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2002 Toronto Blue Jays Season
The 2002 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 26th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing third in the American League East with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses. Offseason * J. P. Ricciardi became the Blue Jays fourth GM on November 15, 2001 * December 7, 2001: Billy Koch was traded by the Blue Jays to the Oakland Athletics for Eric Hinske and Justin Miller. * December 18, 2001: Brian Lesher was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays. * December 22, 2001: Luis Lopez was purchased from the Blue Jays by the Oakland Athletics. * February 10, 2002: Ken Huckaby was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays. Regular season Summary The Blue Jays started the 2002 season with slow progress in performance. Buck Martinez was fired about a third of the way through the season, with a 20–33 record. He was replaced by third base coach Carlos Tosca, an experienced minor league manager. They went 58–51 under Tosca to finish the season 78–84. Roy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American League East
The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before the start of the season along with the American League West division. Before that time, each league consisted of 10 teams without any divisions. Four of the division's five teams are located in the Eastern United States, with the other team, the Toronto Blue Jays, in Eastern Canada. It is currently the only division that contains a non-American team. At the end of the MLB season, the team with the best record in the division earns one of the AL's six Major League Baseball postseason, playoff spots. The most recent team to win this division was the New York Yankees in . History Baseball writers have long posited that the American League East is the toughest division in MLB; during its 50-year existence, an AL East team has gone on to pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Cheek
Thomas F. Cheek (June 13, 1939 – October 9, 2005) was an American sports commentator who is best remembered as the play-by-play radio announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB), from the team's establishment in 1977 until his retirement in 2004. During that time, he covered a 27-year streak of 4,306 consecutive games plus 41 post-season games—from the first Blue Jays game on April 7, 1977, until June 3, 2004. He was inducted to the Blue Jays Level of Excellence in 2004. Cheek's best-known call was perhaps his description of Joe Carter's dramatic title-clinching home run in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, when he said, "Touch 'em all, Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!" He is also author of the book ''Road to Glory'', chronicling the first 16 years of Blue Jays baseball. Cheek received the 2013 Ford C. Frick Award after being nominated as a finalist for the award every year since 2005. Biography Early life Born and raised in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raúl Mondesí
Raúl Ramón Mondesí Avelino (born March 12, 1971) is a Dominican former politician and baseball player. Mondesí played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and made his MLB debut with them in 1993. He was the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year in 1994, an MLB All-Star, and a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner. Known for his combination of power and speed, Mondesí twice achieved the 30–30 club. He led MLB right fielders in assists in three separate seasons over the course of his career. After baseball, Mondesí began a career in politics, gaining election to the Dominican Chamber of Deputies in 2006. In 2010, he became mayor of San Cristóbal in the Dominican Republic, serving a six-year term. In 2017, Mondesí was sentenced to eight years in prison on corruption charges arising from his mayoral tenure. Career Los Angeles Dodgers Mondesí was originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carlos Delgado
Carlos Juan Delgado Hernández (born June 25, 1972) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball primarily as a first baseman, from 1993 to 2009, most prominently as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, where he was a member of the 1993 World Series-winning team, won the 2000 American League (AL) Hank Aaron Award, and was the 2003 AL RBI leader. He was also a two-time AL All-Star player and a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner during his tenure with the Blue Jays. Delgado holds the Major League Baseball record for career home runs by a Puerto Rican player with 473. He is one of only six players in Major League history to hit 30 home runs in ten consecutive seasons, becoming the fourth player to do so. During his twelve years with the Toronto Blue Jays, Delgado set many team records, including home runs (336), RBI (1,058), walks (827), slugging percentage (.556), on-base plus slugging (.949), runs (889), total bases ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Halladay
Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III (May 14, 1977 – November 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies between 1998 and 2013. His nickname, "Doc", was coined by Toronto Blue Jays announcer Tom Cheek, and was a reference to Wild West gunslinger Doc Holliday. An eight-time All-Star, Halladay was one of the most dominant pitchers of his era. Known for his outstanding durability, he led the league in complete games seven times, the most of any pitcher whose career began after 1945. He also led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio five times and innings pitched four times. Raised in Arvada, Colorado, Halladay pitched at Arvada West High School, before being drafted 17th overall by the Blue Jays in the 1995 MLB draft. He made his major league debut in 1998, nearly pitching a no-hitter in his second career start. After struggling in 2000, he was demoted to the minor leagues, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Huckaby
Kenneth Paul Huckaby (born January 27, 1971) is an American former professional baseball catcher, and minor league coach. Huckaby attended Manteca High School, and played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and Boston Red Sox over his 6-year career. Playing career 2002–2005 A competent defensive replacement with a strong throwing arm, his most productive season came in 2002 with Toronto, when he posted career-highs in batting average (.245), home runs (3), RBI (22) and games (88). Huckaby became the first catcher in Blue Jays history to hit an inside-the-park home run on July 17, 200 Huckaby was involved in a collision with shortstop Derek Jeter in the 2003 season opener against the New York Yankees. With Jeter on first base and Jason Giambi at bat, Toronto used an extreme shift that left third base uncovered. Giambi hit a soft grounder to the pitcher, Roy Halladay, who threw to first baseman Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luis Lopez (third Baseman)
Luis Lopez (born October 5, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman and first baseman. He played parts of two seasons in the major leagues: 2001 for the Toronto Blue Jays and 2004 for the Montreal Expos. In 2005, he played in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. He last played for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League in 2013. Career Lopez began his professional career in 1995 with the independent St. Paul Saints, then playing in the Northern League. He was signed by the Blue Jays the following year. Since 2005, Lopez has played in various independent leagues as well as in the Mexican League. He now coaches baseball as head coach of the New York Nighthawks 12U and 16U teams and as the assistant coach for The Harvey School The Harvey School is a co-educational, college preparatory school near Katonah, New York, for students in grades 6 through 12. It is located on a wooded, 125-acre campus and has an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Lesher
Brian Herbert Lesher (born March 5, 1971) is a Belgian former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays. Lesher was born in Belgium where his father, John, a former West Virginia Mountaineers basketball player, was playing professional basketball. Lesher entered the majors in 1996 with the Oakland Athletics, playing for three consecutive years before joining the Seattle Mariners () and Toronto Blue Jays (2002). His most productive season came in with Oakland, when he posted career-highs in games (46), home runs (4), runs batted in (17), runs scored (17), and stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...s (4). Brian is the only person born in Belgium to play Major L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Justin Miller (baseball, Born 1977)
Justin Mark Miller (August 27, 1977 – June 26, 2013) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins, San Francisco Giants, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chiba Lotte Marines. Miller was the inspiration for the "Justin Miller rule" requiring pitchers with arm tattoos to wear long-sleeved shirts. Amateur career Miller played in the 1992 Little League World Series with Torrance and played high school baseball with Torrance High School, where he was first team All-State and Conference player of the year as a Senior. He attended Los Angeles Harbor College and was a Junior College All-American in 1997. Professional career Colorado Rockies Miller was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 5th round of the 1997 MLB Draft and made his professional debut with the short-season Class A Portland Rockies, helping them win the Northwest League champions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Hinske
Eric Scott Hinske (born August 5, 1977) is an American professional baseball coach and retired outfielder and first baseman who is currently the assistant hitting coach for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Hinske played in the major leagues from 2002 to 2013 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks at third base, first base, left field, and right field. He won the AL Rookie of the Year Award with the Blue Jays. He has also been a coach for the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels. Playing career Early career Born in Menasha, Wisconsin, Hinske played for Menasha High School where he broke many hitting records, in addition to playing football as a running back. After graduating in 1995, he went on to play for the University of Arkansas. In 1997, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Hinske was drafted by the Chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team plays its home games at the Oakland Coliseum. Throughout their history, the Athletics have won nine World Series championships. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the team was founded in Philadelphia in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. They won three World Series championships in 1910, 1911, and 1913, and back-to-back titles in 1929 and 1930. The team's owner and manager for its first 50 years was Connie Mack and Hall of Fame players included Chief Bender, Frank "Home Run" Baker, Jimmie Foxx, and Lefty Grove. The team left Philadelphia for Kansas City in 1955 and became the Kansas City Athletics before moving to Oakland in 1968. Nicknamed the " Swingin' A's", they won three consecutive World Series in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Koch
William Christopher Koch (born December 14, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He was born in Rockville Centre, New York and went to West Babylon High School. He entered the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays and last pitched in the majors with the Florida Marlins in 2004. Baseball career Koch played college baseball for Clemson University from 1994 to 1996. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round (fourth pick) of the 1996 amateur draft and made his debut in 1999. He made an instant impression by regularly throwing 100 MPH pitches. Koch won a bronze medal with the United States national baseball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He was groomed for the role of closer, and had mixed success at the role over the next three seasons. While he was regarded as one of the most dominating pitchers in the league when he was at his best, at times he battled with his control and composure on the mound. Nevertheless, he continued to pos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
