Portal:Baseball

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The Baseball Portal

Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams, of nine players each, that take turns batting and fielding. The game proceeds when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball which a player on the batting team tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team (fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate (the place where the player started as a batter). The team that scores the most runs by the end of the game is the winner.

The first objective of the batting team is to have a player reach first base safely. A player on the batting team who reaches first base without being called "out" can attempt to advance to subsequent bases as a runner, either immediately or during teammates' turns batting. The fielding team tries to prevent runs by getting batters or runners "out", which forces them out of the field of play. Both the pitcher and fielders have methods of getting the batting team's players out. The opposing teams switch back and forth between batting and fielding; the batting team's turn to bat is over once the fielding team records three outs. One turn batting for each team constitutes an inning. A game is usually composed of nine innings, and the team with the greater number of runs at the end of the game wins. If scores are tied at the end of nine innings, extra innings are usually played. Baseball has no game clock, although most games end in the ninth inning.

Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century. This game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed. By the late 19th century, baseball was widely recognized as the national sport of the United States. Baseball is popular in North America and parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and East Asia, particularly in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

In the United States and Canada, professional Major League Baseball (MLB) teams are divided into the National League (NL) and American League (AL), each with three divisions: East, West, and Central. The MLB champion is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series. The top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League. The World Baseball Classic, organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, is the major international competition of the sport and attracts the top national teams from around the world. (Full article...)

Outline of baseball

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The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball (MLB) season, featuring the St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees. The Cardinals defeated the Yankees four games to three in the best-of-seven series, which took place from October 2 to October 10, 1926 at Yankee Stadium and Sportsman's Park. The Cardinals and Yankees earned their places in the series by having the best win–loss records in the National and American Leagues, respectively. This was the first World Series appearance for the Cardinals—the first of eleven World Series championships in Cardinals history. The Yankees were making their fourth World Series appearance in six seasons; after this series, they would play in another 35 World Series. In Game 1, pitcher Herb Pennock led the Yankees to a 2–1 win over the Cardinals. In Game 2, pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander evened the Series for the Cardinals with a 6–2 victory. Cardinals pitcher Jesse Haines threw a complete game shutout in Game 3, which gave St. Louis a 2–1 series lead. In the Yankees 10–5 victory in Game 4, Babe Ruth hit three home runs, a World Series record equaled only twice since. According to newspaper reports, Ruth had promised a sickly boy named Johnny Sylvester to hit a home run for him in Game 4. After Ruth's three-home run performance, the boy's condition had miraculously improved. The newspapers' account of the story is disputed by contemporary baseball historians, but it remains one of the most famous anecdotes in baseball history. Pennock was again the winning pitcher for the Yankees in the team's 3–2 victory in Game 5.

The Yankees led the series 3–2, and Cardinals player-manager Rogers Hornsby chose Alexander as the starting pitcher in Game Six and used him as a relief pitcher in Game 7. Behind Alexander, the Cardinals won the final two games of the series, thus giving them the championship. In Game 7, the Yankees were losing 3–2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, their last opportunity to score in a regular game. Ruth walked with two outs. Bob Meusel came to bat next, but Ruth, who had a 50% career success rate at stealing bases, decided to try stealing second base. Meusel swung and missed Alexander's pitch, and catcher Bob O'Farrell threw the ball to second baseman Hornsby, who tagged Ruth out, ending the game and giving the Cardinals the World Series championship.

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Image 1Defensive positions on a baseball field, with abbreviations and scorekeeper's position numbers (not uniform numbers) (from Baseball)
Image 2Jackie Robinson in 1945, with the era's Kansas City Royals, a barnstorming squad associated with the Negro American League's Kansas City Monarchs (from Baseball)
Image 3Babe Ruth in 1920, the year he joined the New York Yankees (from Baseball)
Image 4Cy Young—the holder of many major league career marks, including wins and innings pitched, as well as losses—in 1908. MLB's annual awards for the best pitcher in each league are named for Young. (from Baseball)
Image 5David Ortiz, the batter, awaiting a pitch, with the catcher and umpire (from Baseball)
Image 6A well-worn baseball (from Baseball)
Image 7Rickey Henderson—the major leagues' all-time leader in runs and stolen bases—stealing third base in a 1988 game (from Baseball)
Image 8A shortstop tries to tag out a runner who is sliding head first, attempting to reach second base. (from Baseball)
Image 9The American Tobacco Company's line of baseball cards featured shortstop Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1909 to 1911. In 2007, the card shown here sold for $2.8 million. (from Baseball)
Image 10Pesäpallo, a Finnish variation of baseball, was invented by Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala in the 1920s, and after that, it has changed with the times and grown in popularity. Picture of Pesäpallo match in 1958 in Jyväskylä, Finland. (from Baseball)
Image 11The Tampere Tigers celebrating the 2017 title in Turku, Finland (from Baseball)
Image 12Jason Heyward of the Chicago Cubs hits a ball pitched to him during a game against the Texas Rangers in 2016. (from Baseball)
Image 13Diagram of a baseball field Diamond may refer to the square area defined by the four bases or to the entire playing field. The dimensions given are for professional and professional-style games. Children often play on smaller fields. (from Baseball)
Image 14Two players on the baseball team of Tokyo, Japan's Waseda University in 1921 (from Baseball)
Image 15An Afghan girl playing baseball in August 2002 (from Baseball)
Image 16Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The Green Monster is visible beyond the playing field on the left. (from Baseball)
Image 17A New York Yankees batter and a Boston Red Sox catcher at Fenway Park (from Baseball)
Image 18A first baseman receives a pickoff throw, as the runner dives back to first base. (from Baseball)
Image 19Sadaharu Oh managing the Japan national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Playing for the Central League's Yomiuri Giants (1959–80), Oh set the professional world record for home runs. (from Baseball)

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Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (/ˈbruːθərz/; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from 1879 to 1896, with a brief return in 1904. Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and weighed 207 pounds (94 kg), which was large by 19th-century standards.

Recognized as the first great slugger in baseball history, and among the greatest sluggers of his era, he held the record for career home runs from 1887 to 1889, with his final total of 106 tying for the fourth most of the 19th century. His career slugging percentage of .519 remained the Major League record for a player with at least 4,000 at bats until Ty Cobb edged ahead of him in 1922. At the time of his initial retirement, he also ranked second in career triples (205), and third in runs batted in (1,296) and hits. (Full article...)

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Quotes

If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy!, I hate to lose.''

— Derek Jeter, New York Yankees shortstop

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In early baseball history, it was not uncommon for players to serve as player–managers; that is, they managed the team while still being signed to play for the club. In the history of MLB, there have been 221 player–managers, 59 of whom are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The dual role of player–manager was formerly a common practice, dating back to John Clapp, who performed the task for the Middletown Mansfields in 1872. One reason for this is that by hiring a player as a manager, the team could save money by paying only one salary. Also, popular players were named player–managers in an effort to boost game attendance. Babe Ruth left the New York Yankees when they refused to allow him to become player–manager. Five of the eight National League (NL) managers in 1934 were also players. Connie Mack, John McGraw, and Joe Torre, among the all-time leaders in managerial wins, made their managerial debuts as player–managers.

Today, player–managers have become rare in baseball. Pete Rose is the most recent player–manager, serving from 1984 through 1986 with the Cincinnati Reds. Whereas some player–managers, such as Lou Boudreau, were full-time players as player–managers, by the time Rose became player–manager, he was a part-time player. Rose was trying to prolong his career to break the all-time hit record set by Ty Cobb, and Reds owner Marge Schott used this as a marketing ploy. One criticism of the practice holds that the manager has enough to be preoccupied with during a game without playing. With specialized bullpens, extensive scouting reports, and increased media scrutiny, the job of a manager has become more complex. A player–manager needs to decide how much playing time to give himself. Don Kessinger, player–manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1979, believes he did not play himself enough. Additionally, Bill Terry felt he became isolated from his team when he became a player–manager.

However, the idea of the player–manager has been addressed recently. The Toronto Blue Jays considered hiring Paul Molitor as a player–manager in 1997. When approached with the idea in 2000, Barry Larkin reported that he found it "interesting", though general manager (GM) Jim Bowden rejected the idea. In the 2011–12 offseason, the White Sox considered hiring incumbent first baseman Paul Konerko to serve as manager. White Sox GM Kenny Williams said that he believes MLB will again have a player–manager.