Blake Smith (baseball)
Blake Smith (born December 9, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox in 2016. Career Smith attended Thomas Downey High School in Modesto, California, and then the University of California, Berkeley, where he played college baseball for the California Golden Bears baseball, California Golden Bears. Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Smith in the second round, with the 56th overall selection, of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft as an outfielder. He began his career with the rookie-level Ogden Dodgers of the Pioneer League (baseball), Pioneer League in 2009 and was promoted to the Single-A Great Lakes Loons in 2010, where he hit .281 with 19 home runs and 76 RBI in 115 games. In 2011 with the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League, Smith hit .294 with 16 home runs and 63 RBI in 74 games. Smith was promoted to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts for 2012, hitt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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California Golden Bears Baseball
The California Golden Bears baseball team represents the University of California, Berkeley in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other California athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Bears play their home games at Evans Diamond. History The Bears have appeared in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, NCAA Division I baseball tournament 13 times, and in the College World Series 6 times. They have won two National Championships: at the first College World Series in 1947 College World Series, 1947 and again in 1957 College World Series, 1957. In 1964, future major leaguer Mike Epstein batted .384 for the team and was named an All-American. In 2010, the university announced that baseball would be one of five sports cut as a cost-cutting measure. However, in April 2011, after receiving more than $9 million in pledges from supporters of the program, the program was reinstated. Even donors from Stanford Cardinal baseb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pioneer League (baseball)
The Pioneer Baseball League (also known as simply the Pioneer League) is a professional baseball league based in the Western United States. It operates as one of four Major League Baseball (MLB) Partner Leagues in the American independent baseball league system without MLB team affiliations. The league is contested by twelve teams from the Northern California and Rocky Mountains regions, who play a regular season split into two halves. The top two teams at the end of each half qualify for a postseason tournament that determines the overall champion. The Pioneer League was established in 1939 as a Class C minor league consisting of six teams from Idaho and Utah. It later expanded to Montana as part of a failed effort in the 1950s to become a third major league rivalling the American and National leagues, complicated by competition with the Pacific Coast League. By the time it was reclassified as a Rookie league in 1964, only four teams in Idaho remained. Gradually, it re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. The team plays its home games at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. Founded in 1969 as 1969 Major League Baseball expansion, an expansion franchise, the Padres adopted their name from the Pacific Coast League (PCL) team that arrived in San Diego in 1936. The team's name, Spanish for "fathers", refers to the Spanish Franciscan friars who founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769. In 1976, Randy Jones (baseball), Randy Jones achieved the first Cy Young Award for the Padres. In the 1980s, Tony Gwynn became a major star, winning eight National League List of Major League Baseball batting champions, batting titles. Under manager Dick Williams, the Padres clinched their first NL pennant, losing to the Detroit Tigers in the 1984 World Series. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Charlotte Knights
The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 2014 and is located in Uptown Charlotte. The team previously played at Calvin Griffith Park, Knights Park (1976–1988), Knights Castle (1989), and Knights Stadium (1990–2013). Established as a Double-A (baseball), Double-A franchise of the Southern League (1964–2020), Southern League in 1976, the team was known as the Charlotte Orioles, or Charlotte O's, through 1987. The O's won the List of Southern League champions, Southern League championship twice: in 1980 and 1984 as the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They were rebranded as the Knights in 1988. The Knights were replaced by a Triple-A International League team in 1993 in conjunction with the 1993 Major League Baseball expansion, expansion of Major ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birmingham Barons
The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Barons were previously located in Montgomery, Alabama, and known as the Montgomery Rebels. History Most of the professional baseball teams that have played in Birmingham have used the name Barons. The current team began playing in Birmingham in 1981, having previously played in Montgomery, Alabama as the Montgomery Rebels. Like previous Barons teams, they played at Rickwood Field on a full-time basis from 1981 to 1987. Since then, they have only played at Rickwood on special occasions. From 1988 to 2012, the team played at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in the suburb of Hoover, Alabama, where former basketball star Michael Jordan played with the team in . Since 2013, the team plays at Regions Field in the downtown part of Birmingham. As a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eric Surkamp
Eric Michael Surkamp (born July 16, 1987) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Oakland Athletics from 2011 to 2016. He also pitched for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League in 2016. Surkamp batted and threw left-handed with his fastball averaging . Growing up, Surkamp helped Moeller High School become Ohio state baseball champions in 2004. He played college baseball at North Carolina State University (NC State) and was a member of Team USA in 2007. Drafted by the Giants in the sixth round in the 2008 MLB Draft, he was called up in August 2011 after posting a 2.02 earned run average (ERA), which led the Eastern League. He had a 2–2 record with the Giants and was considered a fringe candidate for the team's Opening Day roster in 2012, though he wound up missing that season due to Tommy John surgery. He made only one start for the Giants in 2013, allowing seven runs in in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the state of Texas; the five North Division teams are located in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as Double-A Central before reassuming its original moniker in 2022. The Texas League was founded in 1902, although it traces its lineage back to a predecessor founded in 1888. History 20th century The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892. It was refounded in 1895 and ran through 1899 (under the name Texas Association in 1895 and Texas-Southern League in 1896). The Texas League was revived as a Class D league in 1902, moved to Class C in 1904 where it played through 1910 (except for 1906 as Class D again), played at Class B until 1920, and finally moved up to Class A in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tulsa Drillers
The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounced "one-oak"), in downtown Tulsa's Greenwood district. The team previously played at Drillers Stadium on the Tulsa County Fairgrounds at 15th and Yale in midtown Tulsa. The Drillers held their first home opener at ONEOK Field on April 8, 2010, losing 7–0 to the Corpus Christi Hooks in front of an over-capacity crowd of 8,665. In their first season in the new ballpark, the Drillers drew total attendance of 408,183, the highest season figure in the history of Tulsa professional baseball. History The Drillers came into being in 1977, when the two-year-old Lafayette Drillers were moved to Tulsa from Louisiana. Before that time, the Triple-A Tulsa Oilers had been the city's minor league club, but owner A. Ray Smith moved that team to New ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arizona Fall League
The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled by many of the top prospects in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) who are assigned by their parent clubs. Structure The six teams of the AFL are organized in two three-team divisions. Each AFL team is affiliated with five teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), and each MLB team provides seven players from their Minor League Baseball affiliates, yielding 35-man rosters. Specific players are invited (not assigned) to play in the AFL by their parent club. The league provides an environment for top prospects to advance their development, in a setting that MLB governs and monitors, as opposed to other offseason leagues (such as the Puerto Rican Winter League) located outside of the contiguous United States. Player eligibility has changed over ti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Glendale Desert Dogs
The Glendale Desert Dogs are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. The team was established in 1992 as the Chandler Diamondbacks, and played for three seasons under that name. The team's nickname has been Desert Dogs since 1995, persisting through several location changes. The Desert Dogs have won six league championships, most recently in 2008. Their five consecutive championships from 2004 to 2008 are an Arizona Fall League record. The team discontinued use of its original nickname prior to the 1995 season, coincident with a move from Chandler to Phoenix. Earlier that year, Major League Baseball had awarded an expansion franchise to the Phoenix area, which began play in 1998 as the Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball tea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Save (baseball)
In baseball, a save ( SV or S) is credited to a pitcher who finishes a game for the winning team under certain circumstances. A save can be earned by entering a game in which his team is leading by three or fewer runs and finishing the game by pitching at least one inning without losing the lead; entering the game with the tying run in the on-deck circle, at the plate or on the bases and finishing the game; or by pitching at least three innings in relief and finishing the game regardless of how many runs your team was winning by when entering the game. The number of saves or percentage of save opportunities successfully converted are oft-cited statistics of relief pitchers, particularly those in the closer role. The save statistic was created by journalist Jerome Holtzman in 1959 to "measure the effectiveness of relief pitchers" and was adopted as an official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic in 1969. The save has been retroactively tabulated for pitchers before that date. M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chattanooga Lookouts
The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home games at AT&T Field which opened in 2000 and seats 6,340 spectators. Following the conclusion of the 2025 season, they will move to Erlanger Park. They previously played at Engel Stadium from 1930 through 1999, with a one-year break in Montgomery, Alabama's Cramton Bowl in 1943. History In 1908, Oliver Burnside "O.B." Andrews, owner of the Andrews Paper Box Company, Garnett Carter, and a third unidentified party took ownership of a franchise in the South Atlantic League relocating the Single-A team to Chattanooga. The team adopted the name Lookouts in 1909 after a fan contest. The following year Andrews purchased the Double A Southern Association franchise from Little Rock and relocated them to Chattanooga. The team began playing on A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |