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Gerald Laird
Gerald Lee Laird III (born November 13, 1979) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Career Oakland Athletics Laird first attended Rancho Alamitos High School, and then later graduated from La Quinta High School in Westminster, California. He was chosen by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of the 1998 draft, but held out for more money. When the A's declined, Laird enrolled in Cypress College and led its baseball team to the finals. In June 1999, Oakland and Laird negotiated a new contract. In his first minor league season, 1999, he played 60 games with the Low-A Southern Oregon Timberjacks and hit .285. He divided the 2000 season between the rookie-level Arizona League Athletics and High-A Visalia Oaks, but a broken wrist limited his playing time. Going into the 2001 season he was considered a top prospect until h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket. Positioned behind home plate and facing toward the outfield, the catcher can see the whole field, and is therefore in the best position to direct and lead the other players in a defensive play. The catcher typically calls for pitches using hand signals. The calls are based on the pitcher's mechanics and strengths, as well as the Batting (baseball), batter's tendencies and weaknesses. Essentially, the catcher controls what happens during the game when the ball is not "in play". Foul tips, bouncing balls in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cypress College
Cypress College is a public community college in Cypress, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education (55 associate degrees), transfer courses (58 transfer majors), and 145 vocational programs leading to associate degrees and certificates. History The college opened on September 12, 1966. Campus The campus, covering an area of , was designed by architect Frank Lawyer of the Houston, Texas-based firm Caudill Rowlett Scott. It features several futuristic-looking buildings set around a central lake. The college is noteworthy in that it has never completely abandoned the style of buildings it was initially created with. The new library, which opened on January 30, 2006, still bears heavy resemblance to the school's original buildings, though the use of concrete is de-emphasized in favor of glass. Cypress College is located in the shadow of major t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Venafro
Michael Robert Venafro (born August 2, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed relief pitcher. He played professionally for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies. He is currently a Scout (sport), scout for the San Diego Padres. Biography Venafro was born in Takoma Park, Maryland and graduated from Paul VI High School in northern Virginia. He is an alumnus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Drafted by the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers in the 29th round of the 1995 Major League Baseball Draft, Venafro made his Major League Baseball debut with the Rangers on April 24, . Venafro is often referenced in the best selling book titled ''Moneyball'' by Michael Lewis (author), Michael Lewis, which details the financial aspects of the Oakland Athletics during the time Venafro played for them. He is also referred to in the 2011 film of the same name ... [...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] |
Carlos Peña
Carlos Felipe Peña (born May 17, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, and Kansas City Royals. Although Peña was born in Santo Domingo and his family is from San Francisco de Macorís, he spent a significant portion of his childhood in the United States. Early life Peña is the second-oldest of five children born to Felipe and Juana Marisela Peña. The family moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic when Peña was 12, initially living with one of his uncles. Peña graduated from Haverhill High School in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1995. He initially went to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, but returned home after one year and attended Northeastern University in Boston; there, Peña studied electrical engineering. As a collegiate player, he competed in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Baseman
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majority of plays made at that base. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the first baseman is assigned the number 3. Also called first sacker or cornerman, the first baseman is ideally a tall player who throws left-handed and possesses good flexibility and quick reflexes. Flexibility is needed because the first baseman receives throws from the other infielders, the catcher and the pitcher after they have fielded ground balls. In order for the runner to be called out, the first baseman must be able to ''stretch'' towards the throw and catch it before the runner reaches first base. First base is often referred to as "the other hot corner"—the "hot corner" being third baseman, third base—and therefore, like the third baseman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario Ramos
Mario Martin Ramos (born October 19, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Ramos was born in Aurora, Illinois. He went to Pflugerville High School in Pflugerville, Texas, where he also resides today. He was a 5'11", 180-pound pitcher. Before being drafted, Ramos attended Rice University. In 1996, the Kansas City Royals drafted him in the 48th round (1399th overall). He decided not to sign and continued to pitch for Rice. In 1999, he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 6th round (183rd)—this time he signed. From 2000–2001, Ramos had a 30-9 record in the minors. On January 14, 2002, he was traded to the Texas Rangers along with Jason Hart, Gerald Laird and Ryan Ludwick for Carlos Peña and Mike Venafro. From 2002–2003, his winning percentage dropped to .379 (11-18 record). That trade, it seems, had a very bad effect on his career. Even though he had a mediocre (at best) season in the minors in 2003, he was still called up to the Rangers. On June 19, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jason Hart (baseball)
Jason Wyatt Hart (born September 5, 1977) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman and current hitting coach of the Hickory Crawdads in the Texas Rangers organization. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers in . High school and college Standing at 6'4" and weighing 240 pounds, Hart attended Fair Grove High School and was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 20th round of the 1995 Major League Baseball Draft. He opted to play college baseball at Southwest Missouri State University. In 1997, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was a 2nd-team college All-American and a Missouri Valley Conference All-Star in . He was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the fifth round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft, and signed with the club. Professional career He began his professional career in 1998 with the Southern Oregon Timberjacks, hitting .258 with 20 home ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryan Ludwick
Ryan Andrew Ludwick (born July 13, 1978) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds. His brother Eric also played four MLB seasons as a pitcher. Playing career High school, college, and minor leagues Ludwick attended Durango High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ludwick then enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and played for the UNLV Rebels baseball team for three seasons. He was named to the ''Baseball America'' all-Freshman team in after batting .354 with 16 home runs and 68 runs batted in (RBI) and was All-Western Athletic Conference in , hitting .381 with 13 home runs and 69 RBI. Ludwick had a .363 career batting average at UNLV. Ludwick was chosen in the second-round (60th overall) of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft by the Oakland Athletics. He was traded to the Texas Rang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contra Costa Times
The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It was founded as the ''Contra Costa Times'', and took its current name in 2016 when it was merged with other sister papers in the East Bay. Its oldest merged title is the ''Oakland Tribune'' founded in 1874. History The original ''Contra Costa Times'' was founded by Dean Lesher in 1947, and served central Contra Costa County, especially Walnut Creek. However, Lesher began expanding by purchasing weekly newspapers in neighboring communities, as well as two eastern Contra Costa daily papers, the '' Antioch Ledger'' and the ''Pittsburg Post-Dispatch''. Originally the weekly newspapers were free for shoppers, but Lesher gradually converted the papers to "controlled circulation" in 1962, an aggressive a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modesto A's
Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto Combined Statistical Area. Modesto is located in the Central Valley, south of Sacramento and north of Fresno. Distances from other places include: north of Merced, California, east of San Francisco, west of Yosemite National Park, and south of Stockton. The city is surrounded by rich farmland. Stanislaus County ranks sixth among California counties in farm production. It is home to Gallo Family Winery, the largest family-owned winery in the United States. Led by milk, almonds, chickens, walnuts, and corn silage, the county grossed nearly $3.1 billion in agricultural production in 2011. The farm-to-table movement plays a central role in Modesto living as in the Central Valley. Modesto has been honored as a Tree C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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