Portal:Baseball
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team (referred to as the fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate (the place where the player started as a batter).
The opposing teams switch back and forth between batting and fielding; the batting team's turn to bat is over once the fielding team records three outs. One turn batting for each team constitutes an inning. A game is usually composed of nine innings, and the team with the greater number of runs at the end of the game wins. Most games end after the ninth inning, but if scores are tied at that point, extra innings are usually played. Baseball has no game clock, though some competitions feature pace-of-play regulations such as the pitch clock to shorten game time.
Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century. This game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. Baseball's American origins, as well as its reputation as a source of escapism during troubled points in American history such as the American Civil War and the Great Depression, have led the sport to receive the moniker of "America's Pastime"; since the late 19th century, it has been unofficially recognized as the national sport of the United States, though in modern times is considered less popular than other sports, such as American football. In addition to North America, baseball is considered the most popular sport in parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and East Asia, particularly in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. (Full article...)
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Lee Arthur Smith (born December 4, 1957) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight teams. Serving mostly as a relief pitcher during his career, he was a dominant closer, was the first pitcher to reach 400 saves, and held the major league record for career saves from 1993 until 2006, when Trevor Hoffman passed his total of 478. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2019 by the Today's Game Era Committee.
A native of Jamestown in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana, Smith was scouted by Buck O'Neil and was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 1975 MLB draft. Smith was an intimidating figure on the pitcher's mound at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) and 265 pounds (120 kg) with a 95-mile-per-hour (150 km/h) fastball. In 1991, he set a National League (NL) record with 47 saves for the St. Louis Cardinals, and was runner-up for the league's Cy Young Award; it was the second of three times Smith led the NL in saves, and he later led the American League (AL) in saves once. When he retired, he held the major league record for career games finished (802) and was third in games pitched (1,022). He holds the Cubs' team record for career saves (180), and held the same record for the Cardinals (160) until 2006. (Full article...) -
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Morris Berg (March 2, 1902 – May 29, 1972) was an American professional baseball catcher and coach in Major League Baseball who later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He played 15 seasons in the major leagues, almost entirely for four American League teams, though he was never more than an average player and was better known for being "the brainiest guy in baseball." Casey Stengel once described Berg as "the strangest man ever to play baseball."
Berg was a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School, and he spoke several languages and regularly read ten newspapers a day. His reputation as an intellectual was fueled by his successful appearances as a contestant on the radio quiz show Information Please, in which he answered questions about the etymology of words and names from Greek and Latin, historical events in Europe and the Far East, and ongoing international conferences. (Full article...) -
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James Robert "Loafer" McAleer (July 10, 1864 – April 29, 1931) was an American center fielder, manager, and stockholder in Major League Baseball who assisted in establishing the American League. He spent most of his 13-season playing career with the Cleveland Spiders, and went on to manage the Cleveland Blues, St. Louis Browns, and Washington Senators. Shortly before his retirement, he became a major shareholder in the Boston Red Sox. His career ended abruptly. During his brief tenure as co-owner of the Red Sox, McAleer quarreled with longtime friend and colleague Ban Johnson, president of the American League. In the wake of this disagreement, he sold off his shares in the Red Sox and broke off his relationship with Major League Baseball.
McAleer's rift with Johnson, along with his sudden retirement, damaged his professional reputation, and he received little recognition for his contributions to baseball. Today, he is most often remembered for initiating the customary request that the President of the United States throw out the first ball of the season. (Full article...) -
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The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season. The 23rd edition of the Series, it pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees. The Cardinals defeated the Yankees four games to three in the best-of-seven series, which took place from October 2 to 10, 1926, at Yankee Stadium and Sportsman's Park.
This was the first World Series appearance (and first National League pennant win) for the Cardinals, and would be the first of 11 World Series championships in Cardinals history. The Yankees were playing in their fourth World Series in six years after winning their first American League pennant in 1921 and their first world championship in 1923. They would play in another 36 World Series (and win 26 of those), as of the end of the 2023 season. (Full article...) -
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James Francis Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887 – March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won two Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics (one in classic pentathlon and the other in decathlon). He also played football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and professional basketball.
He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the contemporary amateurism rules. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals with replicas, after ruling that the decision to strip him of his medals fell outside of the required 30 days. Official IOC records still listed Thorpe as co-champion in decathlon and pentathlon until 2022, when it was decided to restore him as the sole champion in both events, as his competitors Hugo Wieslander and Ferdinand Bie had always wished. (Full article...) -
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Ronald Wilson Reagan (/ˈreɪɡən/ RAY-gən; February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, his presidency constituted the Reagan era, and he is considered one of the most prominent conservative figures in American history.
Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932 and began to work as a sports broadcaster in Iowa. In 1937, he moved to California, and became a well-known film actor there. From 1947 to 1952, Reagan served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild. During the 1950s, he worked in television and spoke for General Electric. From 1959 to 1960, he again served as the Screen Actors Guild's president. In 1964, his "A Time for Choosing" speech gave Reagan attention as a new conservative figure. He was elected governor of California in 1966. During his governorship, he raised taxes, turned the state budget deficit into a surplus, and cracked down harshly on university protests. After challenging and losing to incumbent president Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican presidential primaries, Reagan won the Republican nomination and then a landslide victory over incumbent Democratic president Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election. (Full article...) -
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Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team (referred to as the fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate (the place where the player started as a batter).
The initial objective of the batting team is to have a player reach first base safely; this generally occurs either when the batter hits the ball and reaches first base before an opponent retrieves the ball and touches the base, or when the pitcher persists in throwing the ball out of the batter's reach. Players on the batting team who reach first base without being called "out" can attempt to advance to subsequent bases as a runner, either immediately or during teammates' turns batting. The fielding team tries to prevent runs by getting batters or runners "out", which forces them out of the field of play. The pitcher can get the batter out by throwing three pitches which result in strikes, while fielders can get the batter out by catching a batted ball before it touches the ground, and can get a runner out by tagging them with the ball while the runner is not touching a base. (Full article...) -
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Kenesaw Mountain Landis (/ˈkɛnɪsɔː ˈmaʊntɪn ˈlændɪs/; November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a United States federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death. He is remembered for his resolution of the Black Sox Scandal, in which he expelled eight members of the Chicago White Sox from organized baseball for conspiring to lose the 1919 World Series and repeatedly refused their reinstatement requests. His iron rule over baseball in the near quarter-century of his commissionership is generally credited with restoring public confidence in the game.
Landis was born in Millville, Ohio. Raised in Indiana, he became a lawyer, and then personal secretary to Walter Q. Gresham, the new United States Secretary of State, in 1893. He returned to private practice after Gresham died in office. (Full article...) -
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Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians between 1936 and 1956. In a career spanning 570 games, Feller pitched 3,827 innings and posted a win–loss record of 266–162, with 279 complete games, 44 shutouts, and a 3.25 earned run average (ERA). His career 2,581 strikeouts were third all-time upon his retirement.
A prodigy who bypassed baseball's minor leagues, Feller made his debut with the Indians at the age of 17. His career was interrupted by four years of military service (1942–1945) as a United States Navy Chief Petty Officer aboard USS Alabama during World War II. Feller became the first pitcher to win 24 games in a season before the age of 21. He threw no-hitters in 1940, 1946, and 1951, and 12 one-hitters, both records at his retirement. He helped the Indians win a World Series title in 1948 and an American League-record 111 wins and the pennant in 1954. Feller led the American League in wins six times and in strikeouts seven times. In 1946 he recorded 348 strikeouts, the most since 1904 and then believed to be a record. (Full article...) -
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Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Born in Cairo, Georgia, Robinson was raised in Pasadena, California. A four-sport student athlete at Pasadena Junior College and the University of California, Los Angeles, he was better known for football than he was for baseball, becoming a star college player with the UCLA Bruins football team. Following his college career, Robinson was drafted for service during World War II but was court martialed for refusing to sit at the back of a segregated Army bus, eventually being honorably discharged. Afterwards, he signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues from where he caught the eye of Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who thought he would be the perfect candidate for breaking the color line in Major League Baseball. (Full article...) -
Image 11The Nashville Sounds Minor League Baseball team was established in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1978, after Larry Schmittou and a group of investors purchased the rights to operate an expansion franchise of the Double-A Southern League. The Sounds played their home games at Herschel Greer Stadium from its opening in 1978 until the end of the 2014 season. In 2015, the Sounds left Greer for First Tennessee Park, now known as First Horizon Park, a new facility located on the site of the historic Sulphur Dell ballpark, home to Nashville's minor league teams from 1885 to 1963.
The Sounds led all of Minor League Baseball in attendance in their inaugural season and continued to draw the Southern League's largest crowds in each of their seven years as members of the league. On the field, the team won six consecutive second-half division titles from 1979 to 1984 and won the Southern League championship twice: in 1979 as the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and again in 1982 as the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. (Full article...) -
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Tyler Wayne Skaggs (July 13, 1991 – July 1, 2019) was an American left-handed professional baseball starting pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Angels from 2012 until his death in 2019.
A native of Woodland Hills, California, and a graduate of Santa Monica High School, Skaggs was a supplemental first-round selection for the Angels in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He was traded to the Diamondbacks the following year as part of an exchange for pitcher Dan Haren and rose through Arizona's farm system. After two consecutive appearances at the All-Star Futures Game in 2011 and 2012, Skaggs made his major league debut on August 22, 2012, against the Miami Marlins. He remained with the Diamondbacks through the end of the season, but was optioned to the minor leagues in 2013. (Full article...) -
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Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National League Gold Glove Award for defensive play at shortstop for 13 consecutive seasons. A 15-time All-Star, Smith accumulated 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases during his career, and won the National League Silver Slugger Award as the best hitter at shortstop in 1987. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2002. He was also elected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 2014.
Smith was born in Mobile, Alabama; his family moved to Watts, Los Angeles, when he was six years old. While participating in childhood athletic activities, Smith developed quick reflexes; he went on to play baseball at Locke High School in Los Angeles, then at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Drafted as an amateur player by the Padres, Smith made his major league debut in 1978. He quickly established himself as an outstanding fielder, and later became known for performing backflips on special occasions while taking his position at the beginning of a game. Smith won his first Gold Glove Award in 1980 and made his first All-Star Game appearance in 1981. (Full article...) -
Image 14During the 1912 baseball season, center fielder Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers was suspended for ten days. Cobb was at the time probably the biggest star in the major leagues. American League president Ban Johnson suspended and fined him $50 ($1,600 in 2023) for going into the stands at New York's Hilltop Park and beating Claude Lucker, a fan who had been heckling him.
Cobb had been Lucker's verbal target throughout the four-game series between the Tigers and New York Yankees. By the fourth inning of the fourth game, on May 15, 1912, with the stream of insults continuing and questioning Cobb's racial ancestry, he lost his temper. He raced into the stands, punching and kicking Lucker, who due to an industrial accident had lost eight fingers and could not defend himself. Cobb was ejected from the game. These events were witnessed by Johnson, who suspended Cobb indefinitely. Since there were at the time few protections for ballplayers from the insults and hurled objects of fans, many took Cobb's side, including his teammates. After beating the Philadelphia Athletics on May 17, the Detroit players telegraphed Johnson that they would not play again until Cobb was reinstated. Johnson refused to do so. (Full article...) -
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Benjamin Edwin Paschal (October 13, 1895 – November 10, 1974) was an American baseball outfielder who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929, mostly for the New York Yankees. After two "cup of coffee" stints with the Cleveland Indians in 1915 and the Boston Red Sox in 1920, Paschal spent most of his career as the fourth outfielder and right-handed pinch hitter of the Yankees' Murderers' Row championship teams of the late 1920s. Paschal is best known for hitting .360 in the 1925 season while standing in for Babe Ruth, who missed the first 40 games with a stomach ailment.
During his time in baseball, Paschal was described as a five-tool player who excelled at running, throwing, fielding, hitting for average, and power. However, his playing time with the Yankees was limited because they already had future Baseball Hall of Famers Ruth and Earle Combs, and star Bob Meusel, in the outfield. Paschal was considered one of the best bench players in baseball during his time with the Yankees, and sportswriters wrote how he would have started for most other teams in the American League. He was one of the best pinch hitters in the game during the period, at a time when the term was still relatively new to baseball. (Full article...)
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Image 1A game from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, c. 1280, involving tossing a ball, hitting it with a stick and competing with others to catch it (from History of baseball)
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Image 2A New York Yankees batter (Andruw Jones) and a Boston Red Sox catcher at Fenway Park (from Baseball)
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Image 3Sadaharu Oh managing the Japan national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Playing for the Central League's Yomiuri Giants (1959–80), Oh set the professional world record for home runs with 868. (from History of baseball)
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Image 4Jackie Robinson in 1945, with the era's Kansas City Royals, a barnstorming squad associated with the Negro American League's Kansas City Monarchs (from Baseball)
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Image 6A well-worn baseball (from Baseball)
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Image 91906 World Series, infielders playing "in" for the expected bunt and the possible play at the plate with the bases loaded (from Baseball rules)
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Image 10Diagram of a baseball field Diamond may refer to the square area defined by the four bases or to the entire playing field. The dimensions given are for professional and professional-style games. Children often play on smaller fields. (from Baseball)
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Image 12Sadaharu Oh managing the Japan national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Playing for the Central League's Yomiuri Giants (1959–80), Oh set the professional world record for home runs. (from Baseball)
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Image 13Cy Young—the holder of many major league career marks, including wins and innings pitched, as well as losses—in 1908. MLB's annual awards for the best pitcher in each league are named for Young. (from Baseball)
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Image 15Pesäpallo, a Finnish variation of baseball, was invented by Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala in the 1920s, and after that, it has changed with the times and grown in popularity. Picture of Pesäpallo match in 1958 in Jyväskylä, Finland. (from Baseball)
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Image 16Rickey Henderson—the major leagues' all-time leader in runs and stolen bases—stealing third base in a 1988 game (from Baseball)
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Image 17A first baseman receives a pickoff throw, as the runner dives back to first base. (from Baseball)
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Image 18Jackie Robinson in 1945, with the era's Kansas City Royals, a barnstorming squad associated with the Negro American League's Kansas City Monarchs (from History of baseball)
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Image 19Defensive positions on a baseball field, with abbreviations and scorekeeper's position numbers (not uniform numbers) (from Baseball)
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Image 202013 World Baseball Classic championship match between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, March 20, 2013 (from Baseball)
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Image 21A batter follows through after swinging at a pitched ball. (from Baseball rules)
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Image 22Alexander Cartwright, father of modern baseball (from History of baseball)
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Image 23In May 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay pitched the 20th major league perfect game. That October, he pitched only the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history. (from History of baseball)
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Image 25An Afghan girl playing baseball in August 2002 (from Baseball)
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Image 26The NL champion New York Giants baseball team, 1913. Fred Merkle, sixth in line, had committed a baserunning gaffe in a crucial 1908 game that became famous as Merkle's Boner. (from History of baseball)
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Image 27Two players on the baseball team of Tokyo, Japan's Waseda University in 1921 (from Baseball)
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Image 28Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The Green Monster is visible beyond the playing field on the left. (from Baseball)
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Image 29The typical motion of a right-handed pitcher (from Baseball rules)
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Image 30Cover of Official Base Ball Rules, 1921 edition, used by the American League and National League (from Baseball rules)
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Image 31Pick-off attempt on runner (in red) at first base (from Baseball rules)
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Image 32The American Tobacco Company's line of baseball cards featured shortstop Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1909 to 1911. In 2007, the card shown here sold for $2.8 million. (from Baseball)
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Image 1Arthur Lee Guetterman (born November 22, 1958), nicknamed "Goot," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played from 1984 to 1996 for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). A southpaw used primarily in the major leagues as a relief pitcher, he stood 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) tall. He led the Yankees in wins in 1990 without starting a game.
Guetterman attended Liberty University, where he set several school records on the baseball team. Drafted by the Mariners in the fourth round of the 1981 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, he made his major league debut in 1984, though he would not return to the major leagues until 1986. After having the highest earned run average (ERA) of any American League (AL) pitcher with at least 75 innings pitched in 1986, he won 11 games as a starter in 1987, posting an 8–1 record at one point before getting moved to the bullpen due to a loss of control of his pitches. He was traded to the Yankees after the season, and after spending much of 1988 in the minor leagues, he emerged as a part-time closer for the Yankees in 1989, while Dave Righetti was struggling. He had 13 saves in 1989, then just two the following year, though he would lead the Yankees in wins. In 1991, Guetterman became unhappy with his playing time and requested a trade, which he got in 1992, when he was part of the only Yankees-Mets trade between 1987 and 2001. (Full article...) -
Image 2Benjamin Raymond Geraghty (July 19, 1912 – June 18, 1963) was an American infielder in Major League Baseball and one of the most successful and respected minor league managers of the 1950s.
A Jersey City native, Geraghty went right from Villanova University to the 1936 Brooklyn Dodgers, appearing in 51 games with the team in his rookie season. He appeared in 19 more games with the Boston Braves over the 1943 and 1944 seasons, compiling a batting average of .199 in 146 at bats with 29 hits in 71 career games. In 1946, he survived a horrific bus crash that killed nine of his Spokane Indians teammates. (Full article...) -
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Jay Justin "Nig" Clarke (December 15, 1882 – June 15, 1949) was a Canadian professional baseball player. A catcher, Clarke played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Naps, St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Phillies, and Pittsburgh Pirates. In 506 career games, Clarke recorded a batting average of .254 and accumulated 20 triples, six home runs, and 127 runs batted in (RBI).
Born in Canada and raised in Michigan, Clarke began his baseball career in 1902, when he reportedly hit eight home runs in one game while playing for the Corsicana Oil Citys of the Texas League. From there, he spent two more seasons in the minor leagues before the Cleveland Naps signed him to a contract. Aside from a loan to the Detroit Tigers, he played for the Naps for six seasons. Clarke was then traded to the St. Louis Browns, where he played for one season. After several years in the minor leagues, Clarke joined the United States Marine Corps. He returned to the major leagues and played there until 1920, then continued playing for minor league teams until 1927. Clarke then retired from the game, rejoined the Marines, and moved to River Rouge, Michigan, where he lived until his death in 1949. (Full article...) -
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Donald Lee Demeter (June 25, 1935 – November 29, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder, third baseman, and first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) over all or parts of 11 seasons for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and Cleveland Indians. He batted and threw right-handed and was listed as 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall and 190 pounds (86 kg).
Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Demeter attended Capitol Hill High School, where he was one of 11 players signed by MLB teams. After a few years of minor league ball, he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956. After spending 1957 in the minor leagues, he played 43 games for the Dodgers (now in Los Angeles) in 1958, then became the regular center fielder for much of the 1959 season, helping the team defeat the Chicago White Sox in the 1959 World Series. A broken wrist limited him in 1960, and he was traded to the Phillies shortly after the start of the 1961 season. With Philadelphia, Demeter never failed to hit 20 home runs in a season, hitting a career-high 29 in 1962, a season in which he became the first Phillie in seven years to record 100 runs batted in (RBI) and finished ninth in the National League (NL) in hitting. September 1962 was the start of 266 consecutive errorless games for Demeter in the outfield, a Major League record that would stand for almost 30 years, until Darren Lewis broke the mark in 1994. In 1962 and 1963, he finished 12th and 21st in NL Most Valuable Player Award voting. (Full article...) -
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On June 12, 1880, Lee Richmond of the Worcester Worcesters threw a perfect game against the Cleveland Blues at Worcester County Agricultural Fairgrounds. It was the first perfect game in Major League Baseball history, which at the time only consisted of the National League.
Richmond joined the Worcesters in 1879, and quickly brought legitimacy to the team with his pitching abilities. The day before his perfect game, Richmond attended graduation festivities at Brown University. After celebrating through the night, he participated in a class baseball game in the morning and only slept for a few hours before pitching his perfect game. Of the 27 batters he faced, the at bat that posed the greatest threat to breaking up the perfect game came in the fifth inning. Blues batter Bill Phillips hit what looked to be a single, but Worcesters right fielder Lon Knight fielded the ball and threw to first baseman Chub Sullivan to record the out. (Full article...) -
Image 6Wilburn Edward "Eddy" Furniss III (born September 18, 1975) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter. A standout college baseball player for Louisiana State University (LSU), Furniss has been inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. He is the 10th athlete, and 2nd baseball player, in LSU history to have his number retired.
With the LSU Tigers, Furniss was a two-time College World Series champion and a two-time All-American. He won the Dick Howser Trophy as college baseball's best player in 1998, and set Southeastern Conference (SEC) records in numerous offensive categories, including home runs and runs batted in (RBIs). He was among the National Collegiate Athletic Association's all-time leaders in home runs and RBIs at the time he graduated from college. (Full article...) -
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In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League Baseball (MLB), having occurred only 344 times, starting with Curry Foley in 1882. The most recent cycle in MLB was accomplished by José Altuve of the Houston Astros on August 28, 2023. (Full article...) -
Image 8Spencer Paul Heath (November 5, 1893 – January 25, 1930) was an American relief pitcher who played in four games for the Chicago White Sox during the 1920 season. Listed at 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) and 170 pounds (77 kg), Heath was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.
Heath was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he lived much of his life. After one season of Minor League Baseball with the Winnipeg Maroons in 1919, he joined the White Sox in 1920. Though he was part of their Opening Day roster in April and stayed with the team through July, he only appeared in four games before the team released him. Afterwards, he played semipro baseball and worked for the Chicago Police Department before dying of double lobar pneumonia and influenza in 1930. (Full article...) -
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Jacob Tanner Diekman (born January 21, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.
With the Phillies, Diekman began as a starting pitcher and progressed through a few levels of the Phillies' farm system in his first two years in that role, before adjusting his mechanics and lowering his arm slot to throw sidearm out of the bullpen, as a relief pitcher. The adjustment worked and helped him move through the remaining levels of the Phillies' farm system. In 2012, Diekman made his major league debut. Over the next two seasons, he split time between the major league Phillies and their Triple-A (AAA) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, though while he was with the major league team, he was considered one of the "lone bright spots" in both 2012 and 2013. Diekman throws a fastball in the upper-90s (mph), a slider, and an occasional changeup; his fastball is among the fastest of any left-handed reliever in the major leagues. (Full article...) -
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Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (/ˈbruːθərz/; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from 1879 to 1896, with a brief return in 1904. Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighed 207 pounds (94 kg), which was large by 19th-century standards.
Recognized as the first great slugger in baseball history, and among the greatest sluggers of his era, he held the record for career home runs from 1887 to 1889, with his final total of 106 tying for the fourth most of the 19th century. His career slugging percentage of .519 remained the Major League record for a player with at least 4,000 at bats until Ty Cobb edged ahead of him in 1922. At the time of his initial retirement, he also ranked second in career triples (205), and third in runs batted in (1,296) and hits. (Full article...) -
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Robert Neil Harvey OAM MBE (born 8 October 1928) is an Australian former cricketer who was a member of the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches. He was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement. An attacking left-handed batsman, sharp fielder and occasional off-spin bowler, Harvey was the senior batsman in the Australian team for much of the 1950s and was regarded by Wisden as the finest fielder of his era. Upon his retirement, Harvey was the second-most prolific Test run-scorer and century-maker for Australia.
One of six cricketing brothers, four of whom represented Victoria, Harvey followed his elder brother Merv into Test cricket and made his debut in January 1948, aged 19 and three months. In his second match, he became the youngest Australian to score a Test century, a record that still stands. Harvey was the youngest member of the 1948 Invincibles of Don Bradman to tour England, regarded as one of the finest teams in history. After initially struggling in English conditions, he made a century on his Ashes debut. Harvey started his career strongly, with six centuries in his first thirteen Test innings at an average over 100, including four in 1949–50 against South Africa, including a match-winning 151 not out on a sticky wicket. As Bradman's team broke up in the 1950s due to retirements, Harvey became Australia's senior batsman, and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1954, in recognition of his feat in scoring more than 2,000 runs during the 1953 tour of England. (Full article...) -
Image 12George H. "Hoss" Hobson (May 4, 1908 – November 19, 2001) was an American athlete and sports coach. After playing college football for Alabama State, Hobson began a coaching career at several high schools, leading his teams to four state championships. In c. 1941, he began his tenure at Alabama A&M University, for which he was best known. He served as head football coach from 1942 to 1959, and was also the athletic director for many years. In the latter position, he revived the school's baseball team and added the sports of basketball, tennis, and golf, serving as the head coach of each for a time. Hobson later served as commissioner of the SIAC and was inducted into both the NACDA and Alabama A&M Halls of Fame. (Full article...)
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Dennis Lawrence "Dan" McGann (July 15, 1871 – December 13, 1910) was an American professional baseball first baseman and second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1896 to 1910, and won the World Series in 1905 with the New York Giants.
After beginning his professional career in minor league baseball in 1895, McGann played in MLB for the Boston Beaneaters (1896), Baltimore Orioles (1898), Brooklyn Superbas (1899), Washington Senators (1899), and St. Louis Cardinals (1900–1901) of the National League (NL) before jumping to the rival American League to play for the Baltimore Orioles in 1902. He returned to the NL, playing for the New York Giants (1902–1907) and Boston Doves (1908). In 1909–10, he played for the Milwaukee Brewers in the American Association. (Full article...) -
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Ramón Emilio Ramírez (born August 31, 1981) is a Dominican former relief pitcher. He pitched for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Ramírez was signed by the Texas Rangers in 1996, as an infielder. After one season in their minor leagues, he was released. He spent the next three years learning how to pitch before joining the Hiroshima Toyo Carp's Dominican academy in 2000. He pitched in two games with the Carp in 2002 and was signed by the New York Yankees in 2003. He spent 2.5 years in their minor leagues before getting traded to the Colorado Rockies in the middle of the 2005 season. Shortly after the 2006 season started, Ramírez was called up by the Rockies, and he went on to have a successful rookie season for them. In 2007, he had an 8.31 ERA with the Rockies and spent time on the disabled list and in the minor leagues. Before the 2008 season, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals. After one season with the Royals, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox. In 2009, his seven wins were tied for third among relief pitchers in the American League. After an inconsistent start to the 2010 season, Ramírez was traded to the San Francisco Giants. He posted a 0.67 ERA with the Giants, helping them reach the playoffs. He gave up runs in 4 of the 5 playoff games he pitched in, but the Giants won their first World Series since 1954. In 2011, Ramírez posted a career-best 2.62 ERA and was traded to the New York Mets after the season. (Full article...) -
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The Addie Joss Benefit Game was an exhibition baseball game played between the Cleveland Naps of the American League and an all-star team composed of players from the league's other teams at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 24, 1911. The game was planned as a benefit for the family of Addie Joss, a pitcher for the Naps who died in April. The all-stars defeated the Naps, 5–3, and the game raised $12,914 for the Joss family ($422,288 in current dollar terms).
Following Joss's death, Cleveland's management announced their plans to put on a benefit for his widow and two young children. Star players from other teams volunteered to form an all-star team to play against the Naps. Paid attendance was 15,272, and many players and team owners contributed money to the Joss family as well. The benefit game preceded the creation of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, first contested in 1933, which raises money for the players' pension fund. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch
- ... that baseball player Mark Littell developed an anatomically correct athletic cup called the "Nutty Buddy"?
- ... that Drew Golz, who was Baseball Academic All-American of the Year and Soccer Academic All-American of the Year, became the first male student athlete to be named Academic All-American of the year for two sports at the same time?
- ... that Salty Parker, who spent 60 years in organized baseball, described his lifelong love of the game as "a beautiful disease"?
- ... that Tom Urbani was an original Dirtbag?
- ... that Major League Baseball set a single-day record with $1.4 billion in new player contracts the day before the 2021 lockout was set to begin?
- ... that after getting drunk and verbally abusing Cap Anson at a baseball game during his off day, Charlie Bartson was released from the Chicago Pirates?
- ... that Didi Gregorius tweets after every game his baseball team wins, and has dedicated emojis for his teammates?
- ... that the infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey played together longer than any other infield foursome in Major League Baseball?
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The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball franchise based in Philadelphia. They play in the National League East division. Also known in their early years as the "Philadelphia Quakers", pitchers for the Phillies have thrown fourteen separate no-hitters in franchise history. A no-hitter is officially recognized by Major League Baseball only "when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings", though one or more batters "may reach base via a walk, an error, a hit by pitch, a passed ball or wild pitch on strike three, or catcher's interference". No-hitters of less than nine complete innings were previously recognized by the league as official; however, several rule alterations in 1991 changed the rule to its current form.
Of the fourteen no-hitters pitched by Phillies players, three have been won by a score of 6–0, and three by a score of 1–0, more common than any other results. The largest margin of victory in a Phillies no-hitter was ten runs, in a 10–0 win by Chick Fraser. Charlie Ferguson's no-hitter, the first in franchise history, was a 1–0 victory, as were two of the more recent regular season no-hitters, thrown by Kevin Millwood in 2003 and Roy Halladay in 2010. Three pitchers to throw no-hitters for the Phillies have been left-handed: Johnny Lush (in 1906), Terry Mulholland (in 1990) and Cole Hamels (in 2015). The other nine pitchers were right-handed. Halladay is the only Phillies' pitcher to throw more than one no-hitter in a Phillies uniform, and others, including Hall of Famer Jim Bunning, have pitched more than one in their careers. The longest interval between Phillies no-hitters was between the games pitched by Lush and Bunning, encompassing 58 years, 1 month, and 20 days from May 1, 1906 to June 21, 1964. Conversely, the shortest interval between no-hitters was between Halladay's two 2010 no-hitters, with a total of merely four months and seven days from May 29 to October 6; the shortest gap between regular-season no-hitters was between Mulholland's and Tommy Greene's games (nine months and eight days from August 15, 1990 to May 23, 1991). Two opponents have been no-hit by the Phillies more than one time: the San Francisco Giants, who were defeated by Mulholland (in 1990) and Millwood (in 2003); and the Cincinnati Reds, who were no-hit by Rick Wise (in 1971) and Halladay (in 2010). (Full article...) -
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The Toronto Blue Jays are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They play in the American League East division. Since the Blue Jays' entrance into the league in 1977, the Blue Jays have selected 72 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning amateur players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. The First-Year Player Draft is unrelated to the 1976 expansion draft in which the Blue Jays initially filled their roster.
Of the 72 players picked in the first round by Toronto, 35 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 26 of them were right-handed, while nine were left-handed. 14 shortstops, 12 outfielders, four catchers and third basemen, and three first basemen have also been selected. The team has never drafted a player at second base in the first round. 38 players were drafted out of high school, while 31 came from four-year college programs and two from junior colleges. They have also drafted two players from Puerto Rico: Alex Ríos (1999) and Miguel Negrón (2000). (Full article...) -
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The Los Angeles Angels are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Anaheim, California. They play in the American League West division. The franchise has also gone by the names "Los Angeles Angels", "California Angels" and "Anaheim Angels" at various points in its history. The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season, though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day. The Angels have used 25 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 51 seasons. The 25 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 26 wins, 18 losses and 7 no decisions. No decisions are awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game. It can also result if a starting pitcher does not pitch five full innings, even if his team retains the lead and wins.
Jered Weaver has the most Opening Day starts for the Angels, with seven, and had 6 consecutive opening day starts from 2010 to 2015. He has a record of three wins and two losses, with one no decision in those starts that resulted in a win. Mike Witt has the second most starts, with five, with one win, three losses, and one no decision that resulted in a loss. Frank Tanana, Mark Langston and Chuck Finley have all made four Opening Day starts for the Angels. Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, Bartolo Colón and Jered Weaver have each made three such starts for the Angels. (Full article...) -
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The Luis Aparicio Award is given annually to a Venezuelan player in Major League Baseball (MLB) who is judged to have recorded the best individual performance in that year. The winner of the award is determined by a vote conducted by Venezuelan sports journalists and Spanish-language media around the world. It is named after former MLB shortstop Luis Aparicio, who is the only player from Venezuela to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The award was first presented in 2004, and was created in order to honour Aparicio's major league career and to commemorate his father, who died thirteen years before his son was elected into the Hall of Fame.
Johan Santana, José Altuve, Miguel Cabrera, and Ronald Acuña Jr. are the only players to win the Luis Aparicio Award more than once, with Cabrera having won the award five times. Cabrera won the MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award and Hank Aaron Award alongside the Luis Aparicio Award in 2012 and 2013, becoming the first Venezuelan to win the MLB MVP Award. Santana, the 2004 and 2006 recipient, also won the Cy Young Award in those two years, winning by a unanimous vote on each occasion. Altuve is the only player to win the Luis Aparicio Award, the MVP award, and become a World Series champion in the same season in 2017. He has also won a batting title in three of his four award seasons. Santana (2006) and Cabrera (2012) are the only award winners to also earn the pitching and batting Triple Crown respectively in the same season. In accomplishing the feat, Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to achieve a Triple Crown in batting since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, while Santana became the first pitcher since Dwight Gooden in 1985 to secure a "Major League Triple Crown" by leading all of MLB in wins, earned run average and strikeouts. Francisco Rodríguez compiled a major league record of 62 saves in a single season in 2008 and went on to win the Rolaids Relief Man Award in the same year as the Luis Aparicio Award. Five winners – Cabrera, Altuve, Magglio Ordóñez, Carlos González, and Arráez – were batting champions in their respective leagues in the same year they won the award. (Full article...) -
Image 5The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in St. Petersburg, Florida. They play in the American League East division. The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season, though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day. The Rays have used fifteen different Opening Day starting pitchers in their twenty-six seasons. Since the franchise's beginning in 1998, the fifteen starters have a combined Opening Day record of seven wins, ten losses (7–10), and nine no decisions. "No decisions" are awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game.
Chris Archer and James Shields holds the Rays' record for most Opening Day starts with four. Archer has one win, two losses, and one no decision, while Shields has one win, one loss, and two no decisions. The all-time record for a Tampa Bay starting pitcher winning an Opening Day game is one, shared by Steve Trachsel, Albie Lopez, Victor Zambrano, James Shields, David Price, Chris Archer, and Shane McClanahan. (Full article...) -
Image 6The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. Before moving to Oakland in 1968, the team played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1901 through 1954 and in Kansas City, Missouri from 1955 through 1967. The Athletics are members of the American League (AL) West division in Major League Baseball (MLB). In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager, or more formally, the field manager. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. The team has employed 30 different managers in its history. The current Athletics' manager is Mark Kotsay.
The franchise's first manager was Hall of Famer Connie Mack, who managed the team for its first fifty seasons. Mack led the Athletics to nine AL championships and five World Series championships—in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 and 1930. The team lost the World Series in 1905, 1914 and 1931, and no World Series was played when the Athletics won the AL championship in 1902. After Jimmy Dykes replaced Mack as the Athletics' manager in 1951, no manager served more than three consecutive seasons until Tony La Russa, who became the Athletics' manager in 1986. During this period, Dick Williams managed the Athletics to two consecutive World Series championships in 1972 and 1973, and Alvin Dark managed the team to a third consecutive World Series championship in 1974. La Russa managed the Athletics to three consecutive AL championships from 1988 through 1990, winning the World Series in 1989. (Full article...) -
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The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to a Major League Baseball (MLB) player who best exhibits the character and integrity of Lou Gehrig, both on the field and off it. The award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in honor of Gehrig, who was a member of the fraternity at Columbia University. It was first presented in 1955, fourteen years after Gehrig's death. The award's purpose is to recognize a player's exemplary contributions in "both his community and philanthropy." The bestowal of the award is overseen by the headquarters of the Phi Delta Theta in Oxford, Ohio, and the name of each winner is inscribed onto the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. It is the only MLB award conferred by a fraternity.
Twenty-eight winners of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The inaugural winner was Alvin Dark. Curt Schilling (1995) and Shane Victorino (2008) received the award for working with the ALS Association and raising money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The disease took Gehrig's life and is eponymously known as "Lou Gehrig's disease". Mike Timlin won the award in 2007 for his efforts in raising awareness and finding a cure for ALS, which took his mother's life in 2002. (Full article...) -
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In baseball, a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) over the same season. The term "Pitching Triple Crown" refers to the pitching achievement of leading a league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average (ERA).
The term "Triple Crown" is typically used when a player leads one league, such as the American League (AL) or the National League (NL), in the specified categories. A tie for a lead in any category, such as home runs, is sufficient to be considered the leader in that category. A "Major League Triple Crown" may be said to occur when a player leads all of Major League Baseball in all three categories. (Full article...) -
Image 9The Chicago White Sox is a U.S. professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox are members of the American League Central Division in Major League Baseball. In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager, or more formally, the field manager. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. Since the inception of the team in 1901, it has employed 41 different managers. The team's current manager is Pedro Grifol. Grifol was hired on November 3, 2022.
Grifol replaced Tony La Russa, who was re-hired on October 29, 2020. La Russa's first managerial stint with the team lasted from 1979 to 1986. (Full article...) -
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The New York Yankees are a Major League Baseball franchise based in the New York City borough of The Bronx. Also known in their early years as the "Baltimore Orioles" (1901–02) and the "New York Highlanders" (1903–1912), the Yankees have had twelve pitchers throw thirteen no-hitters in franchise history. A no-hitter is officially recognized by Major League Baseball only "...when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings. In a no-hit game, a batter may reach base via a walk, an error, a hit by pitch, a passed ball or wild pitch on strike three, or catcher's interference". No-hitters of fewer than nine complete innings were previously recognized by the league as official; however, several rule alterations in 1991 changed the rule to its current form. Four perfect games, a special subcategory of no-hitter, have been pitched in Yankees history. As defined by Major League Baseball, "in a perfect game, no batter reaches any base during the course of the game." This feat was achieved by Don Larsen in 1956, David Wells in 1998, David Cone in 1999, and Domingo German in 2023. Wells later claimed he was a "little hung-over" while throwing his perfect game.
George Mogridge threw the first no-hitter in Yankees history, beating their rival Boston Red Sox 2–1, their only no-hitter in which the opposition scored. Their most recent no-hitter was Domingo Germán's perfect game against the Oakland Athletics during the 2023 season on June 28. The Yankees' first perfect game was also thrown by a right-handed pitcher, Don Larsen, and came in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. Larsen's perfect game was the only no-hitter in MLB postseason play until Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter in Game 1 of the 2010 National League Division Series. Coincidentally, David Cone's perfect game came on "Yogi Berra Day" at Yankee Stadium. Berra had caught Larsen's perfect game and both he and Larsen were in the stands for the game. Of the twelve no-hitters pitched by Yankees players, three each have been won by the scores 4–0 and 2–0, more common than any other result. The largest margin of victory in a Yankees no-hitter was 13 runs in a 13–0 win by Monte Pearson. German's perfect game represented the second largest margin of victory in a Yankees no-hitter, as the Yankees defeated the Athletics 11–0 in the 24th perfect game in MLB history. (Full article...) -
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In baseball, a triple is a hit in which the batter advances to third base in one play, with neither the benefit of a fielding error nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. Triples were more common in baseball's dead-ball era, when teams relied more on stolen bases and hit and run plays than on the home run. More distant fences in old ballparks, such as Pittsburgh's Forbes Field and Detroit's Tiger Stadium, also produced fewer home runs and more triples on well-hit balls. As a result, most of the players on this list have been retired for decades. Only two players in the top 50 all-time career triples leaders played after WWII (Stan Musial and Roberto Clemente), and there are no players in the top 50 who played after 1972.
In 2006, the Hardball Times lamented the decline of the 100-triple player, although three have joined the list since that time. Fangraphs, a statistical website, likewise noted the lack of modern 100-triple hitters in 2013. Of the 162 Major League Baseball players who have hit 100 or more triples, 69 are members of Baseball's Hall of Fame. (Full article...) -
Image 12The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs are members of the National League (NL) Central Division in Major League Baseball (MLB). In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager, or more formally, the field manager. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. Since their inception as the White Stockings in 1876, the Cubs have employed 61 managers. The franchise's first manager was Baseball Hall of Famer Albert Spalding, who helped the White Stockings become the first champions of the newly formed National League.
After co-managing with Silver Flint during the 1879 Chicago White Stockings season, Hall of Famer Cap Anson began an 18-year managerial tenure in 1880, the longest in franchise history. Under Anson, the team won five more NL pennants — in 1880, 1881, 1882, 1885 and 1886—tying the 1885 World Series and losing the 1886 World Series in the process.[a] Anson won 1,283 games as the White Stockings' manager, the most in franchise history. After taking over for Hall of Fame manager Frank Selee in 1905, Frank Chance — another Hall of Famer — managed the team through the 1912 season. During his tenure, the franchise won four more NL pennants in 1906, 1907, 1908, and 1910, winning its only two World Series titles in 1907 and 1908 until 2016 Chance's .664 career winning percentage is the highest of any Cubs manager. After Chance, from 1913 through 1960, the Cubs employed nineteen managers, nine of which were inducted into the Hall of Fame. During this period, the Cubs won six more NL pennants, including three under manager Charlie Grimm. Split between Grimm's two managerial stints in the 1930s and 1940s, plus a brief appearance as manager in 1960, Grimm accumulated 946 career wins, second-most in franchise history behind Anson. (Full article...) -
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In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league[L] wins the "batting title" each season for having the highest batting average that year. The American League (AL) winner is known as the "Rod Carew American League Batting Champion", while the National League (NL) leader is designated the "Tony Gwynn National League Batting Champion". Since 1957, a player must have 3.1 plate appearances (PA) per scheduled game in that league (for a total of 502 over the current 162-game season) to qualify for the batting title. However, if a player's lead in AVG is sufficiently large that enough hitless at bats can be added to reach this requirement and the player still would have the highest batting average, he wins the title. Tony Gwynn, for example, had 159 hits in 451 ABs in 1996 (.353 average) but only 498 PAs. Gwynn's batting average would have dropped to .349 (159 hits in 455 ABs) with four hitless ABs added to reach the 502 PA requirement, but this would still have been higher than the next-highest eligible player (Ellis Burks with a .344 average), so he was awarded the 1996 NL batting title.
The first batting average champion in the NL was Ross Barnes; in the league's inaugural 1876 season, Barnes batted .429 for the Chicago White Stockings. The AL was established in 1901, and Hall of Fame second baseman Nap Lajoie led that league with a .426 average for the Philadelphia Athletics. Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers, who also holds the highest career batting average of .366, led the AL in average in 11 (or 12) seasons. Honus Wagner and Gwynn are tied for the second-most titles, with eight apiece in the NL. It is unclear whether Lajoie or Cobb won the 1910 AL title, with some sources attributing the title to each man.[1910a] If Cobb is credited with the 1910 title, he won 9 consecutive titles from 1907 to 1915 and 12 total titles for his career. Otherwise, Rogers Hornsby won the most consecutive titles, with six from 1920 to 1925. Without the 1910 title, Cobb still led the league in five consecutive seasons from 1911 to 1915. Cobb holds the record for highest average in two and three consecutive seasons (.414 from 1911 to 1912 and .408 from 1911 to 1913), but Hornsby holds the record for four and five consecutive seasons (.404 from 1922 to 1925 and .402 from 1921 to 1925). Wagner, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, and Gwynn have each won four consecutive titles. Lajoie also had a streak of four league-leading seasons from 1901 to 1904 if he is credited with the contested AL title in 1902.[1902a] At the 2016 MLB All-Star Game in San Diego, MLB announced that the AL and NL batting champions would henceforth be named in honor of Carew and Gwynn, respectively. Gwynn won all eight titles in the NL with the San Diego Padres, while Carew was a seven-time AL batting champion. (Full article...) -
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The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball franchise based in Chicago. They play in the American League Central division. The White Sox have used 62 Opening Day starting pitchers since they were established as a Major League team in 1901. The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season, though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day. The White Sox have a record of 60 wins and 53 losses in their Opening Day games, through the 2013 season.
The White Sox have played in three different home ball parks. They played at South Side Park from 1901 through the middle of 1910, the first Comiskey Park from 1910 through 1990, and have played at the second Comiskey Park, now known as U.S. Cellular Field, since 1991. They had a record of four wins and two losses in Opening Day games at South Side Park, 18 wins and 19 losses at the first Comiskey Park and four wins and one loss at U.S. Cellular Field, for a total home record in Opening Day games of 27 wins and 22 losses. Their record in Opening Day away games is 33 wins and 31 losses. (Full article...) -
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In Major League Baseball, the 300-win club is the group of pitchers who have won 300 or more games. Twenty-four pitchers have reached this milestone. This list does not include Bobby Mathews who won 297 in the major leagues plus several more in 1869 and 1870 before the major leagues were established in 1871. The San Francisco Giants are the only franchise to see four players reach 300 wins while on their roster: Tim Keefe in the Players' League, Christy Mathewson and Mickey Welch while the team was in New York, and most recently Randy Johnson. Early in the history of professional baseball, many of the rules favored the pitcher over the batter; the distance pitchers threw to home plate was shorter than today, and pitchers were able to use foreign substances to alter the direction of the ball. Moreover, pitchers started games far more frequently than modern pitchers do; in the second half of the 1884 season Old Hoss Radbourn started every other game. The first player to win 300 games was Pud Galvin in 1888. Seven pitchers recorded all or the majority of their career wins in the 19th century: Galvin, Cy Young, Kid Nichols, Keefe, John Clarkson, Charles Radbourn, and Welch. Four more pitchers joined the club in the first quarter of the 20th century: Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Eddie Plank, and Grover Cleveland Alexander. Young is the all-time leader in wins with 511, a mark that is considered unbreakable. If a modern-day pitcher won 20 games per season for 25 seasons, he would still be 11 games short of Young's mark.
Only three pitchers—Lefty Grove, Warren Spahn, and Early Wynn—joined the 300-win club between 1924 and 1982, which may be explained by a number of factors: the abolition of the spitball; World War II military service, such as Bob Feller's; and the growing importance of the home run in the game. As the home run became commonplace, the physical and mental demands on pitchers dramatically increased, which led to the use of a four-man starting rotation. Between 1982 and 1990, the 300-win club gained six members: Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, and Tom Seaver. These pitchers benefited from baseball's increase from a 154-game schedule to a 162-game schedule in 1961, and expansion of the league from 16 teams in 1960 to 26 by 1977. The increased use of specialized relief pitchers, an expanded strike zone, and new stadiums, including Shea Stadium, Dodger Stadium and the Astrodome, that were pitcher's parks all also suppressed offensive production. Also, the increasing sophistication of training methods and sports medicine - such as Tommy John surgery - allowed players to maintain a high competitive level for a longer time. Randy Johnson, for example, won more games in his 40s than he did in his 20s. (Full article...)
More did you know
- ... that Baseball Hall of Fame executive Ed Barrow discovered Honus Wagner, converted Babe Ruth into an outfielder, and pioneered the first uniform numbers?
- ... that Matt Cain threw more pitches in his perfect game than any other perfect game pitcher before him?
- ... that Chris Archer pitched USA Baseball's International Performance of the Year in 2010?
- ... that Ross Youngs is the member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who died at the youngest age?
- ... that Cotton Tierney's great-great-nephew named a website after him that has received over 4 million page views?
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Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. Two different incarnations of a Brooklyn Dodgers football team also played at the stadium. The park opened on April 9, 1913, and was demolished in 1960, three years after the team relocated to Los Angeles.
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