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Masahide Kobayashi
is a former professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach. From -, Kobayashi played in the Nippon Professional Baseball league for the Chiba Lotte Marines. From -, he played for Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians. He was a member of the Japanese Olympic baseball team for the 2004 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal. He led the Pacific League in saves in 2005, and made his 200th save in 2006, becoming the third player in Japanese baseball to reach the mark, after Kazuhiro Sasaki and Shingo Takatsu. After the 2007 season, he became the only pitcher to record 20 or more saves seven straight years. On November 2, , he declared his Free Agency and expressed his interest in playing for a major league club for the 2008 season. On November 20, he signed a two-year, $6,250,000 deal with the Cleveland Indians. The deal included a $3.25m club option for a third year. During the 2008 season, Kobayashi had an average season, going 4–5 with a 4.53 ERA and 6 saves. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relief Pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather delays or pinch hitter substitutions. Relief pitchers are further divided informally into various roles, such as closers, setup men, middle relief pitchers, left/right-handed specialists, and long relievers. Whereas starting pitchers usually throw so many pitches in a single game that they must rest several days before pitching in another, relief pitchers are expected to be more flexible and typically pitch in more games with a shorter time period between pitching appearances but with fewer innings pitched per appearance. A team's staff of relievers is normally referred to metonymically as a team's bullpen, which refers to the area where the relievers sit during games, and where they warm-up prior to entering the game. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ōtsuki, Yamanashi
is a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 23,976 in 10404 households, and a population density of 86 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Ōtsuki is located in eastern Yamanashi Prefecture, approximately 80 kilometers from Tokyo. the city is located in the Chichibu and the Tanzawa Mountains and the Sagami River (known locally as the Katsura River) flows through the city. Surrounding municipalities Yamanashi Prefecture * Uenohara * Tsuru * Kōshū * Fuefuki *Fujikawaguchiko * Kosuge Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Ōtsuki has been declining for the past 50 years. Climate The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Ōtsuki is 11.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1523 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on averag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbus Clippers Players
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places Extraterrestrial * Columbus (crater), a crater on Mars * ''Columbus'' (ISS module), the European module for the International Space Station * ''Columbus'' (spacecraft), a program to develop a European space station 1986–1991 Italy * Columbus (Rome), a residential district United States * Columbus, Arkansas * Columbus, Georgia * Columbus, Illinois * Columbus, Indiana, known for modern architecture * Columbus, Kansas * Columbus, Kentucky * Columbus, Minnesota * Columbus, Mississippi * Columbus, Missouri * Columbus, Montana * Columbus, Nebraska * Columbus, New Jersey * Columbus, New Mexico * Columbus, New York * Columbus, North Carolina * Columbus, North Dakota * Columbus, Ohio, the largest city in United States with this n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleveland Indians Players
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. maritime border with Canada, northeast of Cincinnati, northeast of Columbus, and approximately west of Pennsylvania. The largest city on Lake Erie and one of the major cities of the Great Lakes region, Cleveland ranks as the 54th-largest city in the U.S. with a 2020 population of 372,624. The city anchors both the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton combined statistical area (CSA). The CSA is the most populous in Ohio and the 17th largest in the country, with a population of 3.63 million in 2020, while the MSA ranks as 34th largest at 2.09 million. Cleveland was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River by General Moses Cleaveland, after whom the city was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiba Lotte Marines Players
{{disambiguation, geo ...
Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on the eastern coast of Honshū * Port of Chiba, Chiba Prefecture People * Chiba (musician), American rapper * Chiba (surname) Other uses * Chiba (instrument), a Chinese woodwind * Chiba, slang for ''cannabis'' * Chiba Engine, a server-based engine written in Java, see FormEngine * Chiba Thermal Power Station, Japan * Chiba University, a national university in the city of Chiba See also *Chica (other) *Chika (other) Chika may refer to: People * Chika (Igbo given name) * Chika (Japanese given name) * Chika (general name) * Chika (footballer) (born 1979), Brazilian defender * Chika (rapper), Jane Chika Oranika, American rapper Other uses * Chika (software), a J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baseball Players At The 2004 Summer Olympics
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, 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 (referred to as the 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 principal objective of the batting team is to have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1974 Births
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; following Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir's resignation in response to high Israeli casualties, she was succeeded by Yitzhak Rabin. In Europe, the invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus by Turkish troops initiated the Cyprus dispute, the Carnation Revolution took place in Portugal, and Chancellor of West Germany Willy Brandt resigned following an espionage scandal surrounding his secretary Günter Guillaume. In sports, the year was primarily dominated by the FIFA World Cup in West Germany, in which the German national team won the championship title, as well as The Rumble in the Jungle, a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire. Events January–February * January 26 – Bülent Ecevit of CHP forms the ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Agency
In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is allowed to solicit offers from other teams. In some circumstances, the free agent's options are limited by league rules. Types Terms Unrestricted free agent Unrestricted free agents are players without a team. They have either been released from their club, had the term of their contract expire without a renewal, or were not chosen in a league's draft of amateur players. These people, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other teams in the player's most recent league and elsewhere and to decide with whom to sign a contract. Players who have been bought out of league standard contracts may have restrictions within that league, such as not being able to sign with the buy-out club for a period of time in the NHL, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shingo Takatsu
Shingo Takatsu (高津 臣吾, ''Takatsu Shingo'') (born November 25, 1968) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher and manager. He had a short stint with the Chicago White Sox where he was the closer for two seasons until struggles closing games ultimately led to his demotion to the minors. Despite being demoted in the summer of 2005, he received a World Series ring with the White Sox. He was signed by the New York Mets during the season, and he pitched in nine games for New York. After the 2005 season, he returned to the Nippon Professional Baseball. He is known by the nickname "Mr. Zero" because he did not give up a single run in 11 Japan Series games. In the 2004 season, his entrance in home games was accompanied by a video montage and a loud gong. Shingo Takatsu, like many Japanese pitchers, has incorporated pauses into his pitching mechanics in order to throw off batters' timing. His arm angle varies from sidearm to submarine. Biography Takatsu was a fan of the Hiro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazuhiro Sasaki
Kazuhiro "Daimajin" Sasaki (佐々木 主浩 ''Sasaki Kazuhiro'', born February 22, 1968) is a former Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He played his entire NPB career with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales / Yokohama BayStars (1990–1999; 2004–2005). Sasaki played his entire MLB career with the Seattle Mariners (2000–2003). Professional career After playing college baseball for Tohoku Fukushi University, Sasaki was drafted in the first round of the 1989 draft by the Yokohama Taiyō Whales (now named Yokohama DeNA BayStars) in Japan's Central League. He played for them from 1990–1999, before joining the Seattle Mariners in 2000. He joined a bullpen that had been one of the worst in the Major Leagues, and during his rookie year won the closer job from a floundering José Mesa. Sasaki's out pitch, a devastating split-fingered fastball that drops when arriving at home plate, was nicknamed "The Thang" by Mariners radio announcers. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around Japan. History The circuit was founded as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union (太平洋野球連盟, ''Taiheiyo Yakyu Renmei'') in 1949 (the name changing to its current form in 1980). Daiei Stars owner Masaichi Nagata was the first president of the Pacific League. The league began with seven teams: four holdovers from the previous iteration, the Japanese Baseball League — the Hankyu Braves, the Nankai Hawks, the Daiei Stars, and the Tokyu Flyers — and three new teams — the Kintetsu Pearls, the Mainichi Orions, and the Nishitetsu Clippers. In 1954, an eighth Pacific League team was founded, the Takahashi Unions, to increase the number of teams to eight. Although the team was stocked with players fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes compete, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries, with 301 medal events in 28 different sports. The 2004 Games marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance, and also marked the first time Athens hosted the Games since their first modern incarnation in 1896 as well as the return of the Olympic games to its birthplace. Athens became one of only four cities at the time to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games on two occasions (together with Paris, London and Los Angeles). A new medal obverse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
