Joe Hoerner
Joseph Walter Hoerner (November 12, 1936 – October 4, 1996) was an American professional baseball relief pitcher, who played 14 years in Major League Baseball (MLB), for seven different teams. A native of Dubuque, Iowa, he grew up in nearby Key West and attended Dubuque High School. The left-handed hurler was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before the 1957 season. At the MLB level, Hoerner played for the Houston Colt .45s (1963–1964), St. Louis Cardinals (1966–1969), Philadelphia Phillies (1970–72, 1975), Atlanta Braves (1972–1973), Kansas City Royals (1973–1974), Texas Rangers (1976), and Cincinnati Reds (1977). Hoerner was used exclusively in relief during his 14-year big league career. He appeared in 493 games, and during his first six full seasons (1966–1971) had one of the lowest combined ERAs among all major league relief pitchers (2.16). Hoerner was drafted by the Colt .45's from the White Sox in the 1961 minor league draft. He m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a base on balls, 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, left-handed specialist, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closing pitcher, closer. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Relief Pitcher
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection (sports), ejection, high pitch count, 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 Closer (baseball), closers, setup men, middle relief pitchers, left-handed specialist, left/right-handed specialists, and long relievers. Whereas starting pitchers usually pitch count, 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 Metonymy, metonym ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joe Morgan
Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. He won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the National League (baseball), National League Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, Most Valuable Player in each of those years. Considered one of the greatest second basemen of all time, Morgan was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1990 in his first year of eligibility. After retiring as an active player, Morgan became a baseball Sports commentator, broadcaster for the Reds, Giants, American Broadcasting Company, ABC, and ESPN, as well as a stint in the mid-to-late 1990s on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jerry Grote
Gerald Wayne Grote (October 6, 1942 – April 7, 2024) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1963 through 1981 for the Houston Colt .45s, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kansas City Royals. After playing for Houston from 1963 to 1964, Grote played for the Mets from 1966 to 1977. With the Mets, he was a two-time All-Star player and was a member of the team that became known as the Miracle Mets for their upset victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. He finished his career with the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978 and the Royals and Dodgers in 1981. Grote was considered to be one of the best defensive catchers of his era. He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1992. Early life Grote was born on October 6, 1942, and was raised in San Antonio, Texas. When he was ten years old, he and his family were caught in an F-4 tornado. His mother, father, and two sisters made it to safety, however, his gra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rookie
A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more training and learning, though they may bring a new outside expertise to a job. Etymology The Oxford English Dictionary states that the origins are uncertain, but that perhaps it is a corruption of the word ''recruit''. The earliest example in the OED is from Rudyard Kipling's ''Barrack-Room Ballads'' (published 1892): "''So 'ark an' 'eed, you rookies, which is always grumblin' sore''", referring to rookies in the sense of raw recruits to the British Army. At least during the beginning of the 20th century, in the British Army the term "rookie" was typically used in place of "recruit" as exemplified in ''Trenching at Gallipoli'' by John Gallishaw (New York Century Co.: 1916) and in ''The Amateur Army'' by Patrick MacGill (London, Herbert Jenk ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harry Craft
Harry Francis Craft (April 19, 1915 – August 3, 1995) was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. Born in Ellisville, Mississippi, he was a center fielder for the Cincinnati Reds from 1937 to 1942. Craft attended Mississippi College, threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . From 1962 through September 18, 1964, Craft was the first manager in Houston's Major League history as skipper of the expansion Houston Colt .45s, later the Astros. Earlier, he managed the Kansas City Athletics (August 6, 1957–1959) and he was the "head coach" of the Chicago Cubs (April 26–May 10 and June 2–4, 1961). Playing career A top-flight defensive outfielder, Craft was an average hitter in his short career. His best season came, basically, as a rookie (he had 42 at bats the previous season) in 1938. On June 15 of that year, Craft caught the ninth-inning pop fly (batted by Leo Durocher) to make the final out in the historic game that gave Johnny Vander Meer his ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager (commonly referred to as the manager) is the equivalent of a head coach who is responsible for overseeing and making final decisions on all aspects of on-field team strategy, lineup selection, training and instruction. Managers are typically assisted by a staff of assistant coaches whose responsibilities are specialized. Field managers are typically not involved in off-field personnel decisions or long-term club planning, responsibilities that are instead held by a team's general manager. Duties The manager chooses the batting order and starting pitcher before each game, and makes substitutions throughout the game – among the most significant being those decisions regarding when to bring in a relief pitcher. How much control a manager takes in a game's strategy varies from manager to manager and from game to game. Some managers control pitch selection, defensive positioning, decisions to bunt, steal, pitch out, etc., while others d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colt Stadium
Colt Stadium was a Major League baseball stadium that formerly stood in Houston, Texas. It was the temporary home of the expansion Houston Colt .45s for their first three seasons (1962–1964) while the Astrodome was being built, just to the south of it. After its use in Houston, it was dismantled and moved for use in two Mexican cities. Houston When the Houston Sports Association was granted an expansion franchise for the 1962 season, it bought the city's longtime minor-league team, the Houston Buffaloes, to obtain the major league rights to the area. However, the Colt .45's decided the Buffs' longtime home, Buffalo Stadium, was unsuitable even for temporary use and built a makeshift stadium until the Astrodome opened. The stadium consisted of an uncovered one-level grandstand, stretching from foul pole to foul pole, with small bleacher stands in right and left field. One baseball annual published just before the season referred to it as "a barn-like thing." It is best rem ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in New York City alongside the American League (AL)'s New York Yankees. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed NL teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants (baseball), New York Giants. The team's colors evoke the Dodger blue, blue of the Dodgers and the orange of the Giants. For the 1962 and 1963 seasons, the Mets played home games at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan before moving to Queens. From 1964 to 2008, the Mets played their home games at Shea Stadium, named after William Shea, the founder of the Continental League, a proposed third major league, the announcement of which ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Major League Debut
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional baseball league in the world. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round postseason tournament in October, culminating in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Earned Run Average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. Thus, a lower ERA is better. Runs resulting from passed balls, defensive errors (including pitchers' defensive errors), and runners placed on base at the start of extra innings are recorded as unearned runs and omitted from ERA calculations. Origins Henry Chadwick is credited with devising the statistic, which caught on as a measure of pitching effectiveness after relief pitching came into vogue in the 1900s. Prior to 1900 and for many years afterward, pitchers were routinely expected to pitch a complete game, and their win–loss record was considered sufficient in determining their effectiveness. After pitchers like James Otis Crandall and Charley Hall made names for themselves as rel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its home games at Rate Field, which is located on Chicago's South Side, Chicago, South Side. They are one of two MLB teams based in Chicago, alongside the National League (baseball), National League (NL)'s Chicago Cubs. The White Sox originated in the Western League (1885–1900), Western League, founded as the Sioux City Cornhuskers in 1894, moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, as the St. Paul Saints, and ultimately relocating to Chicago in 1900. The Chicago White Stockings were one of the American League's eight charter Major North American professional sports teams, franchises when the AL asserted major league status in 1901. The team, which shortened its name to the White Sox in 1904, originally played their home games at South Side Park befo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |