1.
Pitcher
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In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important defensive player, there are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and closer. The National League in Major League Baseball and the Japanese Central League are among the leagues that have not adopted the designated hitter position. In most cases, the objective of the pitcher is to deliver the pitch to the catcher without allowing the batter to hit the ball with the bat. A successful pitch is delivered in such a way that the batter either allows the pitch to pass through the zone, swings the bat at the ball and misses it. If the batter elects not to swing at the pitch, it is called a strike if any part of the passes through the strike zone. A check swing is when the batter begins to swing, If the batter successfully checks the swing and the pitch is out of the strike zone, it is called a ball. There are two legal pitching positions, the windup and the set position or stretch, either position may be used at any time, typically, the windup is used when the bases are empty, while the set position is used when at least one runner is on base. Each position has certain procedures that must be followed, a balk can be called on a pitcher from either position. A power pitcher is one who relies on the velocity of his pitches to succeed, generally, power pitchers record a high percentage of strikeouts. A control pitcher succeeds by throwing accurate pitches and thus records few walks, nearly all action during a game is centered on the pitcher for the defensive team. A pitchers particular style, time taken between pitches, and skill heavily influence the dynamics of the game and can determine the victor. Meanwhile, a batter stands in the box at one side of the plate. The type and sequence of pitches chosen depend upon the situation in a game. The relationship between pitcher and catcher is so important that some teams select the starting catcher for a game based on the starting pitcher. Together, the pitcher and catcher are known as the battery, although the object and mechanics of pitching remain the same, pitchers may be classified according to their roles and effectiveness. The starting pitcher begins the game, and he may be followed by relief pitchers, such as the long reliever, the left-handed specialist, the middle reliever. In Major League Baseball, every team uses Baseball Rubbing Mud to rub game balls in before their pitchers use them in games, a skilled pitcher often throws a variety of different pitches to prevent the batter from hitting the ball well
2.
Columbus, Georgia
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Columbus is a city in the U. S. state of Georgia and the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it is consolidated. According to the 2013 estimates from the U. S. Census Bureau, Columbus has a population of 202,824 residents, with 316,554 in the greater Columbus-Phenix City metropolitan area. The metro area joins the nearby Alabama cities of Auburn and Opelika to form the Columbus-Auburn-Opelika Combined Statistical Area, Columbus is directly to the east across the Chattahoochee River from Phenix City, Alabama. Situated at the heart of the Chattahoochee Valley, Columbus is Georgias second-largest city, Columbus lies 100 miles southwest of Atlanta. Fort Benning, home of the United States Army Infantry School, Columbus is home to museums and tourism sites, including the National Infantry Museum, dedicated to the United States Armys Infantry Branch. It has the longest urban whitewater rafting course in the world constructed on the Chattahoochee River and this was for centuries and more the traditional territory of the Creek Indians, who became known as one of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast after European contact. Those who lived closest to white-occupied areas conducted considerable trading and adopted some European-American ways, the city was named for Christopher Columbus, its founders likely influenced by the writings of Washington Irving. The plan for the city was drawn up by Dr. Edwin L. DeGraffenried, the citys commercial importance increased in the 1850s with the arrival of the railroad. In addition, textile mills were developed along the river, bringing industry to an area reliant upon agriculture. By 1860, the city was one of the important industrial centers of the South, earning it the nickname the Lowell of the South. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the industries of Columbus expanded their production, during the war, Columbus ranked second to Richmond in the manufacture of supplies for the Confederate army. In addition to textiles, the city had an ironworks, a factory. Wilson attacked the city and burned many of the industrial buildings, john Stith Pemberton, who later developed Coca-Cola in Columbus, was wounded in this battle. After becoming addicted to morphine, Pemberton sought out a replacement for his addiction, after creating Coca-Cola, he carried it to Atlanta before he died in 1888. Col. Charles Augustus Lafayette Lamar, owner of the last slave ship in America, was killed here. A historic marker has been erected in Columbus and it notes that this was the site of the Last Land Battle in the War from 1861 to 1865. Reconstruction began almost immediately and prosperity followed, factories such as the Eagle and Phenix Mills were revived and the industrialization of the town led to rapid growth, the city outgrew its original plan. The Springer Opera House was built on 10th Street, attracting such notables as British writer Oscar Wilde, the Springer is now the official State Theater of Georgia
3.
Earned run average
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In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched, runs resulting from defensive errors are recorded as unearned runs and omitted from ERA calculations. Henry Chadwick is credited with devising the statistic, which caught on as a measure of pitching effectiveness after relief pitching came into vogue in the 1900s. Some criterion was needed to capture the apportionment of earned-run responsibility for a pitcher in games that saw contributions from other pitchers for the same team, a pitcher is assessed an earned run for each run scored by a batter who reaches base while batting against that pitcher. The National League first tabulated official earned run average statistics in 1912, recently written baseball encyclopedias display ERAs for earlier years, but these were computed retroactively. Negro League pitchers are often rated by RA, or total runs allowed, as with batting average, the definition of a good ERA varies from year to year. During the dead-ball era of the 1900s and 1910s, an ERA below 2.00 was considered good, in the 1960s, sub-2.00 ERAs returned, as other influences such as ballparks with different dimensions were introduced. Today, an ERA under 4.00 is again considered good, the all-time record for the lowest single season earned run average by a pitcher pitching 300 or more innings is 1.12, set by Bob Gibson in 1968. The record for the lowest career earned run average is 1.82, held by Ed Walsh, but a purported record based on so few innings pitched is highly misleading. Over the years, more than a dozen part-time pitchers have pitched 105 or more innings and had a run average lower than 0.86. Some sources may list players with infinite ERAs and this can happen if a pitcher allows one or more earned runs without retiring a batter. Additionally, an undefined ERA occasionally occurs at the beginning of a baseball season and it is sometimes incorrectly displayed as zero or as the lowest ranking ERA, even though it is more akin to the highest. At times it can be misleading to judge relief pitchers solely on ERA, because they are charged only for runs scored by batters who reached base while batting against them. Thus, if a pitcher enters the game with his team leading by 1 run, with 2 outs and the bases loaded. If he retires the batter, his ERA for that game will be 0.00 despite having surrendered the lead. Starting pitchers operate under the rules but are not called upon to start pitching with runners already on base. The relievers freedom to use their energy for a few innings, or even for just a few batters. ERA, taken by itself, can also be misleading when trying to objectively judge starting pitchers, the advent of the designated hitter rule in the American League in 1973 made the pitching environment significantly different
4.
Strikeout
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In baseball or softball, a strikeout occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means the batter is out, a strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denoted by K. Although a strikeout suggests that the pitcher dominated the batter, the style that generates home runs also leaves batters susceptible to striking out. Some of the greatest home run hitters of all time — such as Alex Rodriguez, Gorman Thomas, Reggie Jackson, and Sammy Sosa — were notorious for striking out. A pitched ball is ruled a ball by the if the batter did not swing at it and, in that umpires judgment. Any pitch at which the batter swings or, that in that umpires judgment passes through the zone, is ruled a strike. Each ball and strike affects the count, which is incremented for each pitched ball with the exception of a ball on any count with two strikes. That is, a strike may only occur by the batter swinging and missing at a pitched ball. A pitched ball that is struck by the batter with the bat on any count, a batter may also strike out by bunting, even if the ball is hit into foul territory. In Japan, this is called furinige, or swing and escape, in Major League Baseball, it is known as an uncaught third strike. When this happens, a strikeout is recorded for both the pitcher and the batter, but no out is recorded, because of this, a pitcher may occasionally be able to record more than three strikeouts in one half-inning. In baseball scorekeeping, a strikeout is recorded as a K. A strikeout looking is often scored with a backward K, and sometimes as a K-L, CK, despite the scorekeeping custom of using K for strikeout, SO is the official abbreviation used by Major League Baseball. K is still used by fans and enthusiasts for purposes other than official record-keeping. The K may be placed backward in cases where the batter strikes out looking, the use of K for a strikeout was invented by Henry Chadwick, a newspaper journalist who is widely credited as the originator of the box score and the baseball scorecard. As is true in much of baseball, both the box score and scorecard remain largely unchanged to this day, Chadwick decided to use K, the last letter in struck, since the letter S was used for sacrifice. Chadwick was responsible for several other scorekeeping conventions, including the use of numbers to designate player positions and those unaware of Chadwicks contributions have speculated that K was derived from the last name of 19th century pitcher Matt Kilroy. If not for the evidence supporting Chadwicks earlier use of K, Kilroy raised the prominence of the strikeout, setting an all-time single-season record of 513 strikeouts in 1886, only two years after overhand pitching was permitted
5.
Oakland Athletics
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The Oakland Athletics are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League West division. The club plays its games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The club has won nine World Series championships, the third most of all current Major League Baseball teams, the Athletics 2017 season will be the teams 50th season in Oakland. One of the American Leagues eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Philadelphia and they won three World Series championships from 1910 to 1913 and two in a row in 1929 and 1930. The teams owner and manager for its first 50 years was Connie Mack and Hall of Fame players included Chief Bender, Frank Home Run Baker, Jimmie Foxx, the team left Philadelphia for Kansas City in 1955 and became the Kansas City Athletics before moving to Oakland in 1968. They won three World Championships in a row from 1972 to 1974, led by players including Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, ace reliever Rollie Fingers, after being sold by Finley to Walter A. Haas, Jr. The film Moneyball, and the book on which it is based, the As made their Bay Area debut on Wednesday, April 17,1968, with a 4-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at the Coliseum, in front of an opening-night crowd of 50,164. The Athletics name originated in the term Athletic Club for local gentlemens clubs—dates to 1860 when an amateur team, the team later turned professional through 1875, becoming a charter member of the National League in 1876, but were expelled from the N. L. after one season. A later version of the Athletics played in the American Association from 1882–1891, McGraw and Mack had known each other for years, and McGraw accepted it graciously. By 1909, the As were wearing an elephant logo on their sweaters, over the years the elephant has appeared in several different colors. In 1963, when the As were located in Kansas City and this is rumored to have been done by Finley in order to appeal to fans from the region who were predominantly Democrats at the time. Since 1988, the Athletics 21st season in Oakland, an illustration of an elephant has adorned the sleeve of the As home. Beginning in the mid 1980s, the on-field costumed incarnation of the As elephant mascot went by the name Harry Elephante, in 1997, he took his current form, Stomper. Through the seasons, the Athletics uniforms have usually paid homage to their forebears to some extent. Until 1954, when the uniforms had Athletics spelled out in script across the front, furthermore, neither Philadelphia nor the letter P ever appeared on the uniform or cap. The typical Philadelphia uniform had only a script A on the left front, in the early days of the American League, the standings listed the club as Athletic rather than Philadelphia, in keeping with the old tradition. Eventually, the city came to be used for the team
6.
Atlanta Braves
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The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball franchise based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The franchise competes in Major League Baseball as a member of the National League East division, the Braves played home games at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium from 1966 to 1996, and Turner Field from 1997 to 2016. Since 2017, their stadium has been SunTrust Park, a new stadium 10 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta in Cumberland/Galleria, Georgia. The Braves play spring training games in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in January 2017, the Braves announced a formal agreement to move their spring training home to North Port, Florida. The Braves name, which was first used in 1912, originates from a term for a Native American warrior, from 1991 to 2005, the Braves were one of the most successful franchises in baseball, winning division titles an unprecedented 14 consecutive times in that period. The Braves won the NL West 1991–93 and the NL East 1995–2005, the Braves advanced to the World Series five times in the 1990s, winning the title in 1995. The Braves are the only Major League Baseball franchise to have won the World Series in three different home cities, the Braves and the Chicago Cubs are the National Leagues two remaining charter franchises. The Braves were founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1871, the team states it is the oldest continuously operating professional sports franchise in America. After various name changes, the team began operating as the Boston Braves. Then, in 1953, the moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The teams tenure in Atlanta is noted for Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruths career home run record in 1974, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, voted to dissolve after the 1870 season. The original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years, pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes. Led by the Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, the team became one of the National Leagues charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the Red Caps. The Boston Red Caps played in the first game in the history of the National League, on Saturday, April 22,1876, defeating the Athletics, although somewhat stripped of talent in the National Leagues inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the dominant teams during the 19th century. For most of time, their manager was Frank Selee. Boston came to be called the Beaneaters in 1883, while retaining red as the team color, the 1898 team finished 102–47, a club record for wins that would stand for almost a century
7.
San Francisco Giants
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The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball franchise based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1883 as the New York Gothams, and renamed three years later to the New York Giants, the team moved to San Francisco in 1958. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League West division. As one of the longest-established and most successful baseball teams. The team was the first major team based in New York City. They have won 23 NL pennants and have played in 20 World Series competitions – both NL records, the Giants eight World Series championships rank second in the National League and are tied for fourth overall. The Giants have played in the World Series 20 times –14 times in New York, six in San Francisco –, the Giants franchise has the most Hall of Fame players in all of professional baseball. The Giants rivalry with the Dodgers is one of the longest-standing, the teams began their rivalry as the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, respectively, before both franchises moved west for the 1958 season. The Giants have won six pennants and three World Series championships since arriving in San Francisco and those three championships have come in 2010,2012, and most recently in 2014, having defeated the Kansas City Royals four games to three during the 2014 World Series. The Giants began as the baseball club founded by millionaire tobacconist John B. Day and veteran amateur baseball player Jim Mutrie, the Gothams, as the Giants were originally known, entered the National League in 1883, while their other club, the Metropolitans played in the American Association. Nearly half of the original Gotham players were members of the disbanded Troy Trojans, Louis Browns in a pre-modern-era World Series. They repeated as champions the year with a pennant and Championship victory over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. It is said that one particularly satisfying victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie. From then on, the club was known as the Giants, the Giants original home stadium, the Polo Grounds, dates from this early era. It was originally located north of Central Park adjacent to 5th and 6th Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets, the Giants were a powerhouse in the late 1880s, winning their first two National League Pennants and World Championships in 1888 and 1889. But nearly all of the Giants stars jumped to the upstart Players League, whose New York franchise was named the Giants. The new team built a stadium next door to the Polo Grounds
8.
2014 Major League Baseball season
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The 2014 Major League Baseball season began on March 22 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia, between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The North American part of the season started on March 30, the Major League Baseball All-Star Games 85th edition was held on July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of the Minnesota Twins. The American League beat the National League 5–3, with the win, the AL champion earned home-field advantage during the World Series. This year the Houston Astros hosted the Civil Rights Game on May 30 at Minute Maid Park and they played host to the Baltimore Orioles. This was also the season of Bud Selig as the Commissioner of Baseball. Selig served as the Executive Council Chairman from 1992 to 1998, acting as the commissioner, on August 14,2014, the franchise owners selected Rob Manfred to become the new Commissioner, starting in 2015. No significant changes were made to the 2014 schedule, all teams played 20 interleague games, with the majority of match-ups following the divisional rotation in place since 2004. For 2014, the matchups were AL East vs. NL Central, AL Central vs. NL West, teams played four games against a designated rival in two back-to-back two-game series, one home and one away. Unlike in 2013, when all of series were played during the same week. The table below shows the interleague rivals for the 2014 season, on August 15,2013, Major League Baseball announced that it would expand its video review process for the 2014 season, and MLB clubs unanimously approved the new rules on January 16,2014. Managers were now able to challenge certain plays no more than twice per game, including plays, fair or foul balls. Calls that were challenged were reviewed by a crew at MLB headquarters in New York City. On December 11,2013, the Playing Rules Committee voted overwhelmingly to outlaw home-plate collisions between runners and catchers, on February 24,2014, the new rule was put into effect as Rule 7.13 was released. At the end of the 2013 season, the teams made replacements to their managers. Evan Longoria, His home run in the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 3 gives him 163 for his Rays career and this ties the team record held by Carlos Peña. Longoria set the record with his 164th home run on April 19 against the New York Yankees. Miguel Cabrera, Recorded his 2, 000th career hit with a run in the eighth inning against the Baltimore Orioles on April 4. He became the 277th player to reach this mark, Albert Pujols, Recorded his 1, 500th career RBI with a home run in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox on April 8
9.
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
10.
2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The game was held on July 11,2000 at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia, home of the Atlanta Braves of the National League. The result of the game was the American League defeating the National League by a score of 6–3. The 2000 All-Star Game was one of the few occurrences in which the manager of the host team also managed the team of the game, in this case. It is remembered for Chipper Jones home run off James Baldwin and this was also the last MLB All-Star Game that was broadcast on NBC. Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, All-Star Game site Lineups, boxscore, and more
11.
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
12.
2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 81st midseason exhibition between the All-Stars of the American League and the National League, the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. Fox also teamed with DirecTV to produce a separate 3D broadcast, kenny Albert and Mark Grace called the 3D telecast. ESPN Radio also broadcast the game, with Jon Sciambi and Dave Campbell announcing, the National League won the game 3–1, ending a 13-game winless streak. This was the third All-Star Game hosted by the city of Anaheim, California, since 2003, the winning team has earned home field advantage for the World Series. A short memorial honoring George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees who died early morning, was held prior to the game. The 2010 All-Star Game marked the first time major changes took place since the 2003 decision to begin handing home field in the World Series to the winning league, the designated hitter became a permanent fixture of the game regardless of site. Other changes included having the rosters of each team increased to 34 players. Pitchers who started the game on the Sunday immediately before the game became ineligible to pitch in the game. As with any player ineligible or unable to play, each was recognized as an All-Star. Finally, a modified re-entry rule also made its debut, the All-Star Fan Fest, a quasi museum/theme park, was held from July 8 through 13 at the Anaheim Convention Center across the street from Disneyland. July 8 was reserved for media and VIP, while the opening came on July 9. The Sirius XM Radio All-Star Futures Game and Taco Bell All-Star Legends, in addition, the second annual 5K Charity Run and Fun Walk was held that morning. ESPN2 televised the Futures game, while ESPN taped the Legends, the Gatorade Workout Day and State Farm Home Run Derby also took place at Angel Stadium on July 12. MLB Network telecast the Workout Day events, while ESPN televised the Home Run Derby live, the Chevrolet All-Star Red Carpet Parade took place on the morning of the event finishing on Disneylands Main Street USA. MLB Network telecast the Parade on a delayed tape basis, the winners of the final vote were Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds. § – When Bell replaced Yovani Gallardo due to injury on Wednesday, July 7, attendance –45,408 Pitching dominated the first half of the ballgame, as both starting pitchers and their immediate successors put up zeroes. Both teams finally threatened to score in the fifth inning, with Justin Verlander on the mound for the American League, David Wright singled and stole second. Andre Ethier singled but Josh Hamilton was able to hold Wright at third with a throw from right field
13.
2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
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The 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 85th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the home of the Minnesota Twins. This was the third All-Star Game played in the Twin Cities, Metropolitan Stadium hosted the game in 1965 and it was televised in the United States on Fox as part of a new eight-year deal. The Chicago Cubs were the other team that made a bid for hosting the 2014 All-Star Game. With 2014 being the American Leagues turn, Chicago made a bid hoping an exception would be made for the National League Cubs in order to honor the centennial of Wrigley Field, balloting for the 2014 All-Star Game starters began online April 24 and ended on July 3. The top vote-getters at each position and the top three among outfielders, were named the starters for their respective leagues, the results were announced on July 6. After the rosters were finalized, a ballot of five players per league was created for the All-Star Final Vote to determine the 34th. The online balloting was conducted from July 6 through July 10, the American League took a 3–0 lead in the first inning on a Derek Jeter double, a Mike Trout triple and a Miguel Cabrera home run. The NL scored two runs in the second with three hits by Aramis Ramirez, Chase Utley and Jonathan Lucroy against Jon Lester. Lucroy tied the game at three in the fourth with another RBI double, the American League took a 5–3 lead in the 5th on a Trout double and a Jose Altuve sacrifice fly. The lead held up and the AL won by the score of 5–3, list of Major League Baseball All-Star Game winners All-Star Futures Game Home Run Derby Official website of the All-Star Game 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at ESPN
14.
World Series
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The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League champion team and the National League champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a playoff. As the series is played in October, during the season in North America. As of 2016, the World Series has been contested 112 times, with the AL winning 64, the 2016 World Series took place between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs. Seven games were played, with the Cubs victorious after game seven, the final score was 8–7, the game went into extra innings after a tied score of 6–6. This was the third World Series won by the Cubs, as well as their first title since 1908, in the National League, the St. As of 2016, no team has won consecutive World Series championships since the New York Yankees in 1998,1999, all championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. From 1884 to 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These series were disorganized in comparison to the modern World Series, the number of games played ranged from as few as three in 1884, to a high of fifteen in 1887. Both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game, the series was promoted and referred to as The Championship of the United States, Worlds Championship Series, or Worlds Series for short. In his book Krakatoa, The Day the World Exploded, August 27,1883, Simon Winchester mentions in passing that the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper, but this view is disputed. Until about 1960, some sources treated the 19th-century Series on a basis with the post-19th-century series. After about 1930, however, many authorities list the start of the World Series in 1903, following the collapse of the American Association after the 1891 season, the National League was again the only major league. The league championship was awarded in 1892 by a playoff between half-season champions and this scheme was abandoned after one season. Beginning in 1893—and continuing until divisional play was introduced in 1969—the pennant was awarded to the club in the standings at the end of the season. For four seasons, 1894–1897, the league played the runners-up in the post season championship series called the Temple Cup. A second attempt at this format was the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup series, in 1901, the American League was formed as a second major league. No championship series were played in 1901 or 1902 as the National and these series were arranged by the participating clubs, as the 1880s Worlds Series matches had been
15.
2014 World Series
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The Giants defeated the Royals four games to three to clinch their third World Series championship in a five-season span, and their third overall since the clubs move to San Francisco from New York. It was the Giants eighth World Series championship in franchise history, the Giants won Game 1 behind a strong pitching performance by Madison Bumgarner while the Royals won Games 2 and 3 as their pitchers limited San Francisco to 2 runs per game. The Giants won Games 4 and 5, thanks to 11 runs in Game 4, Kansas City tied the series in Game 6, shutting out San Francisco and scoring 10 runs, which forced a Game 7. The Giants won the game, 3–2, thanks to timely hitting, including the game-winning RBI by Michael Morse to score Pablo Sandoval. Bumgarner pitched five innings in relief on two days rest to clinch the championship, claiming the series MVP award. The World Series was the Giants second trip to Kauffman Stadium in 2014, the Royals had home field advantage in this World Series as a result of the American Leagues 5–3 victory in the 2014 All-Star Game. During that game, the American League took a 3–0 lead in the first inning and this caused several writers to question the integrity of the rule awarding home field advantage in the World Series to the winning league in the All-Star Game. San Francisco won the series, 4–3, both teams sent their respective aces to the mound for Game 1, James Shields for the Royals and Madison Bumgarner for the Giants. The Giants scored the first run in the inning when a Pablo Sandoval double scored Gregor Blanco from second base. The next batter, Hunter Pence, hit a run to center field. The Royals did not threaten until the third inning, Omar Infante reached on an error by Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, and Mike Moustakas hit a double down the line to move Infante to third. Bumgarner struck out both Alcides Escobar and Norichika Aoki, but walked Lorenzo Cain to load the bases, Eric Hosmer grounded out to second base on the first pitch to end the threat. The Giants threatened again in the top of the fourth when Pence doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, Michael Morse then singled to score the fourth run of the game, which knocked Shields out of the game. After allowing a sacrifice bunt to Juan Pérez, Duffy allowed two walks to Crawford and Blanco, bringing the fifth run in for the Giants. He retired the two batters to end the inning. The score remained 5–0 until the top of the seventh, when Blanco drew another walk, Joe Panik hit a ball to right fielder Aoki, which he misplayed, allowing Blanco to score and Panik to reach third. Tim Collins was brought in and allowed a single to Sandoval after Posey lined out, the Royals scored their only run on a Salvador Pérez solo home run with two outs off Bumgarner, which proved to be the only run given up by Bumgarner in the series. That homer also ended Bumgarners consecutive scoreless innings streak in the World Series at 21, Collins and Jason Frasor each pitched scoreless innings for the Royals, while Javier López and Hunter Strickland closed out the game for the Giants with scoreless eighth and ninth innings
16.
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
17.
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
18.
Auburn University
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Auburn University is a public research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. Auburn was chartered on February 1,1856, as East Alabama Male College, in 1872, under the Morrill Act, it became the states first public land-grant university and was renamed as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. In 1892, it became the first four-year coeducational school in Alabama, in 1960, its name was changed to Auburn University to acknowledge the varied academic programs and larger curriculum of a major university. In 1964, under Federal Court mandate, AU admitted its first African American student, Auburn is among the few American universities designated as a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research center. The Alabama Legislature chartered the institution as the East Alabama Male College on February 1,1856 and its first president was Reverend William J. Sasnett, and the school opened its doors in 1859 to a student body of eighty and a faculty of ten. Auburns early history is linked with the Civil War and the Reconstruction-era South. Classes were held in Old Main until the college was closed due to the war, the campus was a training ground for the Confederate Army, and Old Main served as a hospital for Confederate wounded. It sits today on the next to Samford Hall. The school reopened in 1866 after the end of the Civil War, in 1872, control of the institution was transferred from the Methodist Church to the State of Alabama for financial reasons. Alabama placed the school under the provisions of the Morrill Act as a land-grant institution and this act provided for 240,000 acres of Federal land to be sold to provide funds for an agricultural and mechanical school. As a result, in 1872 the school was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama, under the Acts provisions, land-grant institutions were also supposed to teach military tactics and train officers for the United States military. In the late 19th century, most students at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama were enrolled in the program, learning military tactics. Each county in the state was allowed to nominate two cadets to attend the free of charge. The universitys original curriculum focused on engineering and agriculture and this trend changed under the guidance of William Leroy Broun, who taught classics and sciences and believed both disciplines were important for growth of the university and the individual. In 1892, two events occurred, women were admitted to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. Eventually, football replaced polo as the sport on campus. The college was renamed the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1899, largely because of Brouns influence, on October 1,1918, nearly all of Alabama Polytechnic Institutes able-bodied male students 18 or older voluntarily joined the United States Army for short-lived military careers on campus. The student-soldiers numbered 878, according to API President Charles Thach, the vocational section was composed of enlisted men sent to Auburn for training in radio and mechanics
19.
Kansas City Royals
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The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball as a team of the American League Central division. The team was founded as a franchise in 1969, and has participated in four World Series, winning in 1985 and 2015. The name Royals originates from the American Royal, a show, horse show, rodeo. Entering the American League in 1969 along with the Seattle Pilots, since April 10,1973, the Royals have played at Kauffman Stadium, formerly known as Royals Stadium. The team remained competitive throughout the early 1990s, but then had one winning season from 1995 to 2012. For 28 consecutive seasons, the Royals did not qualify to play in the Major League Baseball postseason, the team broke this streak in 2014 by securing the franchises first wild card berth and advancing to the World Series. The Royals followed this up by winning the teams first Central Division title in 2015, the Royals began play in 1969 in Kansas City, Missouri. In their inaugural game, on April 8,1969, the Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 4–3 in 12 innings, in 1971, the Royals had their first winning season, with manager Bob Lemon leading them to a second-place finish. In 1973, under manager Jack McKeon, the Royals adopted their iconic powder blue road uniforms, the 1973 All-Star Game was hosted at Royals Stadium, with Otis and Mayberry in the AL starting lineup. The event was held at Municipal Stadium in 1960, when the Athletics were based in Kansas City. However, the Royals lost to the New York Yankees in three straight American League Championship Series encounters, after the Royals finished in second place in 1979, Herzog was fired and replaced by Jim Frey. Under Frey, the Royals rebounded in 1980 and advanced to the ALCS, the Royals vanquished the Yankees in a three-game sweep punctuated by a George Brett home run off of Yankees star relief pitcher Goose Gossage. After reaching their first World Series, the Royals fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in six games, Game 6 was also significant because it remains the most-watched game in World Series history with a television audience of 54.9 million viewers. In July 1983, while the Royals were headed for a second-place finish behind the Chicago White Sox another chapter in the rivalry with the New York Yankees occurred. After Yankee Manager Billy Martin came out of the dugout to talk to home plate umpire Tim McClelland, McClelland, McClelland then pointed to Brett in the dugout and gave the out sign, disallowing the home run. Brett stormed out of the dugout, angry and hysterical, the homer was later reinstated by AL President Lee MacPhail, and the Royals won the game after it was resumed several weeks later. The 1983 season was notable for some transitional changes in the Royals organization
20.
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, and operated by private interests. The Halls motto is Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations, the word Cooperstown is often used as shorthand for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The Hall of Fame was established in 1939 by Stephen Carlton Clark, Clark had sought to bring tourists to a city hurt by the Great Depression, which reduced the local tourist trade, and Prohibition, which devastated the local hops industry. A new building was constructed, and the Hall of Fame was dedicated on June 12,1939, the erroneous claim that U. S. Civil War hero Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown was instrumental in the early marketing of the Hall. An expanded library and research facility opened in 1994, dale Petroskey became the organizations president in 1999. In 2002, the Hall launched Baseball As America, an exhibit that toured ten American museums over six years. The Hall of Fame has since also sponsored educational programming on the Internet to bring the Hall of Fame to schoolchildren who might not visit, the Hall and Museum completed a series of renovations in spring 2005. The Hall of Fame also presents an annual exhibit at FanFest at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Jeff Idelson replaced Petroskey as president on April 16,2008. In 2012, Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed a law ordering the United States Mint to produce and sell commemorative, non-circulating coins to benefit the private, non-profit Hall. The bill, House Bill H. R.2527, was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Rep. Richard Hanna, a Republican from New York, the coins, which depict baseball gloves and balls, are the first concave designs produced by the Mint. The mintage included 50,000 gold coins,400,000 silver coins, the Mint released them on March 27,2014, and the gold and silver editions quickly sold out. The Hall receives money from surcharges included in the sale price,114 members of the Hall of Fame have been inducted posthumously, including four who died after their selection was announced. Of the 35 Negro league members,29 were inducted posthumously, the Hall of Fame includes one female member, Effa Manley. The newest inductees, enshrined on July 24,2016, are players Mike Piazza, the incoming class of 2017, to be formally enshrined on July 30, consists of executives John Schuerholz and Bud Selig and players Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Iván Rodríguez. In addition to honoring Hall of Fame inductees, the National Baseball Hall of Fame has presented 40 men with the Ford C, while Frick and Spink Award honorees are not members of the Hall of Fame, they are recognized in an exhibit in the Hall of Fames library. ONeil Award honorees are also not Hall of Fame members, but are listed alongside a permanent statue of the namesake and first recipient, Buck ONeil. From a final ballot typically including 25–40 candidates, each writer may vote for up to 10 players, until the late 1950s, any player named on 75% or more of all ballots cast is elected. A player who is named on fewer than 5% of ballots is dropped from future elections, players receiving 5% or more of the votes but fewer than 75% are reconsidered annually until a maximum of ten years of eligibility
21.
Phenix City, Alabama
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Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the State of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 32,822, Phenix City lies immediately west across the Chattahoochee River from much larger Columbus, Georgia. In 2007, BusinessWeek named Phenix City the nations #1 Best Affordable Suburb to raise a family, currently, the mayor is Eddie N. Lowe, the citys first black mayor elected by the public. The city manager, who holds the task of organizational matters, is Wallace Hunter, Phenix City is located at 32°28′22″N 85°1′12″W. It is the easternmost settlement in the state of Alabama as well as the Central Time Zone, but it uses the Eastern Time Zone, due to the citys proximity to the state of Georgia. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the city has an area of 24.8 square miles. The climate in this area is characterized by high temperatures. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Phenix City has a subtropical climate. What some claim was last battle of the Civil War took place in Phenix City, what is Phenix City today initially began as two towns bordering each other on the north and south. On the south side was Girard, in Russell County, and the town of Brownville, on the north side, because a community in Tuscaloosa County already claimed the name of Brownville, the post office insisted on the name of Lively. To compound the confusion, the railroad depot was called Knights Station. Because residents preferred Brownville, on the 1880 U. S. Census and it was formally incorporated by the legislature on February 23,1883. Within the decade, the name would be changed to Phenix and it was not clear if it was named for Phenix Mills in adjacent Columbus, Georgia, or for the fabled bird. It appeared as Phenix City on the 1890 U. S. Census and was incorporated as such on February 19,1897 by the state legislature. On August 9,1923, Russell Countys neighboring Girard and Lee Countys Phenix City formally merged, because the consolidated city still remained divided into two counties, in 1932, the Lee County portion was moved entirely into Russell County. Lee County received the rural segment centered on Marvyn as compensation, in 1926, the Russell County portion of Phenix City was designated the second county seat. In 1934/35, Phenix City then became sole county seat, Phenix City was notorious during the 1940s and 1950s for being a haven for organized crime, prostitution, and gambling. Many of its customers came from the United States Army training center at Fort Benning, the leaders of the crime syndicate in Phenix City were Jimmie Matthews and Hoyt Sheppard
22.
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
23.
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
24.
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
25.
2004 Oakland Athletics season
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The Oakland Athletics 2004 season involved the As finishing 2nd in the American League West with a record of 91 wins and 71 losses. October 9,2003, Marco Scutaro was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the New York Mets, november 18,2003, Ted Lilly was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Toronto Blue Jays for Bobby Kielty. November 26,2003, Mark Kotsay was traded by the San Diego Padres to the Oakland Athletics for Terrence Long, december 3,2003, Wayne Gomes was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics. February 6,2004, Eric Karros was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics, march 15,2004, Mike Oquist was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics. April 17,2004, Kirk Saarloos was traded by the Houston Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Chad Harville, august 3,2004, Eric Karros was released by the Oakland Athletics. Note, G = Games played, AB = At Bats, H = Hits, the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball
26.
San Diego Padres
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The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball franchise based in San Diego, California. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League West division, along with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the NL pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, as of 2015, they have had 14 winning seasons in franchise history. The Padres are the major professional sports franchise to be located in San Diego. The Padres adopted their name from the Pacific Coast League team that arrived in San Diego in 1936 and that minor league franchise won the PCL title in 1937, led by 18-year-old Ted Williams, the future Hall-of-Famer who was a native of San Diego. The teams name, Spanish for fathers, refers to the Spanish Franciscan friars who founded San Diego in 1769. In 1969, the Padres joined the ranks of Major League Baseball as one of four new teams, along with the Montreal Expos, the Kansas City Royals. Arnholt Smith, a prominent San Diego businessman and former owner of the PCL Padres whose interests included banking, tuna fishing, hotels, real estate and an airline. The teams fortunes improved as they won five National League West titles and reached the World Series twice, in 1984 and in 1998. The Padres main draw during the 1980s and 1990s was Tony Gwynn and they moved into their current stadium, Petco Park, in 2004. As of 2016, the Padres are the team in the MLB yet to throw a no-hitter since their addition to the league in 1969. The team has played its spring training games at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria and they share the stadium with the Seattle Mariners. From 1969 to 1993, the Padres held spring training in Yuma, due to the short driving distance and direct highway route, Yuma was very popular with Padres fans, and many fans would travel by car from San Diego for spring training games. Throughout the teams history, the San Diego Padres have used six different logos, the original team colors were blue and red before changing to gold and brown in the 70s. Their first logo depicts a friar swinging a bat with Padres written at the top standing in a sun-like figure with San Diego Padres on the exterior of it. The Swinging Friar has popped up on the uniform on and off ever since although the head of the friar has been tweaked from the original in recent years, in 1985, the Padres switched to using a script-like logo in which Padres was written sloped up. That would later become a script logo for the Padres, the teams colors were changed to brown and orange and remained this way through the 1990 season. In 1989, the Padres took the scripted Padres logo that was used from 1985 to 1988, in 1991, the logo was changed to a silver ring with the Padres script changed from brown to blue
27.
Los Angeles Dodgers
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League West division. Established in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the moved to Los Angeles before the 1958 season. They played for four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving to their current home of Dodger Stadium in 1962, the Dodgers as a franchise have won six World Series titles and 21 National League pennants. 11 NL MVP award winners have played for the Dodgers, winning a total of 13 MVP Awards, Eight Cy Young Award winners have pitched for the Dodgers, winning a total of twelve Cy Young Awards. The team has also produced 17 Rookie of the Year Award winners, including four consecutive from 1979 to 1982 and five consecutive from 1992 to 1996. In the 20th century, the team, then known as the Robins, won pennants in 1916 and 1920. In the 1930s, the changed its name to the Dodgers. In 1941, the Dodgers captured their third National League pennant and this marked the onset of the Dodgers–Yankees rivalry, as the Dodgers would face them in their next six World Series appearances. Following the 1957 season the team left Brooklyn, in just their second season in Los Angeles, the Dodgers won their second World Series title, beating the Chicago White Sox in six games in 1959. The 1963 sweep was their victory against the Yankees. The Dodgers won four pennants in 1966,1974,1977 and 1978. They went on to win the World Series again in 1981, the early 1980s were affectionately dubbed Fernandomania. The Dodgers share a rivalry with the San Francisco Giants. Both teams moved west for the 1958 season, the Giants have won two more World Series, the Dodgers have won 21 National League pennants, while the Giants hold the record with 23. When the two teams were based in New York, the Giants won five World Series championships, after the move to California, the Dodgers have won five in Los Angeles, the Giants have won three in San Francisco. The Dodgers were founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Atlantics, taking the name of a team that had played in Brooklyn before them. The team joined the American Association in 1884 and won the AA championship in 1889 before joining the National League in 1890 and they promptly won the NL Championship their first year in the League
28.
Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award
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In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is annually given to one player from each league as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The award was established in 1940 by the Chicago chapter of the BBWAA, the award became national in 1947, Jackie Robinson, the Brooklyn Dodgers second baseman, won the inaugural award. One award was presented for both leagues in 1947 and 1948, since 1949, the honor has been given to one each in the National. Originally, the award was known as the J. Louis Comiskey Memorial Award, the award was renamed the Jackie Robinson Award in July 1987,40 years after Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line. Of the 140 players named Rookie of the Year,16 have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame—Jackie Robinson, five American League players, and ten others from the National League. The award has been shared twice, once by Butch Metzger and Pat Zachry of the National League in 1976, Sam Jethroe is the oldest player to have won the award, at age 32,33 days older than 2000 winner Kazuhiro Sasaki. Michael Fulmer of the Detroit Tigers and Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers are the most recent winners, from 1947 through 1956, each BBWAA voter used discretion as to who qualified as a rookie. In 1957, the term was first defined as someone with fewer than 75 at bats or 45 innings pitched in any previous Major League season. This guideline was later amended to 90 at bats,45 innings pitched, the current standard of 130 at bats,50 innings pitched or 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club before September 1 was adopted in 1971. Since 1980, each voter names three rookies, a choice is given five points, a second-place choice three points, and a third-place choice one point. The award goes to the player who receives the most overall points, edinson Vólquez received three second-place votes in 2008 balloting despite no longer being a rookie under the awards definition. The current definition of status for the award is based only on Major League experience. This issue arose in 2003 when Hideki Matsui narrowly lost the AL award to Ángel Berroa, jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune said he did not see Matsui as a rookie in 2003 because it would be an insult to the Japanese league to pretend that experience didnt count. The Japan Times ran a story in 2007 on the labeling of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kei Igawa, past winners such as Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, and Sam Jethroe had professional experience in the Negro Leagues
29.
Mark Mulder
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Mark Alan Mulder is a former American professional baseball player. A left-handed starting pitcher, Mulder pitched in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Mulder attended Michigan State University, where he played college baseball for the Michigan State Spartans. Mulder was selected by the Oakland Athletics with the second pick in the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. He was placed on the fast track to the leagues and made his major-league debut on April 18,2000. He had a start to his MLB career, going 9-10 with a 5.44 ERA. In 2001, Mulder played his first full season and quickly became a dominant pitcher. Leading the American League with 21 wins, he was in contention for a Cy Young Award, anchoring a powerful Oakland rotation along with Barry Zito and Tim Hudson, called the The Big Three. He continued to do well in 2002, winning 19 games, limited by injuries in 2003, he would only log 26 starts, he still won 15 games and had a career-best 3.13 earned run average. 2004 was an inconsistent year for Mulder and he started the season strong, and was chosen to start that seasons All-Star Game. However, he had a higher ERA and walked more batters in the half of the season. The As traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals on December 18,2004, for pitchers Dan Haren and Kiko Calero, Mulder, Hudson, and Zito were able to carry their team to the postseason four seasons in a row, from 2000 to 2003. Mulder competed in the playoffs in 2001 and 2002, logging two starts each against the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins and he carried over his strong regular-season performance by pitching 24 innings in the four playoff starts, with an ERA of 2.25 and 19 strikeouts. After the 2004 season, the Athletics traded Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Dan Haren, Kiko Calero, in the 2005 season, Mulders first with the Cardinals, he pitched well, 16-8 with a 3.64 ERA. His efforts helped the Cardinals reach the NLCS, where they lost to the Houston Astros, Mulder began the 2006 season strong, with a 5-1 record and 3.69 ERA through May 17. However, his six starts were mediocre to awful. He turned out to be suffering from rotator cuff and shoulder problems, in August he was taken off the disabled list and made several starts in the minors. On August 23, he made his first ML start in two months and gave up 9 runs, all of which were earned, in 3 innings. After undergoing rotator cuff surgery, and with a return for the opening of the 2007 season unlikely, after being re-activated on September 5,2007, he continued to struggle with his command, losing all three of his starts with an ERA of 12.27
30.
Barry Zito
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Barry William Zito is an American former professional baseball pitcher and musician. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics and his pitching repertoire consisted of a curveball, a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a circle changeup, and a cutter–slider. Zito attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles Pierce College, drafted three times while in college, Zito signed with the Athletics when they chose him in the first round of the 1999 MLB draft. A year later, he was in the leagues, finishing fifth in American League Rookie of the Year Award. He struggled to begin the 2001 season but improved greatly down the stretch and he won 23 games in 2002 and won the Cy Young Award. His record was only 14–12 in 2003, but he made the All-Star team for the second year in a row. In 2004, he had his worst season at the time and he became Oaklands Opening Day starter in 2005 and finished fifth in the AL with 171 strikeouts. In 2006, he made the All-Star team and posted a 15–1 record when receiving two or more runs of support, following his seventh season with the Athletics, Zito signed a seven-year deal with the Giants in December 2006. At the time, it was the largest contract given to a pitcher. He posted double-digit wins in his first three seasons, and in 2010 he helped San Francisco win their first championship since 1954, however, he struggled the last month of the season and he was left off the postseason roster. After sitting out much of the 2011 season with a foot and ankle injury, he came back in 2012 and flourished, finishing with a 15–8 record, his best season in a Giants uniform. The same October, Zito helped lead the Giants to their second World Series title in San Francisco history by going 2–0 with a 1.69 ERA in three postseason starts. In his first career World Series start, he outdueled Tigers ace Justin Verlander in Game 1, Zito struggled in 2013 but received a standing ovation from the fans in his final appearance as a Giant. Following the year, he became a free agent, Zito was born May 13,1978, in Las Vegas, Nevada. His family moved to San Diego, California, to help him concentrate on his baseball career and his father even stopped working to coach him. He transferred from El Cajons Grossmont High School to University of San Diego High School, Zito then attended UC Santa Barbara where he earned Freshman All-America Honors with 125 strikeouts in 85⅓ innings. In his sophomore season, Zito transferred to Los Angeles Pierce College so that he could be eligible for the Major League Baseball draft. At Pierce, he posted a 2.62 earned run average, went 9–2 with 135 strikeouts in 103 innings and he then transferred to the University of Southern California, where he was a first-team All-America selected by USA Today Baseball Weekly, Collegiate Baseball, and Baseball America
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2005 in baseball
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The following are the baseball events of the year 2005 throughout the world. Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros to win the 2005 World Series,2005 also marked the inaugural season of the Washington Nationals, who relocated from Montreal and were formerly known as the Expos. This is Washington, D. C. s first time having a team since the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers following the 1971 season. Chris Burke ended the 2005 NLDS with a home run in the bottom of the 18th inning. The Astros went from 15-30 to the 2005 World Series and they also went 22-7 in July. Regular season Champions World Series Champion – Chicago White Sox Postseason – October 4 to October 26 Click on any series score to link to that series page, higher seed has home field advantage during Division Series and League Championship Series. American League has home field advantage during World Series as a result of American League victory in 2005 All-Star Game, National League is seeded 1-3/2-4 as a result of NL regular season champion and NL wild card coming from the same division. Jerry Coleman wins the Ford C, Peter Gammons receives the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for sportswriters. Major League Baseball awards Note, The Comeback Player of the Year Award was voted on for the first time by fans, Boggs receives 474 votes, or 91.9 percent of the 516 ballots cast. Sandberg receives 393 votes, six more than the needed number, relief pitchers Bruce Sutter and Rich Goose Gossage, and outfielders Jim Rice and Andre Dawson, are the only other players to be named on at least half of the ballots cast. January 21 – Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros agree to an $18 million, february 2 – The trade that sent Sammy Sosa to the Baltimore Orioles from the Chicago Cubs is finalized after commissioner Bud Selig approves the deal and the slugger passes his physical. Chicago receives second baseman Jerry Hairston, Jr. and two minor leaguers, then signs Jeromy Burnitz as an agent to replace Sosa in right field. The title is just Mexicos fifth since joining the competition in 1970, the second in the last four years, Campos allows just three hits – two infield hits and a bunt single – and a run over his first eight innings of work, striking out 11. Previously, Campos handcuffed the Venezuelan champion Tigres de Aragua 4-0 in the series opener and he allowed just three hits over eight innings and struck out 10. Campos is voted the Series MVP, february 16 – The players union signs an agreement calling for international drug-testing rules during a 16-team World Cup tournament during 2006 spring training. Each team will select a roster of 60 players,45 days before the start of the tournament. More substances are banned by the IBAF than by the major leagues, march 2 – Thirty-two years after his death, Jackie Robinson receives the Congressional Gold Medal in the Capitol Rotunda, the highest honor Congress can bestow. The medal is accepted by Rachel Robinson, his widow, Baseball is represented in a way by former Texas Rangers executive George W. Bush
