Billy Koch
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Billy Koch
William Christopher Koch (born December 14, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He was born in Rockville Centre, New York and went to West Babylon High School. He entered the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays and last pitched in the majors with the Florida Marlins in 2004. Baseball career Koch played college baseball for Clemson University from 1994 to 1996. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round (fourth pick) of the 1996 amateur draft and made his debut in 1999. He made an instant impression by regularly throwing 100 MPH pitches. Koch won a bronze medal with the United States national baseball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He was groomed for the role of closer, and had mixed success at the role over the next three seasons. While he was regarded as one of the most dominating pitchers in the league when he was at his best, at times he battled with his control and composure on the mound. Nevertheless, he continued to pos ...
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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 ...
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West Babylon High School
West Babylon High School is a high school at 500 Great East Neck Road, West Babylon, New York in Babylon (town), New York, Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. It is part of the West Babylon Union Free School District. In 2012, it had an enrollment of 1,531. Its school colors are navy blue and gold and the mascot is an Eagle. The town is known for its beautiful environment. The school was built in 1958 and since then, the school has been fully operational for students from grades 9 to 12. There are three floors all with surrounding staircases on each directional end. The school features two cafeterias, two gymnasiums and an auditorium or "PAC" (Performing Arts Center). Behind the school, there is a football field, baseball field and tennis court. Notable alumni *Jovan Belcher, American football linebacker *John Cygan, actor *Harold Dieterle, winner of the first season of Top Chef *Billy Koch, professional baseball relief pitcher *Geral ...
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1974 Births
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; following List of Prime Ministers of Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir's resignation in response to high Israeli casualties, she was succeeded by Yitzhak Rabin. In Europe, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus by Turkey, Turkish troops initiated the Cyprus dispute, the Carnation Revolution took place in Portugal, and Chancellor of Germany, Chancellor of West Germany Willy Brandt resigned following an Guillaume affair, espionage scandal surrounding his secretary Günter Guillaume. In sports, the year was primarily dominated by the 1974 FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup in West Germany, in which the Germany national football team, German national team won the championshi ...
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List Of Major League Baseball Leaders In Games Finished
In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is the all-time leader in games finished with 952. Rivera is the only pitcher in MLB history to finish more than 900 career games. Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith are the only other pitchers to finish more than 800 games in their careers. Key List *Stats updated as of the end of the 2022 season. Notes References External links *Major League Baseball {{Baseball records Finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ... Major League Baseball statistics ...
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Moneyball (film)
''Moneyball'' is a 2011 American sports drama film directed by Bennett Miller with a script by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin from a story by Stan Chervin. The film is based on the 2003 nonfiction book by Michael Lewis, an account of the Oakland Athletics baseball team's 2002 season and their general manager Billy Beane's attempts to assemble a competitive team. In the film, Beane (Brad Pitt) and assistant general manager Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), faced with the franchise's limited budget for players, build a team of undervalued talent by taking a sophisticated sabermetric approach to scouting and analyzing players. Philip Seymour Hoffman also stars as Art Howe. Columbia Pictures bought the rights to Lewis's book in 2004, hiring Chervin to write the screenplay. David Frankel was initially set to direct with Zaillian now writing the screenplay, but was soon replaced by Steven Soderbergh, who planned to make the film in a semi-documentary style featuring interviews from rea ...
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Armando Benítez
Armando Benítez (born November 3, 1972) is a Dominican former major league relief pitcher. Benítez debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 1994 and within a few years became their closer. He was a reliever for several other organizations after Baltimore in 1999 and last played in Major League Baseball in 2008. His 289 saves rank 32nd all time. After 2008, he played in minor league and independent league baseball. Early life Armando Germán Benítez was born in San Pedro de Macorís, in the Dominican Republic. His parents, father Francisco and mother Constancia, separated when he was young, so Armando was raised by his mother. She made a living by hand-washing clothes. Armando has two brothers, Francisco, Jr. and Osiri, as well as a sister, Senovia. Benítez learned to play baseball when he was 14, when his stature was a lanky 6'2", 140 pounds. He began to play baseball at a local academy and was originally an outfielder and third baseman. Professional career Baltimore Orioles ...
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Luis Castillo (second Baseman)
Luis Antonio Castillo (born September 12, 1975) is a former Dominican professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, and Minnesota Twins from 1996 through 2010. Castillo is a three-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and won the World Series with the Marlins in 1997 and 2003. He is also the only player who played for the Marlins in both of their World Series winning seasons who did not get traded in between the two seasons. Professional career Early career On August 19, 1992, Castillo was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Florida Marlins. In 1994, he played his first year of baseball in the Gulf Coast League, playing for the Gulf Coast Marlins. He also set a Marlins short-season record in stolen bases, with 31. In 1995, he was called up to the Kane County Cougars in the Class-A Midwest League, and was selected to the All-Star team. He injured his shoulder in July, causing him to miss the r ...
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Wilson Valdez
Wilson Antonio Valdez (born May 20, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. Playing career Early career Valdez was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Montreal Expos on February 4, 1997 in baseball, 1997. He played on the Expos' Dominican League teams from 1997- and then on various minor league Single-A teams for the Expos through . On March 29, 2002, he was claimed off waivers by the Florida Marlins and sent to the Marlins' Double-A team in Portland Sea Dogs, Portland. He continued in the Marlins organization in , playing with their Double-A team in Carolina Mudcats, Carolina and their Triple-A team in Albuquerque Isotopes, Albuquerque. Chicago White Sox On June 17, 2004, while hitting .319 for Albuquerque, he was traded by the Marlins with cash to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for reliever Billy Koch. The White Sox promptly assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte Knights, Charlotte where he Batting average (baseball), hit .302 and ea ...
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Jerry Manuel
Jerry Lorenzo Manuel Sr. (born December 23, 1953), nicknamed "The Sage," is a former major league manager. He previously managed the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2003 and the New York Mets from the middle of 2008 to 2010 and played in the majors for parts of five seasons in the 1970s and early 1980s. He now works as an analyst for MLB Network. He is the father of fashion designer Jerry Lorenzo, founder of the streetwear label Fear of God. Playing career Manuel played sparingly in the major leagues from 1975 to 1982, mostly as a second baseman. He accumulated only 127 at bats and a .150 batting average with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 96 games. Although his major league playing career was brief, Manuel was the starting second baseman for the Montréal Expos in their only postseason series victory in 1981. He was 1-for-14 (.071) in the series and was replaced by Rodney Scott in the NLCS. Other than Montréal, Manuel played for the Detroit Tigers and the San Diego Padr ...
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Keith Foulke
Keith Charles Foulke ( ; born October 19, 1972) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. A graduate of Hargrave High School in Huffman, Texas, Foulke attended Galveston College and Lewis–Clark State College. Between 1997 and 2008, he pitched for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. Foulke was an All-Star in 2003 and he earned the final out of the 2004 World Series. Career After graduating from Hargrave High School in Huffman, Texas, in 1991, he attended Galveston College and Lewis–Clark State College in Idaho. He began his career in the minor-league system of the San Francisco Giants. During the season, Foulke was one of six prospects (along with Bob Howry, Lorenzo Barceló, Mike Caruso, Ken Vining, and Brian Manning) traded to the White Sox in exchange for Wilson Álvarez, Danny Darwin, and Roberto Hernández in what became known as the White Flag Trade. In 1998, Foulke found a home in the White So ...
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Rolaids Relief Man Award
The Rolaids Relief Man Award was an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given from 1976 to 2012 to the top relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL). Relief pitchers enter the game after the starting pitcher is removed. The award was sponsored by the antacid brand Rolaids, whose slogan was "R-O-L-A-I-D-S spells relief." Because the first closers were nicknamed "firemen", a reference to "putting out the fire" of another team's rally, the trophy was a gold-plated firefighter's helmet. Statistical performance determined the winner, unlike the voting bodies that chose the recipients of the Cy Young Award and the MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. Each save was worth three points; each win was worth two points; and each loss was worth negative two points. Beginning with the 1988 MLB season, negative two points were given for blown saves. In the 2000 MLB season, Rolaids added an additional point for a "toug ...
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Justin Miller (baseball, Born 1977)
Justin Mark Miller (August 27, 1977 – June 26, 2013) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins, San Francisco Giants, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chiba Lotte Marines. Miller was the inspiration for the "Justin Miller rule" requiring pitchers with arm tattoos to wear long-sleeved shirts. Amateur career Miller played in the 1992 Little League World Series with Torrance and played high school baseball with Torrance High School, where he was first team All-State and Conference player of the year as a Senior. He attended Los Angeles Harbor College and was a Junior College All-American in 1997. Professional career Colorado Rockies Miller was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 5th round of the 1997 MLB Draft and made his professional debut with the short-season Class A Portland Rockies, helping them win the Northwest League champions ...
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