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Kent Hrbek
Kent Alan Hrbek (; born May 21, 1960), nicknamed "Herbie", is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 14-year baseball career with the Minnesota Twins (1981–1994). Hrbek batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He hit the first home run in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on April 3, 1982, in an exhibition game against the Phillies. Fans knew Hrbek as an outstanding defensive player, perennial slugger, and charismatic hometown favorite. Former Twins pitcher Jim Kaat considered Hrbek to be the best defensive first baseman he had ever seen, despite him never winning a Gold Glove at the position. Early life Hrbek was born in Minneapolis on May 21, 1960. He attended Bloomington Kennedy High School, Kennedy High School in Bloomington, Minnesota. Career Kent Hrbek was drafted by his hometown Minnesota Twins in the 17th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft and spent the next three seasons working his way up the Twins' organizational la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Baseman
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majority of plays made at that base. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the first baseman is assigned the number 3. Also called first sacker or cornerman, the first baseman is ideally a tall player who throws left-handed and possesses good flexibility and quick reflexes. Flexibility is needed because the first baseman receives throws from the other infielders, the catcher and the pitcher after they have fielded ground balls. In order for the runner to be called out, the first baseman must be able to ''stretch'' towards the throw and catch it before the runner reaches first base. First base is often referred to as "the other hot corner"—the "hot corner" being third baseman, third base—and therefore, like the third baseman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/Interstate 694, 694 Beltway. The population was 89,987 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Minnesota's List of cities in Minnesota, fourth-largest city. Bloomington was established as a Post–World War II economic expansion, post–World War II housing boom suburb connected to Minneapolis's urban street grid, and is serviced by four major freeways: Interstate 35W (Minnesota), Interstate 35W running north-south through the approximate middle of the city, Minnesota State Highway 77, also signed as Cedar Avenue, running north-south near the eastern end of the city, U.S. Highway 169 in Minnesota, U.S. Highway 169, running north-south along the western boundary of the city, and Interstate 494 running east-west at the northern b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rookie Of The Year (award)
A Rookie of the Year award or ROY is given by a number of sports leagues to the top-performing athlete in his or her first season within the league. Athletes competing for the first time in any given league are also known as "rookies". Principal leagues The honor is awarded annually to the top rookie performers in: *Canadian Football League *MotoGP *Indianapolis 500 *IndyCar *Major League Baseball *Major League Lacrosse *Major League Soccer *NASCAR *National Basketball Association *National Football League *National Hockey League *Women's Professional Soccer Award outside North America Some rookie of the year awards exist outside North America, one example being the Elitserien Rookie of the Year in Swedish ice hockey. The North American sports development system delays athletes' entry into the top level of professional sports until the best of them are ready to make a major impact in their first season. The typical development path varies by sport: * American football – Essent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Gardner
William Frederick Gardner (July 19, 1927 – January 3, 2024) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. During his ten-season active career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Gardner was a second baseman for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox. His only significant time on any team was with Baltimore, where he spent four consecutive full seasons from 1956 to 1959. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . After retiring as a player, he spent over 20 years as a coach or manager, and managed the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals during the 1980s. MLB playing career Born in New London, Connecticut, Gardner was signed by the Giants in 1945 and came up with them on April 22, 1954, but he could not break into the contending team's lineup. In early 1956, he was purchased by the Orioles. Gardner picked up a career-high of 10 steals, but in his best season of 195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baseball Manager
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 des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cup Of Coffee (sports Idiom)
A "cup of coffee" is a North American sports idiom for a short time spent by a minor league player at the Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, major league level. The idea behind the term is that the player was only in the big leagues long enough to have a cup of coffee before being returned to the minors. The term originated in baseball and is extensively used in ice hockey, both of whose professional leagues (Major League Baseball, MLB and the National Hockey League, NHL) utilize extensive farm team, farm systems; it is rarely used in basketball or American football since neither the National Basketball Association, NBA nor National Football League, NFL have implemented a true farm system. One example of how this term is used in a sentence was during the 1996 film ''The Fan (1996 film), The Fan'', in which Robert De Niro's character, a middle-aged former pitcher, says, "I was in the bigs for a cup of coffee myself until my arm went south." Notable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Frazier (pitcher)
George Allen Frazier (October 13, 1954 – June 19, 2023) was an American professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1978 to 1987, primarily as a set-up reliever. Early life Frazier played high school baseball at Hillcrest High School in Springfield, Missouri. Frazier was offered a college scholarship in baseball, football, and basketball. He attended the University of Oklahoma and pitched for their 1975 and 1976 College World Series teams. Professional career Frazier was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Buck Martinez during the Winter Meetings on December 8, 1977. Frazier saw his first postseason action when the Yankees made it to the 1981 World Series. In the ALCS against Oakland, he was tasked to pitch in the fourth inning in Game 2, which saw him go 5 2/3 innings while allowing no runs on five hits, one walk, and five strikeouts as the Yankees won 13-3 on their way to a sweep. The World Series was not as fort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baseball-Reference
Baseball Reference is a baseball statistics database maintained by Sports Reference. The site provides career statistics for Major League Baseball (MLB) players and teams as well as records, MLB draft history, and sabermetrics. History Founder Sean Forman began developing the website while working on his Ph.D. dissertation in applied math and computational science at the University of Iowa. While writing his dissertation, he had also been writing articles on and blogging about sabermetrics. Forman's database was originally built from the '' Total Baseball'' series of baseball encyclopedias. The website went online in April 2000, after first being launched in February 2000 as part of the website for the ''Big Bad Baseball Annual''. It was originally built as a web interface to the Lahman Baseball Database, though it now employs a variety of data sources. In 2004, Forman founded Sports Reference. Sports Reference is a website that came out of the Baseball Reference website. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California League
The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the Low-A West before re-assuming its original moniker in 2022. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, league attendance continued to increase each season, with over one million fans attending games per year, part of a general nationwide growth and expansion to smaller towns, cities, and regions below those in the National League or American League with Minor League Baseball at various levels of play in growing popularity in the last few decades. History There were various attempts in the late 1800s and early 1900s to form a "California League" on the West Coast, considering the distance of the two current major leagues which generally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visalia Oaks
Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-most populous city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 38th most populous in California, and 183rd in the United States. As the county seat of Tulare County, Visalia serves as the economic and governmental center to one of the most productive agricultural counties in the country. History The area around Visalia was first settled by the Yokuts and Mono Native American tribes hundreds of years ago. When the first Europeans arrived is unknown, but the first to make a written record of the area was Pedro Fages in 1722. When California achieved statehood in 1850, Tulare County did not exist. The land that is now Tulare County was part of the vast County of Mariposa. In 1852, some pioneers settled in the area, then called Four Creeks. The area got its name from the many watershed creeks and rivers flowing from the Sierra Nevada Mount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The Midwest League began as the Illinois State League (1947–1948) and then became the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League (1949–1955). In 1956, the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League was renamed the Midwest League. The circuit temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the High-A Central before reassuming its original moniker in 2022. The Lansing Lugnuts and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers franchises jointly have won the most Midwest League championships, with nine each. History The Midwest League directly evolved from two earlier leagues in the region. In 1947, the Class D Illinois State League (ISL) began operation with six Illinois teams: the Belleville Stags, Centralia Cubs, Marion Indians, Mattoon India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appalachian League
The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden baseball bat, bats, its season runs from June through August. The league is part of Major League Baseball and USA Baseball's Prospect Development Pipeline. Between 1911 and 2020, the Appalachian League operated as part of Minor League Baseball and various of its teams were low-level affiliates of Major League Baseball franchises. It operated as a Class D (baseball), Class D league during four stints through 1962, then was classified as an Rookie League, Rookie Advanced league from 1963 to 2020. History The original Appalachian League existed for four seasons from 1911 to 1914 and was classified as a Class D (baseball), Class D circuit. All teams were independent with no Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliation in the era. The charter Ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
