1.
New York Yankees
–
The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
2.
Los Angeles Dodgers
–
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
3.
New York Mets
–
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League East division. The Mets are one of two Major League clubs based in New York City, the other is the New York Yankees. One of baseballs first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New Yorks departed NL teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. The Mets colors are composed of the Dodgers blue and the Giants orange, during the 1962 and 1963 seasons, the Mets played their home games at the Polo Grounds. From 1964 to 2008, the Mets home ballpark was Shea Stadium, in 2009, they moved into their current ballpark, Citi Field. In their 1962 inaugural season, the Mets posted a record of 40–120, the Mets made the playoffs in 2006 when they came within one game of the World Series, losing to the eventual champion St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. The Mets missed the playoffs with losses on the last day of the season in 2007 and 2008. The Mets made the playoffs in 2015 for the first time in nine years, the team again returned to the playoffs in 2016, this time with a wild card berth. This is the teams second playoff appearance, the first occurring during the 1999 and 2000 seasons. With the threat of a New York team joining a new third league, for the first two years of its existence, the team played its home games at the historic Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan. In 1964, they moved into newly constructed Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, in 2009, the club moved into Citi Field, adjacent to the former Shea Stadium site. During their history, the Mets have won two World Series titles, five National League pennants and six National League East titles, the Mets also qualified for the postseason as the National League wild card team in 1999,2000, and 2016. The Mets have appeared in five World Series, more than any other team in MLB history. Their two championships are the most titles among expansion teams, equal to the tallies of the Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins, the Mets held the New York baseball single-season attendance record for 29 years. They broke the Yankees 1948 record by drawing nearly 2.7 million spectators in 1970, the Mets broke their own record five times before the record was regained by the Yankees in 1999. The 1962 Mets posted a 40–120 record, a record for the most losses in a season since 1899, in 1966, the Mets famously bypassed future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the amateur draft, instead selecting Steve Chilcott, who never played in the majors. But the following year, they acquired future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver in a lottery, in 1973, the Mets rallied from 5th place to win the division, despite a record of only 82–79
4.
2008 Major League Baseball season
–
The Civil Rights Game, an exhibition, in Memphis, Tennessee took place March 29 when the New York Mets beat the Chicago White Sox, 3–2. The All-Star Game was played on July 15 at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York City, for the eighth straight season, a defending World Champion – the Boston Red Sox – failed to defend their championship. The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series 4 games to 1 over the Tampa Bay Rays and this was Philadelphias second championship, and also the first World Series appearance for the Rays. The Angels clinched home field on September 26 when the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Detroit Tigers. On September 20, the Chicago Cubs became the team to get their passport to October with a win over the St. Louis Cardinals. This marked the first time since 1907 and 1908 that the Cubs appeared in consecutive postseasons, two days later, the Cubs clinched the home field advantage through the National League Playoffs by beating the New York Mets. Also on September 20, the Tampa Bay Rays guaranteed a spot in the playoffs for the first time in history by beating the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay won its first American League East title six days later, on September 23, the Boston Red Sox clinched a playoff spot, their fifth in the last six years. The Red Sox win also eliminated the Yankees from the post-season for the first time since 1993, on September 26, the Yankees handed the Rays the American League East title by beating the Red Sox by a 19–8 score, making Boston the Wild Card. On September 25, the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, on September 27, the Philadelphia Phillies clinched the National League East title for the second straight year with their win over the Washington Nationals, 4–3. This marks the first time they would play in consecutive postseasons since the 1980 and 1981 seasons, the 1981 appearance made possible by the split season due to the players strike. The previous season, the Marlins beat the Mets while the Phillies beat the Nationals on the last day to knock the Mets out of the postseason as the Phillies won the NL East. The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins in a playoff by 1–0 at U. S. Cellular Field on September 30, becoming the winner of the American League Central, note, Major League Baseballs playoff format automatically seeds the Wild Card team 4th. Normally, the No.1 seed plays the No.4 seed in the Division Series, hence, Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs did not face each other in the NLDS. In scores, home teams are in italics, winning team is boldface, Tampa Bay Rays vs. John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves recorded his 3, 000th strikeout against Felipe López of the Washington Nationals April 22. Kenny Rogers of the Detroit Tigers became the all-time career pickoff leader with 92, on May 9, Rogers picked off Wilson Betemit of the New York Yankees, passing Mark Langston. Greg Maddux of the San Diego Padres recorded his 350th career win against the Colorado Rockies on May 10, Brad Ausmus of the Houston Astros recorded his 1, 500th hit on May 12 against the Giants
5.
Baltimore Orioles
–
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball as a member of the American League East division, Louis, Missouri to become the St. Louis Browns. After 52 often-beleaguered years in St. Louis, the franchise was purchased in November 1953 by Baltimore business interests led by Clarence Miles, the franchise officially moved to Baltimore for the 1954 season and adopted the historic Orioles name in honor of the official state bird of Maryland. The Orioles name had also used by several previous major and minor league baseball clubs in Baltimore. Nicknames for the team include the Os and the Birds, the Orioles experienced their greatest success from 1966 to 1983, when they made six World Series appearances, winning three of them. The franchise has won a total of nine division championships, six pennants. The Orioles are also known for their successful stadium, the trend-setting Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The modern Orioles franchise can trace its roots back to the original Milwaukee Brewers of the minor Western League, the Brewers were there when the WL renamed itself the American League in 1900. At the end of the 1900 season, the American League removed itself from baseballs National Agreement, two months later, the AL declared itself a competing major league. As a result of several shifts, the Brewers were one of only two Western League teams that didnt fold, move or get kicked out of the league. In its first game in the American League, the team lost to the Detroit Tigers 14–13 after blowing a lead in the 9th inning. To this day, it is a league record for the biggest deficit overcome that late in the game. During the first American League season in 1901, they finished last with a record of 48–89 and its lone Major League season, the team played at Lloyd Street Grounds, between 16th and 18th Streets in Milwaukee. The Miles-Krieger -Hoffberger group renamed their new team the Baltimore Orioles soon after taking control of the franchise, the name has a rich history in Baltimore, having been used by a National League team in the 1890s. In 1901, Baltimore and McGraw were awarded a franchise in the growing American League. After a battle with Ban Johnson, the Head of the American League in 1902, McGraw took many of the top players including Dan McGann, Roger Bresnahan and Joe McGinnity to the New York Giants. As an affront to Johnson, McGraw kept the black and orange colors of the New York Giants, which San Francisco wears to this day. In 1903, the rest of the team was transferred to New York where they were nicknamed the Highlanders until circa 1912, as a member of the high-minor league level International League, the Orioles competed at what is now known as the AAA level from 1903 to 1953
6.
World Series
–
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
7.
2000 World Series
–
The Yankees defeated the Mets four games to one to win their third consecutive championship and 26th overall. It marks, to date, the last World Series with a repeat champion and it was the first postseason Subway Series since 1956. The Yankees were in the World Series for the consecutive season and fourth in the past five years. This made it the most of any team in MLB, the Mets qualified to play in the World Series for the fourth time in franchise history, making this the most of any expansion franchise in MLB and its first since winning the 1986 World Series. All umpires were now consolidated into the Major League Baseball umbrella, during the 2000 postseason, the new umpire uniforms, with the Major League Baseball logo on the caps and shirts, were used for the first time. Although the Yankees were in the midst of a dynasty and not far removed from their dominant 114-win 1998 season and they won just 87 games in the regular season and lost 15 of their last 18 games, closing 2000 with a seven-game losing streak. Many players who were great in 1998 (Tino Martinez, Paul ONeill, Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch, nonetheless, strong seasons by Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera were enough to secure the AL East by 2.5 games. In the post-season, they defeated the Oakland Athletics in the AL Division Series 3-2, at the time, they were just the fourth team since 1960 to make the World Series after winning fewer than 90 games in the regular season. By winning the 1999 and 2000 Wild Card, the Mets achieved their first back-to-back post-season appearances in franchise history, a feat they would match in 2015 and 2016. The Mets would beat the 97-game winning San Francisco Giants in the NL Division Series, 3–1, the 2000 World Series was the first World Series appearance for the Mets since their championship in 1986 and their second post-season appearance since 1988. AL New York Yankees vs. NL New York Mets The opener fell on two anniversaries, twenty years prior the Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series title, defeating the Kansas City Royals in six games. Game 1 was a match-up between postseason veterans Al Leiter and Andy Pettitte, both starters pitched scoreless until the sixth inning when David Justices two-run double put the Yankees on top. In the top half of the seventh, Pettitte would quickly lose the lead on a barrage of hits, however, the Yankees would rally to tie the game on Chuck Knoblauchs sacrifice fly against Mets closer Armando Benítez. José Vizcaíno would drive in Tino Martinez in the inning with his fourth hit of the game to win it for the Yankees. In Game 2 Roger Clemens started for the Yankees, Game 2 still saw its share of controversy with Clemens and Piazza. Early in the game during Piazzas first at bat, Clemens pitch had shattered Piazzas bat, the ball went foul, but a sharp edge of the bat came towards Clemens. Clemens came off the mound and threw the bat towards the baseline, Piazza was baffled by Clemens actions and many lambasted Clemens for them. Piazza hit a run off reliever Jeff Nelson later in the game
8.
Monument Park (Yankee Stadium)
–
When Red Ruffings plaque was dedicated in 2004, his son called it the second-greatest honor you can have in baseball, in my opinion trailing only induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The history of the original Monument Park can be traced to the old Yankee Stadium in 1929, additional team members were honored with monuments and plaques in the area over the years. During the stadiums renovation in the mid-1970s, the center field fence was moved in 44 feet, enclosing prior monuments, plaques, over time, additional plaques were added to the area and Monument Park became formalized, in 1985, the park was opened for public access. When the Yankees moved to their new ballpark in 2009, a replica Monument Park was built beyond the center-field fences, thirty-seven members of the Yankee organization have been honored in Monument Park, while 22 have had their uniform numbers retired. Plaques in Monument Park are a great honor for players so distinguished, the monuments mounted posthumously on five large red granite blocks are the highest honor of all. Only six Yankees have been so recognized, manager Huggins, players Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio, the original Yankee Stadium was built in 1923. As with many other so-called Jewel Box ballparks of the era the flag pole was placed in play, with a generous center field dimension of 500 feet to straightaway center field, there was plenty of room for it without materially interfering in play. This, in turn, led many Yankee fans over the years, particularly children, the Huggins monument was later joined by similar memorials to Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, which were erected upon their deaths. Over time, a number of plaques were mounted behind them on the outfield wall, placing monuments in the field of play was not so unusual at the time, as there had been in-play stones and plaques at the Polo Grounds and Forbes Field. From 1936 through 1973, the distance from home plate to the center field fence was 461 feet, despite the distance, a batted ball still sometimes made it back there. Manager Casey Stengel hollered to the field, Ruth, Gehrig, Huggins, when Yankee Stadium was remodeled from 1974–1975, the center field fence was moved in to 417 feet from its previous 457 feet, a subsequent reduction brought the fence in again to 410 feet. This enclosed the area, formerly in play, containing the flag pole, as this fenced in area between the two bullpens gathered additional plaques on the original wall it began to be referred to as Monument Park. It was an achievement for a run to reach Monument Park on the fly. Among those who did so were Thurman Munson and Alex Rodriguez, Monument Park was inaccessible to fans until 1985. After the center field fence was moved in, the Yankees enabled fans to visit Monument Park prior to most games at Yankee Stadium, Monument Park was also part of the public tour of the venue. When the Yankees moved to their new ballpark, the Yankees established a new Monument Park in the new stadium, an area was built behind the fence in straightaway center field, below the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar that serves as the batters eye. Built of pearl blue granite from Finland, this new monument park features the five Yankee monuments in an area around a black marble Yankees logo. This is flanked by two stone walls which hold the retired numbers
9.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
10.
2017 World Baseball Classic
–
The 2017 World Baseball Classic was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22,2017. It was the iteration of the WBC. The first-round hosts were Seoul, Tokyo, Miami and Zapopan, the second-round hosts were Tokyo and San Diego, and the championship round was played in Los Angeles. Two of the four qualifiers, Colombia and Israel, each made their first appearance in the World Baseball Classic, the Netherlands, Japan, Puerto Rico, and the United States advanced to the championship round. Defending champion Dominican Republic was eliminated in the second round, the United States defeated Puerto Rico to win the championship game, 8–0. Marcus Stroman was named tournament MVP and he made three starts for Team USA, and posted a 2.35 ERA in 15 1⁄3 total innings, including six shutout innings in the championship game. The top three teams from pool of the first round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic automatically qualified. The first and second rounds of the tournament were played in round-robin format, with each playing each other team in their pool once. However, in an effort to reduce the likelihood that a team would be eliminated on statistical tiebreakers, if there is a two-way tie for first, since both teams advance, there would be no extra game. The team that won the game between the teams would be declared the pool winner, and the other team the pool runner-up. If there is a tie for first, head-to-head results would not help to break the tie. In this case, statistics would determine the team. If there is a tie for second, statistics would determine the top two teams who would then play to determine the pool runner-up. The team ranked worst on the calculation would be eliminated, IPD − Innings the team pitched. RA/IPD − The index of RA/IPD, Pool A of the First Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic was held at Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul, South Korea from March 6 to 10,2017, between Team Israel, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Taiwan. Pool A was a round-robin tournament, prior to the start of the tournament, ESPN considered Team Israel, ranked 41st in the world, to be the biggest underdog in the tournament, referring to them as the Jamaican bobsled team of the WBC. Team Israel and Team Netherlands qualified for the round, in Japan. Israel became the first baseball team to go undefeated in the first round of the WBC’s main draw after entering the draw by winning in a qualifying round
United States
