The Cleveland Indians are currently a member of the American League Central. However from 1969-1993 they were members of the American League East. Between the two divisions the Indians how won 7 Division Titles all of which were won when they were in the Central Division. The Indians have won two World Series. The years were 1920 and 1948. I am a Braves fan so I know that in 1995 the Brave played the Indians in the World Series. The Braves ended up winning which is good for me, but not the Indians. The Indians are an average team in the MLB. They finished this year at .500 which is not bad, but other teams like the St. Louis Cardinals finished the regular season with a recored of 100-62 which is equal to .617. I have watched a movie that is about the Cleveland Indians. It was not real but the movie had the owner of the team put a lot of bad players on the team to try and make them lose. However the team of "bad" players ended up winning the World Series. The Indians play their home games at Progressive Field. It is also know as Jacobs Field. They have been playing here since 1994. They have played at 2 other ballparks since the team was created in 1901. The team has two nicknames, they are the Tribe and the Wahoos. When the team was first created in 1901 they were called the Cleveland Bluebirds. However that name didn't last long because in 1902 they changed their name to the Cleveland Broncos. They changed their name again in 1903 the the Cleveland Naps. Three different names in three years. They were the Naps until 1915 when they changed their name for the last time to the Cleveland Indians.
The Cincinnati Reds are one of the most well known baseball teams. The have great players like Joey Votto and Todd Frazier. One of their pitchers also set the record for the fastest pitch in the MLB. His name is Aroldis Chapman. He through the ball 106 miles an hour. The Reds are also know by many people because they hosted the 2015 All Star game and the Home Run Derby. In fact Todd Frazier won the Home Run Derby in front of all of the Reds fans .
The Reds have won five World Series. They also won two back to back in 1975 and 1976. They won their other three in 1919, 1940, and 1990. If you have read my blog on the Chicago White Sox you will know that the year 1919 is very important to any baseball fan. The reason is that the Reds faced the White Sox in that World Series. This was the year that the White Sox got the nickname of the black sox. They White Sox were accused of trying to lose the World Series on purpose. The Reds have won nine National League Pennants and ten Division Titles. The Reds have been in two divisions. From 1969-1993 they were part of the National League West and from 1994- the present they have been part of the National League Central. 7 of their 10 division titles came from when they were in the NL West and the other 3 are from the NL Central. The Reds play their home games at Great American Ballpark since 2003. They have played at six other ballparks too. Their team colors are Red, White, and black. They are mostly red so when they were really good in the 1970's they got the nickname big red machine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngubly4hpHw (link to youtube to watch pitch) The Chicago White Sox were created in 1900. They have kept the same name from 1901-present. The White Sox have won three World Series. The years are 1906, 1917, and 2005. they have made it to the World Series six times. In 1919 they got the nickname the black sox because some of their players bet that they would lose and they lost the game on purpose. The player involve got banned from the game for life. In 1918 the white sox were really bad. They were bad because they lost most of their good players to World War I. The White Sox are now in the American League Central but they weren't always. From 1969-1993 the White Sox were in the American League West. The White Sox don't have the coolest uniforms in Major League Baseball. Their team colors are black, white, and silver. They do have a throwback jersey that does have some red on it.
Those of you who read my other blog post you know that my family went to Boston this summer. I said that we saw a Red Sox game. The day I went the Red Sox were playing the White Sox. It was a good game. The White Sox scored 4 runs in the first inning. However the Red Sox came back and made it a close game. When the White Sox play home game they play at U.S. Cellular Field. Since 1901 they have played at four different stadiums. Some of the retired numbers for the White Sox are 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 35, and 72. The Chicago Cubs are one of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball. Their fist year was in 1871 when they were called the Chicago White Stockings. They had three different names from 1871-1903. They were Stockings, Colts, and the Orphans. In 1903 they changed their name to the Cubs. They still have that name today. The Cubs do have some nicknames like the Cubbies and lovable losers. They are called the lovable losers because they are one of the world's favorite teams but they are not very good. However this year they surprised everyone by making it to the postseason and actually winning a game. The last time they won the World Series was in 1908. That was 107 years ago. Some of the player that have helped the team win this season are Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and their manager Joe Madden. The first to players are pitchers. Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta are two of the best pitchers in the MLB at this moment. Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are both infielders. The retired number for the cubs are 10, 14, 23, 26, 31, 31. I am not sure why they retired 31 twice but I did find out that the two number belonged to two different people. Most people think that the Cubs have played at Wrigley Field since 1871, However they have not. They played in six different parks between 1871-1914. When they first started playing at Wrigley Field they did not have lights. Another interesting factor of Wrigley is that the outfield wall is covered in ivy.
This summer I went to Boston with my family. We did a lot of things like go to the Boston Tea Party Museum and we walked the freedom trail. However the coolest thing we did was when we went to Fenway Park home of the Boston Red Sox. We sat on the first base side and had a perfect view of the Green Monster. Fenway Park is one of the most famous ballparks because of the Green Monster. The Green Monster is the left field wall at the park. It is only 310 feet away from home plate, however it is 37 feet 2 inches tall.
There has been many great players that played at Fenway Park for the Red Sox. The number that the Red Sox have retired are 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 27, and 45. Some of their current players are David Ortiz, Mookie Betts, Ryan Hanigan, Xander Bogaerts, and one of the best managers in baseball John Farrell. There are many more great current players too. David Ortiz is one of the best players in Major League Baseball. He is one of the best DH's of all time.(DH= Designated Hitter) The Red Sox have had a great career as a franchise. They are a member of the American League East. They have also won 8 World Series, 13 league championships, and 7 division titles. Their most resent World Series win was in 2013 when they beat the St. Louis Cardinals. It took them six games to win it all. The Baltimore Orioles are part of the American League East division.In their division are the Blue Jays, Yankees, Rays, and Red Soxs. This year the O's came in third in their division with a record of 81 wins and 81 losses. The manager for the O's is Buck Showalter. Somehow he is related to me so my granddad and his six brothers went to meet him and got me a baseball signed by Buck Showalter. You might have noticed that I called the Orioles the O's. That is because it is one of their two nicknames. The other one is the birds. The Orioles play their home games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. If you ask any baseball fan it is one of the nicest ballparks in the Major League Baseball. The O's have not always played in Baltimore. The first city they played in was Milwaukee. They were called the Milwaukee Brewers. They played here for only one year before moving to St. Louis and becoming the St. Louis Browns. They spent 52 years in St.Louis before they finally moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Orioles. Even though they didn't have a good team last year in 2014 most people thought that they would go to the World Series. However in the American League championship Series they lost to the Kansas City Royals who ended up losing to the San Francisco Giants. One of they best players ever for the O's is Cal Ripken Jr. He was number was 8 and it has been retired by the Orioles. He is best known for playing the most consecutive games with 2,632.
The Atlanta Braves are my favorite baseball team. They are a member national league east. In their division is the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Miami Marlins, and the Washington Nationals. This year the Braves came in fourth with a record of 67 and 95. That is really bad however in the 1990's the Braves were unstoppable. In the 90's they went to World Series 5 times. They were so good that they are know as the 90's team. They only won the World Series in 1995 when they beat the Cleveland Indians.
The Braves started their baseball journey in 1871 as the Boston Red Stockings. They played in Boston until 1952 a total of 81 years. In that time the team changed names 7 times. In 1953 the team moved to Milwaukee. They were known as the Milwaukee Braves. They played here until 1966 when they moved to Atlanta. The most important thing the team did in Atlanta was when Hank Aaron, also known as hammering Hank, hit 715th home run to pass Babe Ruth for the all time leader. Unlike Arizona, Atlanta has many more retired numbers. They are 3, 6, 10, 21, 29, 31, 35, 41, 44, 47. All of these players are great players. Most are know for their pitching ability. My baseball number last year was number 6. That is one of the retired number for the Braves. The person who wore the number wasn't a player at all. He was the manager from 1990-2010. His name is Bobby Cox. He has a .556 win percentage over his career. |
AuthorI play baseball a lot and love to learn and talk about baseball especially catching since that is my position. The Atlanta Braves are my favorite team. Archives
March 2016
Categories |