|
Joe Mauer
Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and first baseman who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Minnesota Twins. Regarded as one of the greatest contact hitters at the catcher position in his prime, Mauer is the only catcher in MLB history to win three batting titles, and the only catcher to ever win a batting title in the American League (AL). Internationally, Mauer represented the United States. Selected by the Twins with the first overall pick of the 2001 MLB draft, Mauer received six All-Star selections, won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards (2008–2010), five Silver Slugger Awards (including three in a row) and the 2009 AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. , he is the most recent catcher to win the MVP award in the American League, and one of only two catchers to win an MVP in the 21st century, along with Buster Posey. In 2024, Mauer was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket. Positioned behind home plate and facing toward the outfield, the catcher can see the whole field, and is therefore in the best position to direct and lead the other players in a defensive play. The catcher typically calls for pitches using PitchCom, or hand signals. The calls are based on the pitcher's mechanics and strengths, as well as the batter's tendencies and weaknesses. Essentially, the catcher controls what happens during the game when the ball is not "in play". Foul tips, bouncing balls in the dirt, and contact with runners during plays at the plate are all events ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Major League Baseball Batting Champions
In baseball, batting average (baseball), batting average (AVG) is a measure of a Batting (baseball), batter's success rate in achieving a Hit (baseball), hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league wins the "batting title" each season for having the highest batting average that year. The American League (AL) winner is known as the "Rod Carew American League Batting Champion", while the National League (baseball), National League (NL) leader is designated the "Tony Gwynn National League Batting Champion". Since 1957, a player must have 3.1 plate appearances (PA) per scheduled game in that league (for a total of 502 over the current 162-game season) to qualify for the batting title. However, if a player's lead in AVG is sufficiently large that enough hitless at bats can be added to reach this requirement and the player still would have the highest batting average, he wins the ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KCMP
KCMP (89.3 FM, ''89.3 the Current'') is a radio station owned by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) music format including a significant rotation of songs by local artists. Licensed to Northfield, Minnesota, and covering the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, the station's studios are located at the MPR Broadcast Center on Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul, while its transmitter is located atop the Vermillion Highlands near Coates. The Current is also broadcast on stations in Rochester, Duluth-Superior, Pasadena-Los Angeles, translators around Minnesota, and online. The Current, which has been broadcasting its AAA format since 2004, debuted after MPR purchased WCAL-FM, the radio station of St. Olaf College in Northfield, in 2004. St. Olaf had put WCAL-FM on the air in 1968 as an extension of WCAL, a part-time AM station established in 1922 and eventually shut down in 1991. Format The modern "third service" for MPR (the organization al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silver Slugger Awards
The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball (MLB). These voters consider several offensive statistics, including batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, as well as their "general impressions of a player's overall offensive value". They are not permitted to vote for players on their team. The award is a bat-shaped trophy, three feet (91 cm) tall, engraved with the names of each of the winners from the league and plated with sterling silver. It is given by Hillerich & Bradsby, the manufacturer of Louisville Slugger bats. Ten Silver Slugger Awards are given each year per league individually. One each goes to a catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop. Three outfielders receive the award, irrespective of their specific position; for insta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rawlings Gold Glove Award
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fielding position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL). The Gold Glove is widely considered one of the most prestigious defensive awards in baseball. Winners for position awards are determined from voting by the managers and coaches in each league, who are not permitted to vote for their own players. Additionally, a sabermetric component provided by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) accounts for about 25 percent of the vote. For the utility player awards, the sabermetric component and other defensive statistics are exclusively used to select the winners, without any voting by coaches. In 1957, the baseball glove manufacturer Rawlings created the Gold Glove Award to commemorate the best fielding performan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2001 Major League Baseball Draft
The 2001 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban baseball pitcher who had recently left Cuba, attempted to enjoin Major League Baseball from including him in the 2001 draft so that he could instead sign as a free agent. Viera, represented by attorney Alan Gura and agent Joe Kehoskie, claimed that the MLB draft was discriminatory because it had different signing rules for Cubans than for other foreign players. On June 4, federal judge James D. Whittemore ruled that whatever financial loss Viera suffered from being subject to the draft did not satisfy the federal injunction requirement of irreparable harm. Viera was picked by the Boston Red Sox that same week in the seventh round of the draft. The Minnesota Twins selected St. Paul, MN native Joe Mauer with the number one pick in the 2001 draft. The 18-year-old Mauer, a catcher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of First Overall Major League Baseball Draft Picks
The first-year player draft, also known as the Rule 4 Draft, is the primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. Unlike most professional sports, MLB does not permit the trading of draft picks. Since 2023, the first six selections are determined by a lottery; the previous season's standings determine the remaining selections. If two teams have identical records, the team with the worse record in the previous season will receive the higher pick. In addition, teams that lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded "compensatory" picks. The first draft took place in 1965; it was introduced to prevent richer teams from negotiating wealthier contracts with top-level prospects and therefore, monopolizing the player market. Originally, three drafts were held each year. The first draft took place in June and involved high-school graduates and college seniors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States National Baseball Team
The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA, represents the United States in international level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United States national team won the Baseball at the Summer Olympics, Olympic baseball tournament in 2000, and the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2017. The United States national team debuted at the first Baseball World Cup (originally the Amateur World Series) in 1938 Amateur World Series, 1938. The tournament, which was the premier level of international baseball for most of its existence before being discontinued in 2011, was won by the United States four times. The United States has participated in every baseball tournament at the Summer Olympics, and won its first Olympic gold at the Baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000 Olympic Games. The United States was an inaugural member of the World Baseball Classic, making its debut in the 2006 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League (original), Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to Major League Baseball, major league status. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season, 25 years after the formation of the National League (baseball), National League (the "Senior Circuit"). Since 1903, the American League champion has played in the World Series against the National League champion with only two exceptions: 1904, when the NL champion New York Giants (baseball), New York Giants refused to play their AL counterpart, and 1994, when a 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, players' strike resulted in the cancellation of the Series. Through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contact Hitter
Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * Contact juggling * Contact mechanics, the study of solid objects that deform when touching each other * Contact process (mathematics), a model of an interacting particle system * Electrical contacts * ''Sparśa'', a concept in Buddhism that in Sanskrit/Indian language is translated as "contact", "touching", "sensation", "sense impression", etc. Social interaction * Contact (amateur radio) * Contact (law), a concept related to visitation rights * Contact (social), a person who can offer help in achieving goals * Contact Conference, an annual scientific conference * Extraterrestrial contact, see Search for extraterrestrial intelligence * First contact (anthropology), an initial meeting of two cultures * Language contact, the interact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional baseball league in the world. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round Major League Baseball postseason, postseason tournament in October, culminating in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained le ... [...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] |
