|
Mark Wohlers
Mark Edward Wohlers (born January 23, 1970) is a former professional baseball pitcher. A right-hander, he played all or parts of 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, exclusively as a relief pitcher. He is best known for his years with the Atlanta Braves from 1991 to 1999. He is the third fastest recorded pitcher in baseball history, having thrown a pitch recorded at 103 miles per hour during a spring training session in 1995; the record was broken by Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya with a pitch. Early life Wohlers grew up "dirt poor" in Holyoke, Massachusetts. His parents divorced when he was nine years old and he was raised primarily by his mother, Irene. He began working at fourteen years old, washing dishes in a restaurant until midnight. Wohlers committed to play college baseball for the Maine Black Bears before graduating from Holyoke High School in 1988. Career Wohlers was selected in the eighth round of the 1988 amateur draft by the Braves. He went on to make his major ... [...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] |
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NL and AL were formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively. Beginning in 1903, the two leagues signed the National Agreement and cooperated but remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. It is also included as one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was founded in 1869. Before that, some teams had secretly paid certain players. The first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1995 World Series
The 1995 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1995 season. The 91st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves and the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians. The Braves won in six games to capture their third World Series championship in franchise history (along with 1914 in Boston and 1957 in Milwaukee), making them the first team to win at least one crown in three different cities. This was also Cleveland's first Series appearance in 41 years and marked the resumption of the Fall Classic after the previous year's Series was canceled due to a players' strike. The Series was also remarkable in that five of the six games were won by one run, including the clinching sixth game, a 1–0 combined one-hitter by Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers. This was the first time since the LCS changed to a best-of-seven format that a winner of a LCS via a sweep has ... [...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] |
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL pennants—in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both years. As of 2022, they have had 16 winning seasons in franchise history. The Padres are one of two Major League Baseball teams (the other being the Los Angeles Angels) in California to originate from the state; the Athletics were originally from Philadelphia (and moved to the state from Kansas City), and the Dodgers and Giants are originally from two New York City boroughs—Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively. As of 2022, the Padres are the only team in California not to have won a World Series. Following the relocation of the Chargers to Los Angeles in 2017, the Padres became the only franchise in the four major American professional sports leagues in the San Diego sports m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alejandro Peña
Alejandro Peña Vásquez (born June 25, 1959) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. Listed at 6' 1" , 200 lb. , he batted and threw right-handed. Peña made his Major League debut on August 13, 1981 (in time to be included on the roster for the 1981 National League Championship Series, although he did not appear in the 1981 World Series), and made his last appearance on April 13, 1996, while pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981–1989), New York Mets (1990–1991), Atlanta Braves (1991–1992; 1995), Pittsburgh Pirates (1994), Boston Red Sox (1995) and Florida Marlins (1995; 1996). Peña is currently the pitching coach for the Dominican Summer League Dodgers club. Los Angeles Dodgers Pena became a full-time starting pitcher in 1983 and 1984, winning the ERA title in 1984 with 2.48 earned run average and leading the league with four shutouts. However, his right shoulder wore down & required surgery in early 1985. Pena was converted to reliever after tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kent Mercker
Kent Franklin Mercker (born February 1, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played for nine teams over his 17-year career. Career Mercker was born in Brownsburg, Indiana and lived in several different cities, including four years in Export, Pennsylvania, before his family settled in Dublin, Ohio in 1980. He was taken in the first round (5th pick overall) of the 1986 Major League Baseball Draft by the Atlanta Braves. He made his major league debut with the Braves on September 22, , and appeared in two games that season. During his years with the Braves, Mercker split time between the bullpen and the starting rotation. After serving as a reliever for the vast part of his first five seasons, he joined the Braves' rotation full-time for the and seasons. After the 1995 season, the Braves traded Mercker to the Baltimore Orioles. Mercker then became a journeyman, spending time with Baltimore (), Cleveland (1996), Cincinnati (, , -, 2008), St. L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holyoke High School
Holyoke High School is a public high school in western Massachusetts, United States that serves the City of Holyoke. Since 2015, the school, along with the district, has been in state receivership and through a series of changes in practices, such as innovative restorative justice disciplinary programs, has seen marked improvement in student retention and graduation rates. In the 2017-2018 school year Holyoke High received higher combined SAT scores than the average for schools in Boston, Worcester, and Springfield. Overview Holyoke High School is located in Holyoke just off of Interstate 391. Currently, there are approximately 1300 students enrolled in the school in both divisions. The school colors are purple and white. The school song is "Hail, Holyoke", which was written by the high school's first band director Fred Grady in 1937 and dedicated to Dr. Howard Conant, a longtime principal who served the school for 35 years. Following two years of development, beginning in the 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maine Black Bears Baseball
The Maine Black Bears baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Maine, located in Orono, Maine. It is the university's oldest athletic program, having begun play in 1881. It has been a member of the NCAA Division I America East Conference since its founding (as the North Atlantic Conference) at the start of the 1990 season. Its home venue is Mahaney Diamond, located on the university's campus. Nick Derba is the head coach. He was named interim head coach prior to the 2017 season. The program has appeared in 16 NCAA Tournaments and seven College World Series. In conference postseason play, it has won eight ECAC Tournaments and five America East Tournaments. In conference regular season play, it has won five America East titles (three of those when the league was known as the North Atlantic Conference). 19 former Black Bears have appeared in Major League Baseball. History Early history The University of Maine opened in fall 1868 as the Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
College Baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional players, as baseball's professional minor leagues are more extensive, with a greater history of supplying players to MLB. Moving directly from high school to the professional level is more common in baseball than in football or basketball. However, if players do opt to enroll at a four-year college to play baseball, they must complete three years to regain professional eligibility, unless they reach age 21 before starting their third year of college. Players who enroll at junior colleges (i.e., two-year institutions) regain eligibility after one year at that level. In the 2020 season, which was abbreviated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 300 NCAA Division I teams in the United States (including schools transitioning from Division ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joel Zumaya
Joel Martin Zumaya (born November 9, 1984) is a former American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers from 2006 through 2010. Baseball career Zumaya was drafted out of Bonita Vista High School in the 11th round by the Tigers, the 320th overall selection of the 2002 MLB Draft. He was chosen because of his power arm, but it was not clear whether he would be able to develop adequate control of an off-speed pitch. He is known for his fastball, which catcher Ivan Rodriguez credits as having been the fastest pitch he ever caught. Minor league career Zumaya began his stint in the Tigers minor league system as a starting pitcher. Because he was drafted straight out of high school, Zumaya frequently pitched against players older than himself. In 2003, the 18-year-old Zumaya made great strides pitching for the Low-A affiliate West Michigan Whitecaps. 2004 saw Zumaya begin the year pitching for the High-A affiliate Lakeland Tigers, befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.png "Click for more on -> Alejandro Peña")
