Don Elston
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Don Elston
Donald Ray Elston (April 6, 1929 – January 2, 1995) was an American relief pitcher who appeared in 450 games in Major League Baseball, all but one of them as a member of the Chicago Cubs (1953, 1957–1964). Elston batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He was born in Campbellstown, Ohio, and attended Camden High School. His 18-season professional baseball career began in the Cub farm system in 1948. A hard thrower, Elston played for perennially weak Cubs teams over the course of his nine-year major league tenure. After a brief late-season trial with the 1953 Cubs, when he was treated rudely by the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals, he was sent back to the minor leagues for the next two campaigns. Chicago included him in a December 1955 trade with the defending world champion Brooklyn Dodgers that was headlined by veterans Randy Jackson, Don Hoak, Russ Meyer and Walt Moryn, but Elston remained in the minors for all of 1956. He made the Dodgers' 19 ...
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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 ...
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Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizens Bank Park, located in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Founded in 1883, the Philadelphia Phillies are the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in all of American professional sports. The Phillies have won two World Series championships (against the Kansas City Royals in and the Tampa Bay Rays in ), eight National League pennants (the first of which came in 1915), and made 15 playoff appearances. As of November 6, 2022, the team has played 21,209 games, winning 10,022 games and losing 11,187. Since the first modern World Series was played in , the Phillies have played 120 consecutive seasons and 140 seasons since the team's 1883 establishment. Before the Phillies won their first World Series in 19 ...
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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 ...
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Starting Pitcher
In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pitchers are expected to pitch for a significant portion of the game, although their ability to do this depends on many factors, including effectiveness, stamina, health, and strategy. A starting pitcher in professional baseball usually rests three, four, or five days after pitching a game before pitching in another. Therefore, most professional baseball teams have four, five or six starting pitchers on their rosters. These pitchers, and the sequence in which they pitch, is known as the ''rotation''. A team's best starter is known as the ace, and is almost always the first man to pitch in the rotation. In modern baseball, a five-man rotation is most common. In contrast, a pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a re ...
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Vito Valentinetti
Vito John Valentinetti (September 16, 1928 – August 5, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. His nine-year career included one full season and parts of four others in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago White Sox (1954), Chicago Cubs (1956–57), Cleveland Indians (1957), Detroit Tigers (1958), and Washington Senators (1958–59). Biography Valentinetti was born in West New York, New Jersey. A graduate of Iona College, he entered pro baseball in 1950 in the White Sox system, and missed two seasons (1952–53) while serving in the military during the Korean War. Valentinetti made his MLB debut with the White Sox on June 20, 1954, and that was the only game he ever pitched for the team. He surrendered six runs on four hits and two bases on balls in one inning in a 16–6 loss to the New York Yankees. Sent back to the minor leagues, he was acquired by the crosstown Cubs in the 1955 Rule 5 Draft. Valentinetti spent the entire 1956 season with t ...
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Jackie Collum
John Dean Collum (June 21, 1927 – August 29, 2009) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for eight different teams between the 1951 and 1962 seasons. Listed at , , Collum batted and threw left-handed. He was born in Victor, Iowa. Collum was one of four children of John Edward Collum and Sophia Louise Lohman and the youngest of three brothers. He was raised in Newburg, Iowa, near Grinnell, and graduated from Newburg High School, where he played in the Iowa State Baseball Tournament. Collum served in World War II with the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Theatre of Operations, where he was stationed in the Philippines. Following the war he returned home and married Betty Belles on February 28, 1948. He pursued his major league dreams after going 24–2 in 1948 for Class-A St. Joseph team of the Western League. Basically a reliever, Collum also served in starting roles. He entered the major leagues in 1951 with the St. Louis Cardinals, playing ...
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Milwaukee Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1871, as the Boston Red Stockings. After various name changes, the team eventually began operating as the Boston Braves in 1912, which lasted for most of the first half of the 20th century. Then, in 1953, the team moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and became the Milwaukee Braves, followed by their move to Atlanta in 1966. The name "Braves" originates from a term for a Native American warrior. They are nicknamed "the Bravos", and often referred to as "America's Team" in reference to the team's games being broadcast nationally on TBS from the 1970s until 2007, giving the team a nationwide fan base. The Braves and the Chicago Cubs are the National League's two remaining charter franchises. The team states it is "the ...
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Inning (baseball)
In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team playing defense. A full baseball game is typically scheduled for nine innings, while softball games consist of seven innings; although this may be shortened due to weather or extended if the score is tied at the end of the scheduled innings. The use of the term ''inning'' in baseball and softball contrasts with cricket and rounders, in which the term is ''innings'' in both singular and plural. Gameplay Each half-inning formally starts when the umpire calls "Play" or "Play ball". A full inning consists of six outs, three for each team; and, in Major League Baseball and most other adult leagues, a regulation game consists of nine innings. The visiting team bats in the first half-inning, the ''top'' of the inning, derived from the position ...
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Walt Moryn
Walter Joseph "Moose" Moryn (April 12, 1926 – July 21, 1996) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Moryn's professional baseball career began in 1948 after he served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. He played in the Majors from through for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. He stood tall and weighed , batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Moryn appeared in 785 games played over eight big-league seasons, collecting 667 hits, with 116 doubles, 16 triples and 101 home runs. He had 354 runs batted in, and batted .266. He spent four successive seasons (1956–59) as a regular outfielder for the Cubs, the first two as a right fielder and the latter pair as a left fielder, and he swatted 82 of his career homers during that period. Moryn's career highlight was a dramatic shoe-string catch on the last out of the May 15, 1960, no-hitter ...
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Russ Meyer (baseball)
Russell Charles Meyer (October 25, 1923 – November 16, 1997) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher known for his hot temper, his nickname was "Mad Monk". His professional career lasted for 16 seasons, including 319 games pitched over all or part of 13 years in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs (1946–48; 1956), Philadelphia Phillies (1949–52), Brooklyn Dodgers (1953–55), Cincinnati Redlegs (1956), Boston Red Sox (1957) and Kansas City Athletics (1959). The native of Peru, Illinois, was listed as tall and . Initially signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent in 1942, Meyer spent 1943 performing United States Army service during World War II. While pitching for his camp team, Meyer was stricken with appendicitis, then contracted peritonitis; he was given a medical discharge and released by the White Sox organization. He signed with the crosstown Cubs, spent three seasons in the Class A1 (now Double-A) Southern Assoc ...
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Don Hoak
Donald Albert Hoak (February 5, 1928 – October 9, 1969), nicknamed "Tiger", was an American professional baseball third baseman and coach. He played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Redlegs, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies. Early career Hoak broke into the professional baseball in 1947 after a stint in the United States Navy towards the end of World War II. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization and worked his way up the organization based almost solely on his glove, speed on the bases and tenacity. In 1954, Hoak's patience was rewarded by a spot on the Dodgers' roster. During his two seasons with the Dodgers, Hoak shared third base duties with Jackie Robinson and Billy Cox. In 1955, the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in the World Series to win their only championship in Brooklyn. Hoak played third base in place of Robinson in the seventh and deciding game of that Series—the o ...
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Randy Jackson (baseball)
Ransom Joseph "Randy" Jackson (February 10, 1926 – March 20, 2019) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player for the Chicago Cubs (1950–1955, 1959), Dodgers (1956–1958; two seasons in Brooklyn, one in Los Angeles), and Cleveland Indians (1958–1959). A book on Jackson’s career, ''Handsome Ransom Jackson: Accidental Big Leaguer'', was published in 2016. He died at his home on March 20, 2019. Before Major League Baseball After a year at the University of Arkansas, he transferred twice, and helped lead the football teams of Texas Christian University (1945) and the University of Texas at Austin (1946) to consecutive Cotton Bowl Classic appearances as a halfback. Playing baseball in college he hit .500, .438 and .400. MLB career The Chicago Cubs signed him in 1947. On 2 May 1950, the 24-year-old made his major-league debut. "Handsome Ransom" had four solid seasons at third base for the Cubs from 1951 to 1955. Jackson followed up a slow rookie season (in which he h ...
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