This offseason the Cubs have made many moves. One free agent the Cubs have signed this offseason is Jon Lester, he is a left handed pitcher. The cubs signed him because they really need a good pitcher, they traded Jeff Samardzija last season. Lester is a three time time all star and two time World Series champion. This season Lester will be throwing to Miguel Montero, a catcher that is also a two time all star.
Babe Ruth was the first athlete that captured the public’s imagination and transcended the level of athlete into a public figure. Ruth’s hitting prowess made him a celebrity in America, Japan, anywhere baseball was played. In 1920, the Babe hit 54 home runs, more than every other major league baseball team except one. Ruth led the transformation of baseball strategy from the "inside game" to the "power game" due to the style and manner in which he hit them. Ruth’s display of power was so impressive, the adjective “Ruthian” was created to describe any long home run hit by any player.
As an adult, he won many prestigious awards and did great things not only for baseball, but for America as a whole. To name just some of his achievements, Mantle was selected for the American league All-Star team sixteen times. in addition, he was a three time American League MVP, and won the triple crown in 1956. Not only was he one of the Yankees best hitters, but he was also a great fielder. He won the Golden Glove award in 1962.
All of baseball took notice and began to reevaluate the way they judged players. The Boston Red Sox in 2004 broke the curse of the Bambino by winning their first World Series since 1918 embracing the philosophy championed by Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s. To this day all 30 Major League Baseball teams actively use Bill James Sabermetrics. Fox, J. (2011).
Alex Rodriquez is arguably one of the best baseball players ever. He started his career in 1994 with the Seattle Mariners, but he only played seventeen games that year. With the Mariners in 1996 he finally earned a starting spot at shortstop and burst on to the scene with 36 home runs and 123 RBI. Then in 2003 Major League Baseball and the players association agreed on a new contract which includes random drug tests called survey testing. Alex Rodriquez is one of the many players who were tested and had performance enhancing drugs (PED) in his system.
What does a championship winning baseball team look like? Are they the hulking, barrel-chested cousins of Paul Bunyan? The answer is rarely. The game of baseball has evolved from teams with the most homeruns always being the victors, to teams with smaller and faster players playing David to the league’s Goliaths. The manner in which a player’s talent is evaluated has been changing ever since a man named Bill James first published his “Historical Baseball Abstract” in 1977.
History of the World Series In sports, it never fails that every team is working towards one thing and one thing only and that is to become champions. Every sport has its own symbolic trophy, but none as elevated as baseball’s trophy which is the World Series. The World Series is the best of seven playoff games. The team that wins four games is presented the trophy and celebrates the nation’s best pastime. Baseball is known to be the nation’s pastime because it is one of the first world championship sports introduced to America (baseball-almanac.com).
Mickey Charles Mantle Mickey Mantle played centerfield for the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968. Throughout that period Mickey became a hero for Yankees fans and baseball fans everywhere. His blazing speed, raw power, and monumental home runs made him a household name. Mickey Mantle personified what an American hero should be like, honest, humble and he was a Yankee! Mickey Charles Mantle was born on October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma.
Today, Gehrig remains an inspiration, representing fortitude, humility and courage to the tens of thousands of Americans living with Lou Gehrig's Disease. Lou Gehrig was famous for being a Hall of Fame 1st baseman (baseball of course). Gehrig started playing baseball in college and soon after a New York Yankees scout came out to watch Gehrig play. After numerous games, he got into
Manny Ramirez, who will go down as one of baseball’s most feared hitters, was suspended for 50 games at the beginning of the 2009 season for using steroids. Home-run records and batting averages are steadily rising as steroids use is becoming more and more prevalent in Major League Baseball. Much of the professional baseball audience includes young high school and college athletes. What do you think they assume about steroids? High school and college athletes are now starting to use steroids, after seeing how much success professional athletes have, without realizing the risks.