|
Tom Haller
Thomas Frank Haller (June 23, 1937 – November 26, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and executive. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1972, most notably as a member of the San Francisco Giants where he made two of his three All-Star teams. Haller ended his playing career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Detroit Tigers. Haller was considered one of the top catchers in the National League (NL) during the late 1960s. In 2008, he was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame. Major League career Haller was born in Lockport, Illinois and attended the University of Illinois, where he played as a quarterback for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team. During his time at the university, Haller was also a member of Theta Chi fraternity. Haller was signed by the San Francisco Giants, as an amateur free agent, in 1958. After playing in the minor leagues for three seasons, he made h ... [...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] |
Baseball-Reference
Baseball Reference is a baseball statistics database maintained by Sports Reference. The site provides career statistics for Major League Baseball (MLB) players and teams as well as records, MLB draft history, and sabermetrics. History Founder Sean Forman began developing the website while working on his Ph.D. dissertation in applied math and computational science at the University of Iowa. While writing his dissertation, he had also been writing articles on and blogging about sabermetrics. Forman's database was originally built from the '' Total Baseball'' series of baseball encyclopedias. The website went online in April 2000, after first being launched in February 2000 as part of the website for the ''Big Bad Baseball Annual''. It was originally built as a web interface to the Lahman Baseball Database, though it now employs a variety of data sources. In 2004, Forman founded Sports Reference. Sports Reference is a website that came out of the Baseball Reference website. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Platoon System
A platoon system in baseball or American football is a method for substituting players in groups (platoons), to keep complementary players together during playing time. In baseball, it is usually used to optimize batting performance against pitchers of opposite handedness. Right-handed batters generally perform better against left-handed pitchers and vice versa. Despite some resistance from players who prefer consistent play time, this strategy has been effectively used by managers like Casey Stengel of the New York Yankees to win multiple World Series championships. In American football, the term "two-platoon system" refers to the practice of using different players on offense, defense, and special teams. Additionally, "platooning quarterbacks" is a tactic where two quarterbacks with different skill sets are used alternately to maximize offensive potential and variability. This requires the defensive team to prepare for two types of quarterbacks, but it's less common in higher ec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1962 San Francisco Giants Season
The 1962 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 80th year in Major League Baseball, their fifth year in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their third at Candlestick Park. The team finished in first place in the National League with a record of 103 wins and 62 losses. They finished the season tied with their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, for first place in the league, necessitating a three-game tiebreaker playoff to determine the pennant winner. The Giants won two of the three games to take their first National League title since moving to San Francisco, making the Giants the first NL Champions of the 162-game schedule era. They went on to the 1962 World Series, where they lost in seven games to the New York Yankees. The Giants had 1,552 hits in the regular season, the most in the club's San Francisco era. Offseason * October 10, 1961: 1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft ** Joey Amalfitano was drafted from the Giant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Run Batted In
A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the batter bats a base hit which allows a teammate on a higher base to reach home and so score a run, then the batter gets credited with an RBI. Before the 1920 Major League Baseball season, runs batted in were not an official baseball statistic. Nevertheless, the RBI statistic was tabulated—unofficially—from 1907 through 1919 by baseball writer Ernie Lanigan, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. Common nicknames for an RBI include "ribby" (or "ribbie"), "rib", and "ribeye". The plural of "RBI" is a matter of "(very) minor controversy" for baseball fans:; it is usually "RBIs", in accordance with the usual practice for pluralizing initialisms in English; however, some sources use "RBI" as the plural, on the basis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Runs
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is usually achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles (or hitting either foul pole) without the ball touching the field. Inside-the-park home runs where the batter reaches home safely while the baseball is in play on the field are infrequent. In very rare cases, a fielder attempting to catch a ball in flight may misplay it and knock it over the outfield fence, resulting in a home run. An official scorer will credit the batter with a hit, a run scored, and a run batted in (RBI), as well as an RBI for each runner on base. The pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit and a run, with additional runs charged for each base-runner that scores. Home runs are among the most popular aspects of baseball ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor League Baseball
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National League (baseball), National League and American League, as the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL or NA). Minor League Baseball originated as simply the organization of lower tiers of professional baseball in the United States, comprising clubs that lacked the financial means to compete with the National League and later the American League. The association of minor leagues remained independent throughout the early 20th century, protected by agreements with the major leagues to ensure they were compensated when minor-league players were signed by major-league clubs. Later, Minor League Baseball evolved to be constituted entirely of farm team, affiliates of larger clubs, giving young prospects a chance to develop the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1958 San Francisco Giants Season
The 1958 San Francisco Giants season was the franchise's first season in San Francisco, California and 76th season overall. The Giants' home ballpark was Seals Stadium. The team had a record of 80–74 finishing in third place in the National League standings, twelve games behind the NL Champion Milwaukee Braves. Of the broadcast team, Russ Hodges left his former broadcasting partners in New York and for that season was joined on both KTVU and KSFO by Lon Simmons. Offseason * December 2, 1957: Tony Taylor was drafted from the Giants by the Chicago Cubs in the 1957 rule 5 draft. * December 2, 1957: 1957 minor league draft ** Lee Tate was drafted from the Giants by the St. Louis Cardinals. ** Ramón Conde was drafted from the Giants by the Kansas City Athletics. * December 10, 1957: Freddy Rodríguez was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Tom Poholsky. * March 24, 1958: Foster Castleman was purchased from the Giants by the Baltimore Orioles for $30,000. * Prior to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present but who is allowed to solicit offers from other teams. In some circumstances, the free agent's options are limited by the league's rules. Free agency was severely restricted in many sports leagues, instead clubs had a reserve clause which allowed them to retain players indefinitely. Usage Association football In professional association football, a free agent is either a player that has been released by a professional association football club and now is no longer affiliated with any league, or a player whose contract with their current club has expired and is thus free to join any other club under the terms of the Bosman ruling. Free agents do not have to be signed during the normal transfer window that is implemented in some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theta Chi
Theta Chi () is an international men's college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont. It has initiated more than 215,000 members and has over 8,900 collegiate members across North America. History Founding Theta Chi was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University in Norwich, Vermont, by two military cadets, Frederick Norton Freeman and Arthur Chase. A third man, Egbert Phelps, is considered to be the "assistant founder" for lending his help and advice to Freeman and Chase after transferring to Union College in 1854 (he was a member of Chi Psi fraternity). The first initiates after the founders were Edward Bancroft Williston and Lorenzo Potter, both initiated on . When Freeman and Chase founded Theta Chi, they spelled out its purpose in its constitution. Article I stated that the objects of Theta Chi were to "bind by closer bonds the members to each other and the mutual assistance of each of its members;" " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illinois Fighting Illini Football
The Illinois Fighting Illini football program represents the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. The Fighting Illini are a founding member of the Big Ten Conference. Illinois claims five national championships and 15 Big Ten championships. History Early history (1890–1912) The University of Illinois fielded its first football team in 1890, under the direction of Scott Williams (American football coach), Scott Williams, the team's starting quarterback who also served as the team's head coach. The team finished with a record of 1–2. Robert Lackey (American football), Robert Lackey took over the reins for the program's second season in 1891, and the team finished undefeated with a mark of 6–0. In July 1892, several days after graduating from Dartmouth, Edward K. Hall was hired by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to serve as head football coach and director of ph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the offense, and is often responsible for calling the play in the huddle. The quarterback also touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and is almost always the offensive player that throws forward passes. When the QB is tackled behind the line of scrimmage, it is called a Quarterback sack, sack. The position is also colloquially known as the "signal caller" and "field general". The quarterback is widely considered the most important position in American football, and one of the most important positions in team sports. Overview In modern American football, the starting quarterback is usually the leader of the offense, and their successes and failures can have a significant impact on the fortunes of their team. Ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
