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173-639: Kenneth Lofton (born May 31, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder . Lofton was a six-time All-Star (1994–1999), four-time Gold Glove Award winner (1993–1996), and at retirement, was ranked 15th among all-time stolen base leaders with 622. During his career, he played for the Houston Astros , Cleveland Indians , Atlanta Braves , Chicago White Sox , San Francisco Giants , Pittsburgh Pirates , Chicago Cubs , New York Yankees , Philadelphia Phillies , Los Angeles Dodgers , and Texas Rangers . Lofton attended
346-422: A single-elimination bracket. Thirty-two teams automatically qualify for the tournament by winning their conference tournament, played during the two weeks before the tournament, and thirty-six teams qualify by receiving an at-large bid based on their performance during the season. The Selection Committee determines the at-large bids, ranks all the teams 1 to 68, and places the teams in the bracket, all of which
519-552: A 3–0 series lead. Lofton, who appeared in 83 games with the Yankees, felt manager Joe Torre did not use his skills appropriately. Lofton finished the regular season with a .275 batting average and a career-low seven stolen bases. With the Yankees looking to reshape their roster and the Philadelphia Phillies looking for a player with postseason experience, Lofton was dealt on December 3, 2004, which as part of
692-504: A 3–1 game lead over the Red Sox, eventually lost the series. In Game Seven, Lofton was called out while attempting to steal second base, but the replay showed that he was safe. He was also held up at third base while attempting to tie the game, in a call that was criticized by Cleveland fans for years. Lofton became a free agent at the end of the season, but did not sign a contract with an MLB team. He expressed interest in playing before
865-588: A No. 11 seed. Since 2012, the committee has released the No. 1 to 68 true seed list after announcing the bracket. Since 2017, the Selection Committee has released a list of the top 16 teams three weeks before Selection Sunday. This list does not guarantee any team a bid, as the Committee re-ranks all teams when starting the final selection process. The seed line of the four at-large teams competing in
1038-667: A batter could foul off any number of pitches with no strikes counted against him; this gave an enormous advantage to the batter. After the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, baseball was rocked by allegations of a game-fixing scheme known as the Black Sox Scandal . Eight players— "Shoeless" Joe Jackson , Eddie Cicotte , Claude "Lefty" Williams , George "Buck" Weaver , Arnold "Chick" Gandil , Fred McMullin , Charles "Swede" Risberg , and Oscar "Happy" Felsch —intentionally lost
1211-697: A big-game player and he's been great in the playoffs." The Giants held a five-run lead in the seventh inning of game six of the World Series against the Anaheim Angels , but eight outs away from winning the World Series, the Angels rallied to win 6–5. The Angels took game seven the following night, with Lofton flying out to Darin Erstad in center to end that game and the World Series, and for
1384-684: A career high, and his 54 stolen bases were double his previous year's 27. The Indians won the AL Central with an 89–73 record and their match-up against the Boston Red Sox, three games to one, in the 1998 ALDS . In the series against the Red Sox, Lofton's .375 batting average led the Indians, as did his two stolen bases and six hits. The Indians lost the 1998 ALCS in six games to the New York Yankees, who had won 114 games in
1557-474: A catalyst who magically sparked his teams into playoff contention, but others could say that it was simply a case of top playoff contenders repeatedly seeing him as the final piece of their puzzle." His 622 stolen bases rank him 15th all-time. He holds the Indians' record for stolen bases with 452. Lofton had tallied a .299 career batting average with 130 home runs, 116 triples, and 1,528 runs in 2,103 games. He
1730-602: A catastrophic leg injury during the tournament. This tradition is credited to Everett Case , the coach of North Carolina State , who stood on his players' shoulders to accomplish the feat after the Wolfpack won the Southern Conference tournament in 1947. CBS, since 1987 and yearly to 2015, in the odd-numbered years since 2017, and TBS, since 2016, the even-numbered years, close out the tournament with " One Shining Moment ", performed by Luther Vandross . Just as
1903-406: A chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before." With the approval of President Roosevelt, spring training began in 1942 with few repercussions. The war interrupted the careers of stars including Stan Musial , Bob Feller , Ted Williams , and Joe DiMaggio , but baseball clubs continued to field their teams. Branch Rickey, president and general manager of
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#17327911622232076-486: A college basketball Final Four (1988) and an MLB World Series. (The other is fellow East Chicago Washington High School alumnus Tim Stoddard .) He left as the Wildcats' leader in career steals (a record eventually broken). "In strength and agility drills, he just killed it. He's a guy who could have played pro football or basketball or baseball," said former Wildcats teammate Bruce Fraser . Lofton decided to try out for
2249-544: A commentator on the Fox Sports West postgame show for the Los Angeles Dodgers . Lofton considers himself a perfectionist. "I love cleaning. I clean up, wash dishes, and make a good bed. I'm pretty neat. I'm a perfectionist. People come to my house and they're like, 'Man, do you actually live here?'" In August 2022, Lofton was sued by a former employee of Lofton's investment company who claimed that he
2422-526: A few claps. It was touching. I tipped my hat, but they just kept going. If there was a storybook way for me to get it, to get it in Cleveland, it was something to remember." New York finished the regular season with an AL-best record, 101–61. To begin the postseason, the Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins , three games to one, in the 2004 ALDS . In the 2004 ALCS against the Boston Red Sox,
2595-660: A geographical district. Multiple conferences were considered part of each district, such as the Missouri Valley and the Big Seven conferences in one district and the Southern and Southeastern conferences in another, which often led to top-ranked teams being left out of the tournament. The issue came to a head in 1950 , when the NCAA suggested that third-ranked Kentucky and fifth-ranked North Carolina State compete in
2768-506: A grand jury in Pittsburgh related to cocaine trafficking. The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike from August 12, 1994, to April 25, 1995, caused the cancellation of over 900 games and the forfeit of the entire 1994 postseason. Routinely in the late 1990s and early 2000s, baseball players hit 40 or 50 home runs in a season, a feat that was considered rare even in the 1980s. It later became apparent that at least some of this power surge
2941-534: A guest star on The Wayans Bros. , and in 2004, he appeared as a guest star on George Lopez . Lofton co-wrote the song "What If" on Ruben Studdard's 2006 album Soulful . In 2008, Lofton qualified for the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic . He played golf in the off season during his playing days. For the 2011 spring training season, Lofton was hired by the Indians to coach baserunning and outfield work. He also served as
3114-658: A little better in subsequent campaigns—but in their eighth season (1969) the Mets became the first of the 1960s expansion teams to play in the postseason, culminating in a World Series title over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, the major leagues moved to the "Deep South" when the Braves moved to Atlanta. In 1968, the Kansas City Athletics moved west to become the Oakland Athletics . In 1969,
3287-671: A man for many reasons. Color is not one of them." That year, Robinson won the inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate NL and AL Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). Less than three months later, Larry Doby became the first African-American to break the color barrier in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. The next year, a number of other black players entered
3460-413: A new National Agreement which tied independent contracts to the reserve-clause contracts. The agreement also set up a formal classification system for minor leagues, the forerunner of today's system that was refined by Branch Rickey . Several other early defunct baseball leagues are considered major leagues, and their statistics and records are included with those of the two modern major leagues. In 1969,
3633-431: A one-armed outfielder, got the chance to advance to the major leagues. However, MLB rosters did not include any black players through the end of the war. Black players, many of whom served in the war, were still restricted to playing Negro league baseball . Wartime blackout restrictions , designed to keep outdoor lighting at low levels, caused another problem for baseball. These rules limited traveling and night games to
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#17327911622233806-548: A one-year, $ 1.025 million contract with the Chicago White Sox. "I looked at the different opportunities that I had and this was a team that won 83 games last year while they were banged up. Cleveland lost four good players from last year's team, and that's going to be hard to replace. This was an easy decision", Lofton said on signing with the White Sox. White Sox general manager Kenny Williams had stated when Lofton
3979-582: A part of the team." With the Phillies, Lofton hit .335 in 110 appearances, his batting average a team high. He also recorded 22 stolen bases. The Phillies finished 88–74, two games from the NL East division winners and one game out of the wild card. Toward the end of his career, Lofton was featured in a DHL Express TV commercial, where the international shipper comically portrayed Lofton's frequent city changes and subsequent moves. On December 12, 2006,
4152-426: A playoff game for a bid, but Kentucky refused, believing they should be given the bid as the higher-ranked team. In response, the NCAA doubled the field to 16 in 1951 , adding two additional districts and six spots for at-large teams. Conferences could still only have one team in the tournament, but multiple conferences from the same geographic district could now be included through at-large bids. This development helped
4325-530: A quality lead-off man", said Cubs general manager Jim Hendry . In 56 regular-season appearances with the Cubs, Lofton stole 12 bases and hit .327. Lofton and the Cubs won the NL Central division (88–74). The Cubs' postseason berth was just the sixth time since the divisional series format was introduced (1969) that a team made the postseason after having lost 95 games or more the previous season. Chicago beat
4498-501: A rebellion by players against the hated "reserve clause", which restricted the free movement of players between clubs. Teams came and went; 1882 was the first season where the league's membership was the same as the preceding season's, and only four franchises survived to see 1900. Competitor leagues formed regularly and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1882–1891), sometimes called
4671-401: A separate location a week later, establishing the format with two final rounds of the tournament (although the name "Final Four" would not be used in branding until the 1980s). The 1953 tournament expanded to include 22 teams and added a fifth round, with ten teams receiving a bye to the regional semifinals. The number of teams would fluctuate from 22 to 25 teams over the next two decades, but
4844-479: A single-game MLB attendance record in their first home appearance with 78,672 fans. In 1961, the first Washington Senators franchise moved to Minneapolis–St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins . Two new teams were added to the American League at the same time: the Los Angeles Angels (who soon moved from downtown L.A. to nearby Anaheim ) and a new Washington Senators franchise. The NL added
5017-540: A successful Baltimore chop, the batter hits the ball forcefully into the ground, causing it to bounce so high that the batter reaches first base before the ball can be fielded and thrown to the first baseman. The adoption of the foul strike rule—in the NL in 1901, in the AL two years later—quickly sent baseball from a high-scoring game to one where scoring runs became a struggle. Before this rule, foul balls were not counted as strikes:
5190-424: A team is not moved out of their preferred geographical region an inordinate number of times based on their placement in the previous two tournaments. To follow these rules and preferences, the committee may move a team off of their expected seed line. Thus, for example, the 40th overall ranked team, originally slated to be a No. 10 seed within a particular region, may instead be moved up to a No. 9 seed or moved down to
5363-618: Is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level in the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Played mostly during March, the tournament consists of 68 teams and was first conducted in 1939 . Known for its upsets of favored teams, it has become one of the biggest annual sporting events in
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5536-558: Is a trade of enormous magnitude for two very, very good franchises. We're talking about franchise-type players", Hart said. For Lofton, considered "the centerpiece of the Indians' 1990s revival", it was a return to the National League. "The trade will be in the back of my mind for a long time, but it's baseball. It happens to nearly everybody. I'm [in Atlanta] to play every day. It's all Braves from now on", Lofton said. By April 19,
5709-605: Is considered a "home court". For the First Four and the Final Four, the home court prohibition does not apply because only one venue hosts these rounds. The First Four is regularly hosted by the Dayton Flyers ; as such, the team competed on their home court in 2015 . Because the Final Four is hosted at indoor football stadiums, it is unlikely that a team will play on their home court in the future. The last time this
5882-417: Is played over three weekends, with two rounds occurring each weekend. Before the first weekend, eight teams compete in the First Four to advance to the first round. Two games pair the lowest-ranked conference champions and two games pair the lowest-ranked at-large qualifiers. The first and second rounds are played during the first weekend, the regional semifinals and regional finals during the second weekend, and
6055-605: Is revealed publicly on the Sunday before the tournament, dubbed Selection Sunday by the media and fans. There is no reseeding during the tournament and matchups in each subsequent round are predetermined by the bracket. The tournament is divided into four regions, with each region having sixteen to eighteen teams. Regions are named after the U.S. geographic area of the city hosting each regional semifinal and regional final (the tournament's third and 4th round overall). Host cities for all regions vary from year to year. The tournament
6228-687: Is the third-wealthiest professional sports league by revenue in the world after the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Baseball games are broadcast on television, radio, and the internet throughout North America and in several other countries. MLB has the highest total season attendance of any sports league in the world; in 2023, it drew more than 70.75 million spectators. MLB also oversees Minor League Baseball , which comprises lower-tier teams affiliated with
6401-583: The Arizona Wildcats baseball team during his junior year. He played in just five baseball games and recorded only one official at-bat while at Arizona, but his speed and potential were recognized by baseball scouts, including the Houston Astros ' Clark Crist. The Astros later selected Lofton in the 17th round of the 1988 MLB draft . He played minor-league baseball during the summer while completing his basketball eligibility at Arizona. The Astros organization asked Lofton to play minor-league baseball in
6574-450: The BBWAA ballot after one year despite his career stats, accolades, and relatively clean reputation during the steroid era has often been considered by baseball fans as one of the most egregious Hall of Fame exclusions in history, and has been used as an example of criticism towards the election process. Lofton has his own television production company, FilmPool, Inc. In 1997, he appeared as
6747-899: The Boston Braves became the Milwaukee Braves , the St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles , and the Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City Athletics . The 1958 Major League Baseball season began to turn Major League Baseball into a nationwide league. Walter O'Malley , owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers and "perhaps the most influential owner of baseball's early expansion era," moved his team to Los Angeles, marking
6920-528: The COVID-19 pandemic ; in the subsequent season, the tournament was contested completely in the state of Indiana as a precaution. Thirty-seven different schools have won the tournament to date. UCLA has the most with 11 championships; their coach John Wooden has the most titles of any coach with 10. The University of Kentucky (UK) has eight championships, the University of Connecticut (UConn) and
7093-596: The Great Depression , baseball's popularity had begun a downward turn in the early 1930s. By 1932, only two MLB teams turned a profit. Attendance had fallen, due at least in part to a 10% federal amusement tax added to baseball ticket prices. Baseball owners cut their rosters from 25 men to 23, and even the best players took pay cuts. Team executives were innovative in their attempts to survive, creating night games, broadcasting games live by radio, and rolling out promotions such as free admission for women. Throughout
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7266-619: The Houston Astros and the New York Mets in 1962. The Astros (known as the "Colt .45s" during their first three seasons) became the first southern major league franchise since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899 and the first franchise to be located along the Gulf Coast . The Mets established a reputation for futility by going 40–120 during their first season of play in the nation's media capital—and by playing only
7439-687: The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). The NABBP existed as an amateur league for 12 years. By 1867, more than 400 clubs were members. Most of the strongest clubs remained those based in the Northeastern United States. For professional baseball 's founding year, MLB uses the year 1869—when the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was established. A schism developed between professional and amateur ballplayers after
7612-819: The National Invitation Tournament . Founded by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association one year before the NCAA tournament, the NIT was held entirely in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Because New York was the center of the press in the United States, the NIT often received more coverage than the NCAA tournament in early years. Additionally, good teams were often excluded from the NCAA tournament because each conference could only have one bid and conference champions were even excluded because of
7785-556: The Texas Rangers signed Lofton to a one-year contract. By signing with the Rangers, Lofton tied Todd Zeile for most teams played for by a position player. In 84 games with the Rangers, he hit .303 with 16 doubles. On July 27, 2007, Lofton was traded by the Rangers to the Indians in exchange for minor-league catcher Max Ramírez . "That's my biggest thing right now. I'm trying to get a World Series ring ," Lofton said on joining
7958-559: The Texas Rangers . In 1977, baseball expanded again , adding a second Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays , as well as the Seattle Mariners . Subsequently, no new teams were added until the 1990s and no teams moved until 2005. By the late 1960s, the balance between pitching and hitting had swung in favor of the pitchers. In 1968—later nicknamed "the year of the pitcher" —Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski won
8131-478: The University of Arizona on a basketball scholarship. The Wildcats made it to the Final Four in 1988 . He did not join the school's baseball team until his junior year. Lofton made 11 postseason appearances, including World Series appearances in 1995 and 2002 with the Indians and Giants, respectively. From 2001 to 2007, Lofton did not spend more than one consecutive season with a team. For his career,
8304-483: The University of Arizona to play college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats . For the Wildcats, Lofton was the backup point guard (to Craig McMillan and Steve Kerr ) on a team that made it to the Final Four of the 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . He was the starting point guard the following year when the Wildcats made it to the Sweet Sixteen . Lofton is one of only two men to play in
8477-424: The University of North Carolina have six championships, Duke University and Indiana University have five championships, the University of Kansas (KU) has four championships, and Villanova University has three championships. Seven programs are tied with two national championships, and 23 teams have won the national championship once. All tournament games are broadcast by CBS , TBS , TNT , and truTV under
8650-817: The first and second Negro National Leagues (1920–1931 and 1933–1948), the Eastern Colored League (1923–1928), the American Negro League (1929), the East–West League (1932), the Negro Southern League (1932), and the Negro American League (1937–1948). In 2021, baseball reference website Baseball-Reference.com began to include statistics from those seven leagues into their major-league statistics. In May 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it
8823-506: The "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years, the NL and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series—the first attempt at a World Series . The two leagues merged in 1892 as a single 12-team NL, but the NL dropped four teams after the 1899 season. This led to the formation of the American League in 1901 under AL president Ban Johnson , and
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#17327911622238996-540: The 1870s. In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (later known as the National League or NL) was established after the NA proved ineffective. The league placed its emphasis on clubs rather than on players. Clubs could now enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs were required to play the full schedule of games instead of forfeiting scheduled games when
9169-544: The 1950s and 1960s. The AL and NL added eight clubs in the 1960s: two in 1961, two in 1962, and four in 1969. Player discontent with established labor practices, especially the reserve clause, led to the organization of the Major League Baseball Players Association to collectively bargain with the owners, which in turn led to the introduction of free agency in baseball. Modern stadiums with artificial turf surfaces began to change
9342-557: The 1960s and 1970s, as baseball expanded, NFL football had been surging in popularity, making it economical for many of these cities to build multi-purpose stadiums instead of single-purpose baseball fields. Because of climate and economic issues, many of these facilities had playing surfaces made from artificial turf , as well as the oval designs characteristic of stadiums designed to house both baseball and football. This often resulted in baseball fields with relatively more foul territory than older stadiums. These characteristics changed
9515-463: The 1990s. During the 1980s, baseball experienced a number of significant changes the game had not seen in years. Home runs were on the decline throughout the decade, with players hitting 40 home runs just 13 times and no one hitting more than 50 home runs in a season for the first time since the Dead-ball era (1900–1919). The 1981 Major League Baseball strike from June 12 until July 31 forced
9688-426: The 1994 season. His development and impact in the league led Brewers manager Phil Garner to say, "I remember how raw he was, and I've never seen anybody develop into that type of player that fast." Garner, who saw Lofton play in the minors, added, "He went from a guy who could hardly get the ball past the infield to a guy who could hit the ball consistently. He always had good speed, but got lousy jumps and didn't run
9861-406: The 2009 season. From 2002 to 2007, Lofton played for eight teams and made it to the postseason with four of them. Joe Torre said, after Lofton had been to the playoffs in 11 of the past 13 seasons and played for 11 clubs in his career, "He bounced around a lot of clubs for a reason: They felt he could help them. He did a hell of a job." As Rollie Fingers wrote, "On one hand, Lofton could be seen as
10034-519: The 2021 women's tournament about the differing facility quality and branding, both the men's and women's tournaments were branded as "NCAA March Madness" starting in 2022 with variations of the same tournament-wide logo used by the men's tournament. Additionally, the Final Four for the men's tournament was branded as the "Men's Final Four" beginning in 2022, reflecting the "Women's Final Four" branding in use for that tournament since 1987 . The tournament consists of 68 teams competing in seven rounds of
10207-457: The 8-district system before 1950. Teams often competed in both tournaments during the first decade, with City College of New York winning both the NIT and NCAA tournament in 1950. Soon after, the NCAA banned teams from participating in both tournaments. Two major changes over the course of the early 1970s led to the NCAA becoming the preeminent post-season tournament for college basketball. First,
10380-436: The AL Central with a 91–71 regular-season record. Before winning the division, however, Lofton scored the game-winning run during an August 5 game against the Seattle Mariners; the Indians were down by 12 runs, and became just the third team in MLB history to overcome such a deficit, winning 15–14 in 11 innings. Indians catcher Eddie Taubensee, who was involved in the trade which sent Lofton from Houston to Cleveland at
10553-404: The ALCS and in so doing, Lofton and the Indians had brought the AL pennant to Cleveland for the first time since the 1954 season . "I'm glad for the city of Cleveland to be able to experience this, because they haven't experienced this for a long time. The city of Cleveland has grown a lot, and it's improving, and we tried to do this for the city", Lofton said. The Indians lost the World Series to
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#173279116222310726-435: The American League batting title with an average of just .301, the lowest in the history of Major League Baseball. Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain won 31 games, making him the only pitcher to win 30 games in a season since Dizzy Dean in 1934. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Bob Gibson achieved an equally remarkable feat by allowing an ERA of just 1.12. Following these pitching performances, in December 1968
10899-464: The American League in hits , and in 1995 he led the majors in triples . Lofton holds the all-time postseason stolen base record with 34, having broken Rickey Henderson 's record in 2007. Of his base running, Frank White said, "Lofton has out-thought a lot of major-league players" and later, "a smart, complete baseball player." Lofton was raised by his widowed grandmother, Rosie Person, in East Chicago, Indiana . His mother, Annie, had Lofton while she
11072-420: The American and National Leagues both added two expansion franchises . The American League added the Seattle Pilots (who became the Milwaukee Brewers after one disastrous season in Seattle) and the Kansas City Royals . The NL added the first Canadian franchise, the Montreal Expos , as well as the San Diego Padres . In 1972, the second Washington Senators moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to become
11245-403: The Astros' farm system. He hit .214 in 48 games as an outfielder for the Auburn Astros of the New York–Penn League , but recorded 26 stolen bases in 30 attempts. Lofton returned to Auburn in 1989 and hit .263 with 26 steals in 34 games. He then hit .329 with 14 steals in 22 games for the Asheville Tourists in the South Atlantic League . As his college basketball career came to an end, Lofton
11418-419: The Atlanta Braves three games to two in the 2003 NLDS . Lofton hit .286 in the series and led the Cubs with three stolen bases and 21 at-bats. The Cubs, who were up in the series three games to one, held a three-run lead in the eighth inning of game six of the 2003 NLCS . The Florida Marlins scored eight unanswered runs, all in the eighth inning, to win game six and won game seven the following night to eliminate
11591-399: The Braves in six games despite finishing the regular season with a major league-best 100–44 record in the strike-shortened year. Lofton finished with a .200 batting average and six stolen bases in his first World Series appearance. In 2010, a few years into his retirement, Lofton stated he felt it was the toughest postseason loss of his 11 career playoff appearances, namely because he felt
11764-460: The Braves were 13–3 and Lofton's hitting (.453 batting average) had won favor with his new Braves teammates. "If he keeps hitting .400 he'll fit in just fine", said Chipper Jones . For the season, Lofton's .333 batting average and 27 stolen bases were team highs (his stolen-base total was to that point a career low). He was caught stealing 20 times, an MLB high. Atlanta won the NL East division with an MLB-best 101–61 record. The Braves swept
11937-409: The Brooklyn Dodgers, began making efforts to introduce a black baseball player to the previously all-white professional baseball leagues in the mid-1940s. He selected Jackie Robinson from a list of promising Negro league players. After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to any racial antagonism directed at him, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $ 600 a month. In what
12110-495: The Cubs. Lofton's .323 against the Marlins led the Cubs' starting line-up, as did his 31 at-bats, and he had the team's only stolen base of the seven-game series. Lofton was again on the move when on December 23, 2003, the New York Yankees signed him to a two-year, $ 6.2 million contract. During a Yankees' road game at Cleveland, Lofton recorded his 2,000th career hit. After Lofton's single, Indians fans began an ovation in honor of Lofton. "I didn't know what to expect. I figured I'd get
12283-711: The Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning the Negro league teams that they had followed exclusively. Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspaper writers and white major league players. Manager Leo Durocher informed his team, "I don't care if he is yellow or black or has stripes like a fucking zebra. I'm his manager and I say he plays." After a strike threat by some players, NL President Ford C. Frick and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler let it be known that any striking players would be suspended. Robinson received significant encouragement from several major-league players, including Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese who said, "You can hate
12456-576: The Final Four has exclusively been played in large indoor football stadiums. Beginning in 2001 , the field was expanded from 64 to 65 teams, adding to the tournament what was informally known as the "play-in game" . This was in response to the creation of the Mountain West Conference during 1999. Originally, the winner of the Mountain West's tournament did not receive an automatic bid, as doing so would have eliminated one of
12629-399: The First Four games pit 16 seeds against each other. The two other games, however, pit the last at-large bids against each other. The seeding for the at-large teams will be determined by the selection committee and fluctuates based on the true seed ranking of the teams. Explaining the reasoning for this format, selection committee chairman Dan Guerrero said, "We felt if we were going to expand
12802-429: The First Four has varied each year, depending on the overall ranking of the at-large teams in the field. In the men's tournament, all sites are nominally neutral; teams are prohibited from playing tournament games on their home courts during the first, second, and regional rounds. Under NCAA rules, any court on which a team hosts more than three regular-season games (not including preseason or conference tournament games)
12975-606: The First Round and the Second Round and the First Four became the official name of the opening round. In 2016 , the NCAA introduced a new "NCAA March Madness" logo for tournament-wide branding, including fully-branded courts at each of the tournament venues. Previously, the NCAA had used the existing court or a generic NCAA court. Beginning in 2017 , the #1 overall seed picks the sites for their first and second round games and their potential regional games. Additionally,
13148-666: The Florida Instructional League, but Lofton declined, citing a promise he had made to his grandmother to obtain his degree. Lofton earned a degree in studio production at the University of Arizona while playing minor-league baseball for the Houston Astros. He credits his post-MLB success, as owner of FilmPool, Inc., to that education. Lofton is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Lofton struggled early in his professional baseball career in
13321-683: The Great Depression, no MLB teams moved or folded. The onset of World War II created a shortage of professional baseball players, as more than 500 men left MLB teams to serve in the military. Many of them played on service baseball teams that entertained military personnel in the US or in the Pacific. MLB teams of this time largely consisted of young men, older players, and those with a military classification of 4F , indicating mental, physical, or moral unsuitability for service. Men like Pete Gray ,
13494-586: The Houston Astros in the 1997 National League Division Series (NLDS), three games to none. In the 1997 National League Championship Series (NLCS), the Braves lost to the Florida Marlins , four games to two (the Marlins later defeated the Cleveland Indians in the World Series ). For the NLCS, Lofton batted .185 and was one of three Braves' hitters who recorded seven strikeouts in the series. For Lofton, who
13667-526: The Indians for the third time in his career. The Jacobs Field crowd greeted Lofton with a standing ovation during his first at-bat for this tour of duty with the Indians. Lofton noted, "I missed being in Cleveland... I enjoy Cleveland. It's the city that got me going." In game one of the 2007 ALDS against the Yankees, he went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and one stolen base, which tied him with Rickey Henderson for MLB's all-time postseason stolen bases record (33). In game two, he went 2-for-3 with two walks and scored
13840-470: The Indians were in second place by one game in the AL Central to the Chicago White Sox . Indians general manager John Hart said of Lofton, "What a representative for our team and our city. He has the opportunity to be a George Brett-type player here, someone who is synonymous with a franchise." Lofton joined fellow Indians Carlos Baerga , Albert Belle , and Jim Thome to form "the backbone of some Indians teams that were as dominant as any." In 1995, Lofton
14013-578: The Indians were the only team he played with for longer than one season and the only franchise he played for more than once. Lofton played 9 + 1 ⁄ 2 seasons with the Indians, helping the organization win six division titles. In 2010, he was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. During his professional baseball career, Lofton's single-season stolen base count led the American League (AL) on five occasions and all of Major League Baseball (MLB) three times. In 1994, he led
14186-475: The Indians. He led the AL in stolen bases for five straight seasons (1992–1996) and set the single-season Indians' franchise stolen base record (75). The Atlanta Braves' Marquis Grissom and slugger David Justice were part of a Braves roster that, heading into the 1997 season, was MLB's highest-paid. Grissom ($ 4.8 million annual salary) and Justice ($ 6 million) were traded to the Indians in return for Lofton ($ 4.75 million) and Alan Embree ($ 206,000). "This
14359-496: The MLB Playing Rules Committee voted to reduce the strike zone from knees to shoulders to top of knees to armpits and lower the pitcher's mound from 15 to 10 inches, beginning in the 1969 season. In 1973, the American League, which had been suffering from much lower attendance than the National League, sought to increase scoring even further by initiating the designated hitter (DH) rule. Throughout
14532-405: The NCAA added a rule in 1971 that banned teams who declined an invitation to the NCAA tournament from participating in other post-season tournaments. This was in response to eighth-ranked Marquette declining its invitation in 1970 and instead participating in and winning the NIT after coach Al McGuire complained about their regional placement. Since then, the NCAA tournament has clearly been
14705-474: The NCAA compete with the National Invitation Tournament for prestige. In the eight team format, the tournament was split into the East and West Regions, with champions meeting in the national championship game. The first two rounds for each region were conducted at the same site and the national championship and, from 1946 , consolation game occurred a week later. Some years, the site of the national championship
14878-698: The National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the commissioner of baseball . MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan . Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was founded in 1869. The first few decades of professional baseball saw rivalries between leagues, and players often jumped from one team or league to another. These practices were essentially ended by
15051-413: The National Agreement of 1903, in which AL and NL agreed to respect each other's player contracts, including the contentious reserve clause . The period before 1920 was the dead-ball era , when home runs were rarely hit. Professional baseball was rocked by the Black Sox Scandal , a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series . Baseball survived the scandal, albeit with major changes in its governance as
15224-469: The No. 5 true seed will not be paired with the No. 1 true seed. The committee ensures competitive balance among the top four seeds in each region by adding the true seed values up and comparing the values among the regions. If there is significant deviation, some teams will be moved among the regions to balance the true seed distribution. If a conference has two to four teams in the top four seeds, they will be placed in different regions. Otherwise, teams from
15397-473: The Olympics awards gold, silver, and bronze medals for first, second, and third place, respectively, the NCAA awards the national champions a gold-plated wooden NCAA national championship trophy. The loser of the championship game receives a silver-plated national runner-up trophy for second place. Since 2006, all four Final Four teams receive a bronze plated NCAA regional championship trophy; prior to 2006, only
15570-872: The Phoenix regional in 2004, the Chicago regional in 2005, and the Minneapolis regional in 2006, but reverted to the traditional geographic designations beginning in 2007 . For the 2011 tournament, the South Region was the Southeast Region and the Midwest Region the Southwest Region; both returned to their previous names in 2012. The 1996 Final Four was the last to take place in a venue built specifically for basketball. Since then,
15743-770: The Special Baseball Records Committee of Major League Baseball officially recognized six major leagues: the National League, American League, American Association, Union Association (1884), Players' League (1890), and Federal League (1914–1915). The status of the National Association as a major league has been a point of dispute among baseball researchers; while its statistics are not recognized by Major League Baseball, its statistics are included with those of other major leagues by some baseball reference websites, such as Retrosheet . Some researchers, including Nate Silver , dispute
15916-412: The US. The 68-team format was adopted in 2011 ; it had remained largely unchanged since 1985 when it expanded to 64 teams. Before then, the tournament sized varied from as little as 8 to as many as 53. The field was restricted to conference champions until at-large bids were extended in 1975 and teams were not fully seeded until 1979 . In 2020 , the tournament was cancelled for the first time due to
16089-657: The White Sox and hit .259 with 42 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. On July 28, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants of the NL for minor leaguers Ryan Meaux and Félix Díaz . In the Giants' match-up with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2002 NLCS , Lofton delivered a key hit to help the Giants win their first pennant since 1989. In the ninth inning, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa summoned left-handed reliever Steve Kline to face Lofton, who had already notched two singles in
16262-553: The World Series in exchange for a ring worth $ 100,000 ($ 1,712,780.35 in 2022 dollars). Despite being acquitted, all were permanently banned from Major League Baseball. Baseball's popularity increased in the 1920s and 1930s. The 1920 season was notable for the death of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians . Chapman, who was struck in the head by a pitch and died a few hours later, became the only MLB player to die of an on-field injury. Both leagues quickly began to require
16435-452: The Yankees had built a 2–0 series lead when Lofton stated, "My ultimate goal is for me to try to win a championship. I'm at a point in my career – I've been here for 13 years, and gotten close. This is an opportunity for me to have a chance at it again." Then the Yankees went up in the series three games to none before becoming the first team in MLB history to lose a series after holding
16608-418: The all-time record for an AL rookie and was the most by an MLB rookie since Vince Coleman stole 110 in 1985. His season's stolen-base count, which led the AL, also broke a franchise record (previously set by Miguel Diloné in 1980). Indians first base coach Dave Nelson helped Lofton refine his baserunning technique and helped him learn how to be successful with bunting . Over his career, Lofton became one of
16781-530: The at-large bids. As an alternative to eliminating an at-large bid, the NCAA expanded the tournament to 65 teams . The #64 and #65 seeds were seeded in a regional bracket as 16 seeds, and then played the opening round game on the Tuesday preceding the first weekend of the tournament. This game was always played at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Starting in 2004 , the selection committee revealed
16954-605: The bases well. He has turned into a dominant player." The regular season was stopped abruptly with the MLB strike , which also led to the cancellation of the World Series. For the season, Lofton again led the AL with 60 stolen bases. His 160 hits on the season were highest in the AL and his .349 batting average was a career-best. He finished fourth in Most Valuable Player Award voting. When the strike began in August,
17127-499: The beginning of his MLB career, caught Lofton after he slid into home plate and jumped with excitement after discovering he had just scored the game-winning run. "I caught him and wasn't going to let him go", Taubensee said. Cleveland won that game against Seattle, but lost their match-up with the 116-win Mariners in the 2001 ALDS . He hit 66 RBIs on the regular season (second-most in his career), but failed to record 20 stolen bases for
17300-532: The best bunters in baseball history. Lofton finished second (to the Milwaukee Brewers ' Pat Listach ) in AL Rookie of the Year balloting. After one season with Cleveland, Lofton agreed to a four-year, $ 6.3 million contract. The following season, Lofton broke his own Cleveland single-season stolen bases record, recording 70 (which led MLB). Lofton was selected to his first career All-Star Game during
17473-486: The bracket, the Committee ranks the whole field from 1 to 68; these are referred to as the true seed . The committee then divides the teams amongst the four regions, giving each a seed between No. 1 and No. 16. The same four seeds in all the regions are referred to as the seed line (i.e. the No. 6 seed line). Eight teams are doubled up and compete in the First Four . Two of the paired teams compete for No. 16 seeds, and
17646-596: The cancellation of 713 total games and resulted in a split-season format. In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb 's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, and in 1989 Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball as a result of betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds . Rose was the first person to receive a lifetime ban from baseball since 1943. 1985 also saw the Pittsburgh drug trials which involved players who were called to testify before
17819-600: The center field fence, and the Huntington Avenue Grounds of the Boston Red Sox , which was 635 feet (194 m) to the center field fence, thus home runs were rare, and "small ball" tactics such as singles , bunts , stolen bases , and the hit-and-run play dominated the strategies of the time. Hitting methods like the Baltimore chop were used to increase the number of infield singles. On
17992-436: The championship was moved to Monday evening in 1973 , where they have remained since. Before the championship had been played on Saturday and the semifinals two days before. The third-place games were eliminated during this era, with the last regional third-place games played in 1975 and the last national third-place game played in 1981 . In 1985 , the tournament expanded to 64 teams, eliminating all byes and play-ins. For
18165-560: The club was no longer in the running for the league championship, which happened frequently under the NA. A concerted effort was made to curb gambling on games, which was leaving the validity of results in doubt. The first game in the NL—on Saturday, April 22, 1876 (at Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia )—is often pointed to as the beginning of MLB. The early years of the NL were tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and
18338-573: The condition of the baseball itself. The baseball used American rather than the modern Australian wool yarn and was not wound as tightly, affecting the distance that it would travel. More significantly, balls were kept in play until they were mangled, soft and sometimes lopsided. During this era, a baseball cost three dollars, equal to $ 52.72 today (in inflation-adjusted USD ), and owners were reluctant to purchase new balls. Fans were expected to throw back fouls and (rare) home runs. Baseballs also became stained with tobacco juice, grass, and mud, and sometimes
18511-477: The deal also had the Yankees sending $ 1.525 million to Philadelphia and the Phillies giving up reliever Felix Rodríguez . After the trade, Lofton stated, "It's been very tough. I'm the kind of guy who likes to be settled down. It's been very tough the last three or four years. Everyone in New York understood I wanted to play. I just wanted an opportunity to perform and be a part of the team. I didn't feel as much of
18684-472: The field it would create better drama for the tournament if the First Four was much more exciting. They could all be on the 10 line or the 12 line or the 11 line." As part of this expansion, the round of 64 was renamed the Second Round and the round of 32 was renamed the Third Round, with the First Four being officially the First Round. In 2016 , the rounds of 64 and 32 returned to their previous names of
18857-485: The first edition not to be held, and decided against releasing the brackets that the Selection Committee had been working on. In 2021 , the tournament was held entirely in the state of Indiana to reduce travel. This was to date the only time the tournament was conducted in one state. As a COVID-19 precaution, all participating teams were required to stay in NCAA-provided accommodations until they lost. The schedule
19030-535: The first major league franchise on the West Coast. O'Malley also helped persuade the rival New York Giants to move west to become the San Francisco Giants. Giants owner Horace Stoneham had been contemplating a move to Minnesota amid slumping attendance at the aging Polo Grounds ballpark when O'Malley invited him to meet San Francisco Mayor George Christopher in New York. After Stoneham
19203-456: The first time in his major-league career and batted a career-low .261. Lofton had been treated for a rib cage problem that had affected his play before the All-Star break. His second stint with Cleveland lasted through 2001, in which his salary was for $ 8 million in his final contract year with the club. He became a free agent at the conclusion of the season. A free agent in 2002, Lofton signed
19376-602: The first time, all teams had to win six games to win the tournament. This expansion led to increased media coverage and popularity in American culture. Until 2001 , the First and Second Rounds occurred at two sites in each region. In 1985, the Mideast Region was renamed the Southeast Region. In 1997 , the Southeast Region became the South Region. From 2004 to 2006 , the regions were named after their host cities, e.g.
19549-549: The first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round postseason tournament in October, culminating in the World Series , a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. The New York Yankees have the most championships with 27. The reigning champions are the Los Angeles Dodgers , who defeated the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series . MLB
19722-513: The founding of the Cincinnati club. The NABBP split into an amateur organization and a professional organization. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , often known as the National Association (NA), was formed in 1871. Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years. The modern Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in
19895-537: The game 4–0. It was described by The New York Times as "the run that demoralized the Mariners." Fifteen years after Lofton's crossing of home plate, the Plain Dealer recalled: "Of all the electrifying moments on the Kenny Lofton highlight reel, none captures the essence of the player any better than his 180-foot dash to glory on October 17, 1995." As a result of winning the game, the Indians had won
20068-517: The game in the 1970s and 1980s. Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s. In the mid-2000s, media reports disclosed the use of anabolic steroids among MLB players; a 2006–07 investigation produced the Mitchell Report , which found that many players had used steroids and other performance-enhancing substances , including at least one player from each team. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during
20241-431: The game with a 13th-inning walk-off home run . He finished the 2000 season batting .278, recording 30 stolen bases and 107 runs (the sixth time crossing home plate 100 times or more in nine seasons) as well as a career-high 15 home runs and 73 runs batted in. The Indians finished the regular season 90–72 and one game out of the wild card. After missing the postseason in 2000, the Indians returned in 2001 after winning
20414-453: The game. Giants manager Dusty Baker considered bringing a right-handed hitter to pinch-hit for Lofton, but decided against doing so on the advice of his 3-year-old son. Lofton hit a first-pitch single to the outfield, scoring David Bell from second base and creating a 2–1 Giants victory. After the game, Baker remarked, "I just knew Kenny was focused and I know you can't keep Kenny down for too long. That's why we got Kenny over here. He's
20587-460: The highest level of organized baseball in the United States and Canada . One of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada , MLB comprises 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with
20760-400: The highest ranked teams normally get the closest sites. The possible pods by seeding are: * Vacated title not included A total of 333 teams have appeared in the NCAA tournament since 1939. Because the NCAA did not split into divisions until 1957 , some schools that have appeared in the tournament are no longer in Division I . Among Division I schools, 46 have never made
20933-429: The hole " between the corner and middle infielders. Starting pitchers were no longer expected to throw complete games ; it was enough for a starter to pitch 6–7 innings and turn the game over to the team's closer , a position which grew in importance over these decades. As stolen bases increased, home run totals dropped. After Willie Mays hit 52 home runs in 1965, only one player ( George Foster ) reached that mark until
21106-529: The juice of licorice, which some players would chew for the purpose of discoloring the ball. Also, pitchers could manipulate the ball through the use of the spitball (In 1921, use of this pitch was restricted to a few pitchers with a grandfather clause ). Additionally, many ballparks had large dimensions, such as the West Side Grounds of the Chicago Cubs, which was 560 feet (170 m) to
21279-542: The league. He hit .308 with 30 steals and 52 walks for Tucson with 19 doubles and a team-high 17 triples . The Toros won the PCL championship and Lofton made the league's All-Star team. On September 14, 1991, the Astros promoted Lofton to the majors. In his major league debut with the Houston Astros on September 14, 1991, he went 3-for-4 with a double and scored three runs against the Cincinnati Reds . He hit .203 in 20 games for
21452-620: The major league clubs, and the MLB Draft League , a hybrid amateur-professional showcase league. MLB and the World Baseball Softball Confederation jointly manage the international World Baseball Classic tournament. In the 1860s, aided by soldiers playing the game in camp during the Civil War , "New York"-style baseball expanded into a national game and spawned baseball's first governing body,
21625-603: The major leagues. Satchel Paige was signed by the Indians and the Dodgers added star catcher Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe , who was later the first winner of the Cy Young Award for his outstanding pitching. MLB banned the signing of women to contracts in 1952, but that ban was lifted in 1992. There have been no female MLB players since then. From 1903 to 1952, the major leagues consisted of two eight-team leagues whose 16 teams were located in ten cities, all in
21798-465: The major one, with conference champions and the majority of the top-ranked teams participating. Second, the NCAA allowed multiple teams per conference starting in 1975 . This was in response to several highly ranked teams being denied bids during the early 1970s. These included South Carolina in 1970, which was undefeated in conference play but lost in the ACC tournament; second-ranked USC in 1971 , which
21971-524: The major-league status of the Union Association by pointing out that franchises came and went and that the St. Louis club was deliberately "stacked"; the St. Louis club was owned by the league's president and it was the only club that was close to major-league caliber. In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced its recognition of seven leagues within Negro league baseball as major leagues:
22144-614: The majors, he built a new home in East Chicago for his grandmother and other family members. Lofton attended Washington High School in East Chicago and played on the school's baseball team as a pitcher and center fielder. He was an all-state basketball player. Lofton is the uncle of the actor Cirroc Lofton , who played Jake Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Lofton accepted a scholarship from
22317-497: The national semifinals and championship game during the third weekend. Regional rounds are branded as the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight and the third weekend is branded as the Final Four, all named after the number of teams remaining at the beginning of the round. All games, including the First Four, are scheduled so that teams will have one rest day between each game. This format has been in use since 2011, with minor changes to
22490-615: The national semifinals were rotated on a yearly basis instead of the two eastern and two western regions always playing. Seeding also began during this era, adding drama and ensuring better teams had better paths to the Final Four. In 1978 , teams were seeded in two separate pools based on their qualification method. Each region had four teams which automatically qualified ranked Q1–Q4 and four teams which received an at-large bid ranked L1–L4. In 1979 , all teams in each region were seeded 1 through 10, without regards for their qualification method. The national semifinals were moved to Saturday and
22663-471: The nature of professional baseball, putting a higher premium on speed and defense over home-run hitting power since the fields were often too big for teams to expect to hit many home runs and foul balls hit in the air could more easily be caught for outs. Teams began to be built around pitching—particularly their bullpens—and speed on the basepaths. Artificial surfaces meant balls traveled quicker and bounced higher, so it became easier to hit ground balls " in
22836-527: The northeastern and mid-western United States: New York City had three teams and Boston , Chicago, Philadelphia , and St. Louis each had two teams. St. Louis was the southernmost and westernmost city with a major league team. The longest possible road trip, from Boston to St. Louis, took about 24 hours by railroad. After a half-century of stability, starting in the 1950s, teams began to move out of cities with multiple teams into cities that had not had them before. From 1953 to 1955, three teams moved to new cities:
23009-422: The number of rounds remained the same. The double region naming was kept until 1956 , when the regions were named the East, Midwest, West, and Far West. In 1957 , the regions were named East, Mideast, Midwest, and West, which remained until 1985. Regions were paired in the national semifinals based on their geographic locations, with the two eastern regions meeting in one semifinal and two western regions meeting in
23182-480: The other semifinal. Beginning in 1946 , a national third-place game was held before the championship game. Regional third-place games were played in the West from 1939 and the East from 1941 . Despite expansion in 1951 , there were still only two regions, each with a third-place game. The 1952 tournament had four regions each with a third-place game. This era of the tournament was characterized by competition with
23355-472: The other two paired teams are the last at-large teams awarded bids to the tournament and compete for a seed line in the No. 10 to No. 14 range, which varies year to year based on the true seeds of the teams overall. The top four overall seeds are placed as No. 1 seeds in each region. The regions are paired so that if all the No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four true seed No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3. The No. 2 teams are preferably placed so that
23528-448: The outcomes of the most games. In 2023, Sports Illustrated reported that an estimated 60 to 100 million brackets are filled out each year. The first tournament was held in 1939 and was won by Oregon . It was the idea of Ohio State coach Harold Olsen . The National Association of Basketball Coaches operated the first tournament for the NCAA. From 1939 to 1950, the NCAA tournament consisted of eight teams, with each selected from
23701-441: The overall rankings among the #1 seeds. Based on these rankings, the regions were paired so that the #1 overall seed would play the #4 overall seed in a national semifinal if both teams made the Final Four. This was to prevent the top two teams from meeting before the finals, as was largely considered the case in 1996 when Kentucky played Massachusetts in the Final Four. Previously, regional pairings rotated yearly. In 2010 , there
23874-519: The point that the 1942 season was nearly canceled. On January 14, 1942, MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis wrote to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt , pleading for the continuation of baseball during the war. Roosevelt responded, "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have
24047-454: The program name NCAA March Madness . With a contract through 2032, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery pay $ 891 million annually for the broadcast rights. The NCAA distributes revenue to participating teams based on how far they advance, which provides significant funding for college athletics. The tournament has become part of American popular culture through bracket contests that award money and other prizes for correctly predicting
24220-401: The regular season. Lofton tied for third-most number of hits and strikeouts and his 27 at-bats led the Indians. Lofton finished the 1999 season with a .301 batting average, but stole only 25 bases. The AL Central-winning Indians (97–65) lost in the 1999 ALDS to the Boston Red Sox, three games to two. The Indians had led in the series two games to none before losing three games in a row and
24393-526: The relatively weak National Commission was replaced with a powerful commissioner of baseball with near-unlimited authority over the sport. MLB rose in popularity in the decade following the Black Sox Scandal, and unlike major leagues in other sports it endured the Great Depression and World War II without any of its teams folding. Shortly after the war, Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier . Some teams moved to different cities in
24566-498: The remainder of the Astros' regular season. With Steve Finley already entrenched as Houston's centerfielder, Lofton was traded during the off-season to the Cleveland Indians with Dave Rohde for catcher Eddie Taubensee and right-handed pitcher Willie Blair . "I know they gave up on me and now I'm glad they did. One man's trash is another man's treasure", Lofton said of the Astros trading him. During his first season with Cleveland, in 1992, Lofton hit .285. His 66 stolen bases broke
24739-478: The resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal disputes. The war between the AL and NL caused shock waves throughout the baseball world. At a meeting at the Leland Hotel in Chicago in 1901, the other baseball leagues negotiated a plan to maintain their independence. A new National Association was formed to oversee these minor leagues. After 1902, the NL, AL, and NA signed
24912-415: The same conference are placed to avoid a rematch before the regional finals if they have played three or more times in the season, the regional semifinals if they have played twice, or the second round if they have played once. Additionally, the committee is advised to avoid rematches from the regular season and the previous years' tournament in the First Four. Finally, the committee will attempt to ensure that
25085-440: The schedule in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The Selection Committee, which includes conference commissioners and university athletic directors appointed by the NCAA, determines the bracket during the week before the tournament. Since the results of several conference tournaments occurring during the same week can significantly impact the bracket, the Committee often makes several brackets for different results. To make
25258-557: The second time in his career, Lofton had lost a World Series. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Lofton to a one-year, $ 1.025 million contract to begin the 2003 season. With the Pirates, he hit .277 and stole 18 bases in 84 games before being traded to the Chicago Cubs, where he was reunited with manager Dusty Baker. When Lofton joined the Cubs in July, he was joining a team that just one season before had lost 95 games. "With Kenny Lofton, we got
25431-404: The selection committee began releasing the top 16 seeds three weeks before Selection Sunday as a bracket preview. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the NCAA cancelled the 2020 tournament. Initially, the NCAA discussed holding a shortened version with only 16 teams in the Final Four host city of Atlanta. Once the vast scale of the pandemic was understood, the NCAA cancelled the tournament, making it
25604-484: The series. Lofton and Roberto Alomar each had two stolen bases in the series, but Lofton recorded just two hits in 16 at-bats. In Game 5, Lofton dislocated his left shoulder and tore his rotator cuff while diving into first base. On September 3, 2000, in a 12–11 win over the Baltimore Orioles , Lofton tied an MLB record previously held by Red Rolfe when he scored in 18 consecutive games. He tied an Indians' franchise single-game record with five stolen bases and won
25777-561: The tournament due to COVID-19 protocols during the 48 hours after the brackets were announced. Only one game was declared a no contest due to COVID-19, with Oregon advancing to the second round because VCU could not participate due to COVID-19 protocols. VCU was not replaced by one of the first four teams out because the COVID-19 infections started more than two days after the brackets were announced. The tournament returned to its regular format in 2022 . In response to protests from players in
25950-417: The tournament expanded to 40 teams and added a sixth round; 24 teams received byes to the second round. Eight more teams were added in 1980 with only 16 teams receiving byes, and the restriction on the number of at-large bids from a conference was removed. In 1983 , a seventh round with four play-in games was added; an additional play-in game was added in 1984 . Beginning in 1973 , the regional pairings for
26123-419: The tournament, including 11 that are ineligible because they are transitioning to Division I. Key For each season starting in 1979, the 4 teams seeded No. 1 are shown with double underline , and 12 teams seeded between No. 2 and No. 4 are shown with dotted underline . Bold indicates an active current streak as of the 2024 tournament. *Kansas's 2018 appearance was vacated. As a tournament ritual,
26296-438: The umpires had favorable strike zones for Braves pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux . The following season in 1996, the Indians again had the best record in baseball (99–62) and Lofton's stolen base total (75) led MLB for the second time in four years. He hit .317 and had a career-high 67 RBIs. The Indians lost in the 1996 ALDS to the Baltimore Orioles in four games. Near the end of spring training in 1997, Lofton
26469-454: The use of new, white baseballs whenever a ball became scuffed or dirty, helping bring the "dead-ball" era to an end. The following year, the New York Yankees made their first World Series appearance. By the end of the 1930s, the team had appeared in 11 World Series, winning eight of them. Yankees slugger Babe Ruth had set the single-season home run record in 1927, hitting 60 home runs; breaking his own record of 29 home runs. Afflicted by
26642-459: The winning run in the 11th inning. Then, in Game Three of the 2007 ALCS , the 40-year-old Lofton hit a two-run home run against the Boston Red Sox ' Daisuke Matsuzaka , becoming the seventh-oldest player to hit a postseason home run. Lofton earned his 34th career postseason stolen base in game four of the 2007 ALCS, setting a new MLB record for playoff steals. The Indians, who at one point had
26815-533: The winning team cuts down the nets at the end of regional championship games as well as the national championship game. Starting with the seniors, and moving down by classes, players each cut a single strand off each net; the head coach cuts the last strand connecting the net to the hoop, claiming the net itself. An exception to the head coach cutting the last strand came in 2013 , when Louisville head coach Rick Pitino gave that honor to Kevin Ware , who had suffered
26988-399: Was "absorbing the available Negro Leagues numbers into the official historical record." The period between 1900 and 1919 is commonly referred to as the "dead-ball era". Games of this era tended to be low-scoring and were often dominated by pitchers, such as Walter Johnson , Cy Young , Christy Mathewson , Mordecai Brown , and Grover Cleveland Alexander . The term also accurately describes
27161-915: Was a result of players using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs . In 1993, the National League added the Florida Marlins in Miami and the Colorado Rockies in Denver . In 1998, the Brewers switched leagues by joining the National League, and two new teams were added: the National League's Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix and the American League's Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tampa Bay . NCAA Men%27s Division I Basketball Championship#Regional semifinals and finals The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament , branded as March Madness ,
27334-713: Was able to concentrate on baseball and he improved rapidly, finishing second in the league in hitting at .331 while adding 62 steals for the Osceola Astros in the Florida State League . He also drew 61 walks and improved defensively (.974 fielding percentage) and played in 123 games with Osceola. After spring training in 1991, he went directly to the Triple-A Tucson Toros of the Pacific Coast League . His 168 hits led
27507-405: Was adjusted to provided extended time for COVID-19 evaluation before the tournament began, with the First Four occurring entirely on Thursday, the First and Second Rounds pushed one day back to a Friday-Monday window, and the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight pushed to a Friday-Monday window as well. Teams ranked 69–72 by the Selection Committee were put on "standby" to replace any team that withdrew from
27680-411: Was also a three-time MLB Player of the Week . Lofton played in 95 postseason games. In the playoffs for his career, he hit .247 with seven home runs and 34 RBI. Baseball historian Bill James named Lofton the "fastest player" and "best bunter" of the 1990s. On January 27, 2010, Lofton was announced as being selected as a member of the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. He was inducted on August 7. Lofton
27853-451: Was eligible for free agency at the end of the season, it was his only season with the Braves. Lofton, who was considered the "most sought-after free agent" following the 1997 season, returned to the AL and Cleveland Indians when he signed a three-year, $ 24 million contract. Happy to return to Cleveland, Lofton said, "It's like I was a ghost for a year. But now I'm back." In 1998, Lofton's batting average dropped to .282, but his 87 walks were
28026-446: Was eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013 and some have written his career numbers "will likely put him in the conversation of being Hall of Fame worthy". He did not receive the necessary number of votes to remain on the ballot for 2014 and beyond. In 2015, Pedro Martínez , one of the most dominant pitchers of Lofton's era, named Lofton as among the most difficult hitters to pitch against in his career. Lofton falling off
28199-428: Was fired by Lofton for complaining that Lofton had sent sexually explicit photos of himself to women in the company. The former employee alleged that he was fired in retaliation for complaining about the photos to the company's in-house attorney, and the former employee also claimed that he was not paid for his work. Major League Baseball Major League Baseball ( MLB ) is a professional baseball league and
28372-583: Was healthy, like he was during the second half of the 2001 season, Chicago had obtained one of the best leadoff hitters in the game. When the White Sox were paired against the Indians in April during a three-game series at Chicago, the Indians were on a 10-game winning streak and at 11–1, had the best record in the majors. The White Sox ended the streak and for the series, Lofton was 6-for-14 with six runs scored. "You can't say enough about him, his effort, his intensity. He's been simply amazing", said White Sox manager Jerry Manuel . Lofton appeared in 93 games with
28545-466: Was in high school; he weighed just 3 lb (1.4 kg) at birth. His mother moved to Alabama after she graduated and lost contact with Lofton during his childhood. Of his father, Lofton said, "We, as a family, don't even talk about it." Person had glaucoma, and because of her failing eyesight was unemployed. She refused to go on welfare, but did collect Social Security as a result of her husband's death in 1960 (of bronchial pneumonia ). When Lofton made
28718-483: Was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment", Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s, joining the Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals , for the 1946 season. The following year, the Dodgers called up Robinson to the major leagues. On April 15, 1947, Robinson made his major league debut at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, including more than 14,000 black patrons. Black baseball fans began flocking to see
28891-433: Was left out because their conference was represented by top-ranked UCLA ; and Maryland in 1974 , which was ranked #3 but lost the ACC tournament championship game to eventual national champion North Carolina State . To accommodate at-large bids, the tournament expanded in 1975 to include 32 teams, allowing a second team to represent a conference in addition to the conference champion, and eliminated byes. In 1979 ,
29064-424: Was one of six Cleveland starters who batted .300 or higher (.310). He also had an MLB-best 13 triples. His 54 stolen bases led the AL for the third consecutive season. The Indians faced the Seattle Mariners in the 1995 ALCS . In the eighth inning of game six, Lofton had an infield bunt, stole second base, and scored from second on a passed ball between pitcher Randy Johnson and catcher Dan Wilson . The Indians won
29237-449: Was persuaded to move to California, Time magazine put O'Malley on its cover. MLB Commissioner Ford C. Frick had opposed the meeting, but the dual moves proved successful for both franchises—and for MLB. Had the Dodgers moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals —1,600 mi (2,575 km) away —would have been the closest NL team. Instead, the joint move made West Coast road trips economical for visiting teams. The Dodgers set
29410-399: Was possible was the 1996 when the Continental Airlines Arena , home court of Seton Hall , hosted. For the first and second rounds, eight venues host games, four on each day of the round. Each venue hosts two sets of four teams, referred to as "pods." To limit travel, teams are placed in pods closer to their home unless seeding rules would prevent it. Because each pod includes a top 4 seed,
29583-404: Was speculation about increasing the tournament size to as many as 128 teams. On April 1, 2010, the NCAA announced that it was looking at expanding to 96 teams for 2011 . However, three weeks later the NCAA announced a new television contract with CBS/Turner that expanded the field to 68 teams, instead of 96, starting in 2011. The First Four was created by the addition of three play-in games. Two of
29756-409: Was the same site as a regional championship and in other years a new site. With the expansion to 16 teams, the tournament retained the original format of the national semifinals being the regional finals in 1951 . For the 1952 tournament, there were four regions named East-1, East-2, West-1, West-2, all played at separate sites. The regional champions met for the national semifinals and championship at
29929-510: Was traded to the Atlanta Braves . On trading Lofton, Hart said, "We had to make this trade based on the fact that Lofton could be a free agent at the end of this season. We went through it with Albert Belle last year, and Albert left and we had nothing in return. We were not prepared to do that again." Lofton, described as "an emotional and offensive catalyst" with the Indians, appeared in three consecutive All-Star games (1994–1996) and won four straight Gold Glove Awards (1993–1996) with
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