|
Kelvin Torve
Kelvin Curtis Torve (born January 10, 1960) is a former Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball First baseman, and current head coach of the American Legion Baseball Post 22 Hardhats in Rapid City, South Dakota. Torve batted left and threw right. Minor leagues Torve was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the second round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. Over four seasons in the Giants' farm system, Torve batted .284 with 36 home runs and 227 runs batted in. On April 9, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for minor league pitcher Tommy Alexander. He batted .262 with 28 home runs and 150 RBIs over three seasons in the Orioles' farm system. Minnesota Twins After the season, Torve signed as a Free agent with the Minnesota Twins. He spent most of the season in triple A with the Portland Beavers, but came up to Minnesota in late June. He hit the only major league home run of his career on June 27 off the California Angels' Stew Cliburn. His only ot ... [...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] |
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] |
Joan Payson
Joan Whitney Payson (February 5, 1903 – October 4, 1975) was an American heiress, businesswoman, philanthropist, patron of the arts and art collector, and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was also co-founder and majority owner of Major League Baseball's New York Mets baseball franchise, and was the first woman to own a major-league team in North America without inheriting it. Early life Joan Whitney was born in New York City, the daughter of William Payne Whitney and Helen Julia Hay. Her brother was John Hay Whitney. She inherited a trust fund from her grandfather, William C. Whitney and on her father's death in 1927, she received a large part of the family fortune. She attended Miss Chapin's School, then entered Barnard College with the class of 1925, as well as taking some courses at Brown. Career New York Mets Joan was a sports enthusiast who was a minority shareholder in the New York Giants Major League Baseball club. She and her husband opposed moving the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-time lists, including those of ''The Sporting News'' and ESPN. Mays played in the National League (NL) between 1951 and 1973 for the New York/San Francisco Giants and New York Mets. Mays is the oldest living member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Mays joined the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League in 1948, playing with them until the Giants signed him once he graduated from high school in 1950, then won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951 after hitting 20 home runs to help the Giants win their first pennant in 14 years. After spending most of the next two years in the United States Army during the Korean War, he was named the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1954 after winning the batting title with a .345 avera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
José DeJesús
José Luis DeJesús (born January 6, 1965) is an American former professional baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1988 to 1994, with the Kansas City Royals and Philadelphia Phillies. DeJesús batted right-handed. In 1988 and 1989, DeJesús played in only five games for the Kansas City Royals, with an 0–1 record. He played 1990 and 1991 with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he went 7–8 and 10–9, respectively. After a sitting out the 1992 season with injuries, DeJesús rehabbed in the Phillies’ farm system, in 1993. In 1994, he returned to the Royals, posting a 3–1 record. DeJesús continued his career in the Royals’ and New York Yankees’ minor league organizations, briefly retiring after the 1996 campaign. In 1998 and 1999, he played in the Independent Leagues. DeJesús was born in Brooklyn, New York, and now resides in Cidra, Puerto Rico Cidra () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plate Appearance
In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This happens when he strikes out or is declared out before reaching first base; or when he reaches first base safely or is awarded first base (by a base on balls, hit by pitch, catcher's interference, or obstruction); or when he hits a fair ball which causes a preceding runner to be put out for the third out before he himself is put out or reaches first base safely (''see also'' left on base, fielder's choice, force play). A very similar statistic, at bats, counts a subset of plate appearances that end under certain circumstances. Use as batting record qualifier While at bats are used to calculate batting averages, slugging percentages, plate appearances have no such statistical value. However, at season's end, a player must have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Smith (baseball)
Lee Arthur Smith (born December 4, 1957) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight teams. Serving mostly as a relief pitcher during his career, he was a dominant closer and held the major league record for career saves from 1993 until 2006, when Trevor Hoffman passed his total of 478. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the class of by the Today's Game Era Committee. A native of Jamestown in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana, Smith was scouted by Buck O'Neil and was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 1975 MLB draft. Smith was an intimidating figure on the pitcher's mound at and with a 95-mile-per-hour (150 km/h) fastball. In 1991, he set a National League (NL) record with 47 saves for the St. Louis Cardinals, and was runner-up for the league's Cy Young Award; it was the second of three times Smith led the NL in saves, and he later led the American League (AL) in s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Closer (baseball)
In baseball, a closing pitcher, more frequently referred to as a closer (abbreviated CL), is a relief pitcher who specializes in getting the final outs in a close game when his team is leading. The role is often assigned to a team's best reliever. Before the 1990s, pitchers in similar roles were referred to as a fireman, short reliever, and stopper. A small number of closers have won the Cy Young Award. Eight closers have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Lee Smith, Bruce Sutter and Hoyt Wilhelm. Usage A closer is generally a team's best reliever and designated to pitch the last few outs of games when his team is leading by a margin of three runs or fewer. Rarely does a closer enter with his team losing or in a tie game. A closer's effectiveness has traditionally been measured by the save, an official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1969. Over time, closers have become on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Baseball Hall Of Fame And Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-related artifacts and exhibits, honoring those who have excelled in playing, managing, and serving the sport. The Hall's motto is "Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations". Cooperstown is often used as shorthand (or a metonym) for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, similar to "Canton" for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Hall of Fame was established in 1939 by Stephen Carlton Clark, an heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune. Clark sought to bring tourists to a city hurt by the Great Depression, which reduced the local tourist trade, and Prohibition, which devastated the local hops industry. Clark constructed the Hall of Fame's building, and it was dedicated on June 12, 1939. (His gran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Save (baseball)
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 b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baseball-Reference
Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advanced baseball sabermetrics in addition to traditional baseball "counting stats". Baseball-Reference is part of Sports Reference, LLC; according to an article in Street & Smith's ''Sports Business Journal'', the company's sites have more than one million unique users per month. History Founder Sean Forman began developing the website while working on his Ph.D. dissertation in applied math and computational science at the University of Iowa. While writing his dissertation, he had also been writing articles on and blogging about sabermetrics. Forman's database was originally built from the ''Total Baseball'' series of baseball encyclopedias. The website went online in April 2000, after first being launched in February 2000 as part of the we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stew Cliburn
Stewart Walker Cliburn (born December 19, 1956) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher who played for the California Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB) in all or parts of three seasons spanning 1984–1988. He is currently the pitching coach for the Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball. Career The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Cliburn in the fourth round of the 1977 MLB Draft out of Delta State University. He spent five seasons in their Minor League system as a starting pitcher, before being released at the end of spring training in 1982. He signed with the Angels three weeks later, and by 1984 he had converted into a reliever. He made his major league debut as a September call-up that year, appearing in one game against the Kansas City Royals, pitching two innings and giving up three runs. The 1985 season was Cliburn's best, as he had a 9-3 record and a 2.09 ERA along with six saves. However, he suffered from arm problems in 1986 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
