The Leland Giants , originally the Chicago Union Giants , were a Negro league baseball team that competed independently during the first decade of the 20th century. The team was formed via a merge of the Chicago Unions and the Chicago Columbia Giants in 1901, and then split in 1910 to form the Chicago Giants and what would become known as the Chicago American Giants . The team was named after its owner and manager, Frank Leland .
24-617: In a 1910 article, former shortstop Jimmy Smith described the 1905 season by saying the team "made a great record of 43 straight wins" between May 19 and July 16, 1905, when they were finally beat by the Spalding team on their home grounds in Chicago. Bruce Petway took over catching duties in 1906 and the talent improved dramatically in 1907 as Rube Foster (HOF), Pete Hill (HOF), "Big Bill" Gatewood , "Mike" Moore and four other players came from East Coast teams. The 1907 team compiled
48-531: A 110–10 record, including 48 straight wins. The Giants went 64–21 against semipro teams in 1908 and tied a cross-region match-up with the Philadelphia Giants at three games apiece. The team was managed by Foster in 1909 and was just 8–10 against other top black teams. The team faced off against the Chicago Cubs in a mid-October series. Johnny Evers and Frank Chance sat out. In game one
72-405: A diamond around the pitcher, with each side of the diamond measuring 90 feet (27 m). In cricket infield is a central oval on the cricket field , the reference point for fielding restrictions in short forms of the game; in contrast to the more distant outfield . Infield can refer to a region inside a closed race track used for horse racing or auto racing , or to an area encircled by
96-471: A fourth outfielder than an infielder, was also then called "short fielder" (a term still used in soft-pitch softball for the 10th player). With the advent of higher-quality baseballs, Adams moved to the infield, since the distance the balls could travel increased. However, Dickey Pearce , primarily of the Brooklyn Atlantics , is credited as the first to have played the shortstop position as it
120-476: A good hitter. Some of the weakest hitters in Major League Baseball have played the position, including Mario Mendoza , for whom George Brett popularized the eponymous Mendoza Line to describe a batting average below .200. Since the 1960s, however, such mediocre hitting has become rarer as teams increasingly demand players with ability to both field and hit. In practice, a marginal fielder as
144-511: A shortstop who hits well can be moved to almost any other position, especially second base or third base, whether early in their careers (examples: George Brett and Mike Schmidt were both tried early in their careers as shortstops) or later due to diminished fielding range , slower reflexes, weaker throwing arms, increased risk of injury, or co-existence with another dominant shortstop, as with Ernie Banks , Cal Ripken Jr. , Alex Rodríguez , Michael Young , or Miguel Tejada . The year in which
168-434: A strong throwing arm, because he has a relatively long throw to first base, and often has less time in which to make a throw, given that the ground balls he fields have often traveled relatively far. A shortstop must also be extremely agile, because balls hit to or near the shortstop position are usually hit harder than to other infield positions. Shortstops are required to cover second base in double play situations when
192-400: Is assigned the number 6. More hit balls go to the shortstop than to any other position, as there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the ball slightly. Like a second baseman , a shortstop must be agile, for example when performing a 4-6-3 double play . Also, like a third baseman , the shortstop fields balls hit to
216-403: Is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the position was assigned to defensive specialists who were typically poor at batting and were often placed at the bottom of the batting order . Today, shortstops are often able to hit well and many are placed at the top of the lineup. In the numbering system used by scorers to record defensive plays, the shortstop
240-546: Is played now. Adams had a long playing career with the Knickerbockers: he remained a player with the team until 1860. Unlike the pitcher and catcher , who must start every play in a designated area (the pitcher must be on the pitcher's mound , with one foot in contact with the pitcher's rubber , and the catcher must be behind home plate in the catcher's box ) the shortstop and the other fielders can vary their positioning in response to what they anticipate will be
264-614: The National League , showing they could compete with the top white teams in the country. In 1910, Foster and Leland split and Foster won the rights to the Leland Giants name; Leland's new team was called the Chicago Giants . The Leland Giants went 11–0 against top black teams that year and said they went 123–6 overall. The club was the most talented to date, as Home Run Johnson and Pop Lloyd (HOF) joined to play
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#1732791371402288-472: The pitcher and batter takes place. The pitcher stands on the pitcher's mound (a raised mound of dirt located at the center of the infield) and from there he pitches the ball to his catcher , who is crouched behind home plate sixty feet, six inches away at what might be called the cutlet of the diamond-shaped baseball field. To the left and right of the catcher are chalk boxes in the dirt called batter's boxes . The opposing team's batter must stand in one of
312-475: The Cubs' Three-Finger Brown beat Walter Ball 4–1. The Leland Giants were leading 5–2 in the bottom of the ninth the next day as Foster faced Ed Reulbach , but Rube allowed four runs in that frame to fall on a controversial final play at the plate. In game three, Brown beat Charles Dougherty 1–0. The Leland Giants had lost two one-run decisions and another fairly close game against a team that had won 104 games in
336-401: The actions of the batter and runner(s) once the play begins. The shortstop ordinarily is positioned near second base on the third-base side. Because right-handed hitters tend to hit the ball more toward third base, a shortstop will generally move closer to third base if the batter is batting right-handed, and more toward first base if the batter is batting left-handed. A shortstop typically has
360-415: The ball is hit to the second baseman or first baseman. They also cover second when a runner is attempting a stolen base , but only when a left-handed hitter is batting because the infield will respond to a left-handed batter by shifting toward first base, resulting in the shortstop being the infielder who is closest to second base. Shortstops also must cover third at various times, including the rotation play;
384-581: The club was renamed the Chicago American Giants and moved to Schorling's Park . Prior to 1911, the club had played in various small local venues, primarily the first "Schorling's Park", a.k.a. "Auburn Park", at 79th Street and Wentworth Avenue in the Auburn Park neighborhood of Chicago's south side. Shortstop Shortstop , abbreviated SS , is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base , which
408-431: The cutoff man on balls to any part of the outfield that are being directed towards third base and all balls to left and center field that are destined for second base. Depending on the system the shortstop may cut balls from left field heading home; however, this is usually the job of the third baseman. The emphasis on defense makes the position unusually difficult to fill. Historically, a strong shortstop did not have to be
432-401: The defensive unit of players that are positioned in the region: first baseman , second baseman , shortstop , third baseman . Sometimes it includes the catcher and pitcher who (as a tandem) are often referred to separately as the battery . In baseball the physical infield is where most of the action in a baseball game occurs, as it includes that area where the all-important duel between
456-443: The latter occurs when there are runners on first and second and a sacrifice bunt is attempted toward third base, requiring the third baseman to move in away from third base in order to field it. Shortstops generally are given precedence on catching pop-ups in the infield as well, so they end up calling off other players many times, although on deep pop-ups they generally fall back when called off by an outfielder . They often become
480-584: The left side of the infield , where a strong arm is needed to throw out a batter-runner before they reach the safety of first base. Doc Adams of the Knickerbockers created the concept of the shortstop position, according to baseball historian John Thorn and Baseball Hall of Fame researcher Freddy Berowski. In the first five years the Knickerbockers played, the team fielded anywhere from eight to eleven players. The only infielders were
504-486: The middle infield, Petway, Hill and Foster returned and Frank Wickware joined the staff. After the season, the team traveled to Cuba for the winter, playing the island's top teams. Cuban teams signed Lloyd, Hill, Johnson and Petway to play with them against the touring Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics . Black players gained recognition in the Detroit series by outhitting Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford . In 1911,
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#1732791371402528-450: The player was inducted is given in brackets after his name. Source: (does not list teams) Source: baseballreference.com Infield#Baseball Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. In baseball , the diamond , as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass-covered, outfield . The "diamond" can also refer to
552-412: The players covering each of the bases; if there were more than eight players, extra outfielders were sometimes used. The outfielders had difficulty throwing baseballs into the infield because of the balls' light weight. Adams's shortstop position, which he started playing at some time from 1849 to 1850, was used to field throws from the outfielders and throw to the three infielders. The position, more of
576-401: The two boxes and from there he will attempt to hit the pitched ball with his bat. The umpire , who officiates the game, stands behind the catcher. The other important parts of the infield are the three bases , first base (to the pitcher's left, looking toward home plate), second base (behind the pitcher) and third base (to the pitcher's right). Together, home plate and the three bases form
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