Power Pros Forum

If there's anything interesting you've found - facts/quotes/etc that you'd like to share, post it here. So no, this isn't like trivia questions.

I'll probably be posting a lot because of a baseball book I've been reading lately.

The 2005 MLB draft saw Great Bridge High School SS Justin Upton go #1 overall. USC C Jeff Clement went #3 to the Mariners, and 7 other future All-Star players, (Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Ricky Romero, Troy Tulowitzki, Andrew McCutchen, Jay Bruce, and Jacoby Ellsbury), in addition to 2009/2011 NL All-Star Upton, went in the top 23.

Brandon Webb of the D’Backs had 22 victories in the NL in '08 while Aaron Harang (CIN) and Barry Zito (SF) tied for 17 losses.

P Wade Townsend of Rice was picked at #8 by the Devil Rays and after pitching his way to an 0-4 record with a 5.49 ERA in 12 appearances at Class A Short-Season, only to undergo TJ Surgery and be released in 2009, can safely be considered a BUST.

The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins in a one-game playoff by 1–0 at U.S. Cellular Field on September 30, 2008, becoming the winner of the American League Central.

I believe you mean 8 all-stars. You forgot to count Upton

The 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks went 51-111 after a 84-78 record in 2003. P Randy Johnson threw a perfect game on May 18 of that year but the team ended up with the worst record and received the #1 draft pick in 2005. They ended up trading the 42 year-old Johnson to the Yankees and go 77-85, only to get Johnson back almost 2 years later from NYY.

On September 20, 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays guaranteed a spot in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history by beating the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay won its first American League East title six days later.

Counting all 10 seasons in which he's had 100 at-bats, just once in his career has Carlos Pena finished with more doubles than homers; he had 21 doubles and 18 homers for the Tigers in 2003.

I meant 7 in addition to him, I should have put "other".

The Mets' two highest-paid outfielders for 2013 won't actually play for the Mets in 2013: Jason Bay & Bobby Bonilla

Walt Whitman once said: " Baseball's the hurrah game of the republic! That's beautiful: the hurrah game! Well - it's our game; that's the chief fact in connection with it: America's game; has the snap, go, fling of the American atmosphere; it belongs to us as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly, as our constitution's laws; is just as important in the sum total of our historic life." (1889)

George Carlin compared football and baseball: "Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life. Football begins in the fall, when everything's dying."

Gerald Early on America's greatest creations: "When they study our civilization two thousand years from now, there will only be three things that Americans will be known for: the Constitution, baseball, and jazz music. They're the three most beautiful things Americans have ever created."

moonlight graham is the only player in MLB history to play in the majors but never hit/pitch. Graham played the bottom of the ninth in right field but never came to bat, and that was the end of his career

As of recently... About 2010 or so, Chan Ho Park is the leader in wins among asian pitchers, one win above Hideo Nomo.

Joe Mauers brother was drafted in the 114th round in the same draft as him by the twins in an effort to get him to sign (114th round needs clarification)

Found that on wiki, never forgot

The National League's roots go back to the National Association of Pro Baseball Players, and it took form in 1876. The American Association challenged them and their teams met at the end of their respective seasons for the "World Championship Series". Those playoffs occurred every year from 1884-1890.

Only two of the NL charter teams remain - the Cubs and the Braves, and only the Cubs remain in their original city. The Phillies and Giants joined in 1883, followed by the Pirates, who switched from the AA in 1887. Next were the Reds and Dodgers in 1890, and with other teams defecting as well as another rival league (the short-lived Players' League), the AA was weakened and they folded by 1891.

The National League added more members before cutting down to 8 in 1899, and a minor league organization known as the Western League renamed itself the American League began an expansion program with teams in both former and current NL cities. They were considered a second "major" league - a junior circuit to the NL's senior circuit. By 1903, the two leagues (8 teams each) and their champions met for the first time in a postseason "World's Series" which would be picked up two years later and carry on annually for almost 90 years until the strike of 1994.

The Braves predate the NL as they were an original member of the National Association as well.

Prior to 1969, the club that finished with the best record in each league won their respective pennant and advanced to the World Series, but this would be changed after - a best-of-5 (eventually 7) game series between the West/East division winners would decide the pennant-winner.

Additional expansion took place in the '70s for the AL, and their ranks increased to 14, before there was some MLB-wide twice in the '90s. Three NL teams and one AL team (the Brewers switched over to keep the AL at 14 while the NL grew) were added in.

The nineties also brought change to some other areas of the game. The divisional format was modified, with a Central Division introduced to both leagues, a third round added to the playoffs, and a wild card berth thrown into the postseason mix (starting in 1995). The wild card was to be decided by whatever team held the best record among 2nd place teams (aka non-division winners).

In Joe Mauer's 4 years on his high school varsity baseball team, he hit over .500 each year and only struck out once in his entire high school career

The Giants won the World Series last year