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Alberto Castillo (pitcher)
Alberto Castillo Betancourt (born July 5, 1975) is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks. Amateur career Castillo played for Cuba in the 1993 World Junior Championships in Windsor, Ontario, at which time he defected. After relocating to the United States, he enrolled in Miami Dade College where he played amateur baseball at the junior college level. Professional career Giants and Yankees After being selected by the San Francisco Giants in the third round (88th overall) of the 1994 MLB draft, Castillo began his career in the Giants organization as a first baseman, although he did pitch a few times that season for the Everett Giants. After playing first base exclusively in 1995, he was converted to a full-time pitcher the following year but would briefly return to hitting a few years later and spend a few seasons as a two-way player and even spent another full season as a first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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] [Amazon] |
Bellingham Giants
The Bellingham Giants were a Minor League Baseball team in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League, based in Bellingham, Washington, for two seasons (1995, 1996), and were an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. After years of struggling attendance, co-owners Jerry Walker and William Tucker moved the franchise south to Keizer, Oregon, and began play in 1997 as the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. History The franchise arrived in 1973 as the Bellingham Dodgers, affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Major League Baseball returned to Seattle in , the expansion Mariners placed their first minor league affiliate in Bellingham. The club adopted the moniker of their parent club, taking the name Bellingham Mariners, but were commonly referred to as the "Baby M's." Bellingham enjoyed a long affiliation with the Mariners, lasting eighteen years, through 1994. Following that season, the Mariners signed a player development contract with Everett, who had been a Giants affiliate since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bakersfield Blaze
The Bakersfield Blaze were a minor league baseball team in Bakersfield, California. They played in the California League at the Class A-Advanced level, hosting home games at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Opened in 1941, the stadium is well known for facing the setting sun and its shallow center field fence, and seats 3,500 fans. Near the end of the 2008 season, it was rumored that the Blaze would move to the Carolina League after the following season. However, Minor League Baseball president Pat O'Conner announced in February 2009 that they would remain in the California League. The Blaze were sold to local Bakersfield businessmen Gene Voiland and Chad Hathaway just prior to the 2012 season. The new ownership renovated Sam Lynn Ballpark in time for Opening Day and announced in November 2012 that a new ballpark would be ready for the 2014 season. However, financing plans for a new stadium failed to meet the $30 million target and team ownership was reclaimed by former owner D. G. Elmore. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in Florida, alongside the National League (NL)’s Miami Marlins. The team plays its home games at Tropicana Field; for the 2025 season, the team's home ballpark is George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, due to damage to Tropicana Field caused by Hurricane Milton. Following nearly three decades of unsuccessfully trying to gain an expansion franchise or enticing existing teams to relocate to the Tampa Bay area, an ownership group led by Vince Naimoli was approved on March 9, 1995. The team began play as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1998 Major League Baseball season. The team's first decade of play was marked by futility; they finished in last place in the AL East in all but the 2004 season, when they finished second to last ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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] [Amazon] |
Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010)
The Northern League was an independent minor professional baseball league. It was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the organized minor leagues. The league was founded in 1993 and folded after its 2010 season when financial stability became a problem. The three teams remaining in the league when it folded joined with the remaining teams in United League Baseball and the Golden Baseball League to form a new independent organization called the North American League. History The modern Northern League was founded by Miles Wolff. Wolff started the league after many midwestern cities contacted him (through his affiliation with ''Baseball America'') asking how they could get a minor league team. After visiting some of them, most notably Duluth, Minnesota, and its Wade Stadium, he began contacting potential owners to start the league. The league was structured to where teams were not allowed to load their rosters with ex-pros. Players with five or more years of professiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Schaumburg Flyers
The Schaumburg Flyers were a professional baseball team based in Schaumburg, Illinois, in the United States. The team played in the Northern League from 1999 to 2010, with their home games at Alexian Field, near the Elgin O'Hare Expressway. They formerly played in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where they were known as the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks. The Flyers were also the first minor league baseball team to have several of their games aired on a major market radio station during their inaugural season of 1999, WMAQ AM 670 in Chicago. Three Sunday afternoon games were broadcast that first season. History In 1999, the Flyers hired their first manager, Ron Kittle, best known for his playing days with the Chicago White Sox. The former Chicago Cubs and White Sox player Greg Hibbard was the pitching coach. Kittle did a series of TV commercials to promote the team, using the gimmick "Ma Kittle," portraying both himself and his "Ma." The ads sparked interest as the Flyers hoped to ste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Spring Training
Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for the roster and position spots, and it gives established players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warm climates (MLB goes to Arizona and Florida while the KBO, NPB, and CPBL go to Okinawa, Kyushu, Australia, and Taiwan) to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play. In modern MLB training, teams that train in Florida will play other Florida-training teams in their exhibition games, regardless of regular-season league affiliations. Likewise, Arizona-training teams will play other Arizona teams. This arrangement commenced long before either state received MLB franchises of their own, and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its home games at Rate Field, which is located on Chicago's South Side, Chicago, South Side. They are one of two MLB teams based in Chicago, alongside the National League (baseball), National League (NL)'s Chicago Cubs. The White Sox originated in the Western League (1885–1900), Western League, founded as the Sioux City Cornhuskers in 1894, moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, as the St. Paul Saints, and ultimately relocating to Chicago in 1900. The Chicago White Stockings were one of the American League's eight charter Major North American professional sports teams, franchises when the AL asserted major league status in 1901. The team, which shortened its name to the White Sox in 1904, originally played their home games at South Side Park befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Tampa Yankees
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsborough County. With an estimated population of 403,364 in 2023, Tampa is the 49th-most populous city in the country and the third-most populous city in Florida after Jacksonville and Miami. Tampa was founded as a military center in the 19th century, with the establishment of Fort Brooke. The cigar industry was brought to Tampa by Vincente Martinez Ybor, after whom Ybor City is named. Tampa was reincorporated as a city in 1887 following the Civil War. Tampa's economy is driven by tourism, health care, finance, insurance, technology, construction, and the maritime industry. The bay's port is the largest in the state, responsible for over $15 billion in economic impact. Tampa is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Greensboro Bats
Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte and Raleigh, and the 69th-most populous city in the United States. The population of the Greensboro–High Point metropolitan statistical area was estimated to be 789,842 in 2023. The Piedmont Triad region, of which Greensboro is the most populous city, had an estimated population of 1,736,099 in 2023. In 1808, Greensboro was planned around a central courthouse square to succeed Guilford Court House as the county seat. The county courts were thus placed closer to the county's geographical center, a location more easily reached at the time by the majority of the county's citizens, who traveled by horse or on foot. Three major Interstate Highways (Interstate 40, Interstate 85, and Interstate 73) in the Piedmont region of cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de Young. The paper is owned by the Hearst Corporation, which bought it from the de Young family in 2000. It is the only major daily paper covering the city and county of San Francisco. The paper benefited from the growth of San Francisco and had the largest newspaper circulation on the West Coast of the United States by 1880. Like other newspapers, it experienced a rapid fall in circulation in the early 21st century and was ranked 18th nationally by circulation in the first quarter of 2021. In 1994, the newspaper launched the ''SFGate'' website, with a soft launch in March and an official launch on November 3, 1994, including both content from the newspaper and other sources. "The Gate", as it was known at launch, was the first large ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
