1.
First baseman
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First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that players team. A first baseman is the player on the team playing defense who fields the area nearest first base, in the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the first baseman is assigned the number 3. Also called first sacker or cornerman, the first baseman is ideally a tall player who throws left-handed and possesses good flexibility, flexibility is needed because the first baseman receives throws from the other infielders, the catcher and the pitcher after they have fielded ground balls. In order for the runner to be called out, the first baseman must be able to stretch towards the throw and they often are power hitters who have a substantial number of home runs and extra base hits while maintaining a.270 plus batting average. Good defensive first basemen, according to Bill James, are capable of playing off first base so that they can field ground balls hit to the side of first base. The first baseman then relies upon the pitcher to cover first base to receive the ball to complete the out, indications of a good defensive first baseman include a large number of assists and a low number of throwing errors by other infielders. The nature of play at first base often requires first basemen to stay close to the bag to hold runners or to reach the bag before the batter. First basemen are not typically expected to have the range required of a baseman, shortstop. As a result, first base is not usually perceived to be as physically demanding as other positions, however, it can also be a very hard position to play, a large amount of concentration and timing is required. Though many play at first base their entire career, it is common for players to be moved to first base in order to extend their careers or to accommodate other recently acquired players. Facing a possible trade or a reduction in playing time. Catchers and corner outfielders are often moved to first base due to deteriorating health or if their fielding abilities at their position are detrimental to the team. When first base is not occupied by a baserunner, the first baseman usually stands behind first base, the distance he plays from the base and foul line is dependent on the current hitter and any runners on base. The exact position may depend on the first basemans experience, preference. For a known right-handed pull hitter, the first baseman might position himself further towards the second basemans normal fielding position, for a known left-handed pull hitter, the first baseman will position himself closer to the foul line in order to stop a ball hit down the line. To protect against a bunt on the first base side of the infield, as soon as the pitcher commits to throwing towards home plate, the first basemen will charge towards the hitter to field the bunt. During these plays, it is the responsibility of the second basemen to cover first base, with a base runner present at first base, the first baseman stands with his right foot touching the base to prepare for a pickoff attempt. Once the pitcher commits to throwing towards home plate, the first baseman comes off the bag in front of the runner and gets in a fielding position
2.
Willingboro Township, New Jersey
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Willingboro Township is a township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. Abraham Levitt and Sons purchased and developed Willingboro land in the 1950s and 1960s as a community in their Levittown model. With residential development, the 1950 population of 852 rapidly climbed to 11,861 in 1960, the community used the name Levittown, New Jersey in 1958, and Levittown Township from 1959 to 1963. Willingboro was one of the nine divisions in the organization of Burlington County within West Jersey. At the time, it included present day Delanco Township, New Jersey, the original name of Wellingborough was after the community in England, which was the hometown of Thomas Ollive, who led the original settlers into what would become Willingboro Township. Other spellings were used at different times. L and this makes Willingboro one of the oldest townships in the State. Portions of the township were taken to form Beverly borough and Beverly Township, in the 1950s and 1960s, Willingboro was the location for a massive residential development by Levitt & Sons. The town was to be Levitt & Sons third and largest Levittown development, following projects in New York. The first Levittown homes were sold in June 1958, at time the community was already known as Levittown. The towns name was changed from the original Willingboro to Levittown Township by a referendum of township residents held on November 3,1959, Willingboro was less than 12 miles from Levittown, Pennsylvania and this occasionally caused confusion. A referendum held on the issue on November 5,1963, the name change was passed by a narrow margin of 3,123 to 3,003. In retaliation, Levitt refused to donate any more schools to the fast-growing community, when homes for the new Levittown were first being sold in 1958, Levitt and Sons had a policy against sales to African Americans. W. R. James, an African-American officer in the Armys Criminal Investigation Division, was stationed at nearby Fort Dix, on June 29,1958, an agent of Levitt and Sons told him that the new Levittown development would be an all-white community. James filed suit against the company challenging their policy, a friend of his, who worked at the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, said that it was illegal in New Jersey to discriminate in federally-subsidized housing. At the time, de facto segregation in housing existed in many areas in the United States. Levittown was receiving mortgage insurance from the Federal Housing Administration, but as of 1958, the law had not been tested. James sued Levitt in a case that went to the New Jersey Supreme Court. James was not the first African American to move into Willingboro, given James success in his suit, Charles and Vera Williams purchased a house and moved into the community in 1960, the first African-American family in Willingboro
3.
Batting average
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Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batsmen in cricket and batters in baseball. The development of the statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. In cricket, a batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out. The number is also simple to interpret intuitively, if all the batsmans innings were completed, this is the average number of runs they score per innings. If they did not complete all their innings, this number is an estimate of the average number of runs they score per innings. Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players relative skills since the 18th century, most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40. This is also the range for wicket-keepers, though some fall short. All-rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen typically average something between 20 and 30,15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers. Under this qualification, the highest Test batting average belongs to Australias Sir Donald Bradman, given that a career batting average over 50 is exceptional, and that only four other players have averages over 60, this is an outstanding statistic. The fact that Bradmans average is so far above that of any other cricketer has led several statisticians to argue that, statistically at least, he was the greatest sportsman in any sport. As at 21 October 2016, Adam Voges of Australia has recorded an average of 72.75 from 27 innings played and it should also be remembered, especially in relation to the ODI histogram above, that there were no ODI competitions when Bradman played. If their scores have a geometric distribution then total number of runs scored divided by the number of times out is the maximum likelihood estimate of their true unknown average, Batting averages can be strongly affected by the number of not outs. A different, and more developed, statistic which is also used to gauge the effectiveness of batsmen is the strike rate. It measures a different concept however – how quickly the batsman scores – so it does not supplant the role of batting average and it is used particularly in limited overs matches, where the speed at which a batsman scores is more important than it is in first-class cricket. Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed, in baseball, the batting average is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three places and read without the decimal, A player with a batting average of.300 is batting three-hundred. A point is understood, in only, to be.001. If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the.001 measurement, henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball
4.
Home run
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In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is also the home run, increasingly rare in modern baseball. When a home run is scored, the batter is credited with a hit and a run scored. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit, a batted ball is also a home run if it touches either foul pole or its attached screen before touching the ground, as the foul poles are by definition in fair territory. A batted ball that goes over the wall after touching the ground is not a home run. A fielder is allowed to reach over the wall to attempt to catch the ball as long as his feet are on or over the field during the attempt. If the fielder successfully catches the ball while it is in flight the batter is out, however, since the fielder is not part of the field, a ball that bounces off a fielder and over the wall without touching the ground is still a home run. A home run accomplished in any of the above manners is a home run. This stipulation is in Approved Ruling of Rule 7.10, an inside-the-park home run occurs when a batter hits the ball into play and is able to circle the bases before the fielders can put him out. Unlike with a home run, the batter-runner and all preceding runners are liable to be put out by the defensive team at any time while running the bases. This can only happen if the ball does not leave the ballfield, with outfields much less spacious and more uniformly designed than in the games early days, inside-the-park home runs are now a rarity. They are usually the result of a ball being hit by a very fast runner, either way, this sends the ball into open space in the outfield and thereby allows the batter-runner to circle the bases before the defensive team can put him out. The speed of the runner is crucial as even triples are relatively rare in most modern ballparks, all runs scored on such a play, however, still count. An example of an unexpected bounce occurred during the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 10,2007, by the time the ball was relayed, Ichiro had already crossed the plate standing up. This was the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history, Home runs are often characterized by the number of runners on base at the time. A home run hit with the bases empty is seldom called a one-run homer, with one runner on base, two runs are scored and thus the home run is often called a two-run homer or two-run shot. Similarly, a home runs with two runners on base is a three-run homer or three-run shot, the term four-run homer is seldom used, instead, it is nearly always called a grand slam. Hitting a grand slam is the best possible result for the turn at bat
5.
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
6.
Cleveland Indians
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The Cleveland Indians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. Since 1994, they have played at Progressive Field, the teams spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The Indians current World Series championship drought is the longest active drought, the name Indians originated from a request by club owner Charles Somers to baseball writers to choose a new name to replace Cleveland Naps following the departure of Nap Lajoie after the 1914 season. The name referenced the nickname Indians that was applied to the Cleveland Spiders baseball club during the time when Louis Sockalexis, common nicknames for the Indians include the Tribe and the Wahoos, the latter being a reference to their logo, Chief Wahoo, a controversial Native American caricature. The teams mascot is named Slider, the franchise originated in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rustlers, a minor league team in the Western League. The team moved to Cleveland in 1900 and changed its name to the Cleveland Lake Shores, one of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the major league incarnation of the club was founded in Cleveland in 1901. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds, the played in League Park until moving permanently to Cleveland Stadium in 1946. At the end of the 2016 season, they had a regular season record of 9. In 1857 baseball games were a spectacle in Clevelands Public Squares. City authorities tried to find an ordinance forbidding it, to the joy of the crowd, – Harold Seymour 1865–1868 Forest Citys of Cleveland 1869–1872 Forest Citys of Cleveland From 1865 to 1868 Forest Citys was an amateur ball club. During the 1869 season, Cleveland was among several cities which established professional baseball teams following the success of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional team. In the newspapers before and after 1870, the team was called the Forest Citys. In 1871 the Forest Citys joined the new National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, ultimately, two of the leagues western clubs went out of business during the first season and the Chicago Fire left that citys White Stockings impoverished, unable to field a team again until 1874. Cleveland was thus the NAs westernmost outpost in 1872, the year the club folded, Cleveland played their full schedule to July 19 followed by two games versus Boston in mid-August and disbanded at the end of the season. 1879–1881 Cleveland Forest Citys 1882–1884 Cleveland Blues In 1876, the National League supplanted the NA as the professional league. Cleveland were not among its members, but by 1879 the league was looking for new entries. The Cleveland Forest Citys baseball team was then re-created, the National League required distinct colors for the 1882 season, so the Cleveland Forest Citys became the Cleveland Blues
7.
Cincinnati Reds
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The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. They were a member of the American Association in 1882. The Reds played in the NL West division from 1969 to 1993 and they have won five World Series titles, nine NL pennants, one AA pennant, and 10 division titles. The team plays its games at Great American Ball Park. Bob Castellini has been executive officer since 2006. The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds can be traced to the expulsion of a team bearing that name. Both were important activities to entice the citys large German population, while Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was actually against league rules in those early years. On October 6,1880, however, seven of the eight team owners pledged at a league meeting to formally ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting that December. Only Cincinnati president W. H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, when these attempts failed, he formed a new independent ballclub known as the Red Stockings in the Spring of 1881, and brought the team to St. Louis for a weekend exhibition. The Reds first game was a 12–3 victory over the St. Louis club, upon arriving in the city, however, Caylor and Thorner discovered that no other owners had decided to accept the invitation, with even Phillips not bothering to attend his own meeting. By chance, the duo met a former pitcher named Al Pratt, the ploy worked, and the American Association was officially formed at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati with the new Reds a charter member with Thorner as president. The club never placed higher than second or lower than fifth for the rest of its tenure in the American Association, the National League was happy to accept the teams in part due to the emergence of the new Players League. This new league, a failed attempt to break the reserve clause in baseball. Because the National League decided to expand while the American Association was weakening and it was also at this time that the team first shortened their name from Red Stockings to Reds. The Reds wandered through the 1890s signing local stars and aging veterans, during this time, the team never finished above third place and never closer than 10½ games. At the start of the 20th century, the Reds had hitting stars Sam Crawford, seymours.377 average in 1905 was the first individual batting crown won by a Red. In 1911, Bob Bescher stole 81 bases, which is still a team record, like the previous decade, the 1900s were not kind to the Reds, as much of the decade was spent in the leagues second division
8.
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
9.
Detroit Tigers
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The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. One of the ALs eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in 1901 and they are the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the AL. The Tigers have won four World Series championships,11 AL pennants, the Tigers also won division titles in 1972,1984 and 1987 while members of the AL East. The team currently plays its games at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit. The Tigers constructed Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue in Corktown, in 1912, the team moved into Navin Field, which was built on the same location. It was expanded in 1938 and renamed Briggs Stadium and it was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961 and the Tigers played there until moving to Comerica Park in 2000. The club is a member of the American League, one of four clubs still located in its original city. It was established as a member in 1901. The Tigers played their first game as a league team at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 25,1901. After entering the ninth inning behind 13–4, the team staged a comeback to win 14–13. The team finished third in the eight-team league,11 years later, an elegant stadium was constructed on the site of Bennett Park and named Navin Field for owner Frank Navin. In 1938, it was improved and named Briggs Stadium, and was subsequently renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961, Tiger Stadium was used by the Tigers until the end of the 1999 season. Since 2000, they have played in Comerica Park, there are various legends about how the Tigers got their nickname. One involves the orange stripes they wore on their black stockings, Tigers manager George Stallings took credit for the name, however, the name appeared in newspapers before Stallings was manager. Another legend concerns a sportswriter equating the 1901 teams opening day victory with the ferocity of his alma mater and they had played significant roles in certain Civil War battles and in the 1898 Spanish–American War. The baseball team was informally called both Wolverines and Tigers in the news. The earliest known use of the name Tigers in the media was in the Detroit Free Press on April 16,1895, upon entry into the majors, the ballclub sought and received formal permission from the Light Guard to use its trademark
10.
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
11.
2008 Major League Baseball season
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The Civil Rights Game, an exhibition, in Memphis, Tennessee took place March 29 when the New York Mets beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–2. The All-Star Game was played on July 15 at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York City, for the eighth straight season, a defending World Champion – the Boston Red Sox – failed to defend their championship. The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series 4 games to 1 over the Tampa Bay Rays and this was Philadelphias second championship, and also the first World Series appearance for the Rays. The Angels clinched home field on September 26 when the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Detroit Tigers. On September 20, the Chicago Cubs became the team to get their passport to October with a win over the St. Louis Cardinals. This marked the first time since 1907 and 1908 that the Cubs appeared in consecutive postseasons, two days later, the Cubs clinched the home field advantage through the National League Playoffs by beating the New York Mets. Also on September 20, the Tampa Bay Rays guaranteed a spot in the playoffs for the first time in history by beating the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay won its first American League East title six days later, on September 23, the Boston Red Sox clinched a playoff spot, their fifth in the last six years. The Red Sox win also eliminated the Yankees from the post-season for the first time since 1993, on September 26, the Yankees handed the Rays the American League East title by beating the Red Sox by a 19–8 score, making Boston the Wild Card. On September 25, the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, on September 27, the Philadelphia Phillies clinched the National League East title for the second straight year with their win over the Washington Nationals, 4–3. This marks the first time they would play in consecutive postseasons since the 1980 and 1981 seasons, the 1981 appearance made possible by the split season due to the players strike. The previous season, the Marlins beat the Mets while the Phillies beat the Nationals on the last day to knock the Mets out of the postseason as the Phillies won the NL East. The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins in a playoff by 1–0 at U. S. Cellular Field on September 30, becoming the winner of the American League Central, note, Major League Baseballs playoff format automatically seeds the Wild Card team 4th. Normally, the No.1 seed plays the No.4 seed in the Division Series, hence, Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs did not face each other in the NLDS. In scores, home teams are in italics, winning team is boldface, Tampa Bay Rays vs. John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves recorded his 3, 000th strikeout against Felipe López of the Washington Nationals April 22. Kenny Rogers of the Detroit Tigers became the all-time career pickoff leader with 92, on May 9, Rogers picked off Wilson Betemit of the New York Yankees, passing Mark Langston. Greg Maddux of the San Diego Padres recorded his 350th career win against the Colorado Rockies on May 10, Brad Ausmus of the Houston Astros recorded his 1, 500th hit on May 12 against the Giants
12.
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
13.
1999 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 13,1999, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the home of the Boston Red Sox of the American League. Fenway Park was chosen as host because the owners at the time were planning to build a New Fenway Park in a few years but were unable to get the project off the ground in time for the game. This All-Star Game is particularly notable as it featured the nominees for the All-Century Team as well as Ted Williams. In two innings, AL starting pitcher Pedro Martínez struck out the first four batters of the National League, becoming the first pitcher in history to begin the All-Star Game striking out the side. In all he struck out five of the six batters he faced, earning him Game MVP honors, the game resulted in a win for the American League by the final score of 4-1. Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, - eliminated in second round after hitting 13 HRs in the first round. Both the American and National League Starting Pitchers would be on the Red Sox 2004 World Series Championship team, after The Moffatts sang O Canada and Donna Summer sang The Star-Spangled Banner, Hall of Famer Ted Williams threw out the first pitch of the All-Star Game. Before throwing the first pitch he was announced at Fenway as the greatest hitter of all time, the post-anthem flyover was by the Vermont Air National Guard, aka the Green Mountain Boys, while Camp Edwards provided the colors presentation. The outfield flag presentation was by the Lowell Police Department and the Middlesex County Sheriffs Office and this All-Star Game was originally to be awarded to the Milwaukee Brewers, to be played at Miller Park. However, the Brewers move to the National League led then-Major League Baseball CEO Paul Beeston in 1997 to ask the Boston Red Sox to host this game and this was the first All-Star Game in which the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays sent representatives. All-Star Game site Lineups, boxscore, and more
14.
2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 10,2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington, home of the Seattle Mariners of the American League. The American League defeated the National League, 4–1 and this was Cal Ripken, Jr. s 19th and final All-Star Game. It was also the final All-Star Game for San Diego Padres legendary right fielder Tony Gwynn, in the first inning, Alex Rodriguez elected to switch to third base so Cal Ripken, Jr. could play his original shortstop position, which the crowd applauded. The move allowed Ripken to set the record for most MLB All-star appearances at shortstop, seattles own Ichiro Suzuki gave his hometown fans something to cheer for early, when in the first, he singled off starter Randy Johnson, and then stole second. Randy Johnson stranded him at second to hold the AL scoreless in the first inning, Ripken followed this with a solo home run in the third inning, which also got a standing ovation, to put the AL up 1–0. The AL scored one run in the fifth when Iván Rodríguez singled home Jason Giambi to make it 2–0. Ryan Klesko hit a fly to cut the lead to one in the sixth. In the sixth, with the score 2–1, Derek Jeter and that ended the scoring for the night. Mariner closer Kazuhiro Sasaki retired the side in order in the ninth to secure the win for the AL, Cal Ripken was awarded the games MVP, becoming the fourth player ever to win two All-Star Game MVP awards. Cal Ripken, Jr. most famous during his career as a shortstop, was elected as a third baseman to start the game, texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez was elected to start at short. However, Rodriguez insisted that Ripken play shortstop for the first inning, American League manager Joe Torre agreed and allowed the change. When fans noticed the change, they gave both players a standing ovation. This was the first All-Star Game to be awarded by Commissioner Bud Selig after being named to that post, American League starting pitcher Roger Clemens was booed in the pregame ceremonies for striking out 15 Mariners in a one-hit shutout in the previous seasons playoffs. Also in the ceremony, the Fort Lewis color guard provided the colors presentation, accompanied by Tacoma and Everett. All-Star Game site Lineups, boxscore, and more
15.
2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 13,2004 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, the home of the Houston Astros of the National League. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 9–4, players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Notes a Player was selected to start, but did not play due to injury, B Player was selected as a reserve, but became a starting replacement. FV Player was selected by the fans through the All-Star Final Vote, jack McKeon became the oldest manager to manage an All-Star game after becoming the oldest manager to manage a World Series in 2003 with the Florida Marlins. Roger Clemens gave up six runs in one inning for the first time in his major-league career, in the top of the first inning, the American League hit for the cycle for the first time in All-Star Game history. This was the first All-Star game to be broadcast in high-definition
16.
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
17.
MLB Network
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MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with television providers AT&T, Comcast, Charter Communications, the channels headquarters and studios are located in the Secaucus, New Jersey facility which formerly housed MSNBCs studios. Tony Petitti, former producer of CBS Sports, was named the networks first president. Petitti served as MLB Networks president until December 2014 when he was appointed as Chief Operating Officer of Major League Baseball, rob McGlarry, who worked as Senior and later Executive Vice-president of Business Affairs at MLB Network since 2009, was named the networks second President. As of February 2015, MLB Network is available to approximately 69,991,000 television households in the United States, Major League Baseball became the fourth major North American professional sports league to launch its own 24-hour cable network. NBA TV dates back to 1999, the NHL Network to 2001, however, MLB Network is carried in the most households of these four networks, as it is available on all of the top ten video operators in the United States. The channel fully launched at 6 PM EST with the premiere of Hot Stove, in April 2012, MLB Networks standard definition feed shifted to a 16,9 letterbox format. Both of the networks SD and HD feeds now show the same format, on April 4,2016, MLB Network debuted a new on-air graphics package optimized for the 16,9 format, replacing the previous on-air look used since the networks New Years Day 2009 launch. In a deal that was pioneered by other sports league owned channels, in return, cable and satellite providers were offered a minority share of the new network. The switchover began on April 4, the first day of the 2010 MLB season, at launch, no announcement was made about MLB Network availability in Canada, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. In August 2008, Rogers secured Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approval for a Canadian digital channel tentatively called Baseball TV. S and it was reported initially that Rogers intended to pursue this approach to bring MLB Network to Canada. However, the licence was issued on the condition the channel launch by August 2011, the application was published for public comment on June 13,2012 and was approved on November 21,2012. In the interim, the Rogers-owned Sportsnet One aired selected programs from MLB Network, including Quick Pitch, MLB Network was added to Rogers Cable systems in Ontario on January 8,2014, in both standard and high definition. On June 3,2015, SaskTel announced that it would begin carrying MLB Network, as of 2017, it is also available on MTS and Vidéotron. On March 23rd,2017, MLB Network launched on Bell Fibe TV, the 720p high definition simulcast of MLB Network launched simultaneously to the regular channel. As Mark Haden says, Thats our best shot of maintaining quality to viewers, the network also remastered 30 World Series films in high definition. On April 14,2016, it was announced that 25 MLB Network Showcase games will be broadcast in 4K ultra-high definition exclusively on DirecTV in the 2016 season, MLB Network airs several live games a week. These games are blacked out in the markets of the two teams
18.
Willingboro, New Jersey
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Willingboro Township is a township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. Abraham Levitt and Sons purchased and developed Willingboro land in the 1950s and 1960s as a community in their Levittown model. With residential development, the 1950 population of 852 rapidly climbed to 11,861 in 1960, the community used the name Levittown, New Jersey in 1958, and Levittown Township from 1959 to 1963. Willingboro was one of the nine divisions in the organization of Burlington County within West Jersey. At the time, it included present day Delanco Township, New Jersey, the original name of Wellingborough was after the community in England, which was the hometown of Thomas Ollive, who led the original settlers into what would become Willingboro Township. Other spellings were used at different times. L and this makes Willingboro one of the oldest townships in the State. Portions of the township were taken to form Beverly borough and Beverly Township, in the 1950s and 1960s, Willingboro was the location for a massive residential development by Levitt & Sons. The town was to be Levitt & Sons third and largest Levittown development, following projects in New York. The first Levittown homes were sold in June 1958, at time the community was already known as Levittown. The towns name was changed from the original Willingboro to Levittown Township by a referendum of township residents held on November 3,1959, Willingboro was less than 12 miles from Levittown, Pennsylvania and this occasionally caused confusion. A referendum held on the issue on November 5,1963, the name change was passed by a narrow margin of 3,123 to 3,003. In retaliation, Levitt refused to donate any more schools to the fast-growing community, when homes for the new Levittown were first being sold in 1958, Levitt and Sons had a policy against sales to African Americans. W. R. James, an African-American officer in the Armys Criminal Investigation Division, was stationed at nearby Fort Dix, on June 29,1958, an agent of Levitt and Sons told him that the new Levittown development would be an all-white community. James filed suit against the company challenging their policy, a friend of his, who worked at the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, said that it was illegal in New Jersey to discriminate in federally-subsidized housing. At the time, de facto segregation in housing existed in many areas in the United States. Levittown was receiving mortgage insurance from the Federal Housing Administration, but as of 1958, the law had not been tested. James sued Levitt in a case that went to the New Jersey Supreme Court. James was not the first African American to move into Willingboro, given James success in his suit, Charles and Vera Williams purchased a house and moved into the community in 1960, the first African-American family in Willingboro
19.
Pittsburgh
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Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
20.
University of Richmond
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The University of Richmond is a private, nonsectarian, liberal arts college located in the city of Richmond, Virginia, with small portions of the campus extending into surrounding Henrico County. After 1834, the Columbia House was the academic building of Richmond College. During the American Civil War, the student body formed a regiment. Richmond Colleges buildings were used as a hospital for Confederate troops, the college invested all of its funds in Confederate war bonds, and the outcome of the war left it bankrupt. In 1866, James Thomas donated $5,000 to reopen the college, Williams School of Law opened in 1870. In 1894, the college elected Dr. Frederic W. Boatwright president, President Boatwright would serve for 51 years. The universitys main library, Boatwright Memorial Library, is named in Boatwrights honor, symbolically, the library and its soaring academic gothic tower occupy the highest spot on the grounds. Its grounds were landscaped in 1913, by Warren H, Manning under the supervision of Charles Gillette. The institution was renamed University of Richmond in 1920 with the college renamed Richmond College. The distinction of colleges was phased out in the late 20th century, but the parts of the campus continue to be referred to as the Westhampton. In 1949, the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business opened, followed by the School of Continuing Studies in 1962, in constant dollars, it remains among the largest. Robins goal was to make Richmond one of the best private universities in the country, in partnership with the Universitys president E. Bruce Heilman and development director H. Gerald Quigg the $10 million matching grant component of the gift raised over an additional $60 million, during World War II, Richmond was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. In 1987, a donation of $20 million by Robert S. Jepson, the school, which opened in 1992, was the first of its kind in the U. S. In 1990, the missions of Richmond and Westhampton Colleges were combined to form the School of Arts. On October 15,1992, candidates George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, addressing a crowd of nearly 9,000, President Obama visited the University of Richmond to present the American Jobs Act on September 11,2011. Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher is the current president of the University of Richmond and he is former member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He is recognized to be the first cellist to receive the doctor of arts degree from Yale
21.
Sigma Phi Epsilon
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Sigma Phi Epsilon, commonly abbreviated SigEp or SPE, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1,1901, at Richmond College and it was founded on three principles, Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love. Sigma Phi Epsilon is one of the largest social fraternities in the United States in terms of current undergraduate membership, at Rutgers Jenkens had been initiated into the Chi Phi Fraternity. At Richmond, which did not have a chapter of Chi Phi, by early October,1901, Jenkens had persuaded the group, which had grown to twelve men, to try and establish a chapter of Chi Phi at Richmond. These men were reportedly spurned by the fraternities on campus for their sense of morality and for their rural. Jenkens had convinced the others that their chapter could be different from the fraternities on campus. The groups request for a charter, however, was met with refusal as the fraternity felt that Richmond College was too small to host a Chi Phi chapter. Jenkens and his friends founded their own fraternity. After several secret meetings throughout October 1901, the new fraternity took shape and on November 1,1901, after much discussion, the group settled on a secret motto and called their fraternity Sigma Phi. Jenkens, Gaw and Phillips then met with a faculty committee to seek recognition for their new fraternity. The faculty members were reluctant to recognize a sixth fraternity in a school with only 300 students, additionally, another national fraternity already existed using the name Sigma Phi. With these assurances from the founders, the faculty committee approved the new fraternitys request for official recognition, shortly afterwards, the founders met and decided to rename the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon. The colors dark red and royal purple were chosen to represent fraternity, the principles of Virtue, Diligence and Brotherly Love, were chosen as The Three Cardinal Principles. Jenkens also designed the badge as a golden heart surmounted by a black enameled heart-shaped shield. Upon the shield are inscribed, in gold, the Greek-letters of the fraternity, ΣΦΕ, and below these letters, the meaning of these symbols is divulged during the initiation ritual and known to members only. The founders badges were designed and ordered before the addition of Epsilon to the fraternitys name, thus they had only a Sigma and a Phi inscribed on the lobes of the heart, with the skull and crossbones below. The badges of founders Carter and McCaul are on display at the Sigma Phi Epsilon headquarters at the fraternitys headquarters, in December 2014, Sigma Phi Epsilon became the first fraternity in the North-American Interfraternity Conference to accept transgender men as members. The National Board of Directors passed the policy by an 8-0 majority vote with three abstentions, in October 2016, the chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was shut down after repeated alcohol and safety violations
22.
NCAA Division I
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Division I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. This level was called the University Division of the NCAA, in contrast to the lower level College Division. For football only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A, Division I-AA, in 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision, respectively. FCS teams are allowed to award scholarships, a practice technically allowed. FBS teams also have to meet attendance requirements, while FCS teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Another difference is post season play, starting with the 2014 postseason, a four-team playoff called the College Football Playoff, replaced the previous one game championship format. Even so, Division I FBS football is still the only NCAA sport in which a champion is not determined by an NCAA-sanctioned championship event. All D-I schools must field teams in at least seven sports for men and seven for women or six for men and eight for women, with at least two team sports for each gender. Division I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, Several other NCAA sanctioned minimums and differences that distinguish Division I from Divisions II and III. Each playing season has to be represented by each gender as well, there are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria. Mens and womens teams have to play all but two games against Division I teams, for men, they must play one-third of all their contests in the home arena. The NCAA has limits on the financial aid each Division I member may award in each sport that the school sponsors. Equivalency sports, in which the NCAA limits the total financial aid that a school can offer in a sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. Roster limitations may or may not apply, depending on the sport, the term counter is also key to this concept. The NCAA defines a counter as an individual who is receiving financial aid that is countable against the aid limitations in a sport. The number of scholarships that Division I members may award in sport is listed below. In this table, scholarship numbers for head-count sports are indicated without a point, for equivalency sports, they are listed with a decimal point. An exception exists for players at non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport, participants in basketball are counted in that sport, unless they also play football
23.
Damian Jackson
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Damian Jacques Jackson is a former major league second baseman. Jackson grew up in Los Angeles, but moved to Northern California when he was in high school, Jackson transferred to Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, California, when he was a junior. Jackson only played one year of high school baseball, his senior year and he decided to try out for baseball on a whim the first day of baseball, when he saw a friend walking to practice. That season, Jackson caught the eye of pro scouts because of his blazing speed, Jackson was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 44th round of the 1991 draft. He did not play a season until he joined the San Diego Padres in 1999 when he led all rookies in stolen bases. He sustained an injury in 2001, when he was hit by A. J. Burnett during Burnetts no-hit game, on July 14,2001, Jackson hit a broken-bat grand slam against Wade Miller that helped the Padres beat the Houston Astros. The home run cleared the fence down the left-field line, near the 315-foot sign in the hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park. During the 2003 American League Division Series, Jackson collided with his Red Sox teammate, center fielder Johnny Damon, knocking Damon unconscious. He was released by the Washington Nationals on August 25,2006, and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, on April 14,2008, Jackson signed with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League. He was released on July 22 and was signed by the Long Island Ducks. He later played for the Orange County Flyers of the independent Golden Baseball League, career statistics and player information from ESPN, or Baseball-Reference
24.
Indianapolis Indians
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The Indianapolis Indians are a minor league baseball team in Indianapolis, Indiana, which plays in the International League. The Triple-A affiliate of the Major League Baseball Pittsburgh Pirates, the Indians play at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis, the teams mascot is Rowdie the Bear. Founded in 1902, the Indianapolis Indians are the second-oldest minor league franchise in American professional baseball, professional baseball was first played in Indianapolis in 1887. After 15 years of various franchises competing in leagues, the current Indianapolis Indians franchise was founded as an original member of the American Association in 1902. That years team won 95 games and the first of 21 pennants and he named the park Perry Stadium in honor of his brother James who had been killed in a plane crash. That ballpark, which was renamed Victory Field in 1942 and Bush Stadium in 1967, norm Perry sold the team to Frank E. McKinney and Donie Bush in December 1941. Those two men ran the club for 10 seasons, the Cleveland Indians purchased the team in 1952, but after losing $500,000 on the operation over four seasons, looked to move the team. The Indianapolis community rallied to save the Indians, funeral director Robert E. Kirby, Chairman of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce Athletic Committee, obtained an option to purchase the franchise from Cleveland. A broad-based sale of stock in the team was organized, stock was priced at $10 per share with a 100-share limit on individual purchases. Media promotion of the sale was intense. The Indianapolis Star, The Indianapolis News, and the Indianapolis Times ran complete lists of stock purchasers, eventually the new corporation stopped accepting investments in February after a total of 20,488 shares had been purchased by 6,672 investors. Former Indians player, manager, and owner Donie Bush was named the first President of Indians and he held that position until January 1969. In 1956, the Indianapolis Indians were 92–62, on May 18, they defeated the Louisville Colonels 24–0. The Indians went on to win the 1956 Junior World Series by defeating the Rochester Red Wings, in Game 2 of the Junior World Series, Roger Maris set a record by getting seven RBIs. Max Schumacher joined the Indians front office as manager in 1957. He added the duties of publicity director in 1959, and became the general manager in 1961—a post he held through 1997. Max was also named the teams President in 1969 following Bushs retirement, to this day, he continues as President and Chairman of the Board of Indians, Inc. Under his direction, the corporation has turned a profit for 35 straight years, the team captured three straight pennants from 1961–63, including the International League championship in 1963
25.
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
26.
Hutch Award
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The Hutch Award is given annually to an active Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire of Fred Hutchinson, by persevering through adversity. The award was created in 1965 in honor of Hutchinson, the former MLB pitcher and manager and they also created a scholarship fund for medical students engaged in cancer research to honor Hutchinsons memory. Eleven members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame have won the Hutch Award, the inaugural winner was Mickey Mantle. Danny Thompson, the 1974 recipient, was diagnosed with earlier that year. He continued to play through the 1976 season before dying that December at the age of 29, jon Lester won the award in 2008 after recovering from anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. The award is presented annually at the Hutch Award Luncheon hosted by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, the award was originally presented at the annual Dapper Dan Banquet in Pittsburgh. Each winner receives a copy of the trophy, designed by Dale Chihuly. The permanent display of the Hutch Award is at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, heart & Hustle Award Willie Mac Award Baseball awards in the United States List of MLB awards Hutch Award Luncheon. The Hutch Award, Lou Gehrig Award, Babe Ruth Award & Roberto Clemente Award winners
27.
Riverfront Stadium
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Located on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, the stadium was best known as the home of The Big Red Machine, as the Reds were often called in the 1970s. Construction began on February 1,1968, and was completed at a cost of less than $50 million, on June 30,1970, the Reds hosted the Atlanta Braves in their grand opening, with Hank Aaron hitting the first ever home run at Riverfront. Two weeks later on July 14,1970, Riverfront hosted the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and this game is best remembered for the often-replayed collision at home plate between Reds star Pete Rose and catcher Ray Fosse of the Cleveland Indians. In September 1996, Riverfront Stadium was renamed Cinergy Field in a deal with Greater Cincinnati energy company Cinergy. In 2001, to room for Great American Ball Park. There was a wall in center field visible after the renovations. The stadium was demolished by implosion on December 29,2002, the astroturf panels covering the tracks could be seen in left field during Reds games. Riverfront Stadiums scoreboard was designed by American Sign and Indicator, and that scoreboard would be upgraded in the 1980s with the addition of an adjacent Sony JumboTron. Riverfront quickly earned a place in Cincinnatis century-long baseball tradition as the home of one of the best teams in baseball history, the World Series would return in 1990, with Cincinnati winning the first two of a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics at Riverfront. Players who combined power and speed like Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Ken Griffey, catcher Johnny Bench and first baseman Tony Pérez played here. The artificial turf covered not only the grass area of the ballpark but is usually the skinned portion of the infield. Only the pitchers mound, the plate area, and cutouts around first, second. This was the first stadium in the majors with this sliding pit configuration, Riverfront hosted the MLB All-Star Game twice. First on July 14,1970 with President Richard Nixon in attendance, despite Cincinnatis love of baseball, it was the prospect of a professional football team that finally moved the city to end 20 years of discussion and build a new stadium on the downtown riverfront. Perhaps the most memorable game at Riverfront was the AFC Championship on January 10,1982. The game became known as the Freezer Bowl and was won by the Bengals over the San Diego Chargers, the air temperature during the game was −9 °F and the wind chill was −37 °F, the coldest in NFL history. The win earned the Bengals their first of two trips to the Super Bowl while playing at Riverfront, Riverfront Stadium hosted the 1988 AFC Championship, as the Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills 21–10 to advance to their second Super Bowl appearance. During the Bengals tenure, they defeated every visiting franchise at least once, enjoying perfect records against the Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Eagles
28.
Jim Thome
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James Howard Jim Thome is a former American baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1991 to 2012. He played for six different teams, most notably the Cleveland Indians during the 1990s, a prolific power hitter, Thome hit 612 home runs during his career—the seventh-most all time—along with 2,328 hits,1,699 runs batted in, and a.276 batting average. He was a member of five All-Star teams and won a Silver Slugger Award in 1996, Thome grew up in Peoria, Illinois, as part of a large blue-collar family of athletes, who predominantly played baseball and basketball. After attending Illinois Central College, he was drafted by the Indians in 1989, early in his career, he played third base before eventually becoming a first baseman. With the Indians, Thome was part of a core of players led the franchise to two World Series appearances in three years during the mid-1990s. He spent over a decade with Cleveland before leaving via free agency after the 2002 season to join the Philadelphia Phillies, by this point in his career, back pain limited Thome to being a designated hitter. After stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins, he made brief returns to Cleveland, upon retiring, Thome accepted an executive position with the White Sox. Throughout his career, Thomes strength was power hitting, in six different seasons, he hit more than 40 home runs, and in 2003, he led the National League in home runs with 47. His career on-base plus slugging of.956 is 19th all time, in 2011, he became the eighth MLB player to hit 600 home runs. As of 2017 Thome is the leader in walk-off home runs with 13. One of Thomes trademarks was his unique batting stance, in which he held the bat out with his hand and pointed it at right field before the pitcher threw. Thome was known for his positive attitude and gregarious personality. An active philanthropist during his career, he was honored with two Marvin Miller Man of the Year Awards and a Lou Gehrig Memorial Award for his community involvement. Thome was born in Peoria, Illinois, on August 27,1970, one day during his youth, Thome sneaked into the Cubs clubhouse at Wrigley Field in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain an autograph from his favorite player, Dave Kingman. Though Thome received signatures from several players, this experience influenced him to be generous with signing autographs for fans during his playing career. Like his older brothers, Thome attended Limestone High School where he achieved all-state honors in basketball, Thome graduated in 1988 and, after not being drafted, enrolled at Illinois Central College where he continued his baseball and basketball careers. After one season, he was drafted by MLBs Cleveland Indians as an afterthought in the 13th round of the 1989 MLB draft, for the 1989 season, Thome was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Indians, a minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. He finished the year with a.237 batting average, no home runs, after his rookie season, he met hitting guru Charlie Manuel, who later became his manager and mentor
29.
Double play
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In baseball, a double play is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays are common, as they can occur any time there is at least one baserunner. During the 2016 Major League Baseball regular season, the average for double plays completed by each team during the course of a 162-game season was 145 – nearly one per game by each team. The simplest scenario for a play is a runner on first base with less than two outs. As both outs are made by force plays, this is referred to as a double play. As the force out at first base removed the force condition at second base, the batter hits the ball in the air a line drive to the first baseman, who catches it, and then steps on first base before the baserunner can return to first to tag up. This is also an example of a double play. Highly desirable to the team and highly undesirable to the batting team. The fielding team is likely to change pitch selection and defensive alignment to try and get a batter to ground into a force double play. Pitchers may throw pitches more likely to be hit as a ground ball – such as a sinker – while fielders can be positioned to make a ground ball more likely to be turned into a double play. Likewise, the team may take action – such as a hit. In baseball slang, making a play is referred to as turning two or a twin killing. Double plays are known as the pitchers best friend because they disrupt offense more than any other play. A force double play made on a ball hit to the third baseman, who throws to the second baseman. A strike em out, throw em out double play occurs when a runner is caught stealing immediately after the batter strikes out. The ability to make the pivot on a double play – receiving a throw from the third base side. All three players were part of the Cubs team that won the National League pennant in 1906,1907,1908, and 1910, and they were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. The New York Yankees recorded a rare 4-1-5 double play against the San Francisco Giants on July 24,2016, castro threw to pitcher Chad Green at first base to retire Peña
30.
A. J. Pierzynski
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Anthony John A. J. Pierzynski is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball with the Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Pierzynski is known for having a strong and colorful personality, a fact he acknowledges. During his turn at the following the White Sox victory parade in 2005. Former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén summed up the situation as, If you play against him, If you play with him, you hate him a little less. Guillén also acknowledged Pierzynskis value to the club, despite being relatively high-maintenance, hes worth the work because he always shows up for you. Pierzynski was born on December 30,1976, in Bridgehampton and he attended Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida, where he won All-State honors in baseball. Future Major Leaguer Johnny Damon was one of Pierzynskis high school teammates, Pierzynski graduated from high school in 1994 and signed a letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Tennessee. He was also selected by the Minnesota Twins in the round of that years MLB Draft. After four years in the Twins organization, he was called up to the league team, and made his debut on September 9,1998. He then spent the five seasons, through the 2003 season, with Minnesota. From 1998-2000, he appeared in just 49 games for the Twins, in 2002 he made the American League All-Star Team as a reserve catcher. In the 2002 American League Division Series, Pierzynski hit an important home run in the ninth inning of the final game, in 2003, Pierzynski reached a.312 batting average, a career high that still stands. After the 2003 season, the Twins traded Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, with the Giants he hit.272 with 11 home runs and 77 RBIs. He spent one season in San Francisco before being non-tendered, Pierzynski was signed as a free agent by the Chicago White Sox on January 6,2005. When he signed with the White Sox, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story claiming that the catcher had kneed Giants trainer Stan Conte in the groin during a training game in 2004. Although the incident allegedly happened during the game, it went unreported for nearly a year in the press, Pierzynski has disputed the allegations publicly. Dont you think if something like that happened, in spring training, I would have gotten in some sort of trouble. He would later go on to contribute to the White Soxs historic run of winning their first World Series since the 1917 contest, in 2006, Pierzynski was named one of the five American League players in the All-Star Final Vote
