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Ken Kaiser
Kenneth John Kaiser (July 26, 1945 – August 8, 2017) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1977 to 1999. He spent 13 years in the minor leagues and 23 years in the major leagues, a total of 36 years in professional baseball. Kaiser wore uniform number 21 when the AL adopted numbers for umpires in 1980. Umpiring career Kaiser officiated in the World Series in 1987 and 1997, as well as the All-Star Game in 1991. He also umpired in the American League Championship Series in 1980, 1988, 1993 and 1995 (Game 6), and in the American League Division Series in 1981, 1996 and 1997. He also worked the single-game playoff to decide the AL West champion in . On May 6, 1982, he was home plate umpire for Gaylord Perry's 300th career victory. Before reaching the major leagues, Kaiser worked as a professional wrestler, wearing a black hood and being known as "The Hatchet Man." In his brief stint as a professional wrestler, he wrestled such famous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, and Yonkers, New York, Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in Western New York, the city of Rochester forms the core of a larger Rochester metropolitan area, New York, metropolitan area with a population of 1 million people, across six counties. The city was one of the United States' first boomtowns, initially due to the fertile Genesee River Valley, which gave rise to numerous flour mills, and then as a manufacturing center, which spurred further rapid population growth. Rochester rose to prominence as the birthplace and home of some of America's most iconic companies, in particular Eastman Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch & Lomb (along with Wegmans, Gannett, Paychex, Western Union, French's, Cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1996 American League Division Series
The 1996 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1996 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were: *(1) Cleveland Indians (Central Division champion, 99–62) vs. (4) Baltimore Orioles (Wild Card, 88–74): Orioles win series, 3–1. *(2) Texas Rangers (Western Division champion, 90–72) vs. (3) New York Yankees (Eastern Division champion, 92–70): Yankees win series, 3–1. The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was not tied to playing record but was predetermined—a highly unpopular arrangement which was discontinued after the 1997 playoffs. Also, the team with home field "advantage" was required to play the first two games on the road, with potentially the last three at home, in order to reduce travel. Had the 1996 ALDS been played under the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Durwood Merrill
Edwin Durwood Merrill (March 12, 1938 – January 11, 2003) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball (MLB) who worked in the American League for 23 seasons (1977–1999). Merrill was born in Cloud Chief, Oklahoma. In 1998 he wrote a collection of his experiences called ''You're Out and You're Ugly, Too!''. Career Merrill served as football coach and athletic director at Hooks High School in Hooks, Texas in the 1960s. In 1970, he coached the minor-league Texarkana Titans of the Texas Football League, leading them to a 7-3 record and a playoff appearance. The following year, the Titans played in the re-branded ''Trans-America Football League'', but he coached only one game before quitting. In 1972, Merrill decided to try a new sport: baseball. He attended the Bill Kinnamon umpiring school; among his classmates that year were future MLB umpires Ed Montague, Dallas Parks and Steve Palermo. He graduated third in his class and was immediately assigned to the Class-A Cali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Candiotti
Thomas Caesar Candiotti (born August 31, 1957) is an American former knuckleball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers. As of the 2005 season, Candiotti is a television and radio analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Early life Candiotti is a graduate of Queen of All Saints Catholic School in Concord, California, Concord High School, and an alumnus of Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California. Candiotti pitched for the Saint Mary's baseball team for four years. He later said that he might not have been able to play college baseball at a larger school. Baseball career Candiotti, nicknamed "The Candy Man" or simply "Candy", was not drafted by any major-league team. He got a shot when he traveled to Victoria, British Columbia, for a tryout with the independent Victoria Mussels of the Northwest League in 1979. Candiotti won five games that year for a Victo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Gregg
Eric Eugene Gregg (May 18, 1951 – June 5, 2006) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1975 to 1999. He was known for being a pioneering black umpire, for his longtime weight problems, and for his controversial home plate umpiring in Game 5 of the 1997 National League Championship Series—when his generous strike zone helped the Florida Marlins' Liván Hernández strike out 15 Atlanta batters. Throughout his National League career, Gregg wore uniform number 7. Umpiring career Gregg was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His major league career began at the age of 24, making him one of the youngest umpires in big league history. He was only the third black umpire in the big leagues, following Emmett Ashford and Art Williams. He officiated in the 1989 World Series, and was the third base umpire for Game 3, which was postponed due to the Loma Prieta earthquake, but since the series ended in four games, he did not get to work b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John McSherry
John Patrick McSherry (September 11, 1944April 1, 1996) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1971 until his death. McSherry wore uniform number 9 when he entered the National League, then wore number 10 from 1979 through the rest of his career. A respected arbiter, he was one of several umpires who were noticeably obese. McSherry was officially listed at and . McSherry died from cardiac arrest which occurred behind home plate during the opening game of the 1996 Major League Baseball season in Cincinnati on April 1, 1996. Early life McSherry was baptized at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in the Bronx, where he grew up. McSherry played baseball in high school. His high school coach advised him to go into umpiring if he wanted to continue in baseball. He enrolled at St. John's University after high school on an academic scholarship but left after two years to attend umpiring school. Umpiring career McSherry's "primary tutor" as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP) of 1871–1875 (often called simply the "National Association"), the NL is sometimes called the Senior Circuit, in contrast to MLB's other league, the American League, which was founded 25 years later and is called the "Junior Circuit". Both leagues currently have 15 teams. After two years of conflict in a "baseball war" of 1901–1902, the two eight-team leagues agreed in a "peace pact" to recognize each other as "major leagues". As part of this agreement, they drafted rules regarding player contracts, prohibiting "raiding" of rosters, and regulating relationships with minor leagues and lower level clubs. Each league ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Umpires Association
The Major League Umpires Association was a union for the umpires of both the American League and the National League. It was formed in 1970. It was superseded by the World Umpires Association (now the Major League Baseball Umpires Association)) which became the bargaining agent for MLB umpires before the 2000 season. History After a one-day strike by the umpires during the 1970 playoffs (the first games of both the ALCS and NLCS), the union was recognized by both the National and American League presidents. It then proceeded to win several pay raises for the umpires. Richie Phillips became general counsel and executive director of the MLUA in 1978. The umpires went on strike again in 1979, making many realize that the game was quite different without the umpires. The MLUA was asking for a package of $520,000 in raises for the 52 umpires. Technically, rather than going on strike, the umpires just did not return their contracts to Major League Baseball. Several people made co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a print magazine. It became the dominant American publication covering baseball, acquiring the nickname "The Bible of Baseball." From 2002 to February 2022, it was known simply as ''Sporting News''. In December 2012, ''Sporting News'' ended print publication and shifted to a digital-only publication. It currently has editions in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan. History Early history *March 17, 1886: ''The Sporting News'' (''TSN''), founded in St. Louis by Alfred H. Spink, a director of the St. Louis Browns baseball team, publishes its first edition. The weekly newspaper sells for 5 cents. Baseball, horse racing and professional wrestling received the most coverage in the first issue. Meanwhile, the sporting weeklies ''Cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haystacks Calhoun
William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. Early life Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm in McKinney, Texas; a rural suburb located in Collin County about north of Dallas. By age 14, he already weighed , as he routinely ate a dozen eggs for breakfast. By the time he was in his early 20s, Calhoun weighed over . Legend has it that Calhoun was discovered by a traveling wrestling promoter that saw him pick up and move cows across a field. Calhoun first broke into wrestling in 1955 and he began competing for local promoter Orville Brown. Professional wrestling career Initially performing under the name "Country Boy Calhoun", he performed in various regional territories, including Houston, Kansas City, and Canada. However, he first appeared nationally on Art Linkletter's ''House Party'', a televised variety show where Calhoun to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Professional Wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or—as in televised wrestling shows—in backstage areas of the venue, in similar form to reality television. Professional wrestling as a form of theater evolved out of the widespread practice of match fixing among wrestlers in the early 20th century. Rather than sanction the wrestlers for their deceit as was done with boxers, the public instead came to see professional wrestling as a performance art rather than a sport. Professional wrestlers responded to the public's attitude by dispensing with verisimilitude in favor of entertainment, adding melodrama and outlandish stuntwork to their performances. Although the mock combat they performed ceased to resemble any authentic wrestling form, the wrestlers nevertheless continued to pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retrosheet
Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major league game played since the 1871 season (the inception of organized professional baseball), as well as all All-Star Games and postseason games, including the World Series. History Retrosheet informally began in 1989, through the efforts of Dr. David Smith, a biology professor at the University of Delaware, and fellow baseball enthusiasts. Building on momentum begun by writer Bill James' Project Scoresheet in 1984, Smith brought together a host of like-minded individuals to compile an accessible database of statistical information previously unavailable to the general public. Smith originally contacted teams and sportswriters in order to gain access to their scorebooks, while other contributors researched old newspapers for play-by-pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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