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D.J. Houlton
Dennis Sean "D. J." Houlton Jr. (born August 12, 1979) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants and in the KBO League for the Kia Tigers. Career Amateur Houlton attended Servite High School and the University of the Pacific. On May 11, 2001, while at Pacific, Houlton pitched a complete game no hitter with an 8–0 victory over UC Riverside. Houston Astros In the 2001 MLB draft, the Houston Astros drafted Houlton in the 11th round. He signed on June 9, 2001. In 2001–2002, he pitched for the Michigan Battle Cats, the Astros Single-A team, going 14–5 with a 3.15 ERA in 35 games (16 starts). In 2003 and 2004, he pitched primarily for the then Double-A Round Rock Express in the Texas League, where he went 12–5 with a 2.94 ERA in 28 starts with 3 complete games. Los Angeles Dodgers On December 13, 2004, the Los Angeles Dodgers a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
University Of The Pacific (United States)
University of the Pacific (Pacific or UOP) is a private Methodist-affiliated university with its main campus in Stockton, California, and graduate campuses in San Francisco and Sacramento. It claims to be California's first university, the first independent coeducational campus in California, and the first conservatory of music and first medical school on the West Coast. Pacific was chartered on July 10, 1851, in Santa Clara, California, under the name California Wesleyan College. The school moved to San Jose in 1871 and then to Stockton in 1923. Pacific is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission. In addition to its liberal arts college and graduate school, Pacific has schools of business, dentistry, education, engineering, international studies, law, music, pharmacy, and health sciences. It is home to the papers of environmental pioneer John Muir in Pacific's Holt-Atherton Special Collections and Archives. The university also has a John Muir Center that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around Japan. History The circuit was founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union (太平洋野球連盟, ''Taiheiyo Yakyu Renmei'') in 1949 (the name changing to its current form in 1980). Daiei Stars owner Masaichi Nagata was the first president of the Pacific League. The league began with seven teams: four holdovers from the previous iteration, the Japanese Baseball League — the Hankyu Braves, the Nankai Hawks, the Daiei Stars, and the Tokyu Flyers — and three new teams — the Kintetsu Pearls, the Mainichi Orions, and the Nishitetsu Clippers. In 1954, an eighth Pacific League team was founded, the Takahashi Unions, to increase the number of teams to eight. Although the team was stocked with players from the othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AAA (baseball)
Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). There are 30 teams, one per each Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, with 20 in the IL and 10 in the PCL. Triple-A teams are generally located in smaller cities as well as larger metropolitan areas without MLB teams, such as Austin, Jacksonville, Columbus, and Indianapolis. Four Triple-A teams play in the same metro areas as their parent clubs, those being the Gwinnett Stripers, St. Paul Saints, Sugar Land Space Cowboys and Tacoma Rainiers. All current Triple-A teams are located in the United States; before 2008, some Triple-A leagues also fielded teams in Canada, and from 1967 to 2020 the Mexican League was classified as Triple-A. Other than the current two Triple-A leagues, only three other leagues have ever held the classification ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring Training
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 Schedule (workplace), 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 so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Tracy (baseball)
James Edwin Tracy (born December 31, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) manager and player. He played for the Chicago Cubs in 1980 and 1981, and has managed the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Colorado Rockies. Tracy was named Manager of the Year in 2009, only the second manager to win the award after being hired mid-season, joining Jack McKeon for the Florida Marlins. Playing career Tracy was an All-America baseball player at Marietta College, an NCAA Division III institution in Ohio. In 1976, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star. He played as an outfielder for parts of two seasons with the Chicago Cubs in 1980–81. He also played two seasons in Japan with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales in 1983–84. Managing career Tracy worked as a minor league manager for several organizations including the Ottawa Lynx in 1994. He is featured as the manager of the 1988 Peoria Chiefs in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul DePodesta
Paul DePodesta (born December 16, 1972) is an American football executive and former baseball executive who is the chief strategy officer of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as a front-office assistant for the Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets. DePodesta was also general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is also known for his appearance in the book and movie '' Moneyball'' about his early career as an assistant with the Oakland Athletics. Early life DePodesta is a native of Alexandria, Virginia, where he grew up with Thad Levine. He attended Episcopal High School ('91) and then Harvard University, where he played baseball and football and graduated in 1995 with a degree in economics. He has worked for the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League and the Baltimore Bandits of the American Hockey League. Career Major League Baseball Early career In 1996, DePodesta got his first baseball job wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the state of Texas; the five North Division teams are located in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892. It was called the Texas Association in 1895, the Texas-Southern League in 1896, and again as the Texas League from 1897 to 1899. It was revived as a Class D league in 1902, moved to Class C in 1904 where it played through 1910 (except for 1906 as Class D again), played at Class B until 1920, and finally moved up to Class A in 1921. The Texas League, like many others, shut down during World War II. From 1959 to 1961, the Texas League and the Mexican League formed the Pan American Association. The two leagues played a limited interlocking schedule and post-season championship. By 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Round Rock Express
The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named for Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who was nicknamed "The Ryan Express." Ryan, along with son Reid Ryan and Don Sanders make up the team's ownership group, Ryan Sanders Baseball. The Express were established as a Double-A team of the Texas League (TL) in 2000. They won the Texas League championship in 2000. Round Rock was replaced by a Triple-A Pacific Coast League team in 2005. The Triple-A Express carried on the history of the Double-A team that preceded them. With Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Express were shifted to the Triple-A West, which was renamed the PCL in 2022. History The ownership group led by Nolan Ryan and Don Sanders began its operations in Round Rock in 2000 as the Dell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michigan Battle Cats
The Michigan Battle Cats were a Minor League Baseball team which began playing in the Midwest League in 1995 and called C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek, Michigan, home. The franchise had previously been located in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1994 where they were called the Madison Hatters. Prior to that the team was located in Springfield, Illinois, and was known as the Springfield Cardinals. Upon moving to Battle Creek the team initially sought the name Battle Creek Golden Kazoos to help create a regional tie-in with the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, but legal disputes led to the adoption of the Battle Cats moniker. The team became known as the Battle Creek Yankees beginning with their affiliation with the New York Yankees in 2003, and again changed names and affiliations in 2005 and became the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays. In 2007, citing declining attendance, the team moved to Midland, Michigan and became the Great Lakes Loons. Team history Boston Red Sox affiliate: 1995 to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
