2009 Los Angeles Dodgers Season
The 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers season saw the team defend their National League West title while earning the best record in the National League, and marked the 50th anniversary of their 1959 World Series Championship. The Dodgers reached the National League Championship Series for the second straight season only to once more fall short in five games against the Philadelphia Phillies. Spring training 2009 saw the Dodgers open their brand new spring training facility, Camelback Ranch-Glendale. The 13,000-seat stadium and surrounding facilities that the Dodgers share with the Chicago White Sox replaced their former facility at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach, Florida, where the team had trained in the spring since 1948. This also marked the Dodgers debut as a member of the Cactus League. Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents Game log , - bgcolor="ffbbbb" , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 1 , , April 6 , , @ Padres , , 4–1 , , Kuroda (1–0) , , Pe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National League West
The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a regular-season of 162 games, half of the teams were put into the new National League East, East Division and half into the new West Division. Within each division, the teams played 18 games each against their five division mates (90 games), and also 12 games against the teams in the opposite division (72 games), totaling 162 games. Geography Despite the geography, the owners of the Chicago Cubs insisted that their team be placed into the East Division along with the teams in New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Also, the owners of the St. Louis Cardinals wanted that team to be in the same division with their natural rivals of the Cubs. The league could have insisted on a purely geographical alignment like the American League did. But ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (, born November 1, 1960) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. Valenzuela played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, from to and to . While he played for six MLB teams, he is best remembered for his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Valenzuela batted and threw left-handed. His career highlights include a win-loss record of 173–153, with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.54. Valenzuela was notable for his unorthodox windup and for being one of a small number of pitchers who threw a screwball regularly. Never a particularly hard thrower, the Dodgers felt he needed another pitch; he was taught the screwball in 1979 by teammate Bobby Castillo. Valenzuela was signed by the Dodgers on July 6, 1979, and he made his debut late in the season. In , in what came to be called "Fernandomania," Valenzuela rose from relative obscurity to achieve super-stardom. He won his first eight starts (five of them shutouts). Valenzuela finished with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jake Peavy
Jacob Edward Peavy (born May 31, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants. He batted and threw right-handed. While with the Padres, he won the 2007 NL Cy Young Award after recording the Pitching Triple Crown that year. He was traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox in 2013 and helped them to a World Series title later that season. A year later, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants, where he helped them win a World Series title later in the season. He is the second starting pitcher after Don Gullett to win two consecutive World Series championship titles with different teams, one in each league. He is one of nine players in Major League history to have won back-to-back World Series championships titles on different teams (Joc Pederson, Ben Zobrist, Jack Morris, Bill Skowron, Clem Labine, Don Gullett, Allie Clark and Ryan Theriot). ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hiroki Kuroda
is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for Hiroshima Toyo Carp from 1997 to 2007 before playing in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2008 to 2011 and New York Yankees from 2012 to 2014. After the 2014 season, he chose to return to the Carp to finish out his career. In NPB, Kuroda won the Best Nine Award in 2005 and was NPB ERA Champion in 2006. He also won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics with the Japanese national baseball team. Kuroda was appointed UNITAR Goodwill Ambassador on 14 September 2015. Early days Kuroda was born and lived in Osaka (Suminoe-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka-fu). His father, Kazuhiro Kuroda, was also a professional baseball player who played for the Nankai Hawks. He attended Uenomiya High School in Osaka, where he would attend classes and practices from 5 am until 10 pm. He then attended Senshu University in Tokyo. Playing career Nippon Professional Baseba ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2009 San Diego Padres Season
The 2009 San Diego Padres season was the 41st season in franchise history. Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents Roster Game log During the Padres 6-5 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field on April 13, 2009, Jody Gerut became the first player to open a new ballpark with a leadoff home run, hitting the first base hit and home run on the 3rd pitch off Mets starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey. , - bgcolor="ffbbbb" , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 1 , , April 6 , , Dodgers , , 4–1 , , Kuroda (1–0) , , Peavy (0–1) , , Broxton (1) , , 45,496 , , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 2 , , April 7 , , Dodgers , , 4–2 , , Young (1–0) , , Wolf (0–1) , , Bell (1) , , 20,035 , , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 3 , , April 8 , , Dodgers , , 5–2 , , Billingsley (1–0) , , Mujica (0–1) , , Broxton (2) , , 31,700 , , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 4 , , April 9 , , Dodgers , , 4–3 , ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cactus League
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives established players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warm climates of Arizona and Florida to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play, and spring training usually coincides with spring break for many US students. Regardless of regular-season league affiliation, teams generally play their exhibition games against other clubs training in the same state. Teams that train in Arizona form the ''Cactus League'' and Florida-training clubs form the ''Grapefruit League''. Spring training typically starts in mid-February and continues until just before Opening Day of the regular season, which falls in the last week of March. In some years, teams no ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vero Beach, Florida
Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thirty-four miles south of Melbourne, Florida. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 data, the city had a population of 15,220. History Pre-Columbian Parts of a human skeleton were found north of Vero in association with the remains of Pleistocene animals in 1915. The find was controversial, and the view that the human remains dated from much later than the Pleistocene prevailed for many years. In 2006, an image of a mastodon or mammoth carved on a bone was found in vicinity of the Vero man discovery. A scientific forensic examination of the bone found the carving had probably been done in the Pleistocene. Archaeologists from Mercyhurst University, in conjunction with the Old Vero Ice Age Sites Committee (OVIASC), conducted excavations ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Holman Stadium (Vero Beach)
Holman Stadium is a baseball stadium in Vero Beach, Florida, built in 1953 from an abandoned naval base, to accommodate spring training for the Brooklyn Dodgers as part of a complex now called Historic Dodgertown. In addition to the Dodgers' spring games, it was the home of the Vero Beach Devil Rays, previously the Vero Beach Dodgers, of the Florida State League, through the 2008 season. The official seating capacity is 6,500. History The then-Brooklyn Dodgers were one of the first major league baseball teams to conduct spring training in Florida, establishing their operations in this quiet beachside town in 1948. Previously an abandoned Naval base, the complex was transformed for the Dodgers. Historic Dodgertown and Holman Stadium served as their spring home for more than 60 years. In recent decades, Arizona has established itself alongside Florida as the second major center for spring baseball, and the Dodgers were the last Western team in Major League Baseball to still conduct ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and plays its home games at Guaranteed Rate Field, located on Chicago's South Side. The White Sox are one of two MLB teams based in Chicago, the other being the Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL) Central division. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the White Sox were established as a major league baseball club in as the Chicago White Stockings, before shortening their name to the White Sox in . The team originally played their home games at South Side Park before moving to Comiskey Park in , where they played until . They moved into their current home, which was originally also known as Comiskey Park like its predecessor and later carried sponsorship from U.S. Cellular, for the 1991 season. The White Sox won t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Camelback Ranch
Camelback Ranch–Glendale is a baseball complex located in Phoenix, Arizona and owned by the city of Glendale. It is operated by Camelback Spring Training LLC. It is the spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. The main stadium holds 13,000 people. Camelback Ranch replaced Holman Stadium in Vero Beach, Florida as the Dodgers' spring training home, and Tucson Electric Park in Tucson, Arizona as the White Sox spring training home. The park is also home to the Arizona Complex League Dodgers, who moved to Camelback Ranch with the Major League team in 2009. The Arizona Complex League White Sox play there as of 2014, after the White Sox rejoined the Arizona rookie circuit. The stadium name is derived from the longstanding name of the property it is built on. Roger Bossard, White Sox head groundskeeper, designed and put in all of the fields for the Dodgers and the White Sox. During the park's first year, Dodger fans noted and expressed their disma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Camelback Ranch View From Right Field
Camelback may refer to: * riding atop a camel * Camelback, a variation of shotgun house with a second floor in the rear of the house. * Camelback (roller coaster element), a hump-shaped hill element found on roller coasters * CamelBackCapitalization, a type of capitalization, generally known as CamelCase * Camelback East, a district of Phoenix adjacent to the mountain * Camelback High School * Camelback locomotive, a type of steam locomotive with the cab mounted in the middle, astride the boiler * Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona, and a road and numerous establishments in that area ** Camelback Road * Camelback Potential, a physics phenomenon * Camelback Research Alliance Inc., an American equities research firm now known as Gradient Analytics, Inc. * Camelback Mountain Resort in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania ** Camelback Mountain (Pennsylvania) * CamelBak CamelBak is an American outdoor equipment company based in Petaluma, California, best known for its hydrati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2009 Philadelphia Phillies Season
The Philadelphia Phillies' 2009 season was the 127th season in the history of the franchise. The team, managed by Charlie Manuel, began their sixth season at Citizens Bank Park and defense of their 2008 World Series championship on April 5. After collecting a third straight Eastern Division championship, the Phillies won their second consecutive National League pennant for the first time in franchise history; however they were defeated by the New York Yankees in the 2009 World Series. The Phillies posted a second consecutive winning April to open the season with an 11–9 record, but the month was marred by the death of legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas. After opening the month of May against the rival New York Mets, the Phillies met President Barack Obama to celebrate their World Series victory the previous season, and had two rookie pitchers win consecutive starts for the first time since 2007. Starting pitcher Jamie Moyer earned his 250th career win during the month, while ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |