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2009 Milwaukee Brewers Season
The Milwaukee Brewers' 2009 season was the 40th season for the franchise in Milwaukee and 41st overall. It was Ken Macha's first season as manager of the team. The Brewers failed to improve on their 90–72 record of a year ago and missed the post season, finishing with a losing record of 80–82. Offseason moves Pitchers Starting pitchers CC Sabathia, who was acquired from the Cleveland Indians in a mid-season trade in 2008, and Ben Sheets both rejected arbitration and became free agents following the end of the 2008 season. Numerous teams showed interest in Sabathia, considered one of the best free agent pitchers available after compiling an 11–2 record and an ERA of only 1.62 in 17 starts for the Brewers in 2008. The Brewers made a 5-year, $100 million contract offer to Sabathia, but he elected to sign with the New York Yankees on December 9, receiving a 7-year, $161 million contract that was the largest received by a pitcher at the time. No serious attempt was made to resig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National League Central
The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League East (the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals). When the division was created in 1994, the Pirates were originally supposed to stay in the East while the Atlanta Braves were to be moved to the Central from the West. However, the Braves, wanting to form a natural rivalry with the expansion Florida Marlins, requested to remain in the East. Despite the Marlins offering to go to the Central, the Pirates instead gave up their spot in the East to the Braves. Since then, the Pirates have tried several times unsuccessfully to be placed back in the East. In 1998, the NL Central became the largest division in Major League Baseball when the Milwaukee Brewers were moved in from the American League Central. In 2013, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CC Sabathia
Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. (born July 21, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the New York Yankees. He also played for the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers. Sabathia batted and threw left-handed. Sabathia made his major league debut with the Indians in 2001 and placed second in the 2001 AL Rookie of the Year voting behind 2001 AL MVP Ichiro Suzuki. Sabathia played the first seven and a half seasons of his career with the Indians, with whom he won the 2007 Cy Young Award. He led the Indians to the 2007 AL Central Division title and their first postseason berth since his rookie year. Following a trade, Sabathia played the second half of the 2008 MLB season with the Milwaukee Brewers, helping them make the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. In the 2008 offseason, Sabathia signed with the New York Yankees for seven years and $161 million; at the time, this was the largest cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Left-handed Specialist
In baseball, a left-handed specialist (also known as lefty specialist) is a relief pitcher who throws left-handed and specializes in pitching to left-handed batters, weak right-handed batters, and switch-hitters who bat poorly right-handed. Because baseball practices permanent substitution, these pitchers frequently pitch to a very small number of batters in any given game (often only one), and rarely pitch to strictly right-handed batters. Most Major League Baseball (MLB) teams have several left-handed pitchers on their rosters, at least one of whom is a left-handed specialist. A left-handed specialist is sometimes called a ''LOOGY'' (or Lefty One-Out GuY), coined by John Sickels, and may be used pejoratively. Pitching style The pitcher generally has an advantage when his handedness is the same as the batter's, and the batter has an advantage when they are opposite. This is because a right-handed pitcher's breaking balls move to the left from the pitcher's perspective, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Éric Gagné
Éric Serge Gagné (; born January 7, 1976) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher who played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably for the Los Angeles Dodgers. After signing with the Dodgers as a free agent in 1995, Gagné began his career as a starting pitcher. After he struggled in that role, the Dodgers converted Gagné from a starter to a reliever, where for three years (2002–2004) he was statistically the most outstanding closer in the game, winning the Cy Young Award in 2003. During that period, he set a major league record by converting 84 consecutive save opportunities. The phrase "Game Over" was heavily used by the Dodgers and the media in connection with his appearances to finish close games. Gagné played sparingly in 2005 and 2006 due to injury, undergoing elbow surgery in 2005 and back surgery in 2006. The Dodgers did not re-sign him after 2006, and Gagné started the 2007 season with the Texas Rangers, where he briefly enjoyed suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan. ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut. The network also operates offices and auxiliary studios in Miami, New York City, Las Vegas, Seattle, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. James Pitaro currently serves as chairman of ESPN, a position he has held since March 5, 2018, following the resignation of John Skipper on December 18, 2017. While ESPN is one of the most successful sports networks, there has been criticism of ESPN. This includes accusations of biased coverage, conflict of interest, and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts. , ESPN reaches approximately 76 million te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salomón Torres
Salomón Torres Ramirez (born March 11, 1972) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He began his career in with the San Francisco Giants, and also played for the Seattle Mariners, Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Milwaukee Brewers. Career San Francisco Giants Torres is best known for starting the last game of the 1993 season for the Giants, when he gave up three runs over innings to the arch-rival Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants, winners of 103 games that season, finished in second place behind the 104-win Atlanta Braves, at that time in the National League West division. Though he was then in his first month as a Major Leaguer, some Giants fans blamed Torres for ruining a promising season and apparently never forgave him; those fans continued to heckle him when he returned to San Francisco as an opposing player. Said Torres: "They come to the park and they pay my salary, so they have the right to heckle me. If that's going to make them feel better and get ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Closer (baseball)
In baseball, a closing pitcher, more frequently referred to as a closer (abbreviated CL), is a relief pitcher who specializes in getting the final outs in a close game when his team is leading. The role is often assigned to a team's best reliever. Before the 1990s, pitchers in similar roles were referred to as a fireman, short reliever, and stopper. A small number of closers have won the Cy Young Award. Eight closers have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter and Hoyt Wilhelm. Usage A closer is generally a team's best reliever and designated to pitch the last few outs of games when his team is leading by a margin of three runs or fewer. Rarely does a closer enter with his team losing or in a tie game. A closer's effectiveness has traditionally been measured by the save, an official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1969. Over time, closers have become on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bullpen
In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if they have not yet played in a game, rather than in the dugout with the rest of the team. The starting pitcher also makes their final pregame warm-up throws in the bullpen. Managers can call coaches in the bullpen on an in-house telephone from the dugout to tell a certain pitcher to begin their warm-up tosses. Each team generally has its own bullpen consisting of two pitching rubbers and plates at regulation distance from each other. In most Major League Baseball parks, the bullpens are situated out-of-play behind the outfield fence. Etymology The term first appeared in wide use shortly after the turn of the 20th century, and has been used since in roughly its present meaning. According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' the earliest r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ace (baseball)
In baseball, an ace is a starting pitcher considered the best pitcher on a team and nearly always the first pitcher in the team's starting rotation. Barring injury or exceptional circumstances, an ace typically starts on Opening Day. In addition, aces are usually preferred to start crucial playoff games, sometimes on three days' rest. The term may be a derivation of the nickname of Asa Brainard (real first name: "Asahel"), a 19th-century star pitcher, who was sometimes referred to as "Ace". In the early days of baseball, the term ''ace'' was used to refer to a run. Modern baseball analysts and fans have started using the term ''ace'' to refer to the elite pitchers in the game, not necessarily to the best starting pitcher on each team. For example, the April 27, 1981, ''Sports Illustrated'' cover was captioned "The Amazing A's and Their Five Aces" to describe the starting rotation R rabbit ears :Indicates a participant in the game who hears things perhaps too well for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. They are one of two major league clubs based in New York City, the other is the National League (NL)'s New York Mets. The team was founded in when Frank J. Farrell, Frank Farrell and William Stephen Devery, Bill Devery purchased the franchise rights to the defunct Baltimore Orioles (no relation to the current Baltimore Orioles, team of the same name) after it ceased operations and used them to establish the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders were officially renamed the New York Yankees in . The team is owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, a limited liability company that is controlled by the family of the late George Steinbrenner, who purchased the team in 1973. Brian Cashman is the team's general manage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earned Run Average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. Thus, a lower ERA is better. Runs resulting from passed balls or defensive errors (including pitchers' defensive errors) are recorded as unearned runs and omitted from ERA calculations. Origins Henry Chadwick is credited with devising the statistic, which caught on as a measure of pitching effectiveness after relief pitching came into vogue in the 1900s. Prior to 1900—and, in fact, for many years afterward—pitchers were routinely expected to pitch a complete game, and their win–loss record was considered sufficient in determining their effectiveness. After pitchers like James Otis Crandall and Charley Hall made names for themselves as relief specialists, gauging a pitcher's e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently owned by the Gannett Company.Gannett Completes Acquisition of Journal Media Group . ''USA Today'', April 11, 2016. In early 2003, the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' began printing operations at a new printing facility in West Milwaukee. In September 2006, the ''Journal Sentinel'' announced it had "signed a five-year agreement to print the national edition of '' |
