Fernando Valenzuela For my Hispanic Heritage assignment I chose the great Dodger pitcher, Fernando Valenzuela. I decided to write about the Dodger legend because both my dad and grandpa would always tell me how much they loved the way Fernando Valenzuela pitched. They especially loved it when the Dodgers won the World Series in 1981 against the Yankees behind Fernando’s pitching. A reason why Fernando Valenzuela was famous was because he won the “Rookie of The Year,” and the “CY Young Award,” all in one year. Fernando’s first full season in 1981, this was also his greatest achievement as a Hispanic person.
Bonds' accomplishments during his baseball career place him among the greatest baseball players of all-time. [3][4] He has a record-setting seven Most Valuable Player awards, including a record-setting four consecutive MVPs. He is a 14-time All-Starand 8-time Gold Glove-winner. He holds numerous Major League Baseball records, including the all-time Major League Baseball home run record with 762 and the single-season Major League record for home runs with 73 (set in 2001), and is also the all-time career leader in both walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688). Bonds has led a controversial career, notably as a central figure in baseball's steroids scandal.
In 2008, he was the homerun champion; launching 28 balls out of the ball park. As of now he is playing in the Major League Baseball World Series. People told him his whole life he could not, but due to dedication he is one of the elite players of his league. The best athletes in the world have an incredible amount of dedication. It is not easy, but it definitely pays off in the end.
I had to prove my skills to my new coaches because I was smaller than the rest of the kids and didn’t have the same knowledge or experience they did. After try-outs my new coach had approached my dad and told him that they where very excited to have me on there team, and with time and practice my skill would improve even more. The hardest part of playing with the older kids was that I was no longer hitting a ball of the T, but now the kids where the pitchers. Even after practice 4 days a week my dad would take me to the park and throw, what seemed like a hundred baseballs, to me and I would practice my hitting. It didn’t take long for my hand-eye coordination to develop and hitting a baseball thrown at me was no longer a problem.
This place is called the Hall of Fame. One of the most famous Halls is the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Since its inception in 1876, millions of people have played professional baseball, but only 242 players are considered one of “the best” and earn a coveted placement in the Baseball Hall of Fame. This paper analyzes the careers of certain players who have been recognized as one of “the best” and will discover what it takes to accomplish such recognition. What it Takes to Make it Into the Hall of Fame Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, and Cy Young are four baseball players almost every baseball fan knows of.
In the 140-year history of Major League Baseball, the office of field manager has never held less power than it does now, in the wake of Moneyball. (Bryant, 2009) "The reason 'Moneyball' became so important was because so many of the owners read [the book]," says Sandy Alderson, himself a seminal figure in the way baseball is run. "For years, the baseball people would tell the owners, 'Leave the baseball to us. You wouldn't understand.' They kept saying they were different.
The History of Softball This beloved sport that most believe came from America's pastime Baseball, surprisingly is based off of football. In 1887 on Thanksgiving day, several alumni sat in the Chicago, Illinois Farragut Boat Club, anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Yale vs Harvard football game. When Yale was announced as winner, a Yale alumnus playfully threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter. The Harvard fan swung at the balled-up glove with a stick, and the rest of the group looked on with interest. George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, jokingly called out, “Play ball!” and the first softball game commenced with the football fans using the boxing glove as a ball and a broom handle in place of a bat.
II. From 1900 to 1948 a lot of interesting and intriguing records and scandals took place. A. A highlight of the middle age of baseball (1900-1948) was the career of slugger Babe Ruth. “On October 1st, 1927, Babe Ruth slugged his sixtieth home run of the season, off Washington
Before 2004 he had never hit more than 20 home runs or driven in more than 80 runs in his career, nor had he hit over .450 (which represents the total number of bases divided by the player’s at-bats – essentially how much power production the player has). So Beltré ¬wasn’t a power hitter, until 2004, that is, when he ¬became a free agent and had his one shot at big-time money. This was also the last year that the MLB didn’t test for steroids. That year he hit 48 home runs and drove in 121 runs, with a batting average of .629. Beltré signed a five-year, $64 million contract.
The Importance of Pitching “A baseball team will only go as far as their pitching staff takes it” (Denny Peterson, San Joaquin Delta College Baseball assistant coach). From 2000 to 2004 the Oakland Athletics features one of the best pitching rotations of all time; that being their three starters, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito. With these three outstanding pitchers in their starting rotation, the Oakland Athletics ended up with a total record of 392-255 from 2000-2004 when all three of the previously named pitchers were on the team together (baseball-reference.com). Now, however, the Athletics do have a couple talented, healthy pitchers (that being Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill) but no member of their pitching staff has the experience like the bull pins of teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, or the New York Yankees. The Yankees have been in the playoffs every year since 1995, with the exception of 2008, and the Phillies have been there every year since 2007.