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Len Barker's Perfect Game
On Friday, May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians threw a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Stadium, the 10th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. The Indians defeated the Blue Jays 3–0, as Barker did not allow a baserunner. Barker never once reached ball three against any Blue Jay hitter. He struck out 11 Blue Jays hitters (all of them swinging) including seven of the last 11 batters. Barker's perfect game is the most recent no-hitter thrown by a Cleveland pitcher. "I run into people almost every day who want to talk about it," Barker said in 2006. "Everyone says, 'You're probably tired of talking about it.' I say, 'No, it's something to be proud of.' It's a special thing." The Indians have the longest active no-hitter drought in MLB. Barker was the first perfect game pitcher who did not come to bat during the entire game, with the American League having adopted the designated hitter in 1973. Ron Hassey, Barker's catcher, would ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1981 Toronto Blue Jays Season
The 1981 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's fifth season competing in Major League Baseball. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Blue Jays finished both halves of the season in seventh place in the seven-team American League East. Managed by Bobby Mattick, the Blue Jays played their home games at Exhibition Stadium and had an overall record of 37 wins and 69 losses. Offseason * December 8, 1980: 1980 rule 5 draft ** George Bell was drafted by the Blue Jays from the Philadelphia Phillies. ** Dan Whitmer was drafted by the Blue Jays from the California Angels. * January 15, 1981: Ken Macha was purchased by the Blue Jays from the Montreal Expos. Regular season The Blue Jays were one of the worst teams in the majors in the first half of the split season, as the Blue Jays had a record of 16 wins and 42 losses, a percentage of .276. Although the Blue Jays had future stars Jesse Barfield, George Bell, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NL and AL were formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively. Beginning in 1903, the two leagues signed the National Agreement and cooperated but remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. It is also included as one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was founded in 1869. Before that, some teams had secretly paid certain players. The first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Baseball Perfect Games
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators, major is one rank above captain, and one rank below lieutenant colonel. It is considered the most junior of the field officer ranks. Background Majors are typically assigned as specialised executive or operations officers for battalion-sized units of 300 to 1,200 soldiers while in some nations, like Germany, majors are often in command of a company. When used in hyphenated or combined fashion, the term can also imply seniority at other levels of rank, including ''general-major'' or ''major general'', denoting a low-level general officer, and ''sergeant major'', denoting the most senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) of a military unit. The term ''major'' can also be used with a hyphen to denote the leader of a military band such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1981 Major League Baseball Season
The 1981 Major League Baseball season culminated with the Los Angeles Dodgers defeating the New York Yankees in the World Series, capturing the franchise's fifth World Series title. The season had a players' strike, which lasted from June 12 to July 31, and split the season into two halves. Teams that won their division in each half of the season advanced to the playoffs. This was the first split season in American League history, and second for the National League, which had played a split season in . The All-Star Game was originally scheduled for July 14, but was canceled due to the strike. It was ultimately played on August 9, as a prelude to the second half of the season, which began the following day. Standings American League National League Postseason Bracket NOTE: Due to a strike in mid-season, the season was divided into a first half and a second half. The division winner of the first half (denoted E1, W1) played the division winner of the second half (den ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jorge Orta
Jorge Orta Núñez (born November 26, 1950) is a Mexican former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1972 to 1987 for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Kansas City Royals. He is best remembered for being at the center of one of the most controversial plays in World Series history. Chicago White Sox Orta signed with the Chicago White Sox out of the Mexican Baseball League, and made the team out of spring training at shortstop without first playing in the minor leagues. He batted just .211 through the middle of May, losing his starting job to Rich Morales. He spent two months as a utility infielder before being optioned to the Southern League's Knoxville Sox in mid-July after compiling a .191 batting average, one home run and seven runs batted in. After batting .316 with seven home runs at Knoxville, he returned to Chicago when rosters expanded tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luis Leal (baseball)
Luis Enrique Leal Alvarado (born March 21, 1957) is a Venezuelan former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1980 through 1985 for the Toronto Blue Jays. Playing career Leal signed with the Blue Jays as an amateur free agent before the start of the 1979 season. His most productive season came in 1984, when he posted a record of 13–8, with a 3.89 ERA and 134 strikeouts. In a six-year major league career, Leal had a record of 51–58 with a 4.14 ERA, 491 strikeouts, and three shutouts in 946 innings pitched. After spending most of the 1985 and 1986 seasons with the Triple A Syracuse Chiefs, Leal was traded to the Atlanta Braves with Damaso Garcia for Craig McMurtry in February 1987. He never played for Atlanta, as he did not make the spring training roster nor any of Atlanta's minor league teams. At the time of his retirement, Leal ranked behind only Jim Clancy and Dave Stieb among the Blue Jays' career leaders in starts, innings, wins, losses, strike ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvis Woods
Alvis "Al" Woods (born August 8, 1953) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball between 1977 and 1986, primarily as a left fielder. He batted and threw left-handed. Career Woods was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1971, however he did not sign until being drafted by the Minnesota Twins the following season. He spent several seasons in the minor leagues before being selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft. Woods was on the Opening Day roster for the Blue Jays' inaugural season. In his—and the team's—first major league game, on April 7, 1977, he entered the game in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter for right fielder Steve Bowling. He proceeded to homer in his first at bat, on the fifth pitch he saw, off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Francisco Barrios. He ended the 1977 season with a .284 batting average having appeared in 122 games as the regular Blu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. It is the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). It changed its name to the National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with the competing National Basketball League (NBL). In 1976, the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged, adding four franchises to the NBA. The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June. , NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player. The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Ainge
Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and former professional baseball player who serves as an executive for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-sport star in high school, he was named to All-America teams in football, basketball, and baseball. At Brigham Young University, he was named national basketball college player of the year and won the John R. Wooden Award for the most outstanding male college basketball player. While in college, Ainge also played parts of three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB), mostly as a second baseman. He was then drafted into the NBA by the Celtics. Ainge played in the NBA for 14 seasons, playing for the Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, and Phoenix Suns, primarily as a shooting guard. He went on to coach the Suns for three seasons before joining management of the Celtics, with whom Ainge has three ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Martínez's Perfect Game
On Sunday, July 28, 1991, Dennis Martínez of the Montreal Expos pitched the 13th perfect game in Major League Baseball history, blanking the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 at Dodger Stadium. A native of Granada, Nicaragua, Martínez became the first pitcher born outside of the United States to pitch a perfect game. (He has since been joined by Venezuela native Félix Hernández, who pitched a perfect game in 2012.) The perfect game also made the Dodgers, the losing team in Tom Browning's perfect game in 1988, the first team to be on the losing end of consecutive perfect games; they have since been joined by the Tampa Bay Rays, who were the losing team in Mark Buehrle's perfect game in 2009 and Dallas Braden's perfect game the following year. After completing the perfect game, Martínez slowly walked into the Dodger Stadium dugout, sat down by himself and cried. The perfect game is the last of four no-hitters in Montreal Expos history, Bill Stoneman having pitched two, in 1969 (the fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Hassey
Ronald William Hassey (born February 27, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians (1978–1984), Chicago Cubs (1984), New York Yankees (1985–1986), Chicago White Sox (1986–1987), Oakland Athletics (1988–1990), and Montreal Expos (1991). Hassey is notable for being the only catcher in MLB history to have caught more than one perfect game (the first with Len Barker in 1981 and his second with Dennis Martínez in 1991). Hassey joined Gus Triandos as the only catchers in MLB history to have caught a no-hitter in both leagues. Early life Hassey is the son of Joseph Bill Hassey, a former baseball player in the New York Yankees’ minor-league system. He was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, and attended Tucson High Magnet School where, in 1972, his team went undefeated and won the state championship. Ron was often referred to as the Pride of Tucson. He went to the University of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Designated Hitter
The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by the National League in 2022, making it universal in MLB. Within that time frame, nearly all amateur, collegiate, and professional leagues worldwide have adopted the designated hitter or some variant, with the notable exception of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Major League Baseball rule In Major League Baseball, the designated hitter is a player who does not play a position in the field, but instead replaces the pitcher in the batting order. The DH may only be used for the pitcher (and not any other position player), as stated in Rule 5.11. Use of the DH is optional, but must be determined before the start of the game. Prior to 2022, if a team did not begin a game with a DH, the pitcher (or a pinch hitter) had to bat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
