Scipio Spinks
Scipio Ronald Spinks (born July 12, 1947) is an American former right handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1969 through 1973 for the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. Life and sports Born in Chicago, Illinois, Spinks was a promising prospect until injuries prematurely ended his career. Spinks graduated from Harlan High School in Chicago and was drafted by the Astros organization in 1966. That August, he set a record in the Northern League by striking out 20 batters in a game.Costello, Rory"Scipio Spinks" ''sabr.org''. Retrieved 2010-11-2. In 1968, he went 9–6 with a 2.27 earned run average in the Carolina League. He was shuttled between Class AAA and the major league club for the next few seasons. The hard-throwing Spinks had control problems but also struck out an average of one batter per inning in the American Association. Spinks was traded along with Lance Clemons from the Astros to the Cardinals for Jerry Reuss on April 15, 1972. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a base on balls, 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, left-handed specialist, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closing pitcher, closer. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National League (baseball)
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. The National League survived competition from various other professional baseball leagues during the late 19th century. Most did not last for more than a few seasons, with a handful of teams joining the NL once their leagues folded. The American League declared itself a second major league in 1901, and the AL and NL engaged in a "baseball war" durin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. The team plays its home games at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. Founded in 1969 as 1969 Major League Baseball expansion, an expansion franchise, the Padres adopted their name from the Pacific Coast League (PCL) team that arrived in San Diego in 1936. The team's name, Spanish for "fathers", refers to the Spanish Franciscan friars who founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769. In 1976, Randy Jones (baseball), Randy Jones achieved the first Cy Young Award for the Padres. In the 1980s, Tony Gwynn became a major star, winning eight National League List of Major League Baseball batting champions, batting titles. Under manager Dick Williams, the Padres clinched their first NL pennant, losing to the Detroit Tigers in the 1984 World Series. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pitching Coach
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisions. Beyond the manager, more than a half dozen coaches may assist the manager in running the team. Essentially, baseball coaches are analogous to assistant coaches in other sports, as the baseball manager is to the head coach. Roles of professional baseball coaches Baseball is unique in that the manager and coaches typically all wear numbered uniforms similar to those of the players, due to the early practice of managers frequently being selected from the player roster. The wearing of uniforms continued even after the practice of playing managers and coaches waned; notable exceptions to this were Baseball Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack, who always wore a black suit during his 50 years at the helm of the Philadelphia Athletics, and Burt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are experienced talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports, and they determine whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization. Some scouts are interested primarily in the selection of ''prospects;'' younger players who may require further development by the acquiring team, but who are judged to be worthy of that effort and expense for the potential future payoff that it could bring, while others concentrate on players who are already polished professionals, whose rights may be available soon, either through free agency or trading, and who are seen as filling a team's specific need at a certain position. ''Advance scouts'' watch the teams that their teams are going to play in order to help determine strategy. Many scouts are former coaches or retired players, while others have made a career just of being scouts. Skilled scouts who help to det ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in New York City alongside the National League (baseball), National League (NL)'s New York Mets. The team was founded in when Frank J. Farrell, Frank Farrell and William Stephen Devery, Bill Devery purchased the franchise rights to the defunct Baltimore Orioles (1901–1902), Baltimore Orioles after it ceased operations and used them to establish the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders were officially renamed the Yankees in . The team is owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, a limited liability company that is controlled by the family of the late George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner purchased the team from CBS in 1973. Currently, Brian Cashman is the team's gener ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jim Hickman (1960s Outfielder)
James Lucius Hickman (May 10, 1937 – June 25, 2016), nicknamed "Gentleman Jim", was an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. Career Hickman was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent prior to the 1956 season; he spent six seasons in the Cardinals’ farm system until he was selected by the New York Mets in the 1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft. New York Mets Hickman played 624 games with the Mets, from 1962 through 1966. He batted .241 with 60 home runs and 210 RBI. Hickman has earned several places in Mets history. He was the first Met to hit for the cycle, accomplishing the feat in a 7–3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at the Polo Grounds on August 7, 1963; it is one of the few natural cycles in Major League history. A month later, on September 18, he hit the last home run ever hi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located on Chicago's Community areas in Chicago, North Side. They are one of two major league teams based in Chicago, alongside the American League (AL)’s Chicago White Sox. The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, were founded in and are one of two remaining NL charter franchises that debuted in . They have been known as the Chicago Cubs since 1903 Chicago Cubs season, 1903. Throughout the club's history, the Cubs have played in a total of 11 World Series. The 1906 Chicago Cubs season, 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of , before losing the 1906 World Series, World Series to the 1906 Chicago White Sox season, Chicag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Home Plate
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers to less organized venues for activities like sandlot ball. Specifications :''Unless otherwise noted, the specifications discussed in this section refer to those described within the Baseball Rules, under which Major League Baseball is played.'' The starting point for much of the action on the field is home plate (officially "home base"), a five-sided slab of white rubber. One side is long, the two adjacent sides are . The remaining two sides are approximately and set at a right angle. The plate is set into the ground so that its surface is level with the field. The corner of home plate where the two 11-inch sides meet at a right angle is at one corner of a square. The dimensional specifications are technically inconsistent because ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from to , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of the Reds team known as the Big Red Machine that dominated the National League in the mid-1970s, winning six division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series championships.Johnny Bench How Stuff Works. A fourteen-time and a two-time National League Most Valuable ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. They were a charter member of the American Association (1882–1891), American Association in 1881 before joining the NL in 1890. The Reds played in the National League West, NL West division from 1969 to 1993, before joining the Central division in 1994. For several years in the 1970s, they were considered the most dominant team in baseball, most notably winning the 1975 World Series, 1975 and 1976 World Series; the team was colloquially known as the "Big Red Machine" during this time, and it included National Baseball Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame members Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Tony Pérez, as well as the controversial Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader in Major League Baseball. Overall, the Reds have won five World Series champ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pinch Runner
In baseball or softball, a pinch runner is a player substituted into a game for the purpose of base running. Description A pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been substituted. Occasionally, a pinch runner is inserted for other reasons (such as a double switch, ejection, or if the original player on base has become injured). For statistical and scorekeeping purposes, the pinch runner is denoted by PR. As with all substitutions at most levels of baseball, when a player is pinch run for, that player is removed from the game. Some leagues, especially for youths, may allow substituted players to re-enter a game. After serving as a pinch runner, a player may remain in the game and assume a defensive position, or may be substituted for at the manager's discretion. Use in Major League Baseball In the early history of professional baseball, the National League, which began play in 1876, changed a rule in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |