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28-575: On September 3, 2006, Danville won their first ever Appalachian League championship, defeating the Elizabethton Twins 2 games to 1, in a best of three series. On September 3, 2009, Danville won their second Appalachian League championship, again defeating the Elizabethton Twins, this time two games to zero. The Danville Braves mascot was a large, green bird named Blooper. In 2019, they had an attendance of 30,000. The start of

56-409: A run batted in . The same is true with a bases-loaded walk or hit by pitch . The purpose of not counting a sacrifice fly as an at-bat is to avoid penalizing hitters for a successful action. The sacrifice fly is one of two instances in baseball where a batter is not charged with a time at bat after putting a ball in play; the other is the sacrifice hit (also known as a sacrifice bunt). But, while

84-871: A first-place 41–28 record. Manager Fred Waters , who had been leading the team since 1975, was selected for the Appalachian League Manager of the Year Award. Waters led Elizabethton to its second championship in 1984. They won the Southern Division title with a 40–29 record, then defeated the Pulaski Braves in a one-game playoff for the Appalachian League title. Waters won Manager of the Year honors, as he also had in 1981. In 1987, Ray Smith replaced Waters as

112-531: A putout due to an error. Since the rule was reinstated in its present form in MLB in 1954, Gil Hodges of the Dodgers holds the record for most sacrifice flies in one season with 19, in 1954; Eddie Murray holds the MLB record for most sacrifice flies in a career with 128. As of the end of the 2021 Major League Baseball season , the ten players who had hit the most sacrifice flies were as follows: Only once has

140-423: A runner on first or second base tags on a fly ball and advances no further than third base, no sacrifice is given, and the batter is charged with an at-bat. Also, if a runner tags and advances from second base (or, theoretically, from first base) all the way to home and scores (without an intervening error), the batter is credited with a sacrifice fly, as well as with a second RBI if a runner on third also scores. At

168-403: A sacrifice fly does not affect a player's batting average , it counts as a plate appearance and lowers the on-base percentage . A player on a hitting streak will have it end with no official at-bats but a sacrifice fly. Unlike a sacrifice bunt, which may be scored if a runner advances from any base to any base, a sacrifice fly is credited only if a runner scores on the play. Therefore, when

196-747: Is forced out by reason of the batter becoming a runner. The most sacrifice flies by a team in one game in Major League Baseball (MLB) is five; the record was established by the Seattle Mariners in 1988, tied by the Colorado Rockies in 2006, and tied again by the Mariners in 2008. Five MLB teams have collected three sacrifice flies in an inning: the Chicago White Sox (fifth inning, July 1, 1962, against

224-609: The Appalachian League Hall of Fame . Among the Twins to make significant contributions to Major League Baseball teams after their time in Elizabethton are: Sacrifice fly In baseball , a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly ) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in

252-562: The Bristol Tigers , was rained out. They played their first home game the next evening, losing to Bristol, 15–2. Elizabethton finished its inaugural season in second place with a 41–27–1 record. Twins pitcher Rubio Malone tossed two no-hitters in 1978. He pitched the first on June 23 in the second game of a doubleheader against the Johnson City Cardinals in a seven-inning 8–1 win. The lone Johnson City run

280-626: The COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer baseball league , and the Twins were replaced by the Elizabethton River Riders , a new franchise in the revamped league designed for rising college freshmen and sophomores. Eighteen players won Appalachian League awards in recognition for their performance with

308-900: The Cleveland Indians ); the New York Yankees twice (fourth inning, June 29, 2000, against the Detroit Tigers and third inning, August 19, 2000, against the Anaheim Angels ); the New York Mets (second inning, June 24, 2005, against the Yankees); and the Houston Astros (seventh inning, June 26, 2005, against the Texas Rangers ). In these cases one or more of the flies did not result in

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336-691: The Elizabethton Phils in 1951. Thirty-three years later, the Minnesota Twins placed the Elizabethton Twins in the Appalachian League as a Rookie-level affiliate. Elizabethton played its inaugural game on June 21, 1974, against the Kingsport Braves on the road at the ballpark on the campus of Dobyns-Bennett High School , losing 8–3. The Twins got their first win the next night, defeating Kingsport, also 8–3. Their Riverside Park home opener, scheduled for June 23 against

364-643: The World Series been won on a sac fly. In 1912 , Larry Gardner of the Boston Red Sox hit a fly ball off a pitch from the New York Giants ' Christy Mathewson . Steve Yerkes tagged up and scored from third base to win game 8 in the tenth inning and take the series for the Red Sox. Batters have not been charged with a time at-bat for a sacrifice hit since 1893, but baseball has changed

392-471: The 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball beginning with the 2021 season, the Appalachian League was reorganized as a collegiate summer baseball league designed for rising college freshmen and sophomores. The Braves were replaced by the Danville Otterbots , a new franchise in

420-500: The Southern Division and defeated Pulaski, 2–0, in the finals. The 1990 Twins set a franchise record with their 51–16 (.761) season and earned the league crown with a first-place finish. On August 26, 1991, Eddie Guardado pitched a no-hitter versus the Pulaski Braves, 5–0, at Joe O'Brien Field . They missed the playoffs that season but returned in 1992 and 1993 by virtue of winning the Southern Division title, only to lose in

448-770: The Twins had an all-time record of 1,812–1,357–1. Professional baseball was first played in Elizabethton, Tennessee , by the Elizabethton Betsy Red Sox in the Appalachian League in 1937. They remained in the league through 1942. The city's Appalachian League entry from 1945 to 1948 was called the Elizabethton Betsy Cubs . They were followed by the Elizabethton Betsy Local from 1949 to 1950 and

476-525: The Twins have won 37 Appalachian League awards. One former member of the Twins has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame . Outfielder Kirby Puckett , who was inducted in 2001, played 65 games with Elizabethton in 1982, his first professional season. He registered a .382  batting average with 105  hits and 35  RBI in addition to stealing 43 bases. The Twins have also had five members inducted in

504-435: The Twins played in 3,113 regular season games and compiled a 1,779–1,333–1 win–loss–tie record. They qualified for the postseason on 19 occasions, winning 16 division titles and 12  Appalachian League championships . Elizabethton won more league championships than any other team in Appalachian League history. They had a postseason record of 33–24. Combining all 3,170 regular season and postseason games,

532-470: The Twins' manager after 12 years guiding the team. Smith would go on to become the winningest manager in Appalachian League history with 1,048 wins from 1987 to 1994 and 2002 to 2019. He would win a record seven Manager of the Year Awards and lead Elizabethton to nine league championships. The first two championship seasons under Smith came back-to-back in 1989 and 1990. The 1989 team won

560-692: The Twins. Eleven won Player of the Year Awards, while seven won the Pitcher of the Year Award. Four managers won the Manager of the Year Award, including Fred Waters , who was selected for the honor three times, and Ray Smith , who won the award a league-leading seven times. The team also won four Executive of the Year Awards, the Promotional Award of Excellence (2003 and 2014), and the Community Service Award (2017). Altogether,

588-469: The championship finals. Smith was selected for four consecutive Manager of the Year Awards from 1989 to 1992. Another playoff drought occurred from 1994 to 1999, the longest in franchise history. Over 20 years from 2000 to 2019, the Twins qualified for the postseason 15 times. Jeff Carter, the 2000 season's Manager of the Year, led Elizabethton to the Southern Division title and the franchise's fifth Appalachian League championship. After losing in

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616-550: The finals of 2001 under Manager of the Year Rudy Hernández , Ray Smith returned to lead the team in 2002. He guided the Twins to league titles in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2017, and 2018. On July 16, 2011, pitchers Tim Shibuya (7 IP ), Garrett Jewel (1 IP), and Steven Gruver (1 IP) combined to no-hit the Greeneville Astros , 6–0, on the road. The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to

644-602: The last day of the season and needed one hit in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia A's to become the first hitter since Bill Terry in 1930 to hit .400. He got six hits, finishing with an official .406 average, the last player in over 80 years to bat .400 or more in the American or National League . In his book Baseball and Other Matters in 1941 author Robert Creamer, citing estimates, points out that if Williams' 14 at-bats on sacrifice flies that year were deducted from

672-538: The outfield in fair or foul territory that They are so named because the batter allows a teammate to score a run, while "sacrificing" his or her ability to do so. They are traditionally recorded in box scores with the designation "SF". As addressed within Rule 9.02(a)(1) of the Official Baseball Rules a sacrifice fly is not counted as a time at bat for the batter, though the batter is credited with

700-410: The professional level this will typically occur only in unusual circumstances that prevent the defense from making an immediate throw back to the infield, such as an outfielder colliding with the wall while making a catch on the warning track. The sacrifice fly is credited even if another runner is put out, so long as the run scores. The sacrifice fly is credited on a dropped ball even if another runner

728-657: The revamped league. Notable players who have played for Danville include: This article about a baseball team in Virginia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Elizabethton Twins The Elizabethton Twins were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins . They were located in Elizabethton, Tennessee , and were named for their major league affiliate. The team played its home games at Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark , which opened in 1974. Over 46 years of competition,

756-408: The sacrifice fly rule multiple times. The sacrifice fly as a statistical category was instituted in 1908, only to be discontinued in 1931. The rule was again adopted in 1939, only to be eliminated again in 1940, before being adopted for the last time in 1954. For some baseball fans, it is significant that the sacrifice-fly rule was eliminated in 1940 because, in 1941, Ted Williams was hitting .39955 on

784-527: Was scored in the first inning when Gotay Mills drew a walk , stole second, advanced to third on an outfield fly ball , and came home on a sacrifice fly . Malone's second no-hit game occurred nearly a month later on July 19, this time in front of a home audience. He held the Bluefield Orioles hitless for nine innings in the 6–0 win. The season was also successful for the Twins as they won their first Appalachian League championship in 1978 with

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