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Tom Urbani
Thomas James Urbani (January 21, 1968 – September 28, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for four seasons. He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1993 through the 1996 midseason, before joining the Detroit Tigers for the rest of the season. He also pitched in the Italian Baseball League and coached youth baseball after his playing career. Early life and career Urbani was born in Santa Cruz, California, on January 21, 1968. His great-grandfather, Giuseppi, immigrated to Santa Cruz from Italy in 1906. Urbani played Little League Baseball in Santa Cruz. He attended Harbor High School, and was named the ''Santa Cruz Sentinel''s All- Santa Cruz County high school baseball player of the year after he had a .493 batting average and a 1.13 earned run average (ERA). Urbani then enrolled at Cabrillo College, where he played college baseball for two years. In 1988, he was named the Coast Conference's player of the year. Urb ... [...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] |
Cabrillo College
Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 12,000 students per term. Facilities Classes are offered at two locations: the main campus in Aptos at 6500 Soquel Drive and the Cabrillo College Watsonville Center, located at 318 Union Street in downtown Watsonville. Facility planning and major construction has been completed on campus for the Barbara Samper Student Activities Center, and the Cabrillo College Arts Education Complex as well as a Health & Wellness Center (Precision Wellness Center) at the Aptos campus. The main quad in Aptos features a bust honoring Martin Luther King Jr. In 2007, Cabrillo received a $2.5 million grant from the Economic Development Administration towards the construction of a new Industrial Technology Education Center (ITEC) in Watsonville on the site of the former Watsonville Public Library. Now called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Rangers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. In 2020, the Rangers moved to the new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Arlington after having played at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) from 1994 to 2019. The team's name is shared with a Texas Ranger Division, law enforcement agency. The franchise was established in 1961, as the Washington Senators, an expansion team awarded to Washington, D.C., after the city's first AL ballclub, the History of the Washington Senators (1901–60), second Washington Senators, moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Twins, Twins (the Washington Senators (1891–99), original Washington Senators played primarily in the National League during the 1890s). After the season, the new Senators moved to Arlington, and debuted as the Rangers the followin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expansion franchise in 1969, and has played in four World Series, winning in 1985 and 2015, and losing in 1980 and 2014. Outside of a dominant 10 year stretch between 1976 to 1985, and a brief, albeit dominant resurgence from 2014 to 2015, the Royals have been one of the worst franchises in baseball, missing the playoffs 34 of the previous 36 years. The name "Royals" pays homage to the American Royal, a livestock show, horse show, rodeo, and championship barbecue competition held annually in Kansas City since 1899, as well as the identical names of two former Negro league baseball teams that played in the first half of the 20th century. (One a semi-pro team based in Kansas City in the 1910s and 1920s that toured the Midwest and a California ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Baseball Draft
The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lottery where the teams who did not make the postseason in the past year participate in a state-lottery style process to determine the first six picks, starting in 2023. The team possessing the worst record receives the best odds of receiving the first pick. Until 2022, it was determined by the previous season's standings, with the worst team selecting first. The first amateur draft was held in 1965. Unlike most sports drafts, the first-year player draft is held mid-season, in July since 2021. Another distinguishing feature of this draft in comparison with those of other North American major professional sports leagues is its sheer size: under the current collective bargaining agreement, the draft lasts until 20 rounds in addition to, since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Designated Hitter
The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by the National League in 2022, making it universal in MLB. Within that time frame, nearly all amateur, collegiate, and professional leagues worldwide have adopted the designated hitter or some variant, with the notable exception of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Major League Baseball rule In Major League Baseball, the designated hitter is a player who does not play a position in the field, but instead replaces the pitcher in the batting order. The DH may only be used for the pitcher (and not any other position player), as stated in Rule 5.11. Use of the DH is optional, but must be determined before the start of the game. Prior to 2022, if a team did not begin a game with a DH, the pitcher (or a pinch hitter) had to bat for t ... [...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] |
Long Beach State 49ers
Long Beach State athletics, or simply Beach athletics (previously known as the 49ers), are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Long Beach. Teams compete in 19 sports at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level. Long Beach State is a founding member of the Big West Conference, and also competes in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Golden Coast Conference for sports not sponsored by the Big West. Nickname In the realm of sports the school is referred to as "Long Beach State." The university's intercollegiate athletics program will continue to use "Beach Athletics", and its teams the prefix moniker "Beach" as it is the only university on the West Coast and only NCAA Division I university with the word "Beach" in its name. One can see the cheer "Go Beach!" written on many CSULB products around campus and on the large water tower near the entrance to the campus. "'49er" remains an informal nickname and identifier fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long Beach State Dirtbags Baseball
The Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball team is the college baseball program that represents California State University, Long Beach. Although all Long Beach State sports teams are officially known as the Beach, the baseball team is typically referred to as the "Dirtbags". Their colors are black and gold. Long Beach State (LBSU) has competed since 1969 in the NCAA Division I Big West Conference (BWC), known at the time as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. Before becoming a founding member of the PCAA, LBSU participated in the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) from 1957 to 1969, and before that spent three years as an independent team. The Long Beach State baseball team gained national prominence in 1989, with the hiring of Dave Snow as head coach. The Dirtbags established themselves as one of the strongest teams on the West Coast. From 2010 to present day, more active Major League professional ballplayers are alumni of Long Beach State than an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
