1.
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
2.
Midland RockHounds
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The Midland RockHounds are a minor league baseball team based in Midland, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics major league club, the RockHounds play in Security Bank Ballpark, which opened in 2002 and seats 6,669 fans. The RockHounds have won six Texas League championships, in 1975,2005,2009,2014,2015, the RockHounds were previously known as both the Midland Cubs and Midland Angels. While Midland has been the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland As since 1999, they were affiliated with the Chicago Cubs from 1972 to 1984, the RockHounds have received numerous awards throughout their history. The Midland franchise under the Angels won the Texas League Organization of the Year in 1990 and 1994, in 1995, Midland won Double-A Baseballs highest award, the Bob Frietas Award. General Manager Monty Hoppel has been named Executive of the Year with the three times. In 1995, Midland reached its first-ever playoff appearance as an affiliate of the Angels and it also became the first season that Midland accumulated more than 200,000 fans in a season, a feat repeated in 1996. The feat surprised many in Minor League Baseball as the Midland-Odessa area only has just over 200,000 residents total, the RockHounds moved into Security Bank Ballpark, part of the Scharbauer Sports Complex on the west side of Midland, in 2002. Since then, the RockHounds have averaged over 250,000 fans every season, prior to that, their home had been what is now known as Christensen Stadium, in northeast Midland. The Rockhounds won their first ever Texas League Championship in 2005 and they shared the title with the Lafayette Drillers in 1975 as the Cubs. In 2006, they won the championship of the South Division. In 2009, the RockHounds won their second Texas League pennant, in 2010, the RockHounds returned to the Texas League title game, but this time fell to the Naturals. The Midland Rockhounds have always had a play-by-play broadcast that has been available, KCRS had been the network to carry roughly 95% of the Rockhounds games since they debuted in 1972. Some afternoon games in 2008 didnt air on the due to contracts with Rush Limbaugh. For the 2009 season Gap Broadcasting announced the Rockhounds would have a new home, KFZX. For the 2010 season, the Rockhounds once again moved radio homes to KMRK96.1 FM, in both cases Bob Hards remained the voice of the Rockhounds, a position he has currently heldfor 19 consecutive years. In 2013 the Rockhounds moved their games back to KCRS, though weekday day games would be preempted for talk shows that were already scheduled
3.
Houston Buffaloes
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The club was founded in 1888, and played in the Texas League at various levels throughout the majority of its existence. From 1959 through 1961, the played in the American Association at the Triple-A level as an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Buffaloes derived their nickname from Buffalo Bayou, the waterway through Houston. The teams last home was Buffalo Stadium, built in 1928, before that, they played at West End Park from 1905–1928, and at Herald Park prior to that. The Houston Buffaloes were purchased by the Houston Sports Association in 1961 to obtain Houston-area territorial rights for the Major League Houston Colt. 45s, several of those associated with the Buffaloes continued with the major league team including manager Harry Craft. The Buffaloes organization then ended their relationship with the Cubs, for the 1962 season they were reorganized and moved to become the Oklahoma City 89ers, which are known today as the Oklahoma City Dodgers. On April 11,1861, a team in Houston was organized at a meeting held in the Palmer Building above J. H. Evans dry goods store. The team was known as the Houston Base Ball Club. However, it is if the Houston Base Ball Club played any games. The American Civil War began shortly thereafter, and there was a lack of organized sports during this time. Following the war, an article in The Daily Telegraph was published that detailed the first baseball game by a Houston team. The Houston Stonewalls defeated the Galveston Robert E. Lees at the site of the San Jacinto Battleground in what was dubbed as the Texas State Championship on April 21,1868. The Stonewalls uniform was described as consisting of a red cap, white flannel shirt, in 1884, a league of primarily amateur teams was organized by Samuel L. Haine known as the Texas League. The Houston Nationals represented the city along with Galveston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, although 2–3 players per team were paid, most of the league players were strictly amateur. Houstons first professional club was officially organized by a large group of local leaders on December 31,1887. Judge E. P. Hill served as president, the Houston Buffaloes began their first season in 1888 under the name Houston Babies. The unusual name stemmed from the fact that they were the last to join the new Texas League, uniform colors were described as maroon and light blue in a news article. The Houston Babies played their first game ever against the Cincinnati Red Stockings at Houston Base Ball Park on March 6,1888 in exhibition play, where they lost by a score of 8–2
4.
Double-A (baseball)
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Double-A is the second highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States after Triple-A. There are thirty Double-A teams in three leagues at this classification, Eastern League, Southern League, and the Texas League, the Double-A classification usually hosts developing players that have been part of professional baseball for only a couple of years. These players can get to the Double-A level by earning a promotion from any of the Single-A or Rookie leagues, players often advance directly to the majors from this level, as the level of competition is higher. A small handful of players might be placed in Double-A to start, the step up to the Double-A level can be one of the hardest promotions for such players because it is the level at which pitchers need to have a good off-speed pitch in their repertoire. In addition, it is the level where fastball-only hitters need to learn how to hit off-speed pitches, Major League teams sometimes send players to play at the Double-A level to rehabilitate from injuries. Because players are not moving back and forth from the Major Leagues at this level, fans of Double-A teams have a longer amount of time to get acquainted with the players, which helps create a better relationship between the team and its fans. Unlike the major league and the Triple-A level, two of the three Double-A leagues have their season divided into two parts, the Eastern League being the exception, one team may clinch a spot in the playoffs by winning the division in first half of the season. The teams records are then cleared and another team will also clinch a playoff slot during the second half, wild cards are used to fill out the remaining teams. Usually, four teams qualify for the league playoffs and this system is used at the Class A level as well. On January 15,2015, Major League Baseball announced it will use a 20-second pitch clock during the 2015 Double-A season, Eastern League official website Southern League official website Texas League official website
5.
Minor League Baseball
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All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses. Most are members of the organization known as Minor League Baseball. Several leagues, known as independent baseball leagues, do not have any links to Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball teams may enter into a PDC for a two- or four-year term. At the expiration of a PDC term, teams may renew their affiliation, or sign new PDCs with different clubs, though many relationships are renewed and endure for extended time periods. Minor League teams that are owned directly by the major league club do not have PDCs with each other and are not part of the reaffiliation shuffles that occur every other year, several more independent leagues operate in the United States and Canada. The earliest professional baseball association, the National Association of 1871 to 1875 and this system proved unworkable, however, as there was no way to ensure competitive balance, and financially unsound clubs often failed in midseason. This problem was solved in 1876 with the formation of the National League, with a membership which excluded less competitive. Professional clubs outside the National League responded by forming regional associations of their own, there was a series of ad hoc groupings, such as the New England Association of 1877 and the Eastern Championship Association of 1881. These were loose groups of independent clubs which agreed to play a series of games for a championship pennant, the first minor league is traditionally considered to be the Northwestern League of 1883 to 1884. Unlike the earlier minor associations, it was conceived as a permanent organization and it also, along with the National League and the American Association, was a party to the National Agreement of 1883. Included in this was the agreement to respect the reserve lists of clubs in each league, teams in the National League and the American Association could only reserve players who had been paid at least $1000. Northwest League teams could reserve players paid merely $750, implicitly establishing the division into major and minor leagues, over the next two decades, more minor leagues signed various versions of the National Agreement. Eventually, the minor leagues joined together to negotiate jointly, in the late 1890s, the Western League run by the fiery Ban Johnson decided to challenge the National Leagues position. Representatives of the different minor leagues met at the Leland Hotel in Chicago on September 5,1901, in response to the National–American battle, they agreed to form the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, called the NAPBL, or NA for short. The purpose of the NA at the time was to maintain the independence of the leagues involved, several did not sign the agreement and continued to work independently. Powers was made the first president of the NAPBL, whose offices were established in Auburn, in 1903, the conflict between the American and National Leagues ended in the National Agreement of 1903. The NAPBL became involved in the stages of the negotiations to develop rules for the acquisition of players from their leagues by the National
6.
South Central United States
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The South Central United States or South Central states is a region of the United States located in the south central part of the country. It evolved out of the Old Southwest, which originally was literally the western U. S. South, the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas are almost always considered the core of the region. As part of the East South Central States sub-group of the Census Bureau classification, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, at the highest extent, Kansas, and Missouri, may be included by some sources. All or parts these states are in the Central Time Zone, at different and changing points in time, all of the above states were/are considered part of the West in American history. The climate varies from the semi-tropical in the Mississippi Delta, South Louisiana, the southeastern portions include the Appalachian mountains in Alabama and Tennessee and the Piney Woods of East Texas, Louisiana, and southern Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. A large portion of the quarter of the region is mountainous, with the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. The northwest quarter of the region is dominated by the Great Plains which become progressively drier west of 1, 000° W, forming the North American Llano Estacado. The southwestern portions border the Rio Grande, and are drier than other areas of the South Central United States. Texas is the largest South Central state by area and population. Texas is still home to half the regions population. The largest city in the region—Houston, is located in Texas, New Orleans was tied with Oklahoma City but, after Hurricane Katrina, the population of the New Orleans metro area has declined to approximately 900,000. The history of the South Central states is dominated by the conflict, in the 17th and 18th centuries Spain and France maneuvered for control of Texas, with the Spanish based in Mexico and New Mexico and the French in Louisiana. The official West and East South Central states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky was often considered a non-official Confederate state. Oklahoma, although Indian Territory at the time, was home to 5 Native-American tribes, thus, all these states are usually considered to make up a large part of the American South both historically and culturally, as well as classified by the U. S. Census Bureau
7.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
8.
Oklahoma
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Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central United States. Oklahoma is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States, the states name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning red people. The name was settled upon statehood, Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were merged, on November 16,1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans, or informally Okies, and its capital, a major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. In 2007, it had one of the economies in the United States, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahomas primary economic anchors, with nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas. With small mountain ranges, prairie, mesas, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains, Cross Timbers, interior Highlands—a region especially prone to severe weather. The name Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw phrase okla humma, literally meaning red people, equivalent to the English word Indian, okla humma was a phrase in the Choctaw language used to describe Native American people as a whole. Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory, and it was approved in 1890. Oklahoma is the 20th-largest state in the United States, covering an area of 69,898 square miles and it is one of six states on the Frontier Strip and lies partly in the Great Plains near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states. It is bounded on the east by Arkansas and Missouri, on the north by Kansas, on the northwest by Colorado, on the far west by New Mexico, much of its border with Texas lies along the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, a failed continental rift. The geologic figure defines the placement of the Red River, the Oklahoma panhandles Western edge is out of alignment with its Texas border. The Oklahoma/New Mexico border is actually 2.1 to 2.2 miles east of the Texas line, the border between Texas and New Mexico was set first as a result of a survey by Spain in 1819. It was then set along the 103rd Meridian, in the 1890s, when Oklahoma was formally surveyed using more accurate surveying equipment and techniques, it was discovered the Texas line was not set along the 103rd Meridian. Surveying techniques were not as accurate in 1819, and the actual 103rd Meridian was approximately 2.2 miles to the east and it was much easier to leave the mistake than for Texas to cede land to New Mexico to correct the surveying error. The placement of the Oklahoma/New Mexico border represents the true 103rd Meridian, cimarron County in Oklahomas panhandle is the only county in the United States that touches four other states, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado and Kansas. Its highest and lowest points follow this trend, with its highest peak, Black Mesa, at 4,973 feet above sea level, situated near its far northwest corner in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The states lowest point is on the Little River near its far southeastern boundary near the town of Idabel, Oklahoma, which dips to 289 feet above sea level
9.
Arkansas
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Arkansas is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Its name is of Siouan derivation from the language of the Osage denoting their related kin, the states diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U. S. Interior Highlands, to the forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States, the capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, such as the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area, is a population, education, the largest city in the eastern part of the state is Jonesboro. The largest city in the part of the state is Pine Bluff. The Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15,1836, in 1861 Arkansas withdrew from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Upon returning to the Union in 1868, the state would continue to suffer due to its reliance on slavery. White rural interests continued to dominate the politics until the Civil Rights Movement. Arkansas began to diversify its economy following World War II and relies on its service industry, aircraft, poultry, steel, tourism, cotton, and rice. The culture of Arkansas is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, wright, and physicist William L. McMillan, who was a pioneer in superconductor research, have all lived in Arkansas. The name Arkansas derives from the root as the name for the state of Kansas. The Kansa tribe of Native Americans are closely associated with the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains, the word Arkansas itself is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw word, akakaze, meaning land of downriver people or the Sioux word akakaze meaning people of the south wind. In 2007, the legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring the possessive form of the states name to be Arkansass which has been followed increasingly by the state government. Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, as well as Tennessee, the United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as a southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States. The state line along the Mississippi River is indeterminate along much of the border with Mississippi due to these changes. Arkansas can generally be split into two halves, the highlands in the northwest half and the lowlands of the southeastern half, the highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains. The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta and this dual split can yield to general regions named northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, or central Arkansas
10.
Missouri
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Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1821. With over six million residents, it is the eighteenth most populous state, the largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. The capitol is in Jefferson City on the Missouri River, the state is the twenty-first most extensive by area and is geographically diverse. The Northern Plains were once covered by glaciers, then tallgrass prairie, in the South are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Mississippi River forms the border of the state, eventually flowing into the swampy Missouri Bootheel. Humans have inhabited the land now known as Missouri for at least 12,000 years, the Mississippian culture built cities and mounds, before declining in the 1300s. When European explorers arrived in the 1600s they encountered the Osage, the French established Louisiana, a part of New France, and founded Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764, after a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South, including enslaved African Americans, rushed into the new Missouri Territory, many from Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee settled in the Boonslick area of Mid-Missouri. Soon after, heavy German immigration formed the Missouri Rhineland, Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States, as memorialized by the Gateway Arch. The Pony Express, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, as a border state, Missouris role in the American Civil War was complex and there were many conflicts within. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business, today, the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Missouris culture blends elements from the Midwestern and Southern United States, the musical styles of ragtime, Kansas City jazz, and St. Louis Blues, developed in Missouri. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and lesser known St. Louis-style barbecue can be found across the state, St. Louis is also a major center of beer brewing, Anheuser-Busch is the largest producer in the world. Missouri wine is produced in the nearby Missouri Rhineland and Ozarks, Missouris alcohol laws are among the most permissive in the United States. Outside of the large cities popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks, U. S. President Harry S. Truman is from Missouri. Other well known Missourians include Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Chuck Berry, some of the largest companies based in the state include Express Scripts, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, and OReilly Auto Parts. Missouri has been called the Mother of the West and the Cave State, however, Missouris most famous nickname is the Show Me State, the state is named for the Missouri River, which was named after the indigenous Missouri Indians, a Siouan-language tribe
