots of the Game, by David Block, suggests that the game originated in England, recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of other. It has long believed that cricket also descended from such games. The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, David Block discovered that the first recorded game of Bass-Ball took place in 1749 in Surrey, and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. William Bray, an English lawyer, recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford and this early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants
5.
Batting (baseball)
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In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for ones team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, drive home, or advance runners along the bases for others to drive home. Hitting uses a motion that is unique to baseball, one that is rarely used in other sports. Hitting is unique because unlike most sports movements in the plane of movement hitting involves rotating in the horizontal plane. In general, batters try to get hits, however, their primary objective is to avoid making an out, and helping their team to score runs. There are several ways they can help their team score runs and they may draw a walk if they receive and do not swing the bat at four pitches located outside the strike zone. In cases when there is a runner on third and fewer than two outs, they can attempt to hit a fly to drive the runner in by allowing the runner on third to tag up. They might even be hit by a pitch, reach on an error or—if first is empty or there are two outs—on a dropped third strike, the defense attempts to get the batter out. The pitchers main role in this is to throw the ball in such a way that the batter strikes out or cannot hit it cleanly so that the defense can get him or her out. Batting is often cited as one of the most difficult feats in sports because it consists of hitting a small ball, usually moving at high velocity. In fact, if a batter can get a hit in three out of ten at bats, giving him an average of.300, he or she is considered a good hitter. In Major League Baseball, no batter has had over a.400 average at the end of the season since Ted Williams in 1941, an OPS at or near 1.000 is considered to be the mark of an exceptional hitter. A sustained OPS at or above 1.000 over a career is a only a few hitters have ever been able to reach. Batters vary in their approach at the plate, some are aggressive hitters, often swinging at the first pitch. Others are patient, attempting to work the count in order to observe all the types of pitches a pitcher will use. In preparation of hitting, every player has their own particular warm-up routine. Warming up before the game is usually done as a team, at the amateur level, the most notable drill used is the Tee Drill, where you hit a ball off a baseball tee and correct any issues you found during previous games or practices
6.
Safe (baseball)
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In baseball, a baserunner is safe when he reaches a base without being put out by various ways. While a runner is touching a base, he is not in jeopardy of being put out. The runner is in jeopardy once again, negating this safety, when he ceases touching the base, by the rules, a runner is safe when he is entitled to the base he is trying for. Umpires will signal that a runner is safe by extending their elbows to their sides, for emphasis, an umpire may fully cross and extend his arms several times to indicate safe. Verbally, the umpire will usually simply say safe, if a close play occurs that may have appeared to be a putout, the umpire will also call a reason for the safe call, such as he dropped the ball or he missed the tag
7.
Error (baseball)
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The term error can also refer to the play during which an error was committed. In that case, the play will be scored both as a hit and an error. Similarly, a batter does not receive credit for a run batted in when runs score on an error, passed balls and wild pitches are separate statistical categories and are not scored as errors. There is a loophole in the rules on errors for catchers. There is therefore a no fault condition for the attempting to prevent a steal. However, when considering that the majority of stolen base attempts are successful, if the runner takes an additional base due to the wild throw, an error is charged for that advance. However, if the catchers glove is hit by the bat, it is counted as a catchers interference, traditionally, the number of errors was a statistic used to quantify the skill of a fielder. However, fans and analysts have questioned the usefulness and significance of errors as a metric for fielding skill, notably, mental misjudgments, such as failure to cover a base or attempting a force out when such a play is not available, are not considered errors. A more subtle, though more significant objection to the error, in order for a fielder to be charged with an error, he must have done something right by being in the correct place to be able to attempt the play. A poor fielder may avoid many errors simply by being unable to reach batted or thrown balls that a fielder could successfully reach. Thus, it is possible that a poor fielder will have fewer errors than any fielder with higher expectancies, however, this still leaves statistics, such as fielding percentage, that are based on errors as a way to compare the defensive abilities of players. Errors also hold significance in calculating the earned run average of a pitcher, runs scored due to an error are unearned, and do not count toward a pitchers ERA. In Major League Baseball, Herman Long holds the Major League records with 1096 errors in his career between 1889 and 1904, bill Dahlen, Deacon White and Germany Smith are the only other players to make 1,000 errors during their MLB careers. All of these players played at least one season before 1900, the 20th century record is held by Rabbit Maranville with 711 errors. Among active players, Adrián Beltré leads with 275 errors over 2475 career games as of June 14,2015, the major league record for errors by a pitcher in a career is held by Hippo Vaughn, with 64 errors. That also is the National League record, the American career mark is held by Ed Walsh. The most errors made by a pitcher in a season is 28 by Jim Whitney, the American League record of 15 is held by three pitchers, Jack Chesbro, Rube Waddell, and Ed Walsh. The record for most errors made by a pitcher in one inning is three, first set by Cy Seymour in 1898, the record was tied by Tommy John in 1988, Jaime Navarro in 1996 and Mike Sirotka in 1999
8.
Baseball field
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A baseball field, also called a ball field or a baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term is used as a metonym for baseball park.5 inches. Adjacent to each of the two parallel 8. 5-inch sides is a batters box, the point of home plate where the two 12-inch sides meet at right angles is at one corner of a ninety-foot square. The other three corners of the square, in order from home plate, are called first base, second base. Three canvas bags fifteen inches square mark the three bases and these three bags along with home plate form the four points at the corners of the infield. All the bases, including home plate, lie entirely within fair territory, thus, any batted ball that touches those bases must necessarily be in fair territory. Thus, although the points of the bases are 90 feet apart, the lines from home plate to first and third bases extend to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction and are called the foul lines. The portion of the field between the foul lines is fair territory, the rest is foul territory. The area in the vicinity of the square formed by the bases is called the infield, most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is set at a distance ranging from 300 to 420 feet from home plate. Most professional and college baseball fields have a right and left foul pole and these poles are at the intersection of the foul lines and the respective ends of the outfield fence and, unless otherwise specified within the ground rules, lie in fair territory. Thus, a ball that passes over the outfield wall in flight and touches the foul pole is a fair ball. First base is the first of four bases that must be touched by a player on the team in order to score a run. Unlike when a player reaches second or third base, it is permissible for a batter-runner to overrun first base without being in jeopardy of being put out. After contact is made with the base, the batter-runner may slow down and return to first base at his leisure, the runner cannot be tagged out if he is touching the base with any part of his body. The first baseman is the player responsible for the area near first base. A professional first baseman is often a slow runner and tall, a tall first baseman presents a large target to which other fielders can throw, and his height gives him a larger range in reaching and catching errant throws. Also, a right-handed first baseman must, when setting himself up to receive a throw from an infielder, execute a half-pivot near the base, there are three infield positions that can only effectively be occupied by right-handed players, 2nd base, 3rd base, and shortstop
9.
Hit (baseball)
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If a batter reaches first base because of offensive interference by a preceding runner, he is also credited with a hit. A hit for one base is called a single, for two bases a double, and for three bases a triple, a home run is also scored as a hit. Doubles, triples, and home runs are also called extra base hits, an infield hit is a hit where the ball does not leave the infield. Infield hits are uncommon by nature, and most often earned by speedy runners, a no-hitter is a game in which one of the teams prevented the other from getting a hit. Throwing a no-hitter is rare and considered an accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff. In most cases in the game, no-hitters are accomplished by a single pitcher who throws a complete game. A pitcher who throws a no-hitter could still allow runners to reach safely, by way of walks, errors, hit batsmen. If the pitcher allows no runners to reach base, the no-hitter is a perfect game, in 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls as hits. The result was skyrocketing batting averages, including some near.500, Tip ONeill of the St. Louis Browns batted.485 that season, the experiment was abandoned the following season. There is controversy regarding how the records of 1887 should be interpreted, the number of legitimate walks and at-bats are known for all players that year, so computing averages using the same method as in other years is straightforward. In 1968, Major League Baseball formed a Special Baseball Records Committee to resolve this issues, the Committee ruled that walks in 1887 should not be counted as hits. Most current sources list ONeills 1887 average as.435, as calculated by omitting his walks and he would retain his American Association batting championship. However, the variance between methods results in differing recognition for the 1887 National League batting champion, cap Anson would be recognized, with his.421 average, if walks are included, but Sam Thompson would be the champion at.372 if they are not. The official rulebook of Major League Baseball states in Rule 10, Rule 10.05 Comment, In applying Rule 10.05, the official scorer shall always give the batter the benefit of the doubt. Runner is called out for interference with a fielder attempting to field a batted ball, unless in the scorers judgment the batter-runner would have been safe had the interference not occurred
10.
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
11.
Ralph Kiner
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Ralph McPherran Kiner was an American Major League Baseball player. An outfielder, Kiner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, following his retirement, Kiner served from 1956 through 1960 as general manager of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres. He also served as an announcer for the New York Mets from the teams inception until his death, though injuries forced his retirement from active play after 10 seasons, Kiners tremendous slugging outpaced all of his National League contemporaries between the years 1946 and 1952. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975, at the time of his death, baseball writer Marty Noble named Kiner one of baseballs genuine and most charming gentlemen. Kiner was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico, and raised in Alhambra, California by his mother and he was of Pennsylvania Dutch and Scots-Irish ancestry, although his maternal grandmother was Jewish. Kiner served as a U. S. Navy pilot during World War II, Kiner made his major league debut on April 12,1946, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished the season with 23 home runs, but 109 strikeouts, after the season, the Pirates convinced future Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg not to retire. Greenberg gave Kiner hours of instruction, and in 1947, Kiner led the leagues with 51 home runs while striking out fewer than 100 times. Many of Kiners homers were hit into a shortened left-field and left-center-field porch at Forbes Field, Kiner would later use Kiners Korner as the title of his post-game TV show in New York. In 1949 Kiner topped his 1947 total with 54 home runs and it was the highest total in the major leagues from 1939 to 1960, and the highest National League total from 1931 to 1997. It made Kiner the first National League player with two 50 plus home run seasons, Kiner also matched his peak of 127 RBIs. From 1947 to 1951, Kiner topped 40 home runs and 100 RBIs each season, Kiners string of seasons leading the league in home runs reached seven in 1952, when he hit 37. This also was the last of a six consecutive seasons in which he led Major League Baseball in home runs, all under the guidance of manager Billy Meyer. He was selected to participate in the All-Star Game in six seasons,1948 to 1953. A quote variously attributed to Kiner himself, as well as to teammates talking about Kiner, was Home run hitters drive Cadillacs, footage of Kiner hitting a home run in Forbes Field can be seen in the 1951 film Angels in the Outfield. On June 4,1953, Kiner was sent to the Chicago Cubs as part of a ten-player trade. The Pirates traded Kiner, Joe Garagiola, George Metkovich, and Howie Pollet to the Cubs in exchange for Bob Addis, Toby Atwell, George Freese, Gene Hermanski, Bob Schultz, Preston Ward, and $150,000. This was largely due to continued salary disputes with Pirate general manager Branch Rickey, Kiner played the rest of 1953 and all of 1954 with the Cubs, finishing his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1955
12.
Cadillac
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Cadillac /ˈkædᵻlæk/, formally the Cadillac Motor Car Division, is a division of the U. S. -based General Motors that markets luxury vehicles worldwide. Its primary markets are the United States, Canada, and China, historically, Cadillac automobiles have always held a place at the top of the luxury field within the United States. In 2016, Cadillacs U. S. sales were 170,006 vehicles, Cadillac is among the oldest automobile brands in the world, second in America only to fellow GM marque Buick. The firm was founded from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company in 1902 and it was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms, by the time General Motors purchased the company in 1909, Cadillac had already established itself as one of Americas premier luxury carmakers. The complete interchangeability of its parts had allowed it to lay the foundation for the modern mass production of automobiles. It was at the forefront of advances, introducing full electrical systems, the clashless manual transmission. The brand developed three engines, with its V8 setting the standard for the American automotive industry and it won the trophy again in 1912 for incorporating electric starting and lighting in a production automobile. Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company, after a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors, Ford left the company along with several of his key partners in March 1902. Instead, Leland persuaded the pair to continue manufacturing automobiles using Lelands proven single-cylinder engine, a new company called the Cadillac Automobile Company was established on 22 August 1902, re-purposing the Henry Ford Company factory at Cass Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It was named after French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, Cadillacs first automobiles, the Runabout and Tonneau, were completed in October 1902. They were two-seat horseless carriages powered by a 10 hp single-cylinder engine and they were practically identical to the 1903 Ford Model A. Cadillac displayed the new vehicles at the New York Auto Show in January 1903, Cadillacs biggest selling point was precision manufacturing, and therefore, reliability, a Cadillac was simply a better-made vehicle than its competitors. Runabout Rear-entrance tonneau Special bodies The Cadillac Automobile Company merged with Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing, forming The Cadillac Motor Company in 1905. From its earliest years, Cadillac aimed for precision engineering and stylish luxury finishes, Cadillac was the first volume manufacturer of a fully enclosed car in 1906. Cadillac participated in the 1908 interchangeability test in the United Kingdom, in 1912, Cadillac was the first automobile manufacturer to incorporate an electrical system enabling starting, ignition, and lighting. Cadillac was purchased by the General Motors conglomerate in 1909, Cadillac became General Motors prestige division, devoted to the production of large luxury vehicles. It was positioned at the top of GMs vehicle hierarchy, above Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland, in 1915, Cadillac introduced a 90-degree flathead V8 engine with 70 horsepower at 2400 rpm and 180 pound force-feet of torque, allowing its cars to attain 65 miles per hour
13.
Ford Motor Company
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The Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16,1903, the company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer, Troller, and Australian performance car manufacturer FPV, in the past, it has also produced tractors and automotive components. Ford owns an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom, and it also has a number of joint-ventures, one in China, one in Taiwan, one in Thailand, one in Turkey, and one in Russia. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family, Fords former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010, in 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938. During the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, it was close to bankruptcy, Ford is the second-largest U. S. -based automaker and the fifth-largest in the world based on 2015 vehicle production. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe, Ford is the eighth-ranked overall American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants, the company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, still retain 40 percent voting rights. The Ford Motor Company was launched in a factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors, most notably John. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue and later its factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three men worked on car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company and it has been in continuous family control for over 100 years and is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world. The first gasoline powered automobile had been created in 1885 by the German inventor Carl Benz, between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced the Models A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hundreds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year, in 1908, Ford introduced the mass-produced Model T, which totalled millions sold over nearly 20 years. In 1927, Ford replaced the T with the Model A, Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932. In an attempt to compete with General Motors mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, in order to compete with such brands as Cadillac and Packard for the luxury segment of the automobile market. The creation of a laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan in 1951, doing unfettered basic research
14.
In flight
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In baseball, the rules state that a batted ball is considered in flight when it has not yet touched any object other than a fielder or his equipment. Once a batted ball touches the ground, a fence or wall, a pole, a base, the pitchers rubber. A batted ball that passes out of the playing field ceases to be in flight when that occurs. If a batted ball is caught in flight, the batter is out—called a fly out—and all runners must tag up, a fly out on a ball in foul territory is also called a foul out. A foul tip, which by definition is always caught in flight, is a strike by special rule, and not an out. If a batted ball passes out of the field in flight and is fair, it is an automatic home run, entitling the batter. However, if the fence or other barrier is less than 250 feet from home plate, in the United States, such short fences are very rare even in the lowest-level amateur ballfields. Fields with short fences can be commonplace in some countries where baseball is less popular, often, soccer fields have to be used, resulting in a very short left or right field. The shortest fair fences in Major League Baseball are both in Bostons Fenway Park, the shortest fence that is perpendicular to the foul line is the Green Monster. The left foul pole, renamed Fisks Pole in honor of Carlton Fisks famous home run in the 1975 World Series, stands 310 feet away from home plate
15.
Double (baseball)
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To hit many doubles, one must have decent hitting skill and power, it also helps to run well enough to beat an outfield throw. Doubles typically drive in runs from base, second base. When total bases and slugging percentages are calculated, the two is used for the calculation. The all-time leader in doubles is Tris Speaker, with 792, a two-base hit awarded by an umpire when a batted ball is hit fairly and bounces out of play is referred to as a ground rule double. The batter is awarded second base and any runners advance two bases from the base occupied at the time of the pitch. Prior to 1931, such hits were considered home runs, a two-base hit awarded because the batter hit into a special situation defined in the ground rules is also defined as a ground rule double. An example of this occurs where the rules of Chicagos Wrigley Field award a ground rule if a batted ball is lost in the vines on the outfield bleacher wall. The rules of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis awarded a ground rule if the ball became stuck in its Teflon ceiling
16.
Baseball glove
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A baseball glove or mitt is a large leather glove worn by baseball players of the defending team, which assists players in catching and fielding balls hit by a batter or thrown by a teammate. Conversely, a glove is worn on the right hand. Early baseball was a game played without gloves, the earliest glove was not webbed and not particularly well suited for catching but was used more to bat a ball to the ground so that it could be picked up. One of the first players believed to use a glove was Doug Allison. The first confirmed glove use was by Charlie Waitt, a St. Louis outfielder and first baseman who, in 1875, Glove use slowly caught on as more and more players began using different forms of gloves. Many early baseball gloves were simple leather gloves with the cut off, supposedly to allow for the same control of a bare hand. First baseman Albert Spalding, originally skeptical of glove use, influenced more infielders to begin using gloves, Spalding later founded the sporting goods company Spalding, which still manufactures baseball gloves along with other sports equipment. By the mid-1890s, it was the norm for players to wear gloves in the field, in 1920, Bill Doak, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, suggested that a web be placed between the first finger and the thumb in order to create a pocket. This design soon became the standard for baseball gloves, Doak patented his design and sold it to Rawlings. His design became the precursor to modern gloves, and enabled Rawlings to become the preferred glove of professional players, for many years it was customary for fielders to leave their gloves on the field when their team went in to bat. This practice was prohibited by the leagues in 1954. Baseball gloves have grown larger since their inception. A glove is worn on the non-dominant hand, leaving the dominant hand for throwing the ball, for example. The shape and size of the glove is governed by official baseball rules. Section 3.00 - EQUIPMENT AND UNIFORMS specifies glove dimensions, the baseball glove has come a long way in over the past century. Today, gloves are more precisely and more efficiently. There are still many advancements coming in the age of the baseball glove, even today, Easton is experimenting with combining leather and Kevlar in a new ultra-light weight glove line. Manufacturers have created different types of gloves to suit different types of people, also, they have started personalizing gloves for certain players to increase exposure on national television
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Baseball cap
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A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded crown and a stiff peak projecting in front. The front of the cap typically contains designs or logos of sports teams, the back of the cap may be fitted to the wearers head size or it may have a plastic, Velcro, or elastic adjuster so that it can be quickly adjusted to fit different wearers. The baseball cap is a part of the traditional uniform worn by players. The cap is seen in everyday casual wear. In 1860, the Brooklyn Excelsiors wore the ancestor of the modern baseball cap, which featured a long peak and a button on top, and by 1900. During the 1940s, latex rubber became the material inside the hat. The peak, also known in areas as the bill or brim, was designed to protect a players eyes from the sun. Typically, the peak was much shorter in the days of the baseball hat. Also, the hat has become more structured, versus the overall cap of the 19th. The baseball cap was and still is an important means by which to identify a team, often the logo, mascot, or teams initial was placed on the cap. Usually, the cap was also fashioned in the colors of a particular team. The basic shape, including curved peak, is similar to styles of 19th century sun bonnets. Fitted baseball caps, those without an adjuster, are sewn in six sections. Metal grommets or fabric eyelets are often sewn or attached near the top of each of the six sections of fabric to provide ventilation, in some cases, the rear sections of the crown are made of net-like mesh material for extra ventilation. The peak is typically stiffened by a piece of paperboard or stiff plastic. Baseball caps are made of many types of material and shaped in various styles for different purposes, major and minor league baseball players wear classic-style caps made of wool with their teams simple logo and colors, the logo is usually embroidered into the fabric. Formerly, baseball caps only came in standard hat sizes, since 1980, they have also been available in a one-size-fits-all form, with an adjustment strap in the back. The style, commonly called snapback, has become popular as fashion accessories
18.
Umpire (baseball)
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The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump. They are also addressed as blue at lower levels due to the common color of the uniform worn by umpires. In professional baseball, the blue is seldom used by players or managers. In a game officiated by two or more umpires, the umpire in chief is the umpire who is in charge of the entire game. This umpire calls balls and strikes, calls fair balls, foul balls short of first/third base, to avoid injury, the home plate umpire wears the same mask the catcher wears. If another umpire leaves the infield to cover a potential play in foul ground or in the outfield, in the event that an umpire is injured and only three remain, the second base position will generally be left vacant. In nearly all levels of organized baseball, including the majors, an umpiring crew rotates so that each umpire in the works each position, including plate umpire. In the earliest days of baseball, however, many senior umpires always worked the plate, Klem did so for the first 16 years of his career. On the Major League level, an umpiring crew generally rotates positions clockwise each game, for example, the plate umpire in one game would umpire third base in the next. Other umpires are called base umpires and are stationed near the bases. When two umpires are used, the umpire is simply the base umpire. This umpire will make most calls concerning runners on the bases and nearby plays, to indicate a full swing, he will clench his fist. When four umpires are used, each umpire is named for the base at which he is stationed, sometimes a league will provide six umpires, the extra two are stationed along the outfield foul lines are called the left-field and right-field umpires. Outfield umpires are used in events, such as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. For Major League Baseball, all levels use six umpires, while at lower levels. Rulings on catches of batted balls are made by the umpire closest to the play. The term umpire-in-chief is not to be confused with the crew chief, at the major-league and high minor-league levels, the crew chief acts as a liaison between the league office and the crew and has a supervisory role over other members of the crew. For example, on the Major League level, The Crew Chief shall coordinate, an umpires judgment call used to be final, unless the umpire making the call chose to ask his partner for help and then decided to reverse it after the discussion
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Appeal play
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In baseball, an appeal play occurs when a member of the defensive team calls the attention of an umpire to an infraction which he would otherwise ignore. Such communication may be non-verbal, implicit, or assumed—so long as the intent of the fielder is clear to the umpire, contrary to popular belief, an appeal out is not a force out unless it is regarding a missed force base. Rare situations with an appeal on a runner who misses his force base require the umpire to recognize an apparent fourth out. When a running infraction occurs and then all playing action becomes relaxed, any live ball appeal must occur before the pitch, play. An appeal itself does not count as a play for the purposes of subsequent appeals. Once a fielder properly executes a legal live ball appeal on a runner, that runner may not again be appealed at that base, even if the appeal is for a different reason. An appeal is legal if the fielder has the right to appeal a runner at a base, clearly communicates to the umpire what the infraction was, umpires will only rule on legal appeals. A potential appeal is viable if the appeal is legal and the umpire knows that the runner has indeed committed an infraction, suppose that runners are on first and third base, and the batter hits a fly ball. The runner on third tags up, leaving third base immediately after the outfielder touches the ball, the runner seems to score, beating the throw home, but failing to touch home plate. He proceeds into his dugout without again attempting to home base. The runner on first base stays at first base, and action becomes relaxed while the ball is in the infield, the fielders now suspect that the runner left third base too early and also missed the plate. Suppose that a fielder, with the ball, touches third base and tells the nearest umpire. This is a legal appeal, and the umpire should rule with a safe signal, perhaps saying, No. Now no legal appeal may again occur on that runner at third base, suppose then that a fielder, with the live ball, touches home base and says to the nearest umpire, I think he never touched home. This is a legal and viable appeal, and so the umpire should call the runner out, since the ball was live, the runner from first could have attempted to advance at any time during the appeals. If the defense attempts to play on that runner, their opportunity to appeal the runner from third base is lost, a member of the defensive team may appeal to the umpire when a batter bats out of turn. The umpire then enforces the penalty for batting out of turn, the ball must be live for this as for any appeal. After the appeal is made, the umpire will usually signal Time, the field umpire then signals whether the batter swung, and such a judgment must, by rule, prevail
20.
Triple (baseball)
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In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielders misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielders choice. Triples have become rare in Major League Baseball. It often requires a hit to a distant part of the field. It also usually means that the hit the ball solidly. The triple is considered one of the most exciting plays in baseball, a triple is the hardest to achieve in terms of hitting for the cycle. com List of single-season triples leaders, Baseball-Reference. com
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Base running
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In baseball, base running is the act of running around the bases performed by members of the team at bat. In general, base running is a part of the game with the goal of eventually reaching home to score a run. The goal of batting is generally to produce base runners, or help move base runners along, runners on second or third base are considered to be in scoring position since a normal hit, even a single, will often score them. Part of the goal of a runner and a batter is to get the runner into scoring position, for any base running to occur, a batter must initially become a base runner. The term is not applied if the batter hits a foul ball or to a player awarded first base. A player ceases to be a runner when, he scores a run, he is put out in any way. If a base runners teammate is put out for the out of the inning. A runner who is touching a base which he is entitled to occupy may not be tagged out, runners may attempt to advance from base to base on any fair ball that touches the ground. When a ball is hit in the air and caught by the team, runners must return. Once they do this, they may attempt to advance at their own risk, on a ball that touches the ground in fair territory, if there is a force, runners are required to run. Base runners may attempt to advance at any time while the ball is alive, the catcher—or pitcher, in lieu of delivering the pitch—often tries to prevent this by throwing the ball to one of the infielders in order to tag the runner. This pick-off attempt is unsuccessful in tagging out the runner but is effective in keeping the runner closer to the base. If the runner is tagged out while diving back to the base, if the runner attempts to advance to the next base but is tagged out before reaching it safely, he is caught stealing. A successful attempt by the runner is called a stolen base, if a pitch gets away from the catcher, runners may also try to advance. This may be a pitch, if the pitcher is held responsible for the ball getting away. Sometimes the defending team will ignore a runner who is trying to steal a base, in case a runner is not credited with a steal. The standard dimensions of a field, with 90 feet between bases, generate many close base running plays. On one hand, an infielder who fields a ball hit on the ground, then throws it quickly and accurately
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2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 78th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League, the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 10,2007, at AT&T Park and it marked the third time that the Giants hosted the All Star Game since moving to San Francisco for the 1958 season. The American League defeated the National League by a score of 5–4, Ichiro Suzuki won the MVP award for the game for hitting the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star history. As per the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the American League champion received home advantage in the 2007 World Series. The victory was the 10th consecutive for the AL, and their 11-game unbeaten streak is only beaten by the NLs 11-game winning streak from 1972 to 1982 in All-Star history. As with each All-Star Game since 1970, the eight starting position players of each league were elected by fan balloting, 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 Giants were awarded the game on February 9,2005. The game marked the first time since 1962 that one league hosted consecutive All-Star Games, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the game was the fifth straight All-Star Game to decide home-field advantage in the World Series. The AL entered the game on an unbeaten streak. The NL was looking for their first win since the 1996 game in Philadelphia, balloting for the 2007 All-Star Game starters began on April 27 and continued through June 28. The top vote-getters at each position and the top three among outfielders, are named the starters for their respective leagues, the results were announced on July 1. About 18.5 million votes were cast by close to twelve million fans, Alex Rodriguez was the leading vote-getter with 3,890,515 votes, easily outpacing his Yankees teammate Derek Jeter by over 700,000 votes. Ken Griffey, Jr. was the top vote-getter in the National League, after the rosters were announced, a second round of fan voting, the Monster All-Star Final Vote, was commenced to determine the occupant of the final roster spot for each team. This round lasted until July 5, Chris Young and Hideki Okajima were elected to represent the National League and American League, respectively, in the All-Star Game as first time All-Stars. All ten players included in the balloting were pitchers, a first for the event, players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. ^a These players did not see action in the game. ^b Voted onto the roster through the All-Star Final Vote. ^c Unable to play due to injury, brandon Webb took his roster spot. ^d Unable to play due to injury. Roy Oswalt took his roster spot, National League, Tony La RussaAmerican League, Jim Leyland O Canada was played by members of the San Francisco Symphony. The Star-Spangled Banner was sung by Chris Isaak, before the game, there was a tribute to former San Francisco Giants slugger Willie Mays
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AT&T Park
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AT&T Park is a baseball park located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants, originally named Pacific Bell Park, then SBC Park in 2003 after SBC Communications acquired Pacific Bell, the stadium was ultimately christened AT&T Park in 2006 following SBCs buyout of AT&T. The park stands along the San Francisco Bay, a segment of which is named McCovey Cove in honor of former Giants player Willie McCovey, AT&T Park has also played host to both professional and collegiate American football games. Professionally, AT&T Park was the home of the San Francisco Demons of the XFL, the stadium can be reached via San Franciscos Muni Metro, the 2nd and King Station is directly outside the ballpark. Originally designed to be a 42, 000-seat stadium, there were slight modifications before the design was complete. When the ballpark was brought to the box in the fall of 1996 for voter approval. Also the center-field scoreboard was atop the wall and the Giants Pavilion Building were two separate buildings. Groundbreaking on the ballpark began on December 11,1997, in the waterfront area of San Francisco known as China Basin in the up-and-coming neighborhoods of South Beach. The stadium cost $357 million to build and supplanted the Giants former home, Candlestick Park, a team of engineers from UC Davis was consulted in the design process of the park resulting in wind levels that are approximately half those at Candlestick. Fans had shivered through 40 seasons at The Stick and looked forward to warmer temperatures at the new ballpark, when it opened on March 31,2000, the ballpark was the first Major League ballpark built without public funds since the completion of Dodger Stadium in 1962. However, the Giants did receive a $10 million tax abatement from the city, the Giants have a 66-year lease on the 12. 5-acre ballpark site, paying $1.2 million in rent annually to the San Francisco Port Commission. The park opened with a capacity of 40,800. In April 2010, the became the first MLB ballpark to receive LEED Silver Certification for Existing Buildings, Operations. The opening series took place April 11–13,2000 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the first game of that series, the Giants lost 6–5, highlighted by three home runs from the Dodgers Kevin Elster. On May 1,2000, Barry Bonds became the first player to hit a splash hit home run into McCovey Cove, in just its first few years of existence, the ballpark saw its share of historic events primarily due to veteran Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. On April 17,2001, Bonds hit his 500th career home run at then-Pacific Bell Park. Later that year, he set the season home run record when he hit home runs number 71,72. On August 9,2002, Bonds hit his 600th career home run at the park
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Ichiro Suzuki
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Ichiro Suzuki, often referred to mononymously as Ichiro, is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball. After playing for the Mariners, he played two and a half seasons in MLB with the New York Yankees, Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including MLBs single-season record for hits with 262. He had 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons, the longest streak by any player in history, between his major league career in both Japan and the United States, Ichiro has the most hits by any player in top tier professional leagues. While playing in NPB, he won seven batting titles. In 2001, Ichiro became the first Japanese-born position player to be posted and signed to an MLB club and he led the American League in batting average and stolen bases en route to being named AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP. Ichiro is the first MLB player to enter the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and he is a ten-time MLB All-Star and won the 2007 All-Star Game MVP Award for a three-hit performance that included the events first-ever inside-the-park home run. Ichiro won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award in each of his first ten years in the majors, Ichiro also leads all active players in singles with 2,440 and in stolen bases with 508. He is also noted for his longevity, continuing to produce at a level with batting, slugging. On August 7,2016, Ichiro notched the 3000th hit of his MLB career off Chris Rusin of the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, in total he has over 4,300 hits in his career. On October 4, the Marlins exercised their 2017 option with Ichiro, the move will guarantee Ichiro $2 million in 2017, and includes a further team option for 2018. Ichiro grew up in the town of Toyoyama, a small town just outside Nagoya. At the age of seven, Ichiro joined his first baseball team and asked his father, Nobuyuki Suzuki, to teach him to be a better player. The two began a routine which included throwing 50 pitches, fielding 50 infield balls and 50 outfield balls. As a little leaguer in Toyoyama, Ichiro had the word written on his glove. By age 12, he had dedicated himself to pursuing a career in baseball, and their training sessions were no longer for leisure. According to Ichiro, It bordered on hazing and I suffered a lot, when Ichiro joined his high school baseball team, his father told the coach, No matter how good Ichiro is, dont ever praise him. We have to him spiritually strong. When he was ready to enter school, Ichiro was selected by a school with a prestigious baseball program
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American League
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The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League, is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a league based in the Great Lakes states. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season,25 years after the formation of the National League. At the end of season, the American League champion plays in the World Series against the National League champion. Through 2016, American League teams have won 64 of the 112 World Series played since 1903, the 2016 American League champions are the Cleveland Indians. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League titles, the most in the history, followed by the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics. Originally a minor league known as the Western League, the American League later developed into a major league after the American Association disbanded, in its early history, the Western League struggled until 1894, when Ban Johnson became the president of the league. Johnson led the Western League into major league status and soon became the president of the newly renamed American League, babe Ruth, noted as one of the most prolific hitters in Major League Baseball history, spent the majority of his career in the American League. The American League has one notable difference versus the National League, in 1902, the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis and were renamed the St. Louis Browns. In 1902, The Cleveland Bluebirds were also renamed the Cleveland Broncos, in 1903, the Broncos were renamed the Cleveland Naps. In 1915, the Naps were renamed the Cleveland Indians, in 1903, the Baltimore Orioles moved to New York and were renamed the New York Highlanders. In 1913, the Highlanders were renamed the New York Yankees, in 1904, the Chicago White Stockings were renamed the Chicago White Sox. In 1908, the Boston Americans were renamed the Boston Red Sox, in 1954, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and were renamed as the Baltimore Orioles. In 1955, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City and were renamed as the Kansas City Athletics, in 1961, the league expanded and added two teams as the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators, expanding the league to 10 teams. The original Senators team moved to Minneapolis/St, Paul in 1961 and were renamed as the Minnesota Twins. The Angels team name changed to the California Angels in 1966, then to the Anaheim Angels in 1997, the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots were added to the American League, expanding the league to 12 teams. In 1970, the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and were renamed the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1972, the Washington Senators relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and were renamed the Texas Rangers. In 1977, the league expanded to fourteen teams, when the Seattle Mariners, in 1998, the Tampa Bay Rays was added to the American League and at the same time, the Milwaukee Brewers were switched to the National League, leaving the American League with 14 teams
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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
27.
Ken Griffey Jr.
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George Kenneth Ken Griffey Jr. nicknamed Junior and The Kid, is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball. He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, a 13-time All-Star, Griffey is one of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history, his 630 home runs rank as the sixth-most in MLB history. Griffey was also a defender and won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. He is tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run, although popular with fans around the league, Griffey was unable to shake reports of his petulant demeanor throughout his major league baseball career. Griffey is one of only 29 players in history to date to have appeared in Major League games in four different calendar decades. Following his playing career, Griffey joined the Mariners front office as a special consultant and he was inducted into both the Mariners Hall of Fame and the Reds Hall of Fame. In 2016, Griffey was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving a record 99. 32% of the vote and he is the son of former MLB player Ken Griffey Sr. Griffey was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, on November 21,1969. His family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father, Ken Griffey Sr. played for the Cincinnati Reds, Ken Jr. was in the clubhouse during his fathers back-to-back championships in the 1975 and 1976 World Series. As a young child, Ken Sr. would instill in his son the pride of a team accomplishment rather than the individual performance and my dad would have bopped me on the head when I was a kid if I came home bragging about what I did on the field. He only wanted to know what the team did and he attended Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, where he was the U. S high school baseball player of the year in 1987. Griffey was the number one selection by the Seattle Mariners during the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft held on June 2,1987. He received a bonus of $16,000 from the Mariners. On June 11,1987 he joined the Bellingham Mariners of the Northwest League and he made his professional debut on June 16th,1987. During the 54-game season he hit.313 and he led the team with 14 home runs,40 RBI, and 13 steals. Baseball America magazine named him the number one major league prospect. In 1988, Griffey joined the San Bernardino Spirit of the California League, during his 58 games with the Spirit, Griffey batted.338, hit 11 home runs, drove in 42 runs, and stole an astounding 32 bases. Late in the season, Griffey was promoted to the Vermont Mariners of the Class AA Eastern League and he played the final 17 games with the club, hitting.279 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI. In his eleven seasons with Seattle Griffey established himself as one of the most prolific and exciting players of the era, racking up 1,752 hits,398 home runs,1,152 RBIs, and 167 stolen bases
28.
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
29.
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
30.
Grand slam (baseball)
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In baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners, thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term originated in the game of contract bridge. Roger Connor is believed to have been the first major league player to hit a grand slam, on September 10,1881, for the Troy Trojans. Although Charlie Gould hit one for the Boston Red Stockings in the National Association on September 5,1871, alex Rodriguez has 25 career grand slams, the most by any player in Major League Baseball history, passing Lou Gehrigs 23 on September 20,2013. Meanwhile, Don Mattingly set the record with six grand slams in 1987 – remarkably. Travis Hafner tied Mattinglys Major League record in 2006, while in 2009, several grand slams, the first being Connors in 1881, consisted of a player hitting a walk-off grand slam for a one-run victory, some baseball observers call this an ultimate grand slam. Ryan Howard was the most recent to do so in a 6-5 victory by the Philadelphia Phillies over the Houston Astros on August 7,2014, during the 2005 major league season, grand slams accounted for 132 of the 5017 home runs hit. On June 13–14,2006, the Minnesota Twins hit grand slams in consecutive games against the Boston Red Sox, in 2006, the Chicago White Sox hit grand slams in three consecutive games against the Houston Astros. Scott Podsednik hit the grand slam of his career in the series opener. Joe Crede followed up with a slam of his own on Saturday, the White Sox became the first team to accomplish this since the Detroit Tigers in 1993. On the other hand, the 2007 Kansas City Royals surrendered grand slams in three games, two against the Baltimore Orioles and one against the Tigers. Four players hit a grand slam in their first Major League at-bat, Bill Duggleby, Jeremy Hermida, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Kouzmanoff, Nava, and Duggleby hit theirs on the first pitch, Hermidas grand slam was in a pinch-hit at bat. Tony Cloninger is the pitcher to hit two grand slams in one game, for the Atlanta Braves in a 1966 contest against the San Francisco Giants. Tatis was only the second National League player to hit two grand slams in one game, joining Cloninger, tatis had never hit a grand slam before in his career. Bill Mueller is the player to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in the same game, when he hit 2 on July 29,2003 for the Boston Red Sox vs. the Texas Rangers. Robin Ventura is the player to hit a grand slam in both games of a doubleheader, when he did so on May 20,1999 for the New York Mets against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Daiei Hawks accomplished the feat in 1999, on August 25,2011, the New York Yankees, hosting the Oakland As, became the first team in MLB history to hit three grand slams in one game. Robinson Canó, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson took pitchers Rich Harden, Fautino de los Santos, coming back from a 7−1 deficit, the second grand slam gave the Yankees their first lead of the game, they went on to win 22–9
31.
Contract bridge
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Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game using a standard 52-card deck. It is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, tournaments, online and with friends at home, making it one of the worlds most popular card games, particularly among seniors. The World Bridge Federation is the body for international competitive bridge. The game consists of deals, each progressing through four phases. During the auction, partners communicate information about their hand, including its overall strength, the cards are then played, the declaring side trying to fulfill the contract, and the defenders trying to stop the declaring side achieving its goal. The deal is scored based on the number of tricks taken, the contract, one theory is that the name bridge has its origins in the name of an earlier game. Bridge departed from whist with the creation of Biritch in the 19th century, the word biritch itself is a spelling of the Russian word Бирюч, an occupation of a diplomatic clerk or an announcer. However some experts think that the Russian origin of the game is a fallacy, another theory is that British soldiers invented the game bridge while serving in the Crimean War. Bridge is a four-player partnership trick-taking game with thirteen tricks per deal, the dominant variations of the game are rubber bridge, more common in social play, and duplicate bridge, which enables comparative scoring in tournament play. Each player is dealt thirteen cards from a standard 52-card deck, a trick starts when a player leads, i. e. plays the first card. The leader to the first trick is determined by the auction, each player, in a clockwise order, plays one card on the trick. Players must play a card of the suit as the original card led, unless they have none. The player who played the card wins the trick. Within a suit, the ace is ranked highest followed by the king, queen and jack, in a deal where the auction has determined that there is no trump suit, the trick must be won by a card of the suit led. However, in a deal there is a trump suit. If one or more plays a trump to a trick when void in the suit led. For example, if the suit is spades and a player is void in the suit led and plays a spade card
32.
Roberto Clemente
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Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player. Clemente spent 18 Major League Baseball seasons playing in the National League as a fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, Clemente was an All-Star for twelve seasons and fifteen All-Star Games. He was the NL Most Valuable Player in 1966, the NL batting leader in 1961,1964,1965, and 1967, and his batting average was over.300 for thirteen seasons and he had 3,000 major league hits during his career. He also played in two World Series championships, Clemente is the first Latin American and Caribbean player to help win a World Series as a starter, to receive an NL MVP Award, and to receive a World Series MVP Award. Clemente was married in 1964, he and his wife had three children and he was involved in charity work in Latin American and Caribbean countries during the off-seasons, often delivering baseball equipment and food to those in need. On December 31,1972, he died in a crash while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua at the age of 38. Roberto Clemente was born in Barrio San Antón, Carolina, Puerto Rico, to Don Melchor Clemente and he was the youngest of seven siblings, Clemente had four brothers and two sisters. During his childhood, his father worked as foreman of sugar crops located in the municipality, because the familys resources were limited, Clemente worked alongside his father in the fields, loading and unloading trucks. Clemente showed interest in early in life and often played against neighboring barrios. He attended Vizcarrondo High School in Carolina, during his first year in high school, he was recruited by Roberto Marín to play softball with the Sello Rojo team after Marín saw Clemente playing baseball in barrio San Antón. He was with the two years as shortstop. Clemente joined Puerto Ricos amateur league when he was 16 years old, playing for the Ferdinand Juncos team and he was a bench player during his first season but was promoted to the Santurce Cangrejeros starting lineup the following season. During this season he hit.288 as the Crabbers leadoff hitter, while Clemente was playing in the LBBPR, the Brooklyn Dodgers offered him a contract with one of the teams Triple-A affiliates. After signing with the Dodgers on February 19,1954, Clemente moved to Montreal to play with the Royals, affected early on by both climate and language differences, Clemente received assistance from bilingual teammates such as infielder Chico Fernandez and pitchers Tommy Lasorda and Joe Black. In fact, it was Black who was the target of the Pittsburgh Pirates June 1,1954 scouting trip to Richmond. Conducted by pitching coach Clyde Sukeforth, the focus quickly shifted when he witnessed Clementes throwing and batting prowess in pre-game drills. Nonetheless, Clemente barely played during Sukeforths three-day visit, evidently, Macon took Sukeforth at his word, scarcely had the Pirate scout departed when, on June 4, Clemente started his first game in over a month
33.
Pittsburgh Pirates
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The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. Founded on October 15,1881 as Allegheny, the franchise has won five World Series championships, the Pirates are also often referred to as the Bucs or the Buccos. They also won the 1971 World Series, led by the talent of Roberto Clemente, overall, the Pirates have won five World Series and lost two. They would then advance to the NL Division Series round, where they lost in 5 games to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pirates would continue their success and make the playoffs in both 2014 and 2015, losing in the Wild Card Game both times. Professional baseball has been played in the Pittsburgh area since 1876, the teams of the era were independents, barnstorming throughout the region and not affiliated with any organized league, though they did have salaries and were run as business organizations. On October 15,1881, the strongest team in the joined the American Association as a founding member to begin play in 1882. Their various home fields in the 19th century were in a city called Allegheny City. After five mediocre seasons in the A. A, Pittsburgh became the first A. A. team to switch to the older National League in 1887. At this time, the team renamed itself the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, at that time, owner-manager Horace Phillips sold the team to Dennis McKnight, Phillips stayed on as manager. Before the 1890 season, nearly all of the Alleghenys best players bolted to the Players Leagues Pittsburgh Burghers, the Players League collapsed after the season, and the players were allowed to go back to their old clubs. However, the Alleghenys also scooped up highly regarded second baseman Lou Bierbauer, although the Athletics had failed to include Bierbauer on their reserve list, they loudly protested the Alleghenys move. In an official complaint, an AA official claimed the Alleghenys signing of Bierbauer was piratical and this incident quickly accelerated into a schism between the leagues that contributed to the demise of the A. A. Although the Alleghenys were never found guilty of wrongdoing, they made sport of being denounced for being piratical by renaming themselves the Pirates for the 1891 season, the nickname was first acknowledged on the teams uniforms in 1912. The Pirates were a team in the early 1900s, winning National League pennants from 1901–1903. They again won the NL in 1925 and 1927 and the World Series in 1925, after a slow period, they returned to dominance and won the 1960 World Series,1971 World Series and 1979 World Series. They won Eastern Division titles from 1990–1992 but did not return to the post-season after that until 2013, on Opening Day 2015 the Pirates loss to the Cincinnati Reds represented its 10, 000th franchise loss since moving to the NL. This made the Pirates the fourth MLB team to achieve distinction, following the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves
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Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. The team plays its games at Wrigley Field, located on the citys North Side. The Cubs are one of two league teams in Chicago, the other, the Chicago White Sox, is a member of the American League Central division. The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, was a member of the NL in 1876. The Cubs have appeared in a total of eleven World Series, the 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of.763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox by four games to two. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, the 108-year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major North American sports. Since the start of play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason eight times through the 2016 season. The Cubs are known as the North Siders, a reference to the location of Wrigley Field within the city of Chicago, there is a divisional rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals and also a newer rivalry with the Milwaukee Brewers. There is also a rivalry with the White Sox. The Cubs began play in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, joining the National League as a charter member. Owner William Hulbert signed multiple star players, such as pitcher Albert Spalding and infielders Ross Barnes, Deacon White, the White Stockings played their home games at West Side Grounds and quickly established themselves as one of the new leagues top teams. Spalding won forty-seven games and Barnes led the league in hitting at.429 as Chicago won the first ever National League pennant, which at the time was the games top prize. After back-to-back pennants in 1880 and 1881, Hulbert died, and Spalding, the White Stockings, with Anson acting as player-manager, captured their third consecutive pennant in 1882, and Anson established himself as the games first true superstar. In 1885 and 86, after winning N. L. pennants, both seasons resulted in match ups with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, with the clubs tying in 1885 and with St. Louis winning in 1886. This was the genesis of what would become one of the greatest rivalries in sports. In all, the Anson-led Chicago Base Ball Club won six National League pennants between 1876 and 1886. As a result, Chicagos club nickname transitioned, and by 1890 they had known as the Chicago Colts, or sometimes Ansons Colts
35.
Forbes Field
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Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28,1970. It was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The stadium also served as the football field for the University of Pittsburgh Pitt Panthers from 1909 to 1924. The stadium was named after British general John Forbes, who fought in the French and Indian War, the US$1 million project was initiated by Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, with the goal of replacing his franchises then-current home, Exposition Park. The stadium was made of concrete and steel in order to increase its lifespan, the Pirates opened Forbes Field on June 30,1909, against the Chicago Cubs, and would play the final game that was also against the Cubs on June 28,1970. The field itself featured a playing surface, with the batting cage placed in the deepest part of center field during games. Seating was altered multiple times throughout the life, at times fans were permitted to sit on the grass in the outfield during overflow crowds. The Pirates won three World Series while at Forbes Field and the original tenant, the Pittsburgh Panthers football team had five undefeated seasons before moving in 1924. Some remnants of the ballpark still stand, surrounded by the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, in 1903, Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss began to look for ground to build a larger capacity replacement for the teams then-current home, Exposition Park. Dreyfuss purchased seven acres of land near the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, adjacent to Schenley Park, with assistance from his friend, the low-priced land was selected so Dreyfuss could spend more on the stadium itself. Dreyfuss signed a contract that he would make the ballpark, of a design that would harmonize with the other structures in the Schenley Park district. The site was initially labeled Dreyfusss Folly due to its long distance—a 10-minute trolley ride—from downtown Pittsburgh, official Pirates records show that Forbes Field cost US$1 million for site acquisition and construction, however some estimates place the cost at twice that amount. Charles Wellford Leavitt, Jr. was contracted to design the stadiums grandstand, a civil engineer, Leavitt had founded an engineering and landscape architecture firm in 1897. He had gained experience in steel and concrete constructs while designing the Belmont, based on Dreyfuss architectural requirements, Leavitt presented a plan for Forbes Field—the only ballpark he would design. Initial work on the land began on January 1,1909, nicola Building Company built the stadium in 122 days and play began less than four months after ground was broken, on June 30. The facade of the stadium featured buff-colored terra cotta spelling out PAC for the Pittsburgh Athletic Company, the light green steelwork contrasted with the red slate of the roof. Some members of the press urged Dreyfuss to name the stadium after himself, however, the owner decided on Forbes Field, in honor of General John Forbes, who captured Fort Duquesne from the French in 1758 and rebuilt a new Fort Pitt at the site. In 1935, after Dreyfuss death, there was renewed media interest in renaming the stadium Dreyfuss Field, however, a monument to Dreyfuss was placed in center field just in front of the wall
36.
Chan Ho Park
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Chan Ho Park is a South Korean former professional baseball pitcher. He was the first South Korean-born player in league history. Park has the most career wins,124, of any Asian-born pitcher in history and he passed Hideo Nomo for the most ever by an Asian-born pitcher in 2010. He is 62 tall and weighs 210 lbs. Chan Ho Park was born in Gongju, South Korea, as a high school player in South Korea, he won team Most Valuable Player honors three consecutive seasons at Gongju High School in Gongju, South Korea. He also was named the MVP at four national prep tournaments, Park was a member of the 1992 and 1993 South Korea national baseball team. He posted a 2.76 ERA in helping South Korea earn the medal at the Asian Baseball Championship in 1993. He also competed in 1993 Summer Universiade, and led his team to the silver medal, Park was a sophomore at Hanyang University, Seoul in 1994 when he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent. Park made his debut for the Dodgers on April 8,1994 against the Atlanta Braves as a reliever. With the Albuquerque Dukes in 1995 he was fourth in the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts with 101, and averaged 8.26 strikeouts per 9 innings and he was selected by Baseball America as the 2nd best Dodgers prospect after the season with the best fastball in the PCL. He recorded his first Major League start on October 1 against the San Diego Padres after receiving a September call-up, in 1996, his first full season with the Dodgers, he went 5–5 with a 3.64 ERA in 48 games. He recorded his first win on April 6 against the Chicago Cubs, Park had a breakout season in 1997 as he became a full-time starter. He tied for the lead in victories, while posting a 14–8 record. In 1998, he was 15–9 with a 3.71 ERA in 34 starts, after the season, he led the South Korean national team to the gold medal in the Asian Games, beating Japan in the final match. In 1999, he struggled in the rotation with 13–11 with a 5.23 ERA. On April 23,1999 he became the pitcher in the history of baseball to allow two grand slams in the same inning and to the same player, Fernando Tatís of the St. Louis Cardinals. There are two pitchers in the history of baseball who allowed two grand slams in the same game – Jack Morris, and more recently, Brandon Backe –. He also walked 100 batters in only 194 innings, on June 5,1999, Park was involved in an on-field brawl at Dodger Stadium with Anaheim Angels pitcher Tim Belcher. Park attacked Belcher after being tagged out after a bunt play, Parks said that Belcher had tagged him too hard on the just-concluded play and asked him about the incident
37.
Bill Mueller
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William Richard Bill Mueller is an American retired professional baseball third baseman who formerly served as the first base coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. Muellers MLB playing career was spent with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, a number of Muellers accomplishments came during the 2003 season, when he won the American League batting title and a Silver Slugger Award. A switch hitter, he became the player in major league history to hit one grand slam from both sides of the plate in the same game on July 29,2003. He was the third baseman for the Red Sox 2004 World Series championship team that beat the Cardinals. Since his playing career, he has served in MLB as a front office assistant, Mueller was born in Maryland Heights, Missouri and attended De Smet Jesuit High School and Southwest Missouri State University. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 15th round of the 1993 MLB draft and he got his first career hit the following day, also as a pinch hitter, against Terry Adams. He played third base for the Giants fairly regularly for five seasons and he returned to San Francisco in September 2002 in a trade for minor league pitcher Jeff Verplancke. Before the 2003 season, Mueller was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a free agent, in his first year in Boston, he won the American League batting title with a.326 average. He also set career highs with 45 doubles and 19 home runs, before 2003, he had never hit more than 10 home runs or 29 doubles in any season. He contributed nearly half of his home runs during his three years with the Red Sox. Mueller developed a reputation for consistency throughout the major leagues, in fact, for five of his ten years in the major leagues, his batting average was between.290 and.295. His minor league numbers were much the same, consistently between.290 and.310. Doctors have ruled out all known procedures to repair the condition in his right knee. On November 17,2006, the Dodgers announced that Mueller was retiring from baseball and had hired as a special assistant to the GM. On June 15,2007, Mueller was named Los Angeles Dodgers interim hitting coach when Eddie Murray was fired. After a month on the job, manager Grady Little announced that the Dodgers would be removing the interim tag, after the season, it was announced that Mueller would be giving up his role as hitting coach to return to a front office position. Mueller served as an assistant to General Manager Ned Colletti through the 2012 season. On November 22,2013, Mueller was named hitting coach of the Chicago Cubs under new manager Rick Renteria, on October 7,2014, he subsequently resigned that position, a week after his assistant, Mike Brumley, was dismissed by the Cubs
38.
Boston Red Sox
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The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League East division. The Red Sox have won eight World Series championships and have played in 13, founded in 1901 as one of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the Red Sox home ballpark has been Fenway Park since 1912. The Red Sox name was chosen by the owner, John I. Taylor, around 1908, following the lead of previous teams that had known as the Boston Red Stockings. Boston was a dominant team in the new league, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903 and winning four more championships by 1918. Following their victory in the 2013 World Series, they became the first team to win three World Series trophies in the 21st century, including championships in 2004 and 2007. Red Sox history has also marked by the teams intense rivalry with the Yankees. The Boston Red Sox are owned by Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Liverpool F. C. of the Premier League in England. The Red Sox are consistently one of the top MLB teams in road attendance. From May 15,2003 to April 10,2013, the Red Sox sold out every home game—a total of 820 games for a professional sports record. Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline has become an anthem for the Red Sox, the name Red Sox, chosen by owner John I. Taylor after the 1907 season, refers to the red hose in the team uniform beginning 1908. Sox had been adopted for the Chicago White Sox by newspapers needing a headline-friendly form of Stockings. The team name Red Sox had previously used as early as 1888 by a colored team from Norfolk. The Spanish language media sometimes refers to the team as Medias Rojas, the official Spanish site uses the variant Los Red Sox. The Red Stockings nickname was first used by a team by the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Managed by Harry Wright, Cincinnati adopted a uniform with white knickers and red stockings and earned the famous nickname, the Boston Red Stockings won four championships in the five seasons of the new National Association, the first professional league. Other names were used before Boston officially adopted the nickname Braves in 1912
39.
Walk-off home run
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In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be a run that gives the home team the lead in the bottom of the final inning of the game. Thus the losing team must then walk off the field immediately afterward, the winning runs must still be counted at home plate. Because the home team always bats last, any kind of walk off scenario, although the concept of a game-ending home run is as old as baseball, the adjective walk-off attained widespread use only in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The first known usage of the word in print appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 21,1988, Section D, Page 1. Chronicle writer Lowell Cohn wrote an article headlined What the Eck. about Oakland reliever Dennis Eckersleys unusual way of speaking, For a translation, I go in search of Eckersley. I also want to know why he calls home runs street pieces. Sportscasters also use the term walk-off hit if any kind of hit drives in the run to end the game. It is a stretch of the term to call a hit a walk-off when what ends the game is not the hit. Starting in the 1990s, a grand slam that erases a three-run deficit has come to be known as an ultimate grand slam. There have been 28 such instances documented in major league history – all taking place during the season,15 of those coming with two outs. No player has accomplished more than once. Of the 28 home runs, only Roberto Clementes was hit inside the park, pirates manager/third base coach Bobby Bragan instructed him to stop at third, but Clemente ran through the stop sign to score the winning run. Alan Trammells June 21,1988 and Chris Hoiles May 17,1996 grand slams occurred under the situation, bases loaded. This was later referred to as the ultimate, ultimate grand slam, the most recent ultimate grand slam was by Rajai Davis, who performed the feat in the ninth inning as the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 5–4 on June 30,2014. Lindy McDaniel of the Chicago Cubs, in 1963, to Bob Aspromonte of the Houston Colt. 45s on June 11, and to Jim Hickman of the New York Mets on August 9. Lee Smith of the California Angels, in 1995, to Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics, on June 30, and to Albert Belle of the Cleveland Indians on July 18. Francisco Rodríguez of the New York Mets, in 2009, to rookies Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres, on August 7, Rodríguez is the only pitcher to surrender two game-winning grand slams to two rookies
40.
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
