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194-742: Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947 – August 2, 1979) was an American professional baseball catcher who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees , from 1969 until his death in 1979. A seven-time All-Star , Munson had a career batting average of .292 with 113 home runs and 701 runs batted in (RBIs). Known for his outstanding fielding, he won the Gold Glove Award in three consecutive years (1973–75). Born in Akron, Ohio , Munson

388-425: A sacrifice fly . In order to increase the chance of advancing a batter to first base via a walk, the manager will sometimes signal a batter who is ahead in the count (i.e., has more balls than strikes) to take , or not swing at, the next pitch. The batter's potential reward of reaching base (via a walk) exceeds the disadvantage if the next pitch is a strike. The evolution of baseball from older bat-and-ball games

582-405: A third baseman to the right of third base. The basic outfield positions are left fielder , center fielder , and right fielder . With the exception of the catcher, all fielders are required to be in fair territory when the pitch is delivered. A neutral umpire sets up behind the catcher. Other umpires will be distributed around the field as well. Play starts with a member of the batting team,

776-617: A "traveling instructor" to go on the road with him, and train him between ballgames. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court. The day after his death, before the start of the Yankees' four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx , the team paid tribute to their deceased captain in a pre-game ceremony in which the starters stood at their defensive positions, save for the catcher's box, which remained empty. Following

970-717: A .288 average, the wear-and-tear of catching was beginning to take its toll on Munson, and he was overlooked for the American League All-Star team . Frequently homesick, he had been asking for a trade to the Cleveland Indians since 1977 in order to be closer to his family in Canton. Munson was also considering retiring at the end of the season. At the end of July, the Yankees were still in fourth place at 57–48 (.543), fourteen games behind Baltimore. In August 1979, Munson had been flying airplanes for over

1164-489: A 2.20 ERA in 1979 while working a league record 122.2 innings on the season. Lyons again skippered Chatham to a first-place finish in 1980 before succumbing to Falmouth in the championship series. The 1980 A's starred CCBL Hall of Famers Glenn Davis , who batted .377 on the season, and Jim Sherman , who batted .339 and returned to Chatham in 1981 and enjoy another all-star season, batting .335. In 1982, skipper Ed Lyons announced mid-season that he would be retiring after

1358-412: A 7–0 record with a 1.34 ERA, and being named the league's Outstanding Pitcher. Currier was joined on the staff by CCBL Hall of Famer Derrick DePriest, who did not allow an earned run in 22.2 innings of work, and was named the league's Outstanding Relief Pitcher. The early 2000s saw a pair of CCBL Hall of Fame relievers take the mound for Chatham. Hard-throwing righty David Bush posted a 0.84 ERA and led

1552-606: A College Baseball All-American and then in MLB win a Rookie of the Year Award, MVP Award, Gold Glove Award, and World Series championship. He is also the only catcher in MLB postseason history to record at least a .300+ batting average (.357), 20 RBIs (22), and 20 defensive caught stealings (24). On August 2, 1979, Munson died in a crash while practicing landings in his aircraft at Akron–Canton Airport . The Yankees honored him by immediately retiring his uniform 15, and dedicating

1746-791: A World Series record set by Goose Goslin of the Washington Senators in 1924 . Reds catcher Johnny Bench was named the World Series MVP in 1976. A fairly obvious comparison of opposing backstops was made to Reds manager Sparky Anderson during the post-World Series press conference , to which Anderson responded, "Munson is an outstanding ballplayer and he would hit .300 in the National League , but you don't ever compare anybody to Johnny Bench. Don't never embarrass nobody by comparing them to Johnny Bench." Visibly upset by these comments, which he heard as he entered

1940-447: A ball that results in the team's third out, even if it is recorded against a teammate. On rare occasions, a batter may be at the plate when, without the batter's hitting the ball, a third out is recorded against a teammate—for instance, a runner getting caught stealing (tagged out attempting to steal a base). A batter with this sort of incomplete plate appearance starts off the team's next turn batting; any balls or strikes recorded against

2134-402: A base that a teammate is forced to advance to. If a ball hit into play rolls foul before passing through the infield, it becomes dead and any runners must return to the base they occupied when the play began. If the ball is hit in the air and caught before it lands, the batter has flied out and any runners on base may attempt to advance only if they tag up (contact the base they occupied when

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2328-701: A complete game five-hitter, and knocking in the game-winning RBI in Chatham's 3–2 victory, clinching the series and giving Chatham its first Cape League championship. Munson went on to be selected by the New York Yankees in the first round, fourth overall, of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft . A perennial all-star for the Bronx Bombers, Munson won two World Series and was named the Yanks' first captain since Lou Gehrig . His tragic 1979 death brought fond reminiscences from those who knew him at Chatham. Munson

2522-454: A complete game four-hitter, and the A's pummeled the Mets, 9–0, to complete the three-game sweep and claim Chatham's second league crown. In 1983, A's slugger Bob Larimer tied a league mark by crushing three home runs in a single game; his feat demonstrated power to all fields as his trio of clouts against Falmouth left the yard in left, center, and right fields respectively. Chatham boasted

2716-525: A following in much of the world was a factor, more important was MLB's reluctance to allow its players to participate during the major league season. MLB initiated the World Baseball Classic , scheduled to precede its season, partly as a replacement, high-profile international tournament. The inaugural Classic , held in March 2006, was the first tournament involving national teams to feature

2910-416: A football or soccer field does not affect play the way foul territory in baseball does, so variations in that regard are largely insignificant. These physical variations create a distinctive set of playing conditions at each ballpark. Other local factors, such as altitude and climate, can also significantly affect play. A given stadium may acquire a reputation as a pitcher's park or a hitter's park, if one or

3104-435: A game, involves an individual, one-on-one contest: "the pitcher and the batter in a battle of wits". Pitcher, batter, and fielder all act essentially independent of each other. While coaching staffs can signal pitcher or batter to pursue certain tactics, the execution of the play itself is a series of solitary acts. If the batter hits a line drive, the outfielder is solely responsible for deciding to try to catch it or play it on

3298-421: A home run at another. A team that plays in a park with a relatively short right field, such as the New York Yankees , will tend to stock its roster with left-handed pull hitters , who can best exploit it. On the individual level, a player who spends most of his career with a team that plays in a hitter's park will gain an advantage in batting statistics over time—even more so if his talents are especially suited to

3492-837: A home run in the CCBL All-Star Game. Bagwell was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017, the fifth former Cape Leaguer to be so honored. Chatham was one of the league's most successful teams throughout the 1990s, finishing in first place atop the East Division five times, qualifying for the playoffs in eight of the ten years, reaching the league championship series six times, and taking home three CCBL crowns. Skipper Rich Hill 's 1992 Chatham squad posted an impressive 31–11 regular season record, and featured ace reliever Scott Smith and CCBL Hall of Fame hurler Steve Duda. Duda had pitched for

3686-495: A lead , the pitcher may attempt a pickoff , a quick throw to a fielder covering the base to keep the runner's lead in check or, optimally, effect a tag out. Pickoff attempts, however, are subject to rules that severely restrict the pitcher's movements before and during the pickoff attempt. Violation of any one of these rules could result in the umpire calling a balk against the pitcher, which permits any runners on base to advance one base with impunity. If an attempted stolen base

3880-437: A lengthy major league career. In 1967, it finally came together for Lewis' boys. Saradnik, Greer, Baird and Jabar all returned and were hungry for a title. Added to the mix was Kent State University catcher Thurman Munson , who hit .420 on the season and was named league MVP. During the regular season, Chatham pitcher Don Gabriel tossed a no-hitter against Harwich at Veterans Field. Chatham again finished in first place in

4074-478: A new rule officially banning the spitball and other pitches that depended on the ball being treated or roughed-up with foreign substances, resulted in a ball that traveled farther when hit. The rise of the legendary player Babe Ruth , the first great power hitter of the new era, helped permanently alter the nature of the game. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, St. Louis Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey invested in several minor league clubs and developed

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4268-699: A number of competitions between clubs from different countries. Other competitions between national teams, such as the Baseball World Cup and the Olympic baseball tournament , were administered by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) from its formation in 1938 until its 2013 merger with the International Softball Federation to create the current joint governing body for both sports,

4462-408: A park with little space between the foul lines and the stands, but a foulout in a park with more expansive foul ground. A fence in foul territory that is close to the outfield line will tend to direct balls that strike it back toward the fielders, while one that is farther away may actually prompt more collisions, as outfielders run full speed to field balls deep in the corner. These variations can make

4656-544: A permanent fixture of the post-season. Regular-season interleague play was introduced in 1997 and the second-highest attendance mark for a full season was set. In 2000, the National and American Leagues were dissolved as legal entities. While their identities were maintained for scheduling purposes (and the designated hitter distinction), the regulations and other functions—such as player discipline and umpire supervision—they had administered separately were consolidated under

4850-427: A pitcher's park when the strong winds off Lake Michigan are blowing in, it becomes more of a hitter's park when they are blowing out. The absence of a standardized field affects not only how particular games play out, but the nature of team rosters and players' statistical records. For example, hitting a fly ball 330 feet (100 m) into right field might result in an easy catch on the warning track at one park, and

5044-490: A plaque dedicated to Munson's memory was placed in Monument Park . The plaque bears excerpts from an inscription composed by Steinbrenner and flashed on the stadium scoreboard the day after his death: Our captain and leader has not left us, today, tomorrow, this year, next ... Our endeavors will reflect our love and admiration for him. The locker that Munson used, along with a bronzed set of his catching equipment,

5238-577: A plaque to him in Monument Park . Thurman Lee Munson was born on June 7, 1947, in Akron, Ohio , to Darrell Vernon Munson and Ruth Myrna Smylie, and he was the youngest of four children. His father was a World War II veteran who became a truck driver while his mother was a homemaker. When he turned eight, the Munson family moved to nearby Canton . He was taught how to play baseball by his older brother Duane, and usually played baseball with kids Duane's age, who were four years older. His brother left to join

5432-411: A player has been removed for a substitute, that player may not reenter the game. Children's games often have more lenient rules, such as Little League rules, which allow players to be substituted back into the same game. If the designated hitter (DH) rule is in effect, each team has a tenth player whose sole responsibility is to bat (and run). The DH takes the place of another player—almost invariably

5626-526: A prayer by Cardinal Terence Cooke , a moment of silence and " America the Beautiful " by Robert Merrill , the fans (announced attendance 51,151) burst into an eight-minute standing ovation. Catcher Jerry Narron , who replaced Munson behind the plate that night, remained in the dugout and did not enter the field until stadium announcer Bob Sheppard said, "And now it is time to play ball. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your co-operation." On August 6,

5820-413: A real estate partnership. Shortly after 3:40   p.m. EDT , Munson had received clearance for takeoff and three touch-and-go landings on Runway 23, which were completed. While on approach for the fourth and final landing on a different runway (19), Munson did not extend the flaps and allowed the aircraft to sink too low before increasing engine power, causing the jet to clip a tree and fall short of

6014-427: A separate club. Pete Herman remained with the Chatham team as its player-manager in 1930 and 1931, leading the team on an exciting stretch run and second-place finish just two games behind pennant-winning Wareham in 1930. Chatham withdrew from the league prior to the 1932 season as a result of the town's decision not to appropriate funds for the team. Throughout the rest of the 1930s, Chatham's town team competed in

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6208-441: A significant effect on how ground balls behave and are fielded as well as on baserunning. Similarly, the presence of a roof (seven major league teams play in stadiums with permanent or retractable roofs) can greatly affect how fly balls are played. While football and soccer players deal with similar variations of field surface and stadium covering, the size and shape of their fields are much more standardized. The area out-of-bounds on

6402-629: A significant number of MLB participants. The Baseball World Cup was discontinued after its 2011 edition in favor of an expanded World Baseball Classic. Baseball has certain attributes that set it apart from the other popular team sports in the countries where it has a following. All of these sports use a clock, play is less individual, and the variation between playing fields is not as substantial or important. The comparison between cricket and baseball demonstrates that many of baseball's distinctive elements are shared in various ways with its cousin sports. In clock-limited sports, games often end with

6596-409: A skillful contact hitter , the runner takes off with the pitch, drawing the shortstop or second baseman over to second base, creating a gap in the infield for the batter to poke the ball through. The sacrifice bunt , calls for the batter to focus on making soft contact with the ball, so that it rolls a short distance into the infield, allowing the runner to advance into scoring position as the batter

6790-563: A stolen base and a Cotuit error, then scored on a Brian Garrett single. Smith came on in relief of Duda in the bottom of the frame, and set down the Kettleers in order to clinch the series for the A's and secure Chatham's third CCBL title, with Duda taking home playoff MVP honors. Midway through the 1993 season, manager Rich Hill left to take a head coaching job at the University of San Francisco , and assistant coach John Schiffner took

6984-422: A team that holds the lead killing the clock rather than competing aggressively against the opposing team. In contrast, baseball has no clock, thus a team cannot win without getting the last batter out and rallies are not constrained by time. At almost any turn in any baseball game, the most advantageous strategy is some form of aggressive strategy. Whereas, in the case of multi-day Test and first-class cricket ,

7178-524: A walk and a run scored. On June 24, 1975, during a game against the Baltimore Orioles , Munson had an altercation with Mike Torrez . Torrez hit Munson with a pitch in the first inning, gave up a single to him in the fourth, and threw a pitch up by his head in the sixth. When Munson came to bat in the eighth, umpire Nick Bremigan warned Torrez not to throw any more brushback pitches; this time, Torrez blew kisses to Munson. The benches cleared, but no punches were thrown; however, after Munson grounded out to end

7372-540: A year and purchased a Cessna Citation I/SP jet with a Yankee blue interior so he could fly home to his family in Canton on off-days. It was his fourth airplane in less than a year and a half. His flight instructor Dave Hall spoke well of his ability: "From the onset to completion of training Mr. Munson displayed well above average skills and judgment as a pilot." However, in a 2022 tribute piece for his Countdown with Keith Olbermann podcast, sports commentator Keith Olbermann recalled that four months before Munson's death, he

7566-413: Is a home run : the batter and any runners on base may all freely circle the bases, each scoring a run. This is the most desirable result for the batter. The ultimate and most desirable result possible for a batter would be to hit a home run while all three bases are occupied or "loaded", thus scoring four runs on a single hit. This is called a grand slam . A player who reaches base due to a fielding mistake

7760-402: Is anticipated, the catcher may call for a pitchout , a ball thrown deliberately off the plate, allowing the catcher to catch it while standing and throw quickly to a base. Facing a batter with a strong tendency to hit to one side of the field, the fielding team may employ a shift , with most or all of the fielders moving to the left or right of their usual positions. With a runner on third base,

7954-441: Is awarded a base on balls or walk, a free advance to first base. (A batter may also freely advance to first base if the batter's body or uniform is struck by a pitch outside the strike zone, provided the batter does not swing and attempts to avoid being hit.) Crucial to determining balls and strikes is the umpire's judgment as to whether a pitch has passed through the strike zone , a conceptual area above home plate extending from

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8148-414: Is called. While the team at bat is trying to score runs, the team in the field is attempting to record outs. In addition to the strikeout and flyout, common ways a member of the batting team may be put out include the ground out , force out , and tag out . These occur either when a runner is forced to advance to a base, and a fielder with possession of the ball reaches that base before the runner does, or

8342-772: Is determined by playoffs that culminate in the World Series . The top level of play is similarly split in Japan between the Central and Pacific Leagues and in Cuba between the West League and East League . The World Baseball Classic , organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation , is the major international competition of the sport and attracts the top national teams from around

8536-570: Is difficult to trace with precision. Consensus once held that today's baseball is a North American development from the older game rounders , popular among children in Great Britain and Ireland . American baseball historian David Block suggests that the game originated in England ; recently uncovered historical evidence supports this position. Block argues that rounders and early baseball were actually regional variants of each other, and that

8730-753: Is located in the New York Yankees Museum. Visitors can view the Yankees Museum on game days from when the gates open to the end of the eighth inning and during Yankee Stadium tours. Munson's number 15 is also displayed on the center-field wall at Thurman Munson Stadium , a minor-league ballpark in Canton. A modest, one-block street at Concourse Village East and 156th Street in The Bronx was named Thurman Munson Way in 1979. Two school buildings, which house several schools including Henry Lou Gehrig Junior High School, have since been built on

8924-422: Is not credited with a hit—instead, the responsible fielder is charged with an error . Any runners already on base may attempt to advance on batted balls that land, or contact the ground, in fair territory, before or after the ball lands. A runner on first base must attempt to advance if a ball lands in play, as only one runner may occupy a base at any given time; the same applies for other runners if they are on

9118-474: Is thrown out at first. A batter, particularly one who is a fast runner, may also attempt to bunt for a hit. A sacrifice bunt employed with a runner on third base, aimed at bringing that runner home, is known as a squeeze play . With a runner on third and fewer than two outs, a batter may instead concentrate on hitting a fly ball that, even if it is caught, will be deep enough to allow the runner to tag up and score—a successful batter, in this case, gets credit for

9312-411: Is typically demarcated by a raised fence, which may be of any material and height. The fair territory between home plate and the outfield boundary is baseball's field of play, though significant events can take place in foul territory, as well. There are three basic tools of baseball: the ball , the bat , and the glove or mitt : Protective helmets are also standard equipment for all batters. At

9506-469: Is what Munson would be worth if the Yankees traded him." That lawsuit was dismissed before it went to trial. Munson's widow, Diana, also filed a $ 42.2 million wrongful death lawsuit against the two companies. Cessna offered Munson a special deal on flying lessons if he would take them from FlightSafety International . Rather than requiring Munson to take a two-week safety class in Kansas , FlightSafety assigned

9700-489: The 1970 season still technically a rookie. The Yankees used the pair of Jake Gibbs and Frank Fernández at catcher for most of 1969. During the off season, the Yankees dealt Fernández to the A's. Munson responded by batting .302 with seven home runs and 57 RBIs, and making 80 assists en route to receiving the 1970 American League Rookie of the Year award. Munson received his first of seven All-Star nods in 1971 , catching

9894-565: The 1997 World Series in Cleveland , Diana threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Michael also played baseball professionally, spending three years in the Yankees' organization and one year in Double-A for the Giants . "It felt like I was competing against a ghost, because I didn't know if he would've been proud of what I'd done," Michael said of his career. "Nothing people said affected me, and

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10088-568: The American League , which evolved from the minor Western League , was established in 1893, and virtually all of the modern baseball rules were in place by then. The National Agreement of 1903 formalized relations both between the two major leagues and between them and the National Association of Professional Base Ball Leagues, representing most of the country's minor professional leagues . The World Series , pitting

10282-718: The American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals , and batted .529 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds . Already down three games to none, Munson went four for four in the final game of the Series at Yankee Stadium , but New York was swept by the " Big Red Machine ." Combined with the hits he got in his final two at bats in game three, his six consecutive hits tied

10476-780: The Binghamton Triplets in their final season ( 1968 ), and made his first appearance in Yankee Stadium in August 1968, when the Triplets came to play an exhibition game against the Yankees. He was batting .363 for the Syracuse Chiefs in 1969 when he earned a promotion to the New York Yankees. Munson made his major league debut on August 8, 1969, in the second game of a doubleheader against

10670-518: The Boston Red Sox in 1931. In the 1927 season, the combined Chatham-Harwich team finished fourth in the five-team league, but nevertheless was described as "the hardest hitting team in the league." 1927 Chatham-Harwich first baseman Jack Burns went on to play in seven major league seasons for the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers . In all three seasons of the joint Chatham-Harwich team,

10864-565: The Chatham Anglers , a name which celebrated the town's nautical heritage and allowed for continued use of the "A's" nickname. The team also retained its uniform colors and pinstripe pattern. The Anglers qualified for postseason play in seven of ten years in the 2010s, but remained in a championship drought for a second consecutive decade. The 2011 Anglers featured future major league all-star and National League MVP Kris Bryant and CCBL Home Run Derby champ Richie Shaffer . In 2013,

11058-649: The Great Depression , have led the sport to receive the moniker of "America's Pastime"; since the late 19th century, it has been unofficially recognized as the national sport of the United States , though in modern times is considered less popular than other sports , such as American football . In addition to North America , baseball spread throughout the rest of the Americas and the Asia–Pacific in

11252-465: The Great Depression . Chatham competed in the Cape League from the league's inaugural 1923 season through the 1926 season, then from 1927 to 1929 competed as a combined Chatham- Harwich team with home games split between Veterans Field and Harwich's Brooks Park. Chatham's 1923 team included CCBL Hall of Famer Merrill Doane. Doane, a 1924 graduate of Chatham High School , remained involved in

11446-547: The Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series . Munson batted .320 with a home run and three RBIs in the Yankees four games to two victory over the Dodgers. The Dodgers had stolen 114 bases during the regular season, yet Munson caught four of six potential base stealers in the first four games of the series to keep the speedy Dodgers grounded in the final two. In 1978 , the Yankees and Royals faced each other for

11640-496: The National Association of Base Ball Players , was formed. In 1867, it barred participation by African Americans . The more formally structured National League was founded in 1876. Professional Negro leagues formed, but quickly folded. In 1887, softball , under the name of indoor baseball or indoor-outdoor, was invented as a winter version of the parent game. The National League's first successful counterpart,

11834-545: The Oakland Athletics . Munson went two for three with a walk , one RBI and two runs scored . Two days later, his first major league home run was the second of three consecutive home runs hit by the Yankees off Lew Krausse Jr. in a 5-1 Yankee victory over the A's. For the season, Munson batted .256 with one home run and nine RBIs. He made 97 plate appearances, but drew ten walks and had one sacrifice fly , which gave him 86 official at bats, and allowed him to go into

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12028-646: The St. Louis Cardinals in 1965 who never reached the majors). Munson attracted scholarship offers from various colleges, and opted to attend nearby Kent State University on scholarship, where he was a teammate of pitcher and broadcaster Steve Stone . In the summer of 1967, Munson joined the Cape Cod Baseball League , where he led the Chatham A's to their first league title with a prodigious .420 batting average . In recognition of this achievement and his subsequent professional achievements,

12222-580: The Thurman Munson Batting Award is given each season to the league's batting champion. In 2000, Munson was named a member of the inaugural class of the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame . Munson was selected by the Yankees with the fourth overall pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball draft . In his only full minor league season, he batted .301 with six home runs and 37 runs batted in (RBIs) for

12416-550: The United States Air Force while Thurman was a freshman in high school. Munson attended Lehman High School , where he was captain of the football , basketball , and baseball teams and was all-city and -state in all three sports. He played halfback in football, guard in basketball, and mostly shortstop in baseball. Munson switched to catcher in his senior year in order to handle the pitching prowess of his teammate, Jerome Pruett (a fifth-round draft pick of

12610-412: The University of Maine took home the honors in 2013 after a stellar season in the Chatham bullpen. Lawrence posted a 3–0 record with a 1.58 ERA, striking out 23 and walking just a single batter in 28 1/3 innings. The following summer, it was Lexington, Massachusetts native and Boston College slugger Chris Shaw . Shaw clubbed seven dingers to lead the league for Chatham in 2014, and finished second in

12804-461: The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Women's baseball is played on an organized amateur basis in numerous countries. After being admitted to the Olympics as a medal sport beginning with the 1992 Games , baseball was dropped from the 2012 Summer Olympic Games at the 2005 International Olympic Committee meeting . It remained part of the 2008 Games . While the sport's lack of

12998-579: The pitch clock to shorten game time. Baseball evolved from older bat-and-ball games already being played in England by the mid-18th century. This game was brought by immigrants to North America, where the modern version developed . Baseball's American origins, as well as its reputation as a source of escapism during troubled points in American history such as the American Civil War and

13192-410: The slider . Pitchers have different repertoires of pitches they are skillful at throwing. Conventionally, before each pitch, the catcher signals the pitcher what type of pitch to throw, as well as its general vertical or horizontal location. If there is disagreement on the selection, the pitcher may shake off the sign and the catcher will call for a different pitch. With a runner on base and taking

13386-423: The wicket for an hour or much more. There is no statistical equivalent in cricket for the fielding error and thus less emphasis on personal responsibility in this area of play. Unlike those of most sports, baseball playing fields can vary significantly in size and shape. While the dimensions of the infield are specifically regulated, the only constraint on outfield size and shape for professional teams, following

13580-484: The 1920s, it was joined by the Eastern Colored League . Compared with the present, professional baseball in the early 20th century was lower-scoring, and pitchers were more dominant. This so-called " dead-ball era " ended in the early 1920s with several changes in rule and circumstance that were advantageous to hitters. Strict new regulations governed the ball's size, shape and composition, along with

13774-475: The 1973 regular season in first place atop the Cape League under skipper Ben Hays. The team featured future major leaguer Dave Bergman , the CCBL batting champ who hit at a .341 clip, and CCBL Hall of Fame hurler John Caneira , the league's Outstanding Pitcher, who posted a 9–1 record and led the league with a 1.37 ERA while striking out 118 and walking only 23 in 92 innings. CCBL Hall of Fame manager Ed Lyons took

13968-447: The 1992 championship series at Veterans Field, powered by a two-run blast by Mike Smedes. Game 2 at Lowell Park was an all-time classic. The game went into the 12th inning tied at 2–2 thanks to 11 stellar innings by A's starter Duda, who threw 125 pitches on three days' rest, and appeared to get stronger as the game moved along. Chatham played small-ball in the top of the 12th, pushing across Jeremy Carr, who had walked and reached third on

14162-543: The 1998 title set for Chatham at Clem Spillane Field , but got roughed up by the Gatemen, who took the opener, 6–4. The A's held serve in Game 2 at Chatham as Jeremy Wade tossed a complete game five-hitter in the home club's 5–1 victory. Game 3 at Wareham was a classic pitcher's duel as Currier was matched up against CCBL Hall of Famer and future major league all-star Ben Sheets for the Gatemen. The game remained scoreless until

14356-636: The 19th and 20th centuries, and is now considered the most popular sport in parts of Central and South America , the Caribbean , and East Asia , particularly in Japan , South Korea , and Taiwan . In Major League Baseball (MLB), the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, teams are divided into the National League (NL) and American League (AL), each with three divisions: East, West, and Central. The MLB champion

14550-426: The 2007 ESPN produced mini-series The Bronx Is Burning . Munson was included on the 2020 Modern Era Hall of Fame Ballot . In September 1968, Munson married Diana Dominick at St. John's Church in Canton. The couple had been childhood sweethearts; Diana was already signing her name "Mrs. Thurman Munson" back in sixth grade. They had three children: daughter Tracy, daughter Kelly and son Michael. At Game 3 of

14744-490: The A's boasted an abundance of top moundsmen. 6-foot-8 righty Kyle Snyder was the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect, Tim Lavigne was the Outstanding Relief Pitcher, and CCBL Hall of Famer Rik Currier had an all-star season, posting a 5–2 record with a 2.37 ERA. After sweeping Brewster in the playoff semi-finals, the A's met Wareham in the best-of-five championship series. Snyder started Game 1 of

14938-479: The A's in 1991, posting a 4–4 record and tossing a no-hitter against Y-D . He was even better in 1992, going 6–1 with a 0.90 ERA. Duda led the A's into the 1992 playoffs against Brewster by tossing a complete game in Chatham's 4–2 Game 1 victory. The A's completed the sweep of the Whitecaps with a 1–0 victory in Game 2 to secure Chatham's spot in the league title series against Cotuit . The A's took Game 1 of

15132-505: The A's. Lowell went on win World Series MVP honors with the 2007 Boston Red Sox . In 1995, Schiffner took the club to the CCBL title series, but lost to Cotuit . In 1996, Chatham featured the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect, fireballing reliever Matt Anderson , but the team struggled early on, losing eight in a row at one point. The A's finished the regular season a hair over the .500 mark, and met first place Brewster in

15326-536: The Anglers finished in first place atop the East Division, and starred the CCBL's Outstanding Pitcher, Lukas Schiraldi, and all-star infielder J. D. Davis , who took home All-Star Game MVP honors for the East Division for his double and three-run homer in the East's 9–4 victory. Chatham boasted the CCBL's Outstanding New England Player in consecutive seasons in 2013 and 2014. West Haven, Connecticut 's Tommy Lawrence of

15520-499: The Athletics for seven seasons, with the team qualifying for postseason play in six of the seven years. The A's of the late 1970s featured Jim Lauer, who set a CCBL record with three home runs in a single game against Hyannis , Harvard University slugger and CCBL Hall of Famer Mike Stenhouse , who starred for Chatham from 1977 through 1979, and longtime major league hurler and CCBL Hall of Famer Walt Terrell , who went 9–4 with

15714-493: The CCBL's Outstanding Pitcher and Outstanding Pro Prospect, who was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2012. In late 2008, Major League Baseball announced that it would enforce its trademarks, and required those CCBL teams who shared a nickname with an MLB team to either change their nicknames or buy their uniforms and merchandise only through MLB-licensed vendors. Chatham opted to drop its "Athletics" moniker, and became

15908-574: The Cape Cod Twilight League, winning that league's title seven consecutive seasons from 1933 to 1939. After a hiatus during the years of World War II , the Cape League was reconstituted in 1946, with Chatham joining the Lower Cape Division. Chatham has been a member of the Cape League ever since. CCBL Hall of Fame skipper John Carroll took the helm at Chatham in 1961. The following season, Carroll's club finished

16102-406: The Cape League and Chatham baseball for over 60 years. One of the longest-tenured general managers in Cape League history, Doane was instrumental in the league's transition to an NCAA-sanctioned collegiate league in the early 1960s, and helped build the powerful Chatham teams of the 1960s. In 1925, Brockton High School star Pat Creeden played third base for Chatham, and went on to play briefly for

16296-416: The Cape League for Falmouth in the 1930s, and had later played in the major leagues with Boston and Washington . Lefebvre's team featured CCBL Hall of Fame second baseman Steve Saradnik of Providence College , who batted .314, and pitcher Charlie Hough , who went on to a 25-year major league knuckleballing career. In 1965, Lefebvre was succeeded by CCBL Hall of Fame manager Joe "Skip" Lewis, who led

16490-448: The DH rule, including MLB, Japan's Pacific League , and Caribbean professional leagues, along with major American amateur organizations. The Central League in Japan does not have the rule and high-level minor league clubs connected to National League teams are not required to field a DH. In leagues that apply the designated hitter rule, a typical team has nine offensive regulars (including

16684-684: The DH), five starting pitchers, seven or eight relievers, a backup catcher, and two or three other reserve players. The manager , or head coach, oversees the team's major strategic decisions, such as establishing the starting rotation, setting the lineup, or batting order, before each game, and making substitutions during games—in particular, bringing in relief pitchers. Managers are typically assisted by two or more coaches ; they may have specialized responsibilities, such as working with players on hitting, fielding, pitching, or strength and conditioning. At most levels of organized play, two coaches are stationed on

16878-459: The Dodgers. Latin-American players, largely overlooked before, also started entering the majors in greater numbers. In 1951, two Chicago White Sox, Venezuelan-born Chico Carrasquel and black Cuban-born Minnie Miñoso , became the first Hispanic All-Stars . Integration proceeded slowly: by 1953, only six of the 16 major league teams had a black player on the roster. In 1975, the union's power—and players' salaries—began to increase greatly when

17072-401: The East Division playoffs. In Game 1, Chatham's Matt Purkiss clobbered a two-run homer in the third and ace Keith Evans worked 11 innings allowing only four hits as the A's and Whitecaps took a 2–2 tie into the 12th. In the top of the 12th, Chatham's Scott Friedholm smashed a three-run homer to left, and Anderson came on in the bottom half of the frame to nail down the victory. Chatham completed

17266-447: The Gatemen in two games. In the championship series, Chatham met up with Hyannis in a best three-out-of-five title tilt. The A's went on the road for Game 1, and came away with a tight 5–4 win in 11 innings. Game 2 at Veterans Field also went to extra frames, with the Mets taking a 4–3 lead in the 11th, but the home club tied it in the bottom half, and then took the lead in the 12th to win by another 5–4 tally. Reliever Kurt Lundgren got

17460-729: The Gotham Club. While there are reports that the New York Knickerbockers played games in 1845, the contest long recognized as the first officially recorded baseball game in U.S. history took place on June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey : the "New York Nine" defeated the Knickerbockers, 23–1, in four innings. With the Knickerbocker code as the basis, the rules of modern baseball continued to evolve over

17654-403: The Lower Cape Division, and met Upper Cape powerhouse Falmouth for the second consecutive season in the title series. In Game 1 of the championship, Chatham pitcher John Frobose twirled 13 innings in a game that was called due to darkness and ended in a 1–1 tie. Chatham took Game 2, 7–1, behind the stellar pitching of Baird. Jabar, the league's Outstanding Pitcher, was the star of Game 3, tossing

17848-519: The United States and Canada was founded in 1878 in Cuba, which maintains a rich baseball tradition. The Dominican Republic held its first islandwide championship tournament in 1912. Professional baseball tournaments and leagues began to form in other countries between the world wars, including the Netherlands (formed in 1922), Australia (1934), Japan (1936), Mexico (1937), and Puerto Rico (1938). The Japanese major leagues have long been considered

18042-874: The United States. While baseball is widely played in Canada and many minor league teams have been based in the country, the American major leagues did not include a Canadian club until 1969, when the Montreal Expos joined the National League as an expansion team. In 1977, the expansion Toronto Blue Jays joined the American League. In 1847, American soldiers played what may have been the first baseball game in Mexico at Parque Los Berros in Xalapa , Veracruz . The first formal baseball league outside of

18236-506: The Year . Considered the "heart and soul" of the Yankees, Munson was named captain of the Yankees in 1976, the team's first since Lou Gehrig . That same year, he won the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award . As captain, Munson helped lead the Yankees to three consecutive World Series appearances from 1976 to 1978 , winning championships in the latter two years. He is the first player in baseball history to be named

18430-589: The at-bat, he charged the pitcher's mound. Munson batted a career high .318 in 1975 , which was third in the league behind Rod Carew and Fred Lynn . For the start of the 1976 season, Munson was named the first Yankees team captain since Lou Gehrig retired in 1939 . He responded by batting .302 with 17 home runs and 105 RBIs to receive the American League MVP Award and lead the Yankees to their first World Series appearance since 1964 . He batted .435 with three RBIs and three runs scored in

18624-486: The average major league game has increased steadily through the years. At the turn of the 20th century, games typically took an hour and a half to play. In the 1920s, they averaged just less than two hours, which eventually ballooned to 2:38 in 1960. By 1997, the average American League game lasted 2:57 (National League games were about 10 minutes shorter—pitchers at the plate making for quicker outs than designated hitters). In 2004, Major League Baseball declared that its goal

18818-442: The ball to get batters or runners "out", which forces them out of the field of play. The pitcher can get the batter out by throwing three pitches which result in strikes , while fielders can get the batter out by catching a batted ball before it touches the ground, and can get a runner out by tagging them with the ball while the runner is not touching a base. The opposing teams switch back and forth between batting and fielding;

19012-413: The baseball in a certain manner, and by throwing it at a certain speed, pitchers can cause the baseball to break to either side, or downward, as it approaches the batter, thus creating differing pitches that can be selected. Among the resulting wide variety of pitches that may be thrown, the four basic types are the fastball , the changeup (or off-speed pitch), and two breaking balls —the curveball and

19206-426: The batter hits the ball and reaches first base before an opponent retrieves the ball and touches the base, or when the pitcher persists in throwing the ball out of the batter's reach . Players on the batting team who reach first base without being called " out " can attempt to advance to subsequent bases as a runner, either immediately or during teammates' turns batting. The fielding team tries to prevent runs by using

19400-454: The batter the previous inning are erased. A runner may circle the bases only once per plate appearance and thus can score at most a single run per batting turn. Once a player has completed a plate appearance, that player may not bat again until the eight other members of the player's team have all taken their turn at bat in the batting order . The batting order is set before the game begins, and may not be altered except for substitutions . Once

19594-407: The batter, standing in either of the two batter's boxes next to home plate, holding a bat. The batter waits for the pitcher to throw a pitch (the ball) toward home plate, and attempts to hit the ball with the bat. The catcher catches pitches that the batter does not hit—as a result of either electing not to swing or failing to connect—and returns them to the pitcher. A batter who hits the ball into

19788-464: The batting team's turn to bat is over once the fielding team records three outs. One turn batting for each team constitutes an inning . A game is usually composed of nine innings, and the team with the greater number of runs at the end of the game wins. Most games end after the ninth inning, but if scores are tied at that point, extra innings are usually played. Baseball has no game clock, though some competitions feature pace-of-play regulations such as

19982-418: The beginning of each half-inning, the nine players of the fielding team arrange themselves around the field. One of them, the pitcher , stands on the pitcher's mound. The pitcher begins the pitching delivery with one foot on the rubber, pushing off it to gain velocity when throwing toward home plate. Another fielding team player, the catcher , squats on the far side of home plate, facing the pitcher. The rest of

20176-436: The bottom of the 14th when the Gatemen walked off with the game's only run. The A's evened the series again in Game 4 at home, taking the lead in the bottom of the eighth on RBIs by Ryan Earey and Barry Gauch, and hanging on to win, 4–3. Behind the solid mound-work of Devon Nicholson, Chatham clung to a 3–1 lead through seven in a tense Game 5 finale that saw Gatemen skipper Don Reed tossed in the seventh. The A's broke it open in

20370-413: The bounce and for succeeding or failing. The statistical precision of baseball is both facilitated by this isolation and reinforces it. Cricket is more similar to baseball than many other team sports in this regard: while the individual focus in cricket is mitigated by the importance of the batting partnership and the practicalities of tandem running, it is enhanced by the fact that a batsman may occupy

20564-501: The club featured Boston College batterymates pitcher Pete Herman and catcher George Colbert, as well as flashy infielder Artie Gore . The trio of Herman, Colbert and Gore later teamed up again with Barnstable to bring that club multiple Cape League championships in the 1930s. Gore went on to a major league umpiring career, working ten years in the National League , including two World Series assignments. In 1930, Chatham again fielded its own team, as Harwich split off and became

20758-483: The comparisons didn't affect me, because the pressure I put on myself was more than any pressure other people put on me." Munson also enjoyed handball , which he often played at the Canton YMCA . Frogs legs were one of his favorite foods, and he also liked chocolate. He also smoked cigars . Munson gave Yankee teammate Reggie Jackson his famous nickname "Mr. October". Munson had a career .357 batting average in

20952-505: The course of several plays , with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team , called the pitcher , throws a ball that a player on the batting team , called the batter , tries to hit with a bat . The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases , having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called " runs ". The objective of

21146-402: The crash stated that the probable cause was "the pilot's failure to recognize the need for, and to take action to maintain, sufficient airspeed to prevent a stall into the ground during an attempted landing. The pilot also failed to recognize the need for timely and sufficient power application to prevent the stall during an approach conducted inadvertently without flaps extended. Contributing to

21340-425: The defensive team (referred to as the fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming runners , and to prevent runners advancing around the bases . A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate (the place where the player started as a batter). The initial objective of the batting team is to have a player reach first base safely ; this generally occurs either when

21534-473: The difference between a double and a triple or inside-the-park home run . The surface of the field is also unregulated. While the adjacent image shows a traditional field surfacing arrangement (and the one used by virtually all MLB teams with naturally surfaced fields), teams are free to decide what areas will be grassed or bare. Some fields—including several in MLB—use artificial turf . Surface variations can have

21728-626: The early 1830s, there were reports of a variety of uncodified bat-and-ball games recognizable as early forms of baseball being played around North America. The first officially recorded baseball game in North America was played in Beachville, Ontario , Canada, on June 4, 1838. In 1845, Alexander Cartwright , a member of New York City's Knickerbocker Club , led the codification of the so-called Knickerbocker Rules , which in turn were based on rules developed in 1837 by William R. Wheaton of

21922-418: The effect of shortening 2023 regular season games by 24 minutes on average. Although baseball is a team sport, individual players are often placed under scrutiny and pressure. While rewarding, it has sometimes been described as "ruthless" due to the pressure on the individual player. In 1915, a baseball instructional manual pointed out that every single pitch, of which there are often more than two hundred in

22116-481: The eighth on a Brian Peterson two-run double, and tacked on another to make it a 6–1 title-clinching win. Cepicky, who went 12-for-32 with six RBI in the playoffs, shared MVP honors with Earey, who was strong in two relief appearances on the hill while going 3-for-10 at the plate. The 1999 A's enjoyed a 30-win season and finished first in the East Division, falling to Cotuit in the championship series. The team returned Currier who had another brilliant season, posting

22310-603: The entire Yankee team attended Munson's funeral in Canton. Teammates Lou Piniella and Bobby Murcer , who were Munson's best friends, gave eulogies at the gathering of 700 at the Canton Memorial Civic Center . That night, before a national viewing audience on ABC 's Monday Night Baseball , the Yankees beat the Orioles 5–4 in New York, with Murcer driving in all five runs with a three-run home run in

22504-488: The field of play must drop the bat and begin running toward first base, at which point the player is referred to as a runner (or, until the play is over, a batter-runner ). A batter-runner who reaches first base without being put out is said to be safe and is on base. A batter-runner may choose to remain at first base or attempt to advance to second base or even beyond—however far the player believes can be reached safely. A player who reaches base despite proper play by

22698-476: The field to confer with players during a game. Any baseball game involves one or more umpires , who make rulings on the outcome of each play. At a minimum, one umpire will stand behind the catcher, to have a good view of the strike zone, and call balls and strikes. Additional umpires may be stationed near the other bases, thus making it easier to judge plays such as attempted force outs and tag outs. In MLB, four umpires are used for each game, one near each base. In

22892-467: The field when the team is at bat: the first base coach and third base coach, who occupy designated coaches' boxes, just outside the foul lines. These coaches assist in the direction of baserunners, when the ball is in play, and relay tactical signals from the manager to batters and runners, during pauses in play. In contrast to many other team sports, baseball managers and coaches generally wear their team's uniforms; coaches must be in uniform to be allowed on

23086-607: The field, and the A's downed the Commodores, 6–2, for the title. Evans and Clark shared playoff MVP honors as Chatham sealed its fourth Cape League championship and its first to be clinched at Veterans Field. Schiffner's 1998 club was loaded with talent. Slugger Matt Cepicky was a .327 hitter who won the All-Star Game Home Run Derby, and took home East Division MVP honors in the East's 3–2 All-Star Game victory at Veterans Field. In addition to Cepicky,

23280-410: The field, returning to their team's dugout or bench. A runner may be stranded on base when a third out is recorded against another player on the team. Stranded runners do not benefit the team in its next turn at bat as every half-inning begins with the bases empty. An individual player's turn batting or plate appearance is complete when the player reaches base, hits a home run, makes an out, or hits

23474-408: The fielders has recorded a hit . A player who reaches first base safely on a hit is credited with a single . If a player makes it to second base safely as a direct result of a hit, it is a double ; third base, a triple . If the ball is hit in the air within the foul lines over the entire outfield (and outfield fence, if there is one), or if the batter-runner otherwise safely circles all the bases, it

23668-417: The fielding team faces home plate, typically arranged as four infielders—who set up along or within a few yards outside the imaginary lines (basepaths) between first, second, and third base—and three outfielders. In the standard arrangement , there is a first baseman positioned several steps to the left of first base, a second baseman to the right of second base, a shortstop to the left of second base, and

23862-415: The final four. Munson batted .320 (8-for-25) with seven RBIs in this Series and also caught Ron Cey 's foul pop-up for the final out. Munson's World Series championships in 1977 and 1978 made him only the second catcher in baseball history, after Johnny Bench , to win a Rookie of the Year Award, an MVP Award, a Gold Glove Award, and a World Series title during his career. Subsequently, Buster Posey became

24056-709: The first British baseball champions winning the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain . The 2020 National Champions were the London Mets . Other European countries have seen professional leagues; the most successful, other than the Dutch league , is the Italian league , founded in 1948. In 2004, Australia won a surprise silver medal at the Olympic Games . The Confédération Européene de Baseball (European Baseball Confederation), founded in 1953, organizes

24250-555: The first modern farm system . A new Negro National League was organized in 1933; four years later, it was joined by the Negro American League . The first elections to the National Baseball Hall of Fame took place in 1936. In 1939, Little League Baseball was founded in Pennsylvania. Many minor league teams disbanded when World War II led to a player shortage. Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley led

24444-446: The following season to win another seven games. The late 1980s saw a pair of future major league sluggers in the Chatham lineup. Albert "Joey" Belle played for the A's in 1986, and went on to crush 381 major league homers. Jeff Bagwell spent the summers of 1987 and 1988 in Chatham. He struggled in his first season, but followed up with an all-star 1988 campaign in which he hit .315 with a .449 on-base percentage, and went 4-for-4 with

24638-604: The formation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League to help keep the game in the public eye. The first crack in the unwritten agreement barring blacks from white-controlled professional ball occurred in 1945: Jackie Robinson was signed by the National League's Brooklyn Dodgers and began playing for their minor league team in Montreal . In 1947, Robinson broke the major leagues' color barrier when he debuted with

24832-400: The foul lines is referred to as fair territory; the 270-degree area outside them is foul territory. The part of the field enclosed by the bases and several yards beyond them is the infield ; the area farther beyond the infield is the outfield . In the middle of the infield is a raised pitcher's mound, with a rectangular rubber plate (the rubber) at its center. The outer boundary of the outfield

25026-609: The game's most direct antecedents are the English games of stoolball and "tut-ball". The earliest known reference to baseball is in a 1744 British publication, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book , by John Newbery . Block discovered that the first recorded game of "Bass-Ball" took place in 1749 in Surrey , and featured the Prince of Wales as a player. This early form of the game was apparently brought to Canada by English immigrants. By

25220-497: The height of fences or other structures at the edge of the outfield. The most famously idiosyncratic outfield boundary is the left-field wall at Boston's Fenway Park , in use since 1912: the Green Monster is 310 feet (94 m) from home plate down the line and 37 feet (11 m) tall. Similarly, there are no regulations at all concerning the dimensions of foul territory. Thus a foul fly ball may be entirely out of play in

25414-429: The helm at Chatham. Schiffner, who had been Hill's assistant since 1990, had played in the CCBL for Harwich from 1974 through 1976, and had served previously as Chatham assistant coach from 1978 to 1982. He went on to pilot Chatham for a league record 25 years, and was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame in 2018. Schiffner's 1994 squad featured CCBL Hall of Famer Mike Lowell , an all-star second baseman who hit .307 for

25608-488: The high school level and in doubleheaders in college, Minor League Baseball and, since the 2020 season , Major League Baseball ; and six innings at the Little League level). One team—customarily the visiting team—bats in the top, or first half, of every inning. The other team—customarily the home team—bats in the bottom, or second half, of every inning. The goal of the game is to score more points ( runs ) than

25802-844: The highest quality professional circuits outside of the United States. After World War II, professional leagues were founded in many Latin American countries, most prominently Venezuela (1946) and the Dominican Republic (1955). Since the early 1970s, the annual Caribbean Series has matched the championship clubs from the four leading Latin American winter leagues: the Dominican Professional Baseball League , Mexican Pacific League , Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League , and Venezuelan Professional Baseball League . In Asia, South Korea (1982), Taiwan (1990) and China (2003) all have professional leagues. The English football club, Aston Villa , were

25996-410: The infielders may play in , moving closer to home plate to improve the odds of throwing out the runner on a ground ball , though a sharply hit grounder is more likely to carry through a drawn-in infield. Several basic offensive tactics come into play with a runner on first base, including the fundamental choice of whether to attempt a steal of second base. The hit and run is sometimes employed, with

26190-419: The last nanosecond. He kept it under control and brought us down. He never panicked. He saved our lives." On August 1, 1980 , the day before the first anniversary of the accident, the Yankees filed a $ 4.5-million lawsuit against Cessna Aircraft Co. and Flight Safety International, Inc. (the company who was training Munson to fly), with team spokesman John J. McCarty saying "we asked for $ 4.5 million because that

26384-422: The last two innings without an at-bat. An outstanding fielder, Munson committed only one error all season. It occurred on June 18 against the Baltimore Orioles when opposing catcher Andy Etchebarren knocked Munson unconscious on a play at the plate, dislodging the ball. He also only allowed nine passed balls all season and caught 36 of a potential 59 base stealers for a 61% caught stealing percentage. Munson

26578-430: The league MVP in 1984, as CCBL Hall of Famer Joey Cora was the A's all-star second baseman, batting .373 and leading the league with 28 stolen bases. The 1985 A's returned to the league championship series behind the play of CCBL Hall of Famers Tim McIntosh and Mark Petkovsek , but were shut down by Cotuit . McIntosh led the league with a .392 batting average, and Petkovsek went 7–1 for the A's and returned to Chatham

26772-444: The league with 11 saves in 2000, then returned in 2001 to record an even stingier 0.34 ERA. Fireballer Zane Carlson spent three sparkling seasons with the A's from 2001 through 2003. He earned 12 saves in each of his first two years, and 10 more in his third, with a combined three-year ERA of 2.23. Bush and Carlson led the 2001 squad to the CCBL championship series, but the team was defeated by Wareham . Former A's manager Ed Lyons

26966-409: The league with 31 RBIs. Manager John Schiffner stepped down after the 2017 season, having held the post for a league record 25 summers. In 2018, first-year skipper Tom Holliday led the Anglers to the league championship series, where they were downed by Wareham . Holliday's club finished first in the East Division in 2019, but was bounced from the playoffs by Harwich . The 2020 CCBL season

27160-444: The league with a .420 batting average, all-star hurler Joe Jabar , who went 7–0 with a 1.53 ERA and took home the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts native Tom Grieve . Drafted out of high school in the first round, sixth overall, of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft by the Washington Senators , Grieve played in 25 games for Chatham and batted .416 prior to signing with Washington and moving on to

27354-452: The league with an astronomical .505 batting average. The Red Sox finished the regular season with a 28–6 record, good enough for first place in the Lower Cape Division, but fell to Orleans in the playoffs. Chatham continued its regular season dominance in 1964, 1965 and 1966, finishing atop the Lower Cape Division each year, but falling in each season's CCBL title series. The 1964 team was piloted by Bill "Lefty" Lefebvre , who had played in

27548-439: The manager of the batting team trying to arrange opposite-handed matchups. With a team that has the lead in the late innings, a manager may remove a starting position player—especially one whose turn at bat is not likely to come up again—for a more skillful fielder (known as a defensive substitution ). The tactical decision that precedes almost every play in a baseball game involves pitch selection. By gripping and then releasing

27742-407: The midpoint between the batter's shoulders and belt down to the hollow of the knee. Any pitch which does not pass through the strike zone is called a ball, unless the batter either swings and misses at the pitch, or hits the pitch into foul territory; an exception generally occurs if the ball is hit into foul territory when the batter already has two strikes, in which case neither a ball nor a strike

27936-514: The next half-century. The game then went on to spread throughout the Pacific Rim and the Americas, with Americans backing the sport as a way to spread American values. In the mid-1850s, a baseball craze hit the New York metropolitan area , and by 1856, local journals were referring to baseball as the "national pastime" or "national game". A year later, the sport's first governing body,

28130-550: The other discipline notably benefits from its unique mix of elements. The most exceptional park in this regard is Coors Field , home of the Colorado Rockies . Its high altitude—5,282 feet (1,610 m) above sea level—is partly responsible for giving it the strongest hitter's park effect in the major leagues due to the low air pressure. Wrigley Field , home of the Chicago Cubs, is known for its fickle disposition:

28324-558: The other team. The players on the team at bat attempt to score runs by touching all four bases, in order, set at the corners of the square-shaped baseball diamond . A player bats at home plate and must attempt to safely reach a base before proceeding, counterclockwise , from first base, to second base, third base, and back home to score a run. The team in the field attempts to prevent runs from scoring by recording outs , which remove opposing players from offensive action until their next turn at bat comes up again. When three outs are recorded,

28518-585: The park. Chatham A%27s Chatham has won five CCBL championships, most recently in 1998, when they defeated the Wareham Gatemen in the championship series. In 1923 the Cape Cod Baseball League was formed and included four teams: Chatham, Falmouth , Osterville , and Hyannis . This early Cape League operated through the 1939 season and disbanded in 1940, due in large part to the difficulty of securing ongoing funding during

28712-450: The pilot's inability to recognize the problem and to take proper action was his failure to use the appropriate checklist and his nonstandard pattern procedures which resulted in an abnormal approach profile." Munson was not wearing the available shoulder harness restraint, only a lap belt, which contributed to the severity of his injuries. Anderson credited Munson for remaining at the controls with saving his life. "Thurman flew that airplane to

28906-461: The pitcher—in the batting order, but does not field. Thus, even with the DH, each team still has a batting order of nine players and a fielding arrangement of nine players. The number of players on a baseball roster, or squad , varies by league and by the level of organized play. A Major League Baseball (MLB) team has a roster of 26 players with specific roles. A typical roster features the following players: Most baseball leagues worldwide have

29100-485: The plane pinning him against his seat, Munson was trapped and Hall and Anderson were unable to free him in the only attempt they were able to make before flames engulfed the cockpit. Munson died of asphyxiation due to the inhalation of superheated air and toxic substances. Later it was revealed that Munson had suffered a cervical fracture on impact which resulted in paralysis, rendering him unable to move. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into

29294-476: The plate. Michael tried to bunt, and missed. With Munson coming, Fisk elbowed the Yankee shortstop out of the way and braced for Munson, who barreled into Fisk. Fisk held onto the ball, but Munson remained tangled with Fisk as Felipe Alou , who was on first, attempted to advance. The confrontation at the plate triggered a ten-minute bench-clearing brawl in which both catchers were ejected. "The Fisk-Munson rivalry

29488-412: The play began, as or after the ball is caught). Runners may also attempt to advance to the next base while the pitcher is in the process of delivering the ball to home plate; a successful effort is a stolen base . A pitch that is not hit into the field of play is called either a strike or a ball. A batter against whom three strikes are recorded strikes out . A batter against whom four balls are recorded

29682-447: The playoffs, six umpires are used: one at each base and two in the outfield along the foul lines. Many of the pre-game and in-game strategic decisions in baseball revolve around a fundamental fact: in general, right-handed batters tend to be more successful against left-handed pitchers and, to an even greater degree, left-handed batters tend to be more successful against right-handed pitchers. A manager with several left-handed batters in

29876-404: The possibility of a draw (which occurs because of the restrictions on time, which like in baseball, originally did not exist ) often encourages a team that is batting last and well behind, to bat defensively and run out the clock, giving up any faint chance at a win, to avoid an overall loss. While nine innings has been the standard since the beginning of professional baseball, the duration of

30070-460: The postseason with three home runs, 22 RBIs and 19 runs scored. His batting average in the World Series was .373. Munson threw out 44.48% of base runners who tried stealing a base on him, ranking him 11th on the all-time list. Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding . The game occurs over

30264-462: The preceding decade's average of 3:18. In 2016, the average nine-inning playoff game in Major League baseball was 3 hours and 35 minutes. This was up 10 minutes from 2015 and 21 minutes from 2014. In response to the lengthening of the game, MLB decided from the 2023 season onward to institute a pitch clock rule to penalize batters and pitchers who take too much time between pitches; this had

30458-463: The regular lineup, who knows the team will be facing a left-handed starting pitcher, may respond by starting one or more of the right-handed backups on the team's roster. During the late innings of a game, as relief pitchers and pinch hitters are brought in, the opposing managers will often go back and forth trying to create favorable matchups with their substitutions. The manager of the fielding team trying to arrange same-handed pitcher-batter matchups and

30652-622: The regular season in first place atop the Lower Cape Division, but failed to reach the Cape League title series, losing to Harwich in the Lower Cape championship series. In 1963, the CCBL was reorganized and became officially sanctioned by the NCAA . The league would no longer be characterized by "town teams" who fielded mainly Cape Cod residents, but would now be a formal collegiate league. Teams began to recruit college players and coaches from an increasingly wide geographic radius. The league

30846-408: The reins in 1976, and led the A's to another first-place finish. Chatham was led by the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect Steve Taylor, and CCBL Hall of Famer Mickey O'Connor, a 6-foot-6 southpaw who went 9–0 with a 1.07 ERA and eight complete games, and was the league's Outstanding Pitcher. The team ousted Hyannis in the playoffs, but was shut down by Wareham in the title series. Lyons skippered

31040-472: The reserve clause was effectively struck down , leading to the free agency system . Significant work stoppages occurred in 1981 and 1994 , the latter forcing the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years. Attendance had been growing steadily since the mid-1970s and in 1994, before the stoppage, the majors were setting their all-time record for per-game attendance. After play resumed in 1995, non-division-winning wild card teams became

31234-426: The room, Munson "ripped into Anderson," according to sportswriter Moss Klein. Over the 1976 offseason, Munson encouraged Steinbrenner to sign free agent slugger Reggie Jackson . "Go out and get the big man," Munson said. "He can carry a team like nobody else." The two struggled to get along, however, especially after Jackson did an interview with Sport magazine in late May. In the interview, Jackson claimed that he

31428-413: The rubric of MLB. In 2001, Barry Bonds established the current record of 73 home runs in a single season. There had long been suspicions that the dramatic increase in power hitting was fueled in large part by the abuse of illegal steroids (as well as by the dilution of pitching talent due to expansion), but the issue only began attracting significant media attention in 2002 and there was no penalty for

31622-630: The rules of MLB and Minor League Baseball , is that fields built or remodeled since June 1, 1958, must have a minimum distance of 325 feet (99 m) from home plate to the fences in left and right field and 400 feet (122 m) to center. Major league teams often skirt even this rule. For example, at Minute Maid Park , which became the home of the Houston Astros in 2000, the Crawford Boxes in left field are only 315 feet (96 m) from home plate. There are no rules at all that address

31816-449: The runner is touched by the ball, held in a fielder's hand, while not on a base. (The batter-runner is always forced to advance to first base, and any other runners must advance to the next base if a teammate is forced to advance to their base.) It is possible to record two outs in the course of the same play. This is called a double play . Three outs in one play, a triple play , is possible, though rare. Players put out or retired must leave

32010-406: The runway. The plane then hit a tree stump and burst into flames, on Greensburg Road, 870 feet (265 m) short of runway 19. Hall and Anderson both survived the accident. Hall received burns on his arms and hands, and Anderson received burns on his face, arm and neck. Munson, however, was in a more precarious position. Unable to move due to what was originally thought to be the wrecked fuselage of

32204-427: The season and .677 in the playoffs, slugger Billy Merrifield, who clouted eight homers on the season, team MVP Brett Elbin, all-star centerfielder Greg Schuler, and the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect, pitcher Gary Kanwisher, who led the league with a 1.57 ERA. Lyons' staff included young third base coach John Schiffner. The A's matched up against first place Wareham in the playoff semi-finals, and promptly disposed of

32398-565: The seventh inning and a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth. Piniella said Munson was "the greatest competitor I've ever seen." Tommy John said, "He was the main reason I came to New York. He was an excellent catcher who called an outstanding game." John also praised him for his leadership, writing that while Jackson led the team when it came to hitting and talking with the press, "in the locker room we looked to Munson." Yankee owner George Steinbrenner retired Munson's number 15 immediately upon his catcher's death. On September 20, 1980 ,

32592-567: The street. The area in Connecticut between Boston and New York City , has been referred to as the "Munson–Nixon line", a play on the Mason–Dixon line , after Munson and former Red Sox player Trot Nixon . Steve Rushin , who coined the term in a 2003 Sports Illustrated article, has pinpointed the line as running north of New Haven , south of Hartford , and along the width of central Connecticut . Actor Erik Jensen portrayed Munson in

32786-481: The summer. Lyons had managed six seasons at Wareham in the early 1970s, and was now in his seventh season with Chatham, but had yet to win a league title. Lyons' 1982 A's finished the regular season in fourth place with a pedestrian 20–21–1 record, having slipped into the playoffs on the final day of the season with a victory over Orleans . The team starred future major league all-star Kevin Seitzer , who hit .291 on

32980-513: The sweep with a 3–0 win in Game 2 on the strength of second baseman Jermaine Clark 's two-run double, and advanced to the title series against Falmouth . The 1996 championship series opened at Guv Fuller Field , with Chatham catcher Scott Fitzgerald stifling the Falmouth attack early on in Game 1, cutting down three stolen base attempts in the first three innings. Chatham pushed across three runs playing small-ball and A's starter Seth Etherton

33174-421: The team through 1969. Lewis' 1965 squad returned Saradnik, and added another two CCBL Hall of Famers in University of Connecticut righty Ed Baird, who posted a 3–0 record with a 0.45 ERA, and George Greer , who batted .349 and led the league in doubles and triples. The star-studded 1966 Chatham team returned Saradnik, Baird and Greer, and added another three CCBL Hall of Famers: catcher Tom Weir, who led

33368-406: The teams switch roles for the next half-inning. If the score of the game is tied after nine innings, extra innings are played to resolve the contest. Many amateur games, particularly unorganized ones, involve different numbers of players and innings. The game is played on a field whose primary boundaries, the foul lines, extend forward from home plate at 45-degree angles. The 90-degree area within

33562-531: The third catcher to win all four awards. Munson and Posey, both named as college baseball All-Americans, are the only two catchers named to an All-American team who also own a ROY, MVP, GG, and World Series title. The Yankees had lost three in a row, and were in fourth place, eleven games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East heading into the All-Star break in 1979 . Despite

33756-539: The third consecutive time in the ALCS . Tied at a game apiece, and trailing 5–4 in the bottom of the eighth inning of game three, Munson hit the longest home run of his career, a 475-foot (145 m) shot off Doug Bird over Yankee Stadium's Monument Park in left-center field, to give the Yankees a 6–5 win. They won the pennant the next day, and went on to beat the Dodgers again in the World Series in six games, winning

33950-599: The two major league champions against each other, was inaugurated that fall. The Black Sox Scandal of the 1919 World Series led to the formation of the office of the Commissioner of Baseball . The first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis , was elected in 1920. That year also saw the founding of the Negro National League ; the first significant Negro league, it would operate until 1931. For part of

34144-516: The use of performance-enhancing drugs before 2004. In 2007, Bonds became MLB's all-time home run leader, surpassing Hank Aaron , as total major league and minor league attendance both reached all-time highs. Despite having been called "America's national pastime", baseball is well-established in several other countries. As early as 1877, a professional league, the International Association , featured teams from both Canada and

34338-400: The win in both games, coming on in the eighth inning of Game 1, then in the 12th inning of Game 2 to nail it down after starter Kanwisher held the mound through eleven. After two nail-biters, Game 3 at McKeon Park was a runaway. The A's led off the game with a dinger by Elbin and another by Merrifield, scoring four runs in the first for starter Jeff Brewer, and never looked back. Brewer tossed

34532-501: The world. Baseball was played at the Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008, and was reinstated on a one-off basis in 2020. A baseball game is played between two teams, each usually composed of nine players, that take turns playing offense (batting and baserunning) and defense (pitching and fielding). A pair of turns, one at bat and one in the field, by each team constitutes an inning . A game consists of nine innings (seven innings at

34726-484: The year, recognizing each other's talent and importance to the team. Munson batted .308 with 100 RBIs in 1977 , giving him three consecutive seasons batting .300 or better with 100 or more RBIs each year. He was the first catcher to accomplish the feat in three consecutive years since Yankee Hall of Famer Bill Dickey 's four straight seasons from 1936 -1939, matched only by Mike Piazza since ( 1996 – 2000 ). The Yankees repeated as American League Champions , and faced

34920-411: Was "the straw who stirs the drink" and also stated "Munson thinks he can be the straw that stirs the drink, but he can only stir it bad." When Jackson sent backup catcher Fran Healy to apologize for those remarks, insisting he was misquoted, Munson responded, "For four bleeping pages?!" Ill feelings persisted for much of the year between the two men, but they eventually came to respect one another late in

35114-529: Was an average game of 2:45. By 2014, though, the average MLB game took over three hours to complete. The lengthening of games is attributed to longer breaks between half-innings for television commercials, increased offense, more pitching changes, and a slower pace of play, with pitchers taking more time between each delivery, and batters stepping out of the box more frequently. Other leagues have experienced similar issues. In 2008, Nippon Professional Baseball took steps aimed at shortening games by 12 minutes from

35308-509: Was at the core of the Yankees-Red Sox tension of that era," wrote sportswriter Moss Klein. Munson made his second All-Star team and won his first of three straight Gold Glove Awards in 1973. He also emerged as more of a slugger for the Yankees, batting .300 for the first time since 1970, and hitting a career high 20 home runs. In 1974 , Munson was elected to start his first of three consecutive All-Star games, going one for three with

35502-564: Was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic . Chatham missed the CCBL Playoffs in each season 2021 to 2023, marking the first time since the league moved to an eight-team playoff format that the Anglers failed to qualify for the postseason in three consecutive seasons. The 2023 season saw the end of the Holliday era after Chatham's skipper was forced to resign mid-season due to "personal health reasons." Assistant coach Marty Lees

35696-650: Was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame . Despite a packed clubhouse, Munson's final locker position was never reassigned. The locker next to Yankee team captain Derek Jeter 's, with Munson's number 15 on it, remained unused as a tribute to the Yankees' lost catcher in the original Yankee Stadium until the Stadium closed in 2008. Munson's locker was moved in one piece to the New Yankee Stadium . It

35890-476: Was honored by the team in 2001, as the 1982 title-winning skipper's uniform number "29" became the first number to be retired by the franchise. In 2006, the team paid the same honor to longtime assistant coach Matt Fincher , retiring his number "23". The 2005 A's boasted a wealth of talent, as CCBL batting champion Chris Coghlan was joined by future major league all-stars Todd Frazier , CCBL MVP Evan Longoria , and second-year Chatham hurler Andrew Miller ,

36084-522: Was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class of 2000, and his name graces the league's annual award for batting champion. In the late 1960s, Chatham had dropped the nickname "Red Sox", and reverted to the colloquial Chatham Townies moniker of earlier years. In 1972, the Chatham Athletic Association settled on Chatham Athletics as the team's new moniker, and the Chatham A's were born. The A's finished

36278-600: Was known for his longstanding feud with Boston Red Sox counterpart Carlton Fisk . He would always be irritated at comments praising Boston's catcher. One particular incident that typified their feud, and the Yankees ;– Red Sox rivalry in general, occurred on August 1, 1973 at Fenway Park . With the score tied at 2–2 in the top of the ninth and runners on first and third, Munson attempted to score from third on Gene Michael 's missed bunt attempt. As Red Sox pitcher John Curtis let his first pitch go, Munson broke for

36472-415: Was masterful, twirling eight shutout innings and striking out 14 before turning it over to Anderson for the ninth-inning save in the A's 3–0 win. Evans took the mound for the A's in Game 2 at home and followed up his 11-inning semi-finals outing with a complete game gem. Clark, whom Schiffner described as the team's spark plug all season, went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles to go with his usual stellar work in

36666-409: Was named Chatham’s interim manager. The CCBL Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame honoring past players, coaches, and others who have made outstanding contributions to the CCBL. Below are the inductees who spent all or part of their time in the Cape League with Chatham. * There were no postseason playoffs during the period 1923–1931. The regular season pennant winner

36860-483: Was named acting manager on July 12, and led the team to a 3-11-1 record before stepping down to accept a job as head coach at Stillwater High School . Assistant coach Todd Shelton was named interim manager on July 28, and led the team to a 5-1 record over its final six games, highlighted by a four-game winning streak to end the season. Chatham's managerial instability continued in 2024. On August 21, 2023, Georgia Gwinnett College head coach Jeremy "Sheets" Sheetinger

37054-416: Was named the 13th manager in Chatham history. On July 24, 2024, less than 340 days after he was hired, Sheetinger resigned due to personal reasons. He spent a total of 47 days on Cape Cod during the 2024 summer, compiling a 16-15 record across 31 games. On the same day Sheetinger’s resignation was announced, pitching coach Eric Beattie, a CCBL Hall of Fame pitcher with Bourne and former manager of Hyannis ,

37248-463: Was originally composed of ten teams, which were divided into Upper Cape and Lower Cape divisions. Chatham's team, known as the Chatham Red Sox , joined Orleans , Harwich , Yarmouth and a team from Otis Air Force Base in the Lower Cape Division. Chatham continued to be managed by John Carroll, whose 1963 club featured CCBL Hall of Famer Ken Voges of Texas Lutheran University , who led

37442-425: Was selected as the fourth pick of the 1968 MLB draft and was named as the catcher on the 1968 College Baseball All-American Team . Munson hit over .300 in his two seasons in the minor leagues , establishing himself as a top prospect. He became the Yankees' starting catcher late in the 1969 season , and after his first complete season in 1970 , in which he batted .302, he was voted American League (AL) Rookie of

37636-529: Was told that Yankee executives were terrified Munson was "not as good a pilot as he thinks he is" and that they were attempting to get owner George Steinbrenner to trade him to Cleveland to get him to stop flying, afraid that he might "wind up killing himself." On the afternoon of August 2, 1979, Munson was practicing takeoffs and landings at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport with Hall and friend Jerry Anderson, with whom he had formed

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