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Jim Brewer (baseball)
James Thomas Brewer (November 14, 1937 – November 16, 1987) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1960 through 1976, Brewer played for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and California Angels. He batted and threw left-handed. Following the advice of Warren Spahn, Brewer developed a screwball to become one of the most successful relievers in the National League in the 1960s and 1970s. Career A graduate of Broken Arrow Senior High in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Brewer compiled a 69–65 record with 810 strikeouts and a 3.07 earned run average in a 17-year career that began with the Cubs and ended with the Angels, and in between spent twelve seasons with the Dodgers. In his career, Brewer recorded 133 saves, 126 with the Dodgers, appearing in 474 games for the club. Only two Dodgers pitchers, Don Sutton and Don Drysdale, have more appearances—550 and 518, respectively. As a Dodger, Brewer appeared in the 1973 All-Star Game and in three World Series ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American Football Card, American football, Baseball card, baseball, Basketball card, basketball, Hockey card, ice hockey, Association football trading card, soccer, and other sports and Non-sports trading card, non-sports themed trading cards. Topps also produces cards under the brand names Allen & Ginter and Bowman Gum, Bowman. In the 2010s, Topps was the only baseball card manufacturer with a license with Major League Baseball. Following the loss of that license to Fanatics, Inc. in 2022; Fanatics acquired Topps in the same year. Company history Beginning and consolidation Topps itself was founded in 1938, but the company can trace its roots back to an earlier firm, American Leaf Tobacco. Founded in 1890 by members of the Saloman family, the American Leaf Tobacco Co. imported tobacco to the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Screwball
A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known as the scroogie or airbender. Carl Hubbell was one of the most renowned screwball pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball. Hubbell was known as the "scroogie king" for his mastery of the pitch and the frequency with which he threw it. Other famous screwball artists include Tug McGraw, inaugural Hall of Fame member Christy Matthewson, and Cy Young Award winners Mike Cuellar, Fernando Valenzuela, Mike Marshall, and Willie Hernández. Grip and action The baseball is held with the open end of the horseshoe shape (where the seams are closest together) facing upward. The thumb is placed just beneath the bottom of the horseshoe, the index finger is curled against the top of the thumb, forming a tight circle to the side of the ball. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yankees. First known as a scrappy infielder who made considerable contributions to the championship Yankee teams of the 1950s, he then built a reputation as a manager who would initially make bad teams good, before ultimately being fired amid dysfunction. In each of his stints with the Yankees he managed them to winning records before being fired by team owner George Steinbrenner or resigning under fire, usually amid a well-publicized scandal such as Martin's involvement in an alcohol-fueled fight. Martin was born in a working-class section of Berkeley, California. His skill as a baseball player gave him a route out of his home town. Signed by the Pacific Coast League Oakland Oaks, Martin learned much from Casey Stengel, the man who would ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hits Per Nine Innings
In baseball statistics, hits per nine innings (denoted by H/9) is the average number of hits allowed by a pitcher in a nine inning period; calculated as: (hits allowed x 9) / innings pitched. This is a measure of a pitcher's success based on the number of all outs he records. Compared to a pitcher's batting average against, a pitcher's H/9 benefits from sacrifice bunts, double plays, runners caught stealing, and outfield assist, but it is hurt by some errors. Unlike batting average against, a pitcher's H/9 benefits from outs that are not related to official at bats, as they are recorded on runners after they have reached base. , Nolan Ryan is the career leader (6.5553), Sandy Koufax is #2 (6.7916), Clayton Kershaw is #3 (6.8160). See also *Walks plus hits per inning pitched In baseball statistics, walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) is a sabermetric measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched. WHIP is calculated by adding the nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1974 World Series
The 1974 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1974 season. The 71st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion (and two-time defending World Series champion) Oakland Athletics and the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Athletics won the series, four games to one; after splitting the first two in Los Angeles, Oakland swept their three home games to close it out. Rollie Fingers figured in three of the four Oakland victories, posting a win and two saves, and was honored with the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. Oakland became the first team to win three consecutive Series since the New York Yankees won five straight (1949–1953); the win secured the Athletics' status as one of the truly dominant teams of the 1970s. (The other "team of the decade," the Cincinnati Reds, won consecutive World Series in 1975 and 1976, after falling short in 1970 and 1972 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1966 World Series
The 1966 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1966 season. The 63rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and National League (NL) champion (and defending World Series champion) Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles swept the series in four games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It was the last World Series played before MLB introduced the Commissioner's Trophy the following year. The Dodgers suffered record low scoring, accumulating just two runs over the course of the series (both of which were in the first game), the lowest number of runs ever scored by any team in a World Series. This World Series marked the end of the Dodgers' dynasty of frequent postseason appearances stretching back to 1947. Conversely, it marked the beginning of the Orioles' dynasty of frequent postseason appearances that continued until 1983. Background Despite t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1965 World Series
The 1965 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1965 season. The 62nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the American League champion Minnesota Twins. The Dodgers won in seven games. It is best remembered for the heroics of Sandy Koufax, who was named the World Series Most Valuable Player. Koufax did not pitch in Game 1, as it fell on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, but he pitched in Game 2 and then tossed shutouts in Games 5 and 7 (with only two days of rest in between) to win the championship. The Twins had won their first pennant in Minnesota and the franchise’s first since 1933 when the team was known as the Washington Senators. The Dodgers won their second title in three years, and their third since moving to Los Angeles in 1958. Background Both teams improved from sixth-place finishes in 1964; the Twins won the A.L. pennant with relat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Drysdale
Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A right-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball, Drysdale was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. Drysdale won the Cy Young Award and in pitched a record six consecutive shutouts and consecutive scoreless innings. One of the most dominant pitchers of the late 1950s to mid 1960s, Drysdale stood tall and was not afraid to throw pitches near batters to keep them off balance. After his playing career, he became a radio/television broadcaster. Early life Drysdale was born in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, and attended Van Nuys High School, where one of his classmates was actor Robert Redford. Playing career Pitching for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, he teamed with Sandy Koufax during the late 1950s to middle 1960s to form one of the most dominating pitching duos in histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Sutton
Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels. Sutton won a total of 324 games and pitched 58 shutouts including five one-hitters and ten two-hitters. He is seventh on baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,574. Sutton was born in Clio, Alabama. He attended high school and community college in Florida before entering professional baseball. After a year in the minor leagues, Sutton joined the Dodgers. Beginning in 1966, he was in the team's starting pitching rotation with Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Claude Osteen. Sixteen of Sutton's 23 MLB seasons were spent with the Dodgers. He registered only one 20-win season, but earned 10 or more wins in every season except 1983 and 1988. Sutton became a television sports broadcaster after his retirement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Save (sport)
In baseball, a save (abbreviated SV or S) is credited to a pitcher who finishes a game for the winning team under certain prescribed circumstances. Most commonly a pitcher earns a save by entering in the ninth inning of a game in which his team is winning by three or fewer runs and finishing the game by pitching one inning without losing the lead. The number of saves or percentage of save opportunities successfully converted are oft-cited statistics of relief pitchers, particularly those in the closer role. The save statistic was created by journalist Jerome Holtzman in 1959 to "measure the effectiveness of relief pitchers" and was adopted as an official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic in 1969. The save has been retroactively tabulated for pitchers before that date. Mariano Rivera is MLB's all-time leader in regular-season saves with 652, while Francisco Rodríguez earned the most saves in a single season with 62 in 2008. History The term ''save'' was being used as far ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earned Run Average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. Thus, a lower ERA is better. Runs resulting from passed balls or defensive errors (including pitchers' defensive errors) are recorded as unearned runs and omitted from ERA calculations. Origins Henry Chadwick is credited with devising the statistic, which caught on as a measure of pitching effectiveness after relief pitching came into vogue in the 1900s. Prior to 1900—and, in fact, for many years afterward—pitchers were routinely expected to pitch a complete game, and their win–loss record was considered sufficient in determining their effectiveness. After pitchers like James Otis Crandall and Charley Hall made names for themselves as relief specialists, gauging a pitcher's e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denoted by K in scorekeeping and statistics. A "strikeout looking" — in which the batter does not swing and the third strike is called by the umpire — is usually denoted by a ꓘ. Although a strikeout suggests that the pitcher dominated the batter, the free-swinging style that generates home runs also leaves batters susceptible to striking out. Some of the greatest home run hitters of all time—such as Alex Rodriguez, Reggie Jackson, and Jim Thome—were notorious for striking out. Rules and jargon A pitched ball is ruled a ''ball'' by the umpire if the batter did not swing at it and, in that umpire's judgement, it does not pass through the strike zone. Any pitch at which the batter swings unsuccessfully or, that in that umpire's judg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
