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Independent Baseball Leagues
An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball and is outside the Minor League Baseball clubs affiliated to it. The Northern League and Frontier League both started play in 1993, and the Northern League's success paved the way for other independent leagues like the Texas-Louisiana League and Northeast League. The Atlantic League has had more marquee players than any other independent league, including Jose Canseco, Mat Latos, Steve Lombardozzi Jr., Francisco Rodríguez, Chien-Ming Wang, Roger Clemens, Rich Hill, Scott Kazmir, Juan González, John Rocker, and Dontrelle Willis. Two former Atlantic League players are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Tim Raines and Rickey Henderson. Gary Carter, another Hall of Famer, managed in the league. The Atlantic League has had many notable managers and coaches, including Wally Backman, Frank Viola, Tommy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Professional Baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional leagues Americas United States and Canada Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada (founded in 1869) consists of the National League (founded in 1876) and the American League (founded in 1901). Historically, teams in one league never played teams in the other until the World Series, in which the champions of the two leagues played against each other. This changed in 1997 with the advent of interleague play. As of 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies, founded in 1883, are the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in both Major League Baseball and all of American professional sports. In addition to the major leagues, many North American cities and towns feature minor league teams. An organization offic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juan González (baseball)
Juan Alberto González Vázquez (born October 20, 1969) is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball outfielder. During his 16 years in the league, González played for four teams, but is most identified with the Texas Rangers baseball club (1989–1999, 2002–2003). One of the premier run producers and most feared hitters of the 1990s and early 2000s, González hit over 40 home runs five times and amassed at least 100 runs batted in eight times. He also had a batting average of .310 or higher in five seasons. In his career as a whole, González averaged an impressive 42 home runs, 135 RBI, 81 extra-base hits, and 353 total bases per 162 games, placing him well within the top ten all-time in these season-adjusted statistics. González was known as a line drive hitter, not a fly-ball home-run hitter as were many power hitters of the 1990s. He was a full-time player at the age of 21 and a two-time MVP before his 30th birthday. González explained his propensity for bringing ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962) is an American former professional baseball right fielder and author who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Throughout his career, Strawberry was one of the most feared sluggers in the sport, known for his prodigious home runs and his intimidating presence in the batter's box with his frame and his long, looping swing that elicited comparisons to Ted Williams. Strawberry, who was nicknamed The Straw Man or Straw, helped lead the New York Mets to a World Series championship in and the New York Yankees to two World Series championships in and . He was also suspended three times by MLB for substance abuse, leading to many narratives about his massive potential going unfulfilled. A popular player during his career, Strawberry was voted to the All-Star Game eight straight times from 1984 to 1991. Strawberry was formerly an analyst for SportsNet New York. His memoir, ''Straw: Finding My Way'', written with author John Str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leon Durham
Leon "Bull" Durham (born July 31, 1957) is an American former first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for 10 seasons. Durham was a longtime minor league hitting coach, and most recently served as the assistant hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers during the 2017 season. Durham played with the St. Louis Cardinals (1980, 1989), Chicago Cubs (1981–1988), and Cincinnati Reds (1988). Durham batted and threw left-handed. Early life Durham graduated from Cincinnati Woodward High School in 1976 where he was a high school All-American selection his senior year, posting a .385 batting average with 16 home runs and an 11-3 record as a pitcher. Playing career Durham was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1976 amateur draft in the first round and 15th overall. Durham made his major league debut on May 27, 1980 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was traded that off-season to the Cubs for Bruce Sutter, and his career took off. He hit 10 home runs and drove i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bud Harrelson
Derrel McKinley "Bud" Harrelson (born June 6, 1944) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop. He is a coach and part-owner of the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He played for the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers from to . After his retirement as a player, he served as a coach for the World Champion Mets, and as manager of the Mets in 1990 and 1991. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in . Harrelson is the only person to take part in both of the Mets' World Series championships and appear in the first three world series for the team; he won in 1969 and appeared in the 1973 World Series as a player and in 1986 as a coach. Harrelson is also the only person in Mets franchise history to have appeared in four playoff seasons; as a player in 1969 and 1973; and as a coach in 1986 and 1988. Playing career New York Mets Harrelson anchored the Mets' infield for 13 seasons, including their season, and pennant-w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparky Lyle
Albert Walter "Sparky" Lyle (born July 22, 1944) is an American former left-handed relief pitcher who spent sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1967 through 1982. He was a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago White Sox. A three-time All-Star, he won the Cy Young Award in 1977, the first American League reliever so honored. He led the AL in saves in 1972 and 1976. With the Yankees, Lyle was a member of the World Series champions in 1977 and 1978, both over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lyle co-authored, with Peter Golenbock, ''The Bronx Zoo'', a 1979 tell-all book which chronicled the dissension within the Yankees in its World Series Championship seasons of 1977 and 1978. From 1998–2012, Lyle served as manager of the Somerset Patriots, an independent baseball team of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Lyle is credited, alongside Rollie Fingers, with expanding the role and importan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy John
Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, California Angels, and Oakland Athletics. He was a four-time MLB All-Star and has the third-most wins (288) of any pitcher since 1900 not in the Hall of Fame. Known for his longevity, John was the Opening Day starter six times – three for the White Sox (1966, 1970, and 1971) and three times for the Yankees (1981, 1982, and 1989). At the age of 18, in 1961, John was signed by the Indians, who were impressed with his curveball. After three seasons in the minor leagues for them, he was called up for the first time in 1963. He pitched two seasons for Cleveland before getting traded to the White Sox, with whom he would spend seven seasons. He established himself as a major league sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Viola
Frank John Viola Jr. (born April 19, 1960) is an American former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Minnesota Twins (1982–1989), New York Mets (1989–1991), Boston Red Sox (1992–1994), Cincinnati Reds (1995), and Toronto Blue Jays (1996). A three-time All-Star, he was named World Series MVP with the Twins in 1987 and won the AL Cy Young Award in 1988. He is the pitching coach of the High Point Rockers. He batted and threw left-handed, and he was nicknamed "Sweet Music" – a nickname he picked up after a Minnesota sports writer declared that when Viola pitched, there was "Sweet Music" in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The nickname was a play on the fact that his last name is also a name of a musical instrument, although pronounced differently. A fan began displaying a banner bearing the phrase in the outfield's upper deck whenever Viola pitched. Twins fans considered the banner to be a good luck charm. The banner is now the property of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wally Backman
Walter Wayne Backman (born September 22, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball second baseman. He is best known for his time with the New York Mets from – and was a member of their 1986 World Series-winning team. He was also the former manager for the Las Vegas 51s, the Mets' AAA minor league team, from 2013 to 2016. He served as the bench coach for the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican Baseball League in 2017. He is currently the manager of the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Playing career New York Mets First round pick Backman was the Mets' first round pick in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft (sixteenth overall). He was assigned to the New York–Penn League's Little Falls Mets upon signing, and batted .325 with six home runs in his first professional season. After batting .293 for the triple A Tidewater Tides in , Backman received a September call up to the Mets. Making his major league debut starting at second base agains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Carter
Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "the Kid" for his youthful exuberance, Carter was named an All-Star 11 times, and was a member of the 1986 World Series Champion Mets. Carter was known throughout his career for his hitting, excellent defense, ability to handle pitchers, and on-field leadership. He made clutch contributions to the Mets' World Series championship in 1986, including a 12th-inning single against the Houston Astros which won Game 5 of the NLCS and a 10th-inning single against the Boston Red Sox to start the comeback rally in Game 6 of the World Series. He is one of only four people ever to be named captain of the Mets, and he had his number retired by the Expos. After leaving the major leagues, Carter coached baseball at the college and minor-league levels. In 2003, he w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rickey Henderson
Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed the "Man of Steal", he is widely regarded as baseball's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunning, baserunner. He holds the major league records for career stolen bases, run (baseball), runs, unintentional base on balls, walks and leadoff home runs. At the time of his last major league game in 2003, the ten-time American League (AL) Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star ranked among the sport's top 100 all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in base on balls, walks. In 2009, he was inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot appearance. Henderson holds the single-season record for stolen bases (130 in 1982) and is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Raines
Timothy Raines Sr. (born September 16, 1959), nicknamed "Rock",Raines received this nickname at an Expo rookie camp when he was seventeen, based on his physique. is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played as a left fielder in Major League Baseball for six teams from 1979 to 2002 and was best known for his 13 seasons with the Montreal Expos. A seven-time All-Star, four-time stolen base champion, and National League batting champion, Raines is regarded as one of the best leadoff hitters and baserunners in baseball history.In 2001, Bill James ranked Raines as the second-greatest leadoff player in MLB history. In 2013, Raines began working in the Toronto Blue Jays organization as a roving outfield and baserunning instructor. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017. Early life Raines was born in Sanford, Florida, to Ned and Florence Raines. He attended Seminole High School in Sanford. Raines was one of seven children. Two of his brot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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