1997 MLB Expansion Draft
On November 18, 1997, Major League Baseball (MLB) held an expansion draft to allow two expansion teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, to build their rosters prior to debuting in the National League West and American League East divisions, respectively, in the 1998 MLB season. The draft took place in the Phoenix Civic Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Background Following the success of the 1993 expansion, which added the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins, MLB in 1994 set up an expansion committee to add two expansion teams. Tampa Bay and Phoenix were chosen for the two expansion franchises. Procedures Similar to the 1992 expansion draft, both expansion teams selected 35 players. The draft was divided into three rounds. Each team would select 14 players in round 1, 14 players in round 2, and 7 players in round 3. Tampa Bay general manager Chuck LaMar and Arizona general manager Joe Garagiola Jr. oversaw their teams' selections. The Devil Rays and Diamondb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tony Saunders
Anthony Scott Saunders (born April 29, 1974) is a retired American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1997 to 1999. He was the first player selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1997 MLB expansion draft. Listed at and during his career, he threw and batted left-handed. His career ended prematurely, due to injury. Career Saunders initially signed with the Florida Marlins' minor league system in 1992, a year before their expansion season. He required reconstructive surgery on his elbow in 1994. Florida Marlins Saunders joined the Marlins' opening day roster in 1997, and despite a knee injury which cost him seven weeks in the middle of the season finished with a 4–6 record in 22 starts, with his first three wins coming against the Atlanta Braves. The Marlins earned a wild card berth in the 1997 playoffs, and after being left off the Division Series roster, Saunders was placed on the LCS roster against the Braves. He started Game 3 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joe Garagiola Jr
Joseph Henry Garagiola Jr. (born August 6, 1950) is currently the Special Advisor to Arizona Diamondbacks President & CEO Derrick Hall and formerly the Senior Vice President of Standards and On-field Operations for Major League Baseball. He was previously Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations for MLB from 2005 to 2011 and the general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1997 to 2005. He is the son of Joe Garagiola Sr., who played catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1973, Garagiola, along with Chris Hart, appeared on the game show '' To Tell the Truth'' as impostors pretending to be police detective Richard Buggy. Garagiola's father and Hart's mother, Kitty Carlisle, were regular panelists on the show at the time and both appeared as part of a prank on their parents. He is an alumnus of Archbishop Stepinac High School, the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown Universi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL pennants—in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both years. As of 2022, they have had 16 winning seasons in franchise history. The Padres are one of two Major League Baseball teams (the other being the Los Angeles Angels) in California to originate from the state; the Athletics were originally from Philadelphia (and moved to the state from Kansas City), and the Dodgers and Giants are originally from two New York City boroughs—Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively. As of 2022, the Padres are the only team in California not to have won a World Series. Following the relocation of the Chargers to Los Angeles in 2017, the Padres became the only franchise in the four major American professional sports leagues in the San Diego sports m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Third Baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system used to record defensive plays, the third baseman is assigned the number 5. Third base is known as the "hot corner", because the third baseman is often the infielder who stands closest to the batter—roughly 90–120 feet away, but even closer if a bunt is expected. Most right-handed hitters tend to hit the ball hard in this direction. A third baseman must possess good hand-eye coordination and quick reactions to catch batted balls whose speed can exceed . The third base position requires a strong and accurate arm, as the third baseman often makes long throws to first base or quick ones to second base to start a double play. As with middle infielders, right-handed throwing players are standard at the position because they do not need to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch fly balls and ground balls then to return them to the infield for the out or before the runner advances, if there are any runners on the bases. As an outfielder, they normally play behind the six players located in the field. By convention, each of the nine defensive positions in baseball is numbered. The outfield positions are 7 (left field), 8 (center field) and 9 (right field). These numbers are shorthand designations useful in baseball scorekeeping and are not necessarily the same as the squad numbers worn on player uniforms. Outfielders named to the MLB All-Century Team are Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Pete Rose, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Ken Griffey Jr. Strategy Players can ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox' home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox" name was chosen by the team owner, John I. Taylor, , following the lead of previous teams that had been known as the "Boston Red Stockings," including the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves). The team has won nine World Series championships, tied for the third-most of any MLB team, and has played in 13 World Series. Their most recent World Series appearance and win was in . In addition, they won the American League pennant, but were not able to defend their 1903 World Series championship when the New York Giants refused to participate in the 1904 World Series. The Red Sox were a dominant team in the new league, defeating the Pittsburgh Pira ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Field. Since their establishment as a Major League franchise in 1901, the team has won 11 Central division titles, six American League pennants, and two World Series championships (in 1920 and 1948). The team's World Series championship drought since 1948 is the longest active among all 30 current Major League teams. The team's name references the ''Guardians of Traffic'', eight monolithic 1932 Art Deco sculptures by Henry Hering on the city's Hope Memorial Bridge, which is adjacent to Progressive Field. The team's mascot is named "Slider." The team's spring training facility is at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The franchise originated in 1894 as the Grand Rapids Rippers, a minor league team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closer. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League(and later the National League) and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over to the position of designated hitter, a cause of some controversy. The Japanese Central Le ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nationals 6
Nationals may refer to: * People of a given nationality * A tournament or convention of national scope * Washington Nationals, a Major League Baseball team based in Washington, DC * Potomac Nationals, a former minor league baseball team in Woodbridge, VA * Fredericksburg Nationals, a minor league Low-A baseball team in Fredericksburg, VA * Syracuse Nationals, a 1946-1963 professional basketball team * National Party of Australia, a political party * The Nationals (eSports), an eSports league based in the Philippines * New Zealand National Party, a political party * "Nationals" (''Glee''), an episode of ''Glee'' * The National, an indy band from Ohio See also * Nation (other) * National (other) * Nationality (other) * Washington Nationals (other) The Washington Nationals are a current National League baseball team, formerly known as the Montreal Expos. Washington Nationals may also refer to these other Washington, D.C.-based baseball teams (li ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bobby Abreu In 2004
Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constable in British law enforcement * Bobby, disused British railway term for a signalman Events * Kidnapping of Bobby Greenlease, a 1953 crime in Kansas City, Missouri * Murder of Bobby Äikiä, Swedish boy who was tortured and killed by his mother and stepfather in 2006 Dogs * Greyfriars Bobby (1855–1???), legendary 19th century Scottish dog * Bobbie (dog), a British regimental dog who survived the Battle of Maiwand * Bobbie the Wonder Dog, an American dog that walked 2,551 miles to find its owners Films * ''Bobby'' (1973 film), an Indian Bollywood film * ''Bobby'' (2002 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''Bobby'' (2006 film), a film about the day Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated Music * BOBBY (band), an American indie-folk-psychedelic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jeff Suppan Crop
Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * Excision (musician), Canadian dubstep producer and DJ Jeff Abel * Jeff Abercrombie, bassist for American rock band Fuel * Jeff Allen, English session drummer * Jeff Baxter, American guitarist for rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers * Jeff Beal (born 1963), American composer of music for various media * Jeff Beck, electric guitarist * Jeff Buckley, American singer-songwriter * Jeff Coffin, saxophonist, bandleader, composer and educator * Jeff Current, lead singer of American alternative rock band Against All Will * Jeff Fatt, Australian musician and actor, formerly with the children's band The Wiggles * Jeff Gillan, an American journalist * Jeff Graham, Canadian radio DJ * Jeff Hanneman (1964–2013), American guitarist, founding ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |