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Rip Sewell
Truett Banks "Rip" Sewell (May 11, 1907 – September 3, 1989) was a right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played 13 years in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers (1932) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1938–1949). Sewell was selected four times to the National League All-Star team (1943–1946) and is credited with inventing the "Eephus pitch." Early years Born in Decatur, Alabama, Sewell attended Vanderbilt University in the 1930–31 school year, where he played college football on scholarship for coach Dan McGugin. However, Sewell only played on the freshman team and left because of the academic requirements. He signed with the Nashville Vols, who then sold his contract to the Detroit Tigers for $10,000. He played only one season (1932) with the Tigers, appearing mostly in relief. Sewell later recalled that he was shipped to the minor leagues in Toronto the day after Jimmie Foxx hit one of Sewell's best pitches over the left field wall. The fight with G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eephus Pitch
An eephus pitch (also spelled ephus) in baseball is a very high-arcing off-speed pitch. The delivery from the pitcher has very low velocity and often catches the hitter off-guard. The eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is characterized by an unusual, high-arcing trajectory. The corresponding slow velocity bears more resemblance to a slow-pitch softball delivery than to a traditional baseball pitch. It is considered a trick pitch because, in comparison to normal baseball pitches, which run from , an eephus pitch appears to move in slow motion at or less, sometimes as low as 35 mph (). Its invention is attributed to Rip Sewell of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1940s, although according to historians John Thorn and John Holway, the first pitcher to throw a big blooper pitch was Bill Phillips, who played in the National League on and off from 1890 through 1903. The practice then lay dormant for nearly 40 years until Sewell resurrected it. According to manager F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or passing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive. Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins. American football evolved in the United States, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trade Union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (such as holiday, health care, and retirement), improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause conditions for termination) and protecting the integrity of their trade through the increased bargaining power wielded by solidarity among workers. Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called ''union dues''. The delegate staff of the trade union representation in the workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members in democratic elections. The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Baseball Guild
The American Baseball Guild was a short-lived American trade union that attempted to organize Major League Baseball (MLB) players into a collective bargaining unit in 1946.Weintraub, Robert (1 December 2012), "Failed Baseball Union Paved Way for Success." ''''Voigt, David Q., ''The Owner-Player Conflict.'' |
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960; his career was interrupted by military service during World War II and the Korean War. Nicknamed "Teddy Ballgame", "the Kid", "the Splendid Splinter", and "The Thumper", Williams is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history and to date is the last player to hit over .400 in a season. Williams was a nineteen-time All-Star, a two-time recipient of the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award, a six-time AL batting champion, and a two-time Triple Crown winner. He finished his playing career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a .482 on-base percentage, the highest of all time. His career batting average is the highest of any MLB player whose career was played primarily in the live-ball era, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Wakefield
Richard Cummings Wakefield (May 6, 1921 – August 25, 1985) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball for 9 seasons with the Detroit Tigers (1941, 1943–1944, 1946–1949), New York Yankees (1950), and New York Giants (1952). Wakefield was a 6 foot, 4 inch, player who threw right-handed and batted left-handed. Early years Born in Chicago, Illinois, Wakefield was the son of Howard Wakefield, who was a major league catcher from 1905 to 1907. The scouts started taking notice of Wakefield when he was in high school in Chicago. He recalled: "I was a skinny kid who could hit." Wakefield attended the University of Michigan where he played only one season, 1941, with the Michigan Wolverines baseball team. In his one season playing for the Wolverines, Wakefield hit for average (.372) and power (9 home runs), as he led the team to a 24–8 record and its first Big Ten Conference baseball crown since 1936. The first "bonus baby" In the summer of 1941, Wakefield was a hot pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elden Auker
Elden LeRoy "Submarine" Auker (September 21, 1910 – August 4, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns between 1933 and 1942. Auker batted and threw right-handed. Auker was noted for his submarine pitching style. Athletic career Auker was born and raised in Norcatur, Kansas, the son of Fred and Florence Auker. He attended college at Kansas State University in Manhattan, where he was a brother of Phi Sigma Kappa. Called by former Kansas State University President James McCain, "the greatest all-around athlete in Kansas State history," Auker won nine varsity letters – three each in baseball, basketball and football – during his college career, from 1929 to 1932. He was first-team All-American in baseball and All-Big Six Conference in baseball, football, and basketball. In football, Auker starred at quarterback, was named second team All-American by Grantland Rice and was offered a $6,000 contract by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers. Cochrane was considered one of the best catchers in baseball history and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In his first season as manager, he led the Tigers to 101 wins, which was the most for a rookie manager for 27 years (since Cochrane, six other managers have won 100 games as a rookie). Cochrane was born in Massachusetts and was a multi-sport athlete at Boston University. After college, he chose baseball over basketball and football. He made his major league debut in 1925, having spent only one season in the minor leagues. He was chosen as the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player in 1928 and he appeared in the World Series from 1929 to 1931. Philadelphia won the first two of those World Series, but Cochrane was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal city of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. European-American settlers arrived in Lakeland from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina in the 1870s. The city expanded in the 1880s with the arrival of rail service, with the first freedmen railway workers settling here in 1883.Kimberly C. Moore, "Confederate vets, former slaves form Lakeland’s history" ''The Ledger'', 09 May 2018; accessed 27 June 2018 They and European immigrants also came ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Detroit Tigers as a first baseman in the 1930s and 1940s. A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and a two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award winner, he was one of the premier power hitters of his generation and is widely considered one of the greatest sluggers in baseball history. He had 47 months of military service including service in World War II, all of which took place during what would have been prime years in his major league career. Greenberg played the first twelve of his 13 major league seasons for Detroit. He was an American League (AL) All-Star for four seasons and an AL MVP in 1935 (first baseman) and 1940 (left fielder). He had a batting average over .300 in eight seasons, and won tw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Honig
Donald Martin Honig (born 1931 in New York City) is a novelist, historian and editor who mostly writes about baseball. While a member of the Bobo Newsom Memorial Society, an informal group of writers, Honig attempted to convince Lawrence Ritter to write a sequel to his 1966 book ''The Glory of their Times''. Pleading time limitations, Ritter declined to attempt such a book himself, but gave Honig his blessing, leading to the books ''Baseball When the Grass Was Real'' (1975) and ''Baseball Between The Lines'' (1976). Over the next 19 years, Honing churned out 39 books about baseball. He collaborated with Ritter on ''The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time'' in 1981. He also published several illustrated histories of long-standing franchises. Honig published his most recent baseball book, ''The Fifth Season'', in 2009. Honig was also a frequent contributor of short stories to ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.'' He resides in Cromwell, Connecticut Cromwell is a town in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmie Foxx
James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies. A tremendous power hitter, Foxx retired with the second most home runs, behind only Babe Ruth, and fifth-most runs batted in (RBI). His greatest seasons were with the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox where he hit a then-record 30 or more home runs in 12 consecutive seasons and drove in more than 100 runs in 13 consecutive years. Considered one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, Foxx became the ninth player to win a Triple Crown and set a then-record for most MVP awards with three. His 58 home runs hit in 1932 were third-most all-time in a season at the time, his 438 total bases collected that same season are fifth most all time, and he is one of only 7 batters to accumulate o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
