Dale Thayer
Dale Scott Thayer (born December 17, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, and San Diego Padres. Playing career Draft Thayer was drafted out of high school by the Chicago Cubs in the 47th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign. Thayer went undrafted out of Chico State in 2002, but was signed as a free agent by the San Diego Padres on September 25, 2002. San Diego Padres minor league system Thayer was used as a closer for the majority of his minor league career. In 2003, Thayer had 25 saves and a 2.06 ERA with the Class A Fort Wayne Wizards of the Midwest League. He began 2004 with the High-A Lake Elsinore Storm, where he had a 1.63 ERA and 23 saves, and was promoted to the Double-A Mobile BayBears in August. Thayer spent all of 2005 with Mobile, posting a 2.34 ERA and 27 saves in 56 games with 9.2 strike-outs per 9 innings. In 2006, he again spent th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Relief Pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather delays or pinch hitter substitutions. Relief pitchers are further divided informally into various roles, such as Closer (baseball), closers, setup men, middle relief pitchers, left-handed specialist, left/right-handed specialists, and long relievers. Whereas starting pitchers usually pitch count, throw so many pitches in a single game that they must rest several days before pitching in another, relief pitchers are expected to be more flexible and typically pitch in more games with a shorter time period between pitching appearances but with fewer innings pitched per appearance. A team's staff of relievers is normally referred to Metonymy, metonymically as a team's bullpen, which refers to the area where th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lake Elsinore Storm
The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park seats 7,866 fans. History This team relocated three times and has been traced back to the Redwood Pioneers, then the Palm Springs Angels, and finally the Lake Elsinore Storm. As the Palm Springs Angels and later as the Storm, it had previously been the "high-A" affiliate of the Angels until the end of the 2000 season (along with their former mascot, Hamlet), when it and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes switched affiliations. Some former members of the Storm later became members of the Angels 2002 World Series championship team. On May 18, 2007, the Storm set a league record for most lopsided victory, beating the Lancaster JetHawks by a 30–0 score. Since the 2004 opening of Petco Park, the new home field of the Padres, the Storm have played ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fernando Martínez (baseball)
Jesús Fernando Martínez Álvarez (born October 10, 1988) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. Martínez signed with the New York Mets in 2005, and made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2009. He also played in MLB for the Houston Astros. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed. He was one of 14 players suspended for taking part in the Biogenesis baseball scandal. He played for Team Spain in the 2019 European Baseball Championship. He then played for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament, in Italy in September 2019. Career New York Mets Martínez signed with the Mets in July 2005 as an international free agent, when he was 16 years old. Mets general manager Omar Minaya, known for his ability to attract Latin American talent to the Mets, lured Martínez with a signing bonus of $1.4 million. Minaya said of the signing "What we saw in artinezwas a 16-year-old kid with power, great ability and great character, above e ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ángel Pagán
Ángel Manuel Pagán (born July 2, 1981) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants. Pagán's original contract in Major League Baseball (MLB) was with the New York Mets, but he was transferred to the Chicago Cubs when they bought his contract. Pagán was traded back to the Mets prior to the 2008 season. In December 2011, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Andrés Torres and Ramón Ramírez. While primarily a center fielder throughout his career, Pagan transitioned to left field in 2016. Early life Ángel Manuel Pagán was born and raised in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. His mother, Gloria, was a fan of baseball and played in a men's fastpitch softball league. The family lived in a crowded apartment with his brother and sister, and the energetic Pagán did not have space to run. His mother hoped to direct Pagán's high level of energy into a constructive o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Field, the highest-capacity Triple-A ballpark in the United States. The current Bisons organization was founded in 1979 and assumed the history of previous franchises that also used the Buffalo Bisons name, most notably the 1886–1970 Buffalo Bisons minor league franchise, and the 1879–1885 Buffalo Bisons major league franchise. The team established the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 to honor former players, managers and contributors to baseball in Buffalo. The team holds the all-time record for single-season attendance in Minor League Baseball, selling 1,240,951 tickets in 1991 while being considered for 1993 Major League Baseball expansion. ''Forbes'' valued the Buffalo Bisons at $34 million in 2016, making it the 15th-most va ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franchise began play as an expansion team in the 1993 season as the Florida Marlins. The Marlins originally played home games at Joe Robbie Stadium, which they shared with the National Football League (NFL)'s Miami Dolphins. In 2012, the team moved to LoanDepot Park (then known as Marlins Park), their first exclusive home and the first to be designed as a baseball park. As part of an agreement with park owner Miami-Dade County to use the stadium, the franchise also changed their name to the Miami Marlins prior to the 2012 season. The Marlins have qualified for the postseason only three times, but won the World Series during their first two runs in 1997 and 2003. All three of their playoff appearances came as wild card teams, making them on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Miami Gardens, Florida
Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is located north of Downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th and Northwest 57th Avenues to its west, and from the Broward County line to its north to 151st Street to its south. The city's name originated from Florida State Road 860, a major roadway through the area also known as Miami Gardens Drive. Miami Gardens had a population of 111,640 as of 2020. It is Florida's most populous city with a majority African American population and also home to the largest percentage of African Americans (66.97 percent) of any city in Florida, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is a principal city within the Miami metropolitan area, the nation's ninth largest and world's 65th largest metropolitan area with a population of 6.158 million people as of 2020. Miami Gardens is the home of Hard Rock Stadium, a 64,767 capacity multi-purpose stadium ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Land Shark Stadium
Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's NCAA Division I college football team. The stadium also has hosted six Super Bowls ( XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV, and LIV), the 2010 Pro Bowl, two World Series ( and ), four BCS National Championship Games (2001, 2005, 2009, and 2013), one CFP National Championship (2021), the second round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and WrestleMania XXVIII. In addition, the stadium hosts the Orange Bowl, an annual college football bowl game, and the Miami Open tennis tournament. Since 2022, the grounds of Hard Rock Stadium has also hosted the Miami International Autodrome, a temporary racing circuit used for Formula 1's Miami Grand Prix. In addition, the stadium will be one of many to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. From 1993 until 2011, the stadium also was the h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Durham Bulls
The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in 1995. Established as the Durham Tobacconists in the North Carolina League in 1902, the team subsequently disbanded and restarted numerous times. After a 10-year hiatus, it was reestablished as the Durham Bulls and played in the North Carolina State League from 1913 to 1917. The Bulls were members of the Piedmont League from 1920 to 1933 and for a second time from 1936 to 1943. Durham competed in the Carolina League from 1945 to 1971. For the latter part of this stretch, they merged with a team from Raleigh, becoming the Raleigh-Durham Mets (1968), Raleigh-Durham Phillies (1969), and Raleigh-Durham Triangles (1970–1971). The Durham Bulls returned as members of the Carolina League in 1980. They were replaced by an International League tea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Montgomery Biscuits
The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins, an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. After remaining in the Minnesota minor league organization for 20 seasons, the team became an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs for four seasons and then the Seattle Mariners for one. In 1999, the team became an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, and they have remained in the organization ever since. They became members of the Double-A South in 2021, though this was renamed the Southern League in 2022. Over the years, the club changed names several times. They were the Orlando Twins for 17 seasons, then were known as the SunRays, Cubs, and Rays. The club became known as the Biscuits when it moved from the Orlando area to Montgomery in 2004. The club played at Tinker Field near downtown Orlando from 1973 un ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Russell Branyan
Russell Oles Branyan (born December 19, 1975) is an American former professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians (two occasions), Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers (two occasions), Tampa Bay Devil Rays, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners (two occasions), Arizona Diamondbacks, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. While primarily a first baseman, Branyan was capable of playing third base and the outfield, as well. Branyan began his professional career in the Cleveland Indians minor league system. He made his big league debut with the Indians, on September 26, 1998, and was ranked the Indians' top prospect in 1999 by ''Baseball America''. Though he demonstrated the ability to hit home runs with Cleveland, his batting average was low. Indians' manager Charlie Manuel suggested in 2002 that Branyan could benefit from more playing time, but ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |