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 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 advancing 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 a 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 spread throughout the rest of the Americas and the Asia–Pacific in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is now 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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Thurman Lowell Tucker (September 26, 1917 – May 7, 1993) was an American professional baseball player. A center fielder, Tucker played in Major League Baseball for nine seasons in the American League with the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians. In 701 career games, Tucker recorded a batting average of .255 and accumulated 24 triples, nine home runs, and 179 runs batted in (RBI). Due to his resemblance of the film comedian Joe E. Brown, Tucker was nicknamed "Joe E.".
Born and raised in Texas, Tucker first played professionally with the Siloam Springs Travelers. After gradually progressing through minor league baseball, he signed with the Chicago White Sox before the 1941 season. His major league debut came the following year and he spent two years as the White Sox's starting center fielder until he enlisted in the armed forces during World War II. Upon his return, Tucker played two more seasons for the White Sox. Subsequently, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians, for whom he played four years, and continued to play minor league baseball throughout the 1950s. After his retirement, he became a major league scout and insurance agent. (Full article...) -
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Daniel Lucius "Doc" Adams (November 1, 1814 – January 3, 1899) was an American baseball player and executive who is regarded by historians as an important figure in the sport's early years. For most of his career he was a member of the New York Knickerbockers. He first played for the New York Base Ball Club in 1840 and started his Knickerbockers career five years later, continuing to play for the club into his forties and to take part in inter-squad practice games and matches against opposing teams. Researchers have called Adams the creator of the shortstop position, which he used to field short throws from outfielders. In addition to his playing career, Adams manufactured baseballs and oversaw bat production; he also occasionally acted as an umpire.
From 1847 to 1861, the Knickerbockers selected Adams as their president six times, and as a vice president, treasurer, or director in six other years. As president of the club, Adams was an advocate of rule changes in baseball that resulted in nine-man teams and nine-inning games. When the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was formed in 1858, he led the rules and regulations committee of the new organization. In his role, Adams ruled that the fields' bases should be 90 feet (27 m) apart, the modern distance, and supported the elimination of the "bound rule", which allowed for balls caught after one bounce to be recorded as outs. He resigned from his positions with the Knickerbockers and NABBP in 1862. Adams' contributions in creating baseball's rules went largely unrecognized for decades after his 1899 death, but in 1980 a letter about him appeared in The New York Times; by 1993, researcher John Thorn had written about Adams' role. Other historians have given him credit for helping to develop the sport, and Thorn has called Adams "first among the Fathers of Baseball". (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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James Howard Thome (/ˈtoʊmi/; TOH-mee; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, third baseman and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). A prolific power hitter, Thome hit 612 home runs during his career—the eighth-most all time. He amassed a total of 2,328 hits and 1,699 runs batted in (RBIs). His career batting average was .276. He was a member of five All-Star teams and won a Silver Slugger Award in 1996.
Thome grew up in Peoria, Illinois, as part of a large blue-collar family of athletes, who predominantly played baseball and basketball. After attending Illinois Central College, he was drafted by the Indians in the 1989 draft, and made his big league debut in 1991. Early in his career, Thome played third base, before eventually becoming a first baseman. With the Indians, he was part of a core of players that led the franchise to five consecutive playoff appearances in the 1990s, including World Series appearances in 1995 and 1997. Thome spent over a decade with Cleveland, before leaving via free agency after the 2002 season, to join the Philadelphia Phillies, with whom he spent the following three seasons. Traded to the Chicago White Sox before the 2006 season, he won the American League (AL) Comeback Player of the Year Award that year and joined the 500 home run club during his three-season tenure with the White Sox. By this point in his career, back pain limited Thome to being a designated hitter. After stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins, he made brief returns to Cleveland and Philadelphia, before ending his career with the Baltimore Orioles. Upon retiring, Thome accepted an executive position with the White Sox. (Full article...) -
Image 5Adenhart pitching for the Salt Lake Bees in 2008
Nicholas James Adenhart (August 24, 1986 – April 9, 2009) was an American right-handed baseball starting pitcher who played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In just four career games, Adenhart pitched 18 innings and posted a win-loss record of 1–0.
A graduate of Williamsport High School, Adenhart was highly touted as a high school prospect until an injury in his final game required Tommy John surgery. The Angels drafted him in the 14th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft, and began playing in their minor league system after the surgery was a success. He spent three full seasons in the minor leagues before making his major league debut on May 1, 2008. After appearing in three games, Adenhart spent the rest of 2008 in the minor leagues developing his skills, and in 2009 he earned a spot in the Angels' starting rotation. (Full article...) -
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Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (/ˈstɛŋɡəl/; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New York Mets. Nicknamed "the Ol' Perfessor", he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.
Stengel was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1890. In 1910, he began a professional baseball career that would span over half a century. After almost three seasons in the minor leagues, Stengel reached the major leagues late in 1912, as an outfielder, for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His six seasons there saw some success, among them playing for Brooklyn's 1916 National League championship team, but he also developed a reputation as a clown. After repeated clashes over pay with the Dodgers owner, Charlie Ebbets, Stengel was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1918; however, he enlisted in the Navy that summer, for the remainder of World War I. After returning to baseball, he continued his pay disputes, resulting in trades to the Philadelphia Phillies (in 1919) and to the New York Giants (in 1921). There, he learned much about baseball from the manager, John McGraw, and had a number of highlights in his career, including hitting an inside-the-park home run in Game 1 of the 1923 World Series to defeat the Yankees. His major league playing career ended with the Boston Braves in 1925, but he then began a career as a manager. (Full article...) -
Image 7Rogers Hornsby tags out Babe Ruth who is caught attempting to steal second base, ending the 1926 World Series.
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 37 World Series (and win 26 of those), as of the end of the 2024 season. (Full article...) -
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On July 10, 1932, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians 18–17 in 18 innings in a Major League Baseball game played at League Park in Cleveland. Several major-league records were set during the game; for example, Johnny Burnett of the Indians became the only player to hit safely nine (or even eight) times in a game, while Cleveland's 33 hits and the teams' combined 58 hits are also single-game records. Pitcher Eddie Rommel secured the win for the Athletics, pitching an American League-record 17 innings in relief after Philadelphia's Lew Krausse gave up three runs in the first inning. The 29 hits Rommel allowed are a major-league record; the 14 runs against him are the most given up by a winning pitcher.
Coming into the game, the Athletics, who were the three-time defending American League champions, trailed the New York Yankees in the standings by 71⁄2 games. Sunday baseball was still illegal in Philadelphia, forcing the Athletics to make one-game road trips on some Sundays, including July 10. With his pitching staff exhausted by six games in the previous three days, the owner and manager of the Athletics, Connie Mack, took only two pitchers on the train trip to Cleveland, giving the rest of the staff the day off. With no chance of being relieved except by a position player, Rommel pitched with mixed effectiveness, giving up six runs in the seventh inning but only two runs in the final nine innings of the game. He aided his own cause by getting three hits in seven at bats. Cleveland's Wes Ferrell took the loss after Jimmie Foxx got his sixth hit of the game and then scored. Foxx had already batted in eight runs, having hit three home runs and accumulated sixteen total bases, tying a record that has since been broken. (Full article...) -
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Orval Leroy Grove (August 29, 1919 – April 20, 1992) was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for ten seasons in the American League with the Chicago White Sox. In 207 career games, Grove pitched 1,176 innings and posted a win–loss record of 63–73, with 66 complete games, 11 shutouts, and a 3.78 earned run average (ERA).
The only freshman on the Proviso Township High School varsity baseball team, Grove's pitching ability attracted the attention of the White Sox. After signing with the team in 1937, Grove moved between the major leagues and minor leagues for a few seasons until 1943, when he found a solid place in the White Sox's pitching rotation. Grove had a career-year in 1943, finishing the season with career-bests in ERA, wins, and complete games; in 1944, he made his only All-Star appearance. (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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Riders Field, formerly known as Dr Pepper/Seven Up Ballpark and Dr Pepper Ballpark, is a baseball park in Frisco, Texas, United States. The home of the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League, it opened on April 3, 2003, and can seat up to 10,216 people. Though primarily a venue for Minor League Baseball games, the facility also hosts high school and college baseball tournaments, and other public and private events throughout the year. It has been the site of three Texas League All-Star Games.
Since its opening, Riders Field has won awards and garnered praise for its unique design, feel, and numerous amenities. In his design, park architect David M. Schwarz desired the creation of a village-like "park within a (ball)park". The stadium received the 2003 Texas Construction Award for Best Architectural Design. (Full article...) -
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A picture of a Wii Sports disc
Wii Sports is a 2006 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in North America along with the Wii on 19 November 2006, and in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month. It was included as a pack-in game with the console in all territories except Japan, making it the first sports game included with the launch of a Nintendo system since Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy in 1995. The game was later released on its own as part of the Nintendo Selects collection of games.
Wii Sports is a collection of five sports simulations designed to demonstrate the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii Remote. The five sports included are tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing. Players use the Wii Remote to mimic actions performed in real-life sports, such as swinging a tennis racket or rolling a bowling ball. The rules for each game are simplified to make them more accessible to new players. The game also features training and fitness modes that monitor players' progress in the sports. (Full article...) -
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Cobb in 1913
During the 1912 baseball season, center fielder Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers was suspended for ten days after entering the spectator stands at New York's Hilltop Park during a game and physically assaulting Claude Lucker, a heckler. At the time, Cobb was among the biggest stars in the major leagues. American League president Ban Johnson suspended Cobb and fined him $50 ($1,600 in 2024).
Cobb had been Lucker's verbal target throughout the four-game series between the Tigers and New York Yankees. Facing a continued stream of insults and questioning about his racial ancestry, Cobb lost his temper in the fourth inning of the fourth game, on May 15, 1912. He raced into the stands, punching and kicking Lucker; Lucker had lost eight fingers in an industrial accident and could not defend himself. Cobb was ejected from the game. Johnson witnessed these events and suspended Cobb indefinitely. Since there were few protections for ballplayers at the time from insults and objects hurled by fans, many took Cobb's side, including his teammates. After defeating 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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Ichiro Suzuki was the first high-profile NPB player (second overall) to use the posting system.
The posting system (ポスティングシステム, posutingu shisutemu) is a baseball player transfer system that operates between Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). Despite the drafting of the United States – Japanese Player Contract Agreement, unveiled in 1967 to regulate NPB players moving to MLB, problems began to arise in the late 1990s. Some NPB teams lost star players without compensation, an issue highlighted when NPB stars Hideo Nomo and Alfonso Soriano left to play in MLB after using loopholes to void their existing contracts. A further problem was that NPB players had very little negotiating power if their teams decided to deal them to MLB, as when pitcher Hideki Irabu was traded to an MLB team for which he had no desire to play. In 1998, the Agreement was rewritten to address both problems; the result was dubbed the "posting system".
Under this system, when an NPB player is "posted", his NPB team notifies the MLB Commissioner, with the posting fee based on the type of contract a player signs and its value. For minor-league contracts, the fee is a flat 25% of contract's value; for MLB contracts, the fee is based on the value of the contract that the posted player eventually signs. The player is then given 30 days to negotiate with any MLB team willing to pay the NPB team's posting fee. If the player agrees on contract terms with a team before the 30-day period has expired, the NPB team receives the posting fee from the signing MLB team as a transfer fee, and the player is free to play in MLB. If no MLB team comes to a contract agreement with the posted player, then no fee is paid, and the player's rights revert to his NPB team. The current process replaced one in which MLB held a silent auction during which MLB teams submitted sealed, uncapped bids in an attempt to win the exclusive negotiating rights with the posted player for a period of 30 days. Once the highest bidding MLB team was determined, the player could then only negotiate with that team. (Full article...) -
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Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yankees. First known as a scrappy infielder who made considerable contributions to the championship Yankee teams of the 1950s, he then built a reputation as a manager who would initially make bad teams good, before ultimately being fired amid dysfunction. In each of his stints with the Yankees he managed them to winning records before being fired by team owner George Steinbrenner or resigning under fire, usually amid a well-publicized scandal such as Martin's involvement in an alcohol-fueled fight.
Martin was born in a working-class section of Berkeley, California. His skill as a baseball player gave him a route out of his home town. Signed by the Pacific Coast League Oakland Oaks, Martin learned much from Casey Stengel, the man who would manage him both in Oakland and in New York, with whom he enjoyed a close relationship. Martin's spectacular catch of a wind-blown Jackie Robinson popup late in Game Seven of the 1952 World Series saved that series for the Yankees, and he was the hitting star of the 1953 World Series, earning the Most Valuable Player award in the Yankee victory. He missed most of two seasons, 1954 and 1955, after being drafted into the Army, and his abilities never fully returned; the Yankees traded him after a brawl at the Copacabana club in New York during the 1957 season. Martin bitterly resented being traded, and did not speak to Stengel for years, a time during which Martin completed his playing career with various teams. (Full article...)
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Image 1The 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 2A batter follows through after swinging at a pitched ball. (from Baseball rules)
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Image 3Pitchers are generally substituted during mound visits (team gatherings at the pitcher's mound). (from Baseball rules)
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Image 4Sadaharu 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 5Cy 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 8Cover of Official Base Ball Rules, 1921 edition, used by the American League and National League (from Baseball rules)
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Image 9An Afghan girl playing baseball in August 2002 (from Baseball)
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Image 10The typical motion of a right-handed pitcher (from Baseball rules)
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Image 112013 World Baseball Classic championship match between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, March 20, 2013 (from Baseball)
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Image 12Diagram indicating the standard layout of positions (from Baseball)
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Image 14A first baseman receives a pickoff throw, as the runner dives back to first base. (from Baseball)
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Image 15In 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 16The standard fielding positions (from Baseball rules)
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Image 17Baserunners generally stand a short distance away from their base between pitches, preparing themselves to either go back or steal the next base. (from Baseball rules)
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Image 18Fenway 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 19By the 1860s Civil War, baseball (bottom) had overtaken its fellow bat-and-ball sport cricket (top) in popularity within the United States. (from History of baseball)
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Image 20The strike zone, which determines the outcome of most pitches, varies in vertical length depending on the batter's typical height while swinging. (from Baseball rules)
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Image 21A runner sliding into home plate and scoring. (from Baseball)
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Image 22The strike zone determines the result of most pitches, and varies in vertical length for each batter. (from Baseball)
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Image 23A pitcher handing off the ball after being taken out of the game during a mound meeting. (from Baseball)
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Image 24Rickey 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 25Jackie 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 27Sadaharu 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 28Diagram 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 30Japanese-Americans spectating a World War II-era game while in an internment camp. America's ties to immigrants and to Japan have been deeply shaped by a shared baseball heritage. (from History of baseball)
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Image 31Pick-off attempt on runner (in red) at first base (from Baseball rules)
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Image 33The 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 34Alexander Cartwright, father of modern baseball (from History of baseball)
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Image 37A well-worn baseball (from Baseball)
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Image 38Baseball games sometimes end in a walk-off home run, with the batting team usually gathering at home plate to celebrate the scoring of the winning run(s). (from Baseball rules)
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Image 40Jackie 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 411906 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 42Pesäpallo, 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 44A New York Yankees batter (Andruw Jones) and a Boston Red Sox catcher at Fenway Park (from Baseball)
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Kevin Edmund Youkilis (/ˈjuːkəlɪs/; born March 15, 1979), nicknamed "Youk" /ˈjuːk/, is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman, who primarily played for the Boston Red Sox. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was drafted by the Red Sox in 2001, after playing college baseball at the University of Cincinnati. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees. He later served as a special assistant to the Chicago Cubs and former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein.
Known for his ability to get on base, while he was still a minor leaguer, Youkilis was nicknamed "Euclis: The Greek God of Walks" in the best-selling book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. A Gold Glove Award-winning first baseman, he once held baseball's record for most consecutive errorless games at first base (later broken by Casey Kotchman). He is also a three-time MLB All-Star, two-time World Series Champion, and winner of the 2008 Hank Aaron Award. (Full article...) -
Image 2Grant with the Minnesota Vikings in 1968
Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (May 20, 1927 – March 11, 2023) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). Grant was head coach of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings for 18 seasons; he was the team's second (1967–83) and fourth (1985) head coach, leading them to four Super Bowl appearances, 11 division titles, one league championship and three National Football Conference championships. Before coaching the Vikings, he was the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for 10 seasons, winning the Grey Cup four times.
Grant attended the University of Minnesota and was a three-sport athlete, in football, basketball, and baseball. After college, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis Lakers where he won the 1950 NBA Finals. Grant left the NBA to play in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles before leaving for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL. A statue of Grant stands in front of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' current stadium, Princess Auto Stadium. (Full article...) -
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Timothy Scott Baker (born September 19, 1981) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He stands 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall and weighs 215 pounds (98 kg). He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers. He bats and throws right-handed.
Baker grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, and attended Oklahoma State University. He was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft and reached the major leagues in 2005. In 2006, he made their starting rotation out of Spring training but struggled and was sent to the minor leagues for most of the rest of the season. Beginning 2007 in the minors, he was called up in May and nearly threw a perfect game on August 31. He went 11–4 in 2008 and posted a 3.45 earned run average (ERA). In 2009, Baker logged a career-high 200 innings and started the American League (AL) tiebreaker game against the Detroit Tigers which the Twins won to advance to the postseason. He had a 12–9 record in 2010 but battled injuries towards the end of the year and was left out of the Twins' postseason rotation. Injuries limited Baker in 2011 again, but he was the only Twins' pitcher to post a winning record. He missed 2012 after undergoing Tommy John surgery; this also caused him to miss most of 2013, which he spent with the Chicago Cubs. He began 2014 in the minor leagues but was later added to the Texas Rangers' roster. Baker started eight games for the Rangers but was used mainly as a relief pitcher. In 2015, he signed with the New York Yankees but was released before the season started. Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he started two games for them, the last appearances of his major league career. (Full article...) -
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Adrian "Addie" Joss (April 12, 1880 – April 14, 1911), nicknamed "the Human Hairpin", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Cleveland Bronchos of Major League Baseball, later known as the Naps, between 1902 and 1910. Joss, who was 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg), pitched the fourth perfect game in baseball history (which, additionally, was only the second of the modern era). His 1.89 career earned run average (ERA) is the second-lowest in MLB history, behind Ed Walsh, while his career WHIP of 0.968 is the lowest of all-time.
Joss was born and raised in Wisconsin, where he attended St. Mary's College (later part of Wyalusing Academy) in Prairie du Chien and the University of Wisconsin. He played baseball at St. Mary's and then played in a semipro league where he caught the attention of Connie Mack. Joss did not sign with Mack's team, but he attracted further major league interest after winning 19 games in 1900 for the Toledo Mud Hens. Joss had another strong season for Toledo in 1901. (Full article...) -
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Joshua Patrick Beckett (born May 15, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A three-time MLB All-Star, he played for the Florida Marlins, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After a stellar high school career in which he was regarded as one of the top baseball prospects in the U.S., Beckett was drafted by the Marlins with the second overall pick in the 1999 MLB draft. He won the 2003 World Series with the Marlins and the 2007 World Series with the Red Sox, receiving the 2003 World Series MVP award and the 2007 American League Championship Series MVP award. Beckett was traded from the Marlins to the Red Sox in 2006 and from the Red Sox to the Dodgers in 2012, both as part of multi-player transactions. (Full article...) -
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Robert Vavasour Ferguson (January 31, 1845 – May 3, 1894) was an American infielder, league official, manager and umpire in the early days of baseball, playing both before and after baseball became a professional sport. In addition to playing and managing, he served as president of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players from 1872 through 1875, the sport's first entirely professional league. His character and unquestioned honesty were highly regarded during a period in baseball history where the game's reputation was badly damaged by gamblers and rowdy behavior by players and fans. However, his bad temper and stubbornness were traits that created trouble for him at times during his career, and caused him to be disliked by many. His nickname, "Death to Flying Things", was derived from his greatness as a defensive player. (Full article...) -
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Wilbur Forrester Wood Jr. (born October 22, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched for the Boston Red Sox (1961–64), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1964–65), and the Chicago White Sox (1967–78). A knuckleball specialist after joining the White Sox, he threw left-handed and batted right-handed.
Raised in Belmont, Massachusetts, Wood played several sports in high school and was signed by his hometown Boston Red Sox in 1960. He pitched sparingly for them over parts of four seasons before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1964. Seldom-used by the team in 1965, he spent all of 1966 in the minor leagues before being traded to the White Sox. Wood, who had previously relied on a fastball and curveball, refined the knuckleball with the help of veteran knuckleball specialist Hoyt Wilhelm. He spent the next four seasons as a relief pitcher for Chicago. In 1968, he set a record (broken the next year) with 88 games pitched and was named the Sporting News American League (AL) Fireman of the Year. (Full article...) -
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Casey McGehee on the Milwaukee Brewers puts a ball in play
In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a foul ball counts as a strike against the batter, unless there are already two strikes on the batter, with special rules applying to foul tips and foul bunts. Fly balls are those hit in an arcing manner, with pop-ups being a subset of fly balls that do not travel far. Line drives are batted balls hit on a straight line trajectory, while ground balls are hit at a low trajectory, contact the ground shortly after being hit, and then either roll or bounce. Batted balls, especially line drives, can present a hazard to players, umpires, and spectators, as people have been seriously injured or killed after being struck by batted balls. (Full article...) -
Image 9Sigmund Jakucki (August 20, 1909 – May 28, 1979), nicknamed "Sig" or "Jack", was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball who appeared in 72 games over all or part of three seasons (1936 and 1944–1945) for the St. Louis Browns. He is best known for defeating the New York Yankees, 5–2, in the final game of the 1944 regular season to clinch the American League (AL) pennant for the Browns, their only AL championship. A hard-throwing right-hander, he was listed as 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and 198 pounds (90 kg).
A Camden, New Jersey, native, Jakucki relocated to Galveston, Texas, in 1934. Formerly a shortstop and outfielder, it was in Galveston where he became primarily a pitcher. He first pitched with the Browns in 1936 but failed to make their roster in 1937 and stopped playing professionally after 1938. However, due to a shortage of available players during World War II, the Browns sent him a letter inviting him to 1944 spring training. He made the roster and threw four shutouts as the Browns bested the Detroit Tigers in the pennant race. He started Game 4 of the 1944 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals but took the loss, as the Cardinals ultimately won the series in six games. Jakucki was the Opening Day starter for the Browns in 1945 but was suspended from the team in September after showing up drunk to a team train ride. He pitched two more seasons in the minor leagues, then returned to Galveston, where he spent the rest of his life. He was well known for his penchant for alcohol, as well as his combative nature. (Full article...) -
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Mark Thomas DeRosa (born February 26, 1975) is an American former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 to 2013. He played for the Atlanta Braves (1998–2004), Texas Rangers (2005–2006), Chicago Cubs (2007–2008), Cleveland Indians (2009), St. Louis Cardinals (2009), San Francisco Giants (2010–2011), Washington Nationals (2012), and Toronto Blue Jays (2013). DeRosa primarily played third base and second base, but he started at every position other than center field, pitcher, and catcher. He currently works for MLB Network as a studio analyst. He managed the United States national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, leading them to a silver medal.
A Carlstadt, New Jersey, native, DeRosa attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he led the football team to consecutive Ivy League championships as their quarterback in 1994 and 1995. He also played baseball for the Quakers, and he chose to sign when the Braves selected him in the seventh round (212th overall) of the 1996 MLB draft. Originally a shortstop, DeRosa debuted with the Braves briefly in 1998. He gradually got more playing time over the next few seasons, especially after transitioning to a utility player in 2001. In 2004, the Braves tried using him as their starting third baseman, but he was benched in June after struggling. Not offered a contract after the season, he signed with the Rangers. After playing just 66 games with them in 2005, he became an everyday player in 2006, batting .296 and setting career highs in several offensive categories. (Full article...) -
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Logan Gaffney Drake (December 26, 1899 – June 1, 1940) was an American professional baseball pitcher, a right-hander who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1922 to 1924 for the Cleveland Indians. In 10 career games, Drake pitched 182⁄3 innings and posted a win–loss record of 0–1 with a 7.71 earned run average (ERA).
Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Drake began his professional career in 1919. He spent the next four seasons in the minor leagues, and was signed by the Cleveland Indians in late 1922. He played for the Indians at the end of the 1922 and 1923 seasons as well as the 1924 season until his release. He spent the rest of 1924 with the Wichita Falls Spudders until an injury caused him to lose his index finger. Despite the injury, he continued to play professional baseball until 1928. He then retired to South Carolina, operating a sandwich business until his death in 1940. (Full article...) -
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Kyle Rodney Kendrick (born August 26, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, and Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Kendrick was born in Houston, Texas but attended high school in Mount Vernon, Washington. While growing up, he was greatly influenced by his father, from whom he developed his composure when pitching. Upon graduation, Kendrick turned down a scholarship to play college football, instead signing a contract to begin his pro baseball career with the Phillies. After a slow ascent through Minor League Baseball (MiLB), he made his MLB debut in 2007, and was a member of the starting rotation of the 2008 World Series Championship team. (Full article...) -
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Paul Bernard Krichell (December 19, 1882 – June 4, 1957) was a French Major League Baseball catcher, best known for being the head scout for the New York Yankees for 37 years until his death. Krichell's talent evaluations and signings played a key role in building up the Yankees' run of success from the Murderers' Row teams of the 1920s to the 1950s teams led by Casey Stengel.
Krichell began his professional career in the minor leagues, playing as the reserve catcher for the St. Louis Browns before a serious injury threatened his career. He continued to play in the minor leagues and began to move into coaching before Yankees manager Ed Barrow signed him as a scout in 1920. Considered one of the greatest scouts in baseball history, Krichell signed over 200 players who later played professional baseball, including future Baseball Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, and Tony Lazzeri. His recommendation of Stengel as the Yankees manager was instrumental in Stengel's appointment in 1948. Barrow called Krichell "the best judge of baseball players he ever saw". (Full article...) -
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Jerry Michael Reinsdorf (born February 25, 1936) is an American sports executive and businessman who is the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the owner of the White Sox and Bulls for nearly 40 years. As of May 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$2.2 billion.
He made his initial fortune in real estate, taking advantage of the Frank Lyon Co. v. United States decision by the United States Supreme Court, which allowed economic owners of realty to sell property and lease it back, while transferring the tax deduction for depreciation to the title owner. (Full article...) -
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George Edward "Duffy" Lewis (April 18, 1888 – June 17, 1979) was an American professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the Washington Senators from 1910 to 1921.
Lewis attended Saint Mary's College of California. He made his MLB debut with the Red Sox in 1910, where he formed the Golden Outfield with Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper. He won three World Series championships with Boston (1912, 1915, and 1916). The Red Sox traded Lewis to the Yankees, where he played in 1919 and 1920, before they traded him to the Senators before the 1921 season. He continued to play and manage in the minor leagues until 1929. (Full article...)
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- ... that Gaylord Perry admitted that he had cheated in baseball in his autobiography Me and the Spitter?
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Image 1
Mark Teixeira (2001) played 162 games for the Rangers in back-to-back seasons and finished second in the MVP voting in 2009.
The Texas Rangers are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. They play in the American League West division. Before 1972 (and for the first seven years of the draft), they were known as the Washington Senators and based in Washington, D.C. Since the institution of MLB's Rule 4 Draft, the Rangers franchise has selected 68 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 baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball 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.
Of the 71 players picked in the first round by Washington or Texas, 37 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 27 of these were right-handed, while 10 were left-handed. Twelve outfielders, nine third basemen, six shortstops, four catchers, two first basemen, and one second baseman were also taken. Fourteen of the players came from high schools or colleges in the state of Texas, and California follows with ten players. The Rangers have drafted one player, Tanner Scheppers in 2009, who was playing in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball at the time of the draft. Scheppers was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 29th round of the 2005 MLB Draft, and by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round of the 2008 MLB Draft. (Full article...) -
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Brooks Robinson won 16 Gold Gloves, leading all third basemen, and is tied for the second-highest win total in the history of the award.
The Gold Glove Award is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), as voted by the managers and coaches in each league. Managers are not permitted to vote for their own players. Eighteen Gold Gloves are awarded each year (with the exception of 1957, 1985, 2007 and 2018), one at each of the nine positions in each league. In 1957, the baseball glove manufacturer Rawlings created the Gold Glove Award to commemorate the best fielding performance at each position. The award was created from a glove made from gold lamé-tanned leather and affixed to a walnut base. Initially, only one Gold Glove per position was awarded to the top fielder at each position in the entire league; however, separate awards were given for the National and American Leagues beginning in 1958.
Brooks Robinson won 16 Gold Gloves with the Baltimore Orioles, leading both the American League and all third basemen in awards won. Mike Schmidt is tied with Nolan Arenado for second in wins at third base; Schmidt won 10 with the Philadelphia Phillies and is tied for National League third basemen in Gold Gloves. Arenado also has 10, 8 with the Rockies and 2 with the Cardinals. Scott Rolen owns the fourth-highest total, winning eight awards. Rolen won with the Phillies, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cincinnati Reds. Six-time winners at third base are Buddy Bell, Eric Chavez, and Robin Ventura. Adrián Beltré, Ken Boyer, Matt Chapman, Doug Rader, and Ron Santo have each won five Gold Gloves at third base, and four-time winners include Gary Gaetti and Matt Williams. Hall of Famers who have won a Gold Glove at the position include Robinson, Rolen, Schmidt, Santo, Wade Boggs, and George Brett. (Full article...) -
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Roy Halladay is the only pitcher in Phillies history to throw multiple no-hit games with the team: a perfect game in May 2010; and a postseason no-hitter in October of that year.
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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In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat, and is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats. The achievement of a .400 batting average in a season was historically recognized as the coveted "standard of hitting excellence", in light of how batting .300 in a season is already regarded as very good. There have been 50 officially-recognized instances of a player having recorded a batting average of at least .400 in a single Major League Baseball (MLB) season, but none have done so since 1943, when Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays hit .466, the single-season record. In the National League, the last to do so was Bill Terry of the New York Giants in 1930. Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox is the last player to hit .400 in the American League. Four players – Ed Delahanty, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby and Oscar Charleston – have accomplished the feat in three different seasons, Ross Barnes was the first player to bat .400 in a season, posting a .429 batting average in the National League's inaugural 1876 season.
In total, 36 players have reached the .400 mark in MLB history and seven have done so more than once. Of these, eighteen were left-handed batters, seventeen were right-handed, and one was a switch hitter, meaning they could bat from either side of the plate. Two of these players (Terry and Williams) played for only one major league team. The Philadelphia Phillies are the only franchise to have three players reach the milestone in the same season: Ed Delahanty, Billy Hamilton, Sam Thompson, all of whom Hall of Fame outfielders who attained a batting average over .400 during the 1894 season. The Homestead Grays are the only franchise with four players recording a .400 single-season batting average, albeit in different years: Joe Strong (1932), Josh Gibson (1937, 1943), Buck Leonard (1938) and David Whatley (1939) all hit .400 while playing for the Grays. Three players won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in the same year as their .400 season: Ty Cobb (1911), George Sisler (1922) and Rogers Hornsby (1925). Rap Dixon, Tip O'Neill, Nap Lajoie, Josh Gibson (twice), Willie Wells, Mule Suttles, Oscar Charleston (twice), Heavy Johnson and Rogers Hornsby (twice) also earned the Triple Crown alongside achieving a .400 batting average, leading their respective leagues in batting average, home runs and runs batted in (RBI). Shoeless Joe Jackson of the Cleveland Naps hit .408 in 1911, the highest batting average ever recorded by a rookie in the American League. Joe Strong has the lowest career batting average among players who have batted .400 in a season with .266, while Gibson – with .372 – recorded the highest career average in major league history. (Full article...) -
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Sam Crawford retired in 1917 with 309 triples, the major league record.
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...) -
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Babe Ruth holds sixteen franchise, four American League, and two Major League records.
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the Bronx, New York. They compete in the East Division of Major League Baseball's (MLB) American League (AL). The club began play in 1903 as the Highlanders, after owners Frank Farrell and William S. Devery had bought the defunct Baltimore Orioles and moved the team to New York City; in 1913, the team changed its nickname to the Yankees. From 1903 to 2024, the franchise has won more than 10,000 games and 27 World Series championships. The list below documents players and teams that hold particular club records.
Outfielder Babe Ruth holds the most franchise records, with 16, including career home runs, and career and single-season batting average and on-base percentage. Shortstop Derek Jeter has the second-most records among hitters, with eight. Jeter's marks include the records for career hits, singles, doubles, and stolen bases. Among pitchers, Whitey Ford has the most Yankees records with five, all of which are career totals. These include games won, games started, and innings pitched. (Full article...) -
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An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. In 1950, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) selected its first All-American baseball team. It has since chosen All-American teams and a player of the year for each division (National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, Division II, Division III, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, junior college, and high school). Collegiate Baseball selects All-American, Freshman All-American, and High School All-American teams. Baseball America magazine selects pre-season and post-season All-American teams and College Player of the Year honorees.
Various organizations selected All-American lists of the best players for the 1994 NCAA Division I college baseball season. The ABCA, the magazine Baseball America, and Collegiate Baseball were the NCAA-sanctioned selectors. This list only includes players selected to the post-season All-American first team for each selector. However, many All-American selections choose second, third, etc. teams from the remaining eligible candidates. (Full article...) -
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Tom Seaver made eleven Opening Day starts for the Mets.
The New York Mets are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Flushing, Queens, in New York City. They play in the National 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 New York Mets have used 27 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 59 seasons. The 27 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 29 wins, 13 losses (29–13) and 17 no decisions. No decisions are only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game.
Tom Seaver holds the Mets' record for most Opening Day starts with 11, and has an Opening Day record of 6–0. He also has the most starts in Shea Stadium, the Mets' home ballpark from 1964 through 2008. Seaver and Dwight Gooden hold the Mets' record for most Opening Day wins with six each. Al Jackson and Roger Craig share the worst winning percentage as the Opening Day starting pitcher with a record of 0–2. (Full article...) -
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Camden Yards has been the Orioles' home ball park since 1992.
The Baltimore Orioles are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland. They play in the American League East division. The Orioles started playing in Baltimore in 1954, after moving from St. Louis, where they were known as the St. Louis Browns. 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 Orioles have used 33 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 60 seasons since moving to Baltimore. The 33 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 22 wins, 18 losses and 17 no decisions. No decisions are only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game.
The first Opening Day for the Orioles was played in Detroit against the Detroit Tigers on April 13, 1954. Don Larsen was the Orioles' Opening Day starting pitcher that day, in a game the Orioles lost 3–0. Jim Palmer and Mike Mussina have made the most Opening Day starts for the Baltimore Orioles, with six apiece. Palmer has a record of five wins and one loss in his Opening Day starts, and Mussina has a record of three wins, two losses and one no decision. Dave McNally made five Opening Day starts for the Orioles, with a record of three wins and no losses. Other Oriole pitchers who have made multiple Opening Day starts are Steve Barber, Rodrigo López, and Jeremy Guthrie, with three apiece, and Milt Pappas, Dennis Martínez, Mike Flanagan, Mike Boddicker, and Rick Sutcliffe, with two apiece. Flanagan's two Opening Day starts occurred eight years apart, in 1978 and 1986. (Full article...) -
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Tim Lincecum (2006) won two Cy Young Awards with the Giants.
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in San Francisco, California. They play in the National League West division. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 Draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur clubs to its franchises. 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. Since the establishment of the draft in 1965, the Giants have selected 70 players in the first round.
Of those 70 players, 32 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 23 of these were right-handed, while 9 were left-handed. The Giants have also selected thirteen outfielders, seven shortstops, seven catchers, four third basemen, and three players each at first and second base. One player, 2010 selection Gary Brown, was drafted as a center fielder. The franchise has drafted eight players from colleges or high schools in their home state of California, more than any other. The Giants have never held the first-overall pick, but they did have the second pick in 1985, with which they drafted Will Clark. (Full article...) -
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Babe Ruth was the first player to reach 500 home runs and set a career home run mark of 714 that stood until 1974.
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 500 home run club is a group of batters who have hit 500 or more regular-season home runs in their careers. There are twenty-eight players who are members of the 500 home run club. Seven 500 home run club members—Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Cabrera—are also members of the 3,000 hit club.
In the past, membership in the 500 home run club was a guarantee of eventual entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although some believe the milestone has become less meaningful in recent years and many members have not been enshrined in Cooperstown. (Full article...) -
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Barry Bonds has won 12 Silver Slugger Awards, the most of any player at any position.
The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball (MLB). These voters consider several offensive categories in selecting the winners, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, in addition to "coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". Managers and coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. The Silver Slugger was first awarded in 1980 and is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger bats. The award is a bat-shaped trophy, 3 feet (91 cm) tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver.
As with the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, the prize is presented to outfielders irrespective of their specific position. This means that it is possible for three left fielders, or any other combination of outfielders, to win the award in the same year, rather than one left fielder, one center fielder, and one right fielder. It is also possible for outfield teammates to win the award in the same season, which has happened eight times since 1980. (Full article...) -
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Liván Hernández, who has made a total of four Opening Day starts for the Expos/Nationals franchise.
The Washington Nationals are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Washington, D.C. They play in the National League East division. The team was known as the Montreal Expos from 1969 to 2004. 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 Nationals have used six different Opening Day starting pitchers in their sixteen seasons. The six starters have a combined Opening Day record of 3 win, 9 losses and 4 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, or if the starting pitcher does not pitch at least five innings with the lead. The overall Opening Day record of the team is 7–9.
Max Scherzer holds the franchise record for most Opening Day starts with five. He is 1–3 on Opening Day, with one no decision. (Full article...) -
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The Rays have played in Tropicana Field since their inaugural season in 1998.
The Tampa Bay Rays are a professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's (MLB) American League (AL). Since their inaugural season in 1998, the Rays have played their home games at Tropicana Field. The team was originally known as the "Tampa Bay Devil Rays", which was inspired by a common nickname of the manta ray, but after the 2007 season, they shortened their official name to the "Tampa Bay Rays."
Tampa Bay made their Major League debut in 1998, where they were an expansion team. For their first ten seasons, Tampa Bay struggled, never had a winning record, and always finished fifth in the American League Eastern Division, except for a fourth-place finish in the 2004 season. Since 2008 however, the Rays have advanced to the postseason eight times and have played in the World Series twice, in 2008 and 2020. In 2021 the Rays achieved a 100-win regular season for the first time. (Full article...) -
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Frank Bancroft managed the Worcester team in 1879 and 1880.
The Worcester Worcesters, sometimes referred to as the Brown Stockings or the Ruby Legs, were a Major League Baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Though the team's alternate names appear in many modern sources, no contemporary records from the time exist that support the use of names other than "Worcester". They existed in the National League (NL) from 1880 to 1882, and played their home games at the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds.
The team was organized in 1879 as the Worcester Baseball Association, and joined the minor league National Association. The team was profitable, successful against rival teams, and did well against NL teams in exhibition games. After the season, team management turned their attention on the NL, and pursued the slot vacated by the departing Syracuse Stars. The team was voted into the NL by a majority of the owners, and in 1880, the team began their first season. The manager of the team, Frank Bancroft, and many of the players stayed with the team when it joined the NL, including pitchers Lee Richmond and Tricky Nichols, and position players Arthur Irwin, Doc Bushong, Charlie Bennett, and Chub Sullivan. On June 12, Richmond threw the first perfect game in major league history, against the Cleveland Blues. Harry Stovey, in his first major league season, led the league in triples and home runs. However, the Ruby Legs were, in turn, no-hit on August 20 by Pud Galvin of the Buffalo Bisons, becoming the first team to be no-hit at home. They played 85 games in their first season, and had a win–loss record of 40 wins, 43 losses, with 2 ties, finishing fifth in the league. (Full article...)
More did you know
- ... that while playing baseball at Shibe Park, outfielder Herschel Bennett crashed into a wall, causing him to fall into a 36-hour coma and helping to end his major league career?
- ... that Helen Callaghan of the AAGPBL and son Casey Candaele are the only mother/son duo to play professional baseball, with Candaele having a career batting average seven points lower than his mother's?
- ... that in his Major League Baseball debut on July 30, 1961, pitcher Art Mahaffey gave up two singles but picked off each of those baserunners at first base?
- ... that Johnny Sylvester received a promise from baseball player Babe Ruth while suffering from a life-threatening illness that he would hit a home run for him during the 1926 World Series?
- ... that Roger Peckinpaugh set a World Series record for errors?
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Credit: Unknown, probably Matthew Brady or Levin Corbin Handy |
Abner Doubleday (June 26, 1819 – January 26, 1893) was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his relief by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade caused lasting enmity between the two men. In addition, he is known for a popular legend that he invented baseball, which has been debunked by almost all sports historians.
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