Billy Ripken
William Oliver Ripken (born December 16, 1964), nicknamed Billy the Kid, is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from – for the Baltimore Orioles (1987–92, '96), Texas Rangers (1993–94, '97), Cleveland Indians (1995), and Detroit Tigers (1998). During his career, he batted and threw right-handed. He is the younger brother of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. He currently serves as a radio host for XM Satellite Radio and a studio analyst for MLB Network. Born in Maryland, Ripken grew up traveling around the United States as his father, Cal Ripken Sr., was a player and coach in the Orioles' organization. After attending Aberdeen High School, Ripken was drafted by the Orioles in the 11th round of the 1982 MLB draft. He reached the MLB in 1987, creating the first situation in baseball history that a father had managed two sons on the same team, as his brother played for the Orioles and his father, Cal Ripken Sr. managed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cal Ripken Sr
Calvin Edwin Ripken Sr. (December 17, 1935 – March 25, 1999) was an American baseball player, scout, coach and manager. who spent 36 years in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He played in the Orioles' farm system beginning in 1957, and later served as manager of the parent club, on which his sons Cal Jr. and Billy played. Born near Aberdeen, Maryland, which he called home throughout his life, Ripken joined the Baltimore Orioles in 1957 as a minor league player. He would spend the next 36 years in the organization, mainly as a coach, with only one season and seven games coming as a manager. As a manager in the minor leagues for 13 years, Ripken won 964 games, and later compiled a 68-101 record managing the Orioles. Several of his students, including Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, and most prominently his son Cal Jr., went on to Hall of Fame careers. He was credited for helping sculpt his team's tradition of excellence known as "The Oriole Way." Early life Ripken was bor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who were typically poor at batting and were often placed at the bottom of the batting order. Today, shortstops are often able to hit well and many are placed at the top of the lineup. In the numbering system used by scorers to record defensive plays, the shortstop is assigned the number 6. More hit balls go to the shortstop than to any other position, as there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the ball slightly. Like a second baseman, a shortstop must be agile, for example when performing a 4-6-3 double play. Also, like a third baseman, the shortstop fields balls hit to the left side of the infield, where a strong arm is needed to throw out a batter-runner befo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bluefield Orioles
Bluefield may refer to: *Bluefield, Virginia, US *Bluefield, West Virginia, US *Nvidia BlueField, a line of computer hardware See also *Bluefields Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Mosquito Coast, Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divid ..., Nicaragua * Bluefields, Jamaica {{geodis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Major League Baseball Rookie Of The Year Award
In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The award was established in 1940 by the Chicago chapter of the BBWAA, which selected an annual winner from 1940 through 1946. The award became national in 1947; Jackie Robinson, the Brooklyn Dodgers' second baseman, won the inaugural award. One award was presented for all of MLB in 1947 and 1948; since 1949, the honor has been given to one player each in the NL and AL. Originally, the award was known as the J. Louis Comiskey Memorial Award, named after the Chicago White Sox owner of the 1930s. The award was renamed the Jackie Robinson Award in July 1987, 40 years after Robinson broke the baseball color line. Seventeen players have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame—Robinson, six AL players, and ten others from the NL. The aw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Infield
Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. Baseball In baseball, the diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass-covered, ''outfield''. The "diamond" can also refer to the defensive unit of players that are positioned in the region: first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman. Sometimes it includes the catcher and pitcher who (as a tandem) are often referred to separately as the battery. In baseball the physical infield is where most of the action in a baseball game occurs, as it includes that area where the all-important duel between the pitcher and batter takes place. The pitcher stands on the pitcher's mound (a raised mound of dirt located at the center of the infield) and from there he pitches the ball to his catcher, who is crouched behind home plate sixty feet, six inches away at what might be called the cutlet of the diamond-shape ... [...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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Aberdeen, Maryland
Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which is the 20th-largest United States metropolitan area. The nearest city to Aberdeen is Havre de Grace, to the northeast. History Aberdeen was named after Aberdeen, Scotland, by immigrating Scots. The James B. Baker House, Chestnut Ridge, Griffith House, Poplar Hill, Sophia's Dairy, and Swansbury are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Early settlements Aberdeen began as a farming community in 1720, when Charles Calvert, the fifth Lord Baltimore, granted 1,140 acres of fertile land to Edward Hall. Located on the western edge of the Chesapeake on the main road between Alexandria and Philadelphia called the Old Post Road, the village at Halls Cross Road remained sma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Utility Infielder
In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various starters a rest, or replace a starter due to injury, or play late in a game to provide improved defense when their team is winning. Description Utility infielders typically play both second base and shortstop, sometimes also third base, and more rarely first base. A "fourth outfielder" is likewise an outfielder who can play all three outfield positions but does not have the hitting skills to be a starting player. Some utility players have the defensive ability to play in both the infield and outfield—recent players in Major League Baseball (MLB) fitting this description include Marwin González, Brock Holt, Cory Spangenberg, and Ben Zobrist. Playing time for fourth outfielders has been called "erratic and unpredictable". Often, fourth o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Batting Average (baseball)
In baseball, batting average (BA) is determined by dividing a player's hits by their total at-bats. It is usually rounded to three decimal places and read without the decimal: A player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three-hundred". If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the .001 measurement. In this context, .001 is considered a "point", such that a .235 batter is 5 points higher than a .230 batter. History Henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball. In the late 19th century he adapted the concept behind the cricket batting average to devise a similar statistic for baseball. Rather than simply copy cricket's formulation of runs scored divided by outs, he realized that hits divided by at bats would provide a better measure of individual batting ability. This is because while in cricket, scoring runs is almost entirely dependent on one's batting skill, in baseball ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |