Category Archives: Kansas City Royals

THE SOUNDS OF BASEBALL

Posted on May 9, 2015 | Leave a comment

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“SOUNDSOFBASEBALL.COM“

There’s a new kid on the block, the result of a terrific website that literally outgrew itself.  Jam-packed with over 400 audio clips and several thousand photo’s its popularity as an online baseball library continues to grow.

“Sounds of Baseball” is the dream of Steve Contursi, a teacher and non-apologetic baseball aficionado from Catskill, New York, and is the culmination of years of work on an archaic system of programming known as “coding”.   It involved the ideas around what it could, should, and would be, and eventually ended up as an informative website that was like no other.

Most of the data on the website could be found somewhere else in the blogosphere, but it would have been a real challenge to find a website that contained all of this specific type of data in the same place.

This was and this is exactly what he did. Over time and with much patience, “Sounds” reached the level of top-rated baseball websites by the top search engines.

However, change was occurring fast in the internet world and with that came many challenges.  A call was put out to the baseball community for someone to help with a transition to a more user-friendly website.

Along came Ronni Redmond of Santa Cruz, CA, a baseball blogger with a small amount of baseball knowledge, and not a lot of computer experience.  But she wrote a decent blog, had an insatiable appetite for anything baseball and lots of chutzpah and opinions.

This is the new “Sounds of Baseball”.  Its foundation is the original “Sounds” with a few little ditties thrown in and published in a Word Press format that’s much easier to maintain.  The Site will be evolving as new material becomes available.  Goodbye to coding and hello to the formation of an unlikely pairing of a fan of the New 39. Morning CoffeeYork Yankees and a fan of the SF Giants and all teams in-between.

We hope you’ll visit the site.  So please grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and turn up the volume.  

This one’s for you!

                                        “SOUNDSOFBASEBALL.COM“

 Sounds of Baseball, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) Non Profit Corporation.

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A2 Ballparks, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, baseball dress, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, General, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mets baseballs, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, NY Mets baseball dress, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

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‘Can’t Get Enough of a Good Thing!

Posted on February 7, 2015 | Leave a comment

A few weeks ago my son, while watching a Seattle Seahawks clip, said “I just can’t get enough of this stuff.”  And that’s exactly how I felt while watching this interview with Madison Bumgarner.   Like a lot of baseball fans who’ve been in a dry spell waiting for Spring Training, I’ve been craving some little tidbit, picture, video, or article about baseball, but especially about Bumgarner.   He was  in the face of the baseball world everywhere, non-stop for weeks and all of a sudden there was ………nothing!

So when I came upon this 10 minute interview I was in my element.  This was ten minutes of Mad Bum responding candidly to questions we’ve all been wanting to ask about him, his family, his feelings, teammates and the game in general.  Good Stuff.

And a special thanks to the KNBR staff for putting this together on You Tube so it can be shared with everyone.  Spring training just around the corner folks …… See you soon!

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Kansas City Royals

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Gotta Love those Kansas City Fans!

Posted on November 28, 2014 | Leave a comment

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World Series 2014 ~ The gift that keeps on giving.  What a wonderful holiday season treat.  And it’s not just the Kansas City Symphony conductor that’s the delight here, but also the music he chose to perform.  Being a former marching band saxophone player I’ve always treasured John Philip Souza’s music,which usually brings me to an emotional state, but somehow I can’t remember hearing this very special piece titled, “The National Game”.  This thoughtful and entertaining YouTube video performance was  brought to my attention by one of my blogroll partners “Fanside’sHaydon Kane”.   Hope you enjoy the video ~ truly one of a kind!

 

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Posted in A1 Baseball, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants

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2014 World Series ….. How Much Did they Make?

Posted on November 25, 2014 | Leave a comment
2014 World Series Parade

2014 World Series Parade

Reposted from ESPN, Tuesday, November 25, 2014.  NEW YORK — A full postseason share for the World Series champion Giants was worth a record $388,606, topping the previous mark of $370,873 set by San Francisco two years ago.

San Francisco’s total was up from $307,323 for the Boston Red Sox last year. The players’ pool of $62 million was down from $62.7 million last year and a record $65.4 million in 2012.

The Giants split $22.3 million into 47 full shares, partial shares equivalent to another 9.65 and 17 cash awards, the commissioner’s office said Monday.

A full share on the AL champion Kansas City Royals was worth $230,700, up from $228,300 for the St. Louis Cardinals last year and down from $284,275 for the 2012 AL champion Detroit Tigers.

The players’ pool included 50 percent of the gate receipts from the two wild-card games, and 60 percent from the first three games of each division series and the first four games of each league championship series and the World Series.

Full shares were worth $125,288 for the Baltimore Orioles, $115,481 for St. Louis, $31,544 for Detroit, $31,543 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, $29,845 for the Angels, $29,418 for theWashington Nationals, $16,556 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and $15,266 for the Oakland Athletics.
Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press

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Posted in A1 Baseball, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals

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Veterans Day and Every Day ….. Thank You!

Posted on November 11, 2014 | Leave a comment

Note:  This is a re-post of my 2014 Veteran’s Day Blog.

Arlington National Cemetery

“But the mainstay of the big leagues was the reservoir of 4-Fs – males of draft age who had been rejected on physical grounds by the Armed Forces. Not since harem attendants had gone out of style were men’s physical deficiencies so highly prized. Ulcers, hearing defects, and torn cartilages were coveted by team owners.” – Frank Graham, Jr. in Farewell to Heroes (1981)

This and the following list of Hall of Fame Members Courtesy of  Baseball Almanac.

Baseball Hall of Fame Members  who Served in the Armed Forces.
The Civil War  
Morgan Bulkeley United States Army
World War I
Grover Alexander  United States Army
Happy Chandler United States Army Continue reading →

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

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MLB SALARIES ~ DID THEY GET WHAT THEY PAID FOR?

Posted on October 31, 2014 | Leave a comment

scales of justice 2Here’s a list of the 2014 salaries for the Major League Baseball teams.  You can get a look at the individual player salaries from USA Today’s website.  Individual rankings are interesting because you have to look past 65 players to get to the Royal’s top paid player, James Shields at #66.  To find the highest paid “active” player on the Giants roster you’ll go to #29 for Tim Lineceum and further down to #89 for Buster Posey.   But the real surprise was Madison Bumgarner who’s way down the list at #271.  I’ll bet that’s going to change in the near future huh?   Of course, you have to look at the total number of years in the individual contracts to see what the actual value is.

So the question is “Did they get what they paid for?”  I’d say the Kansas City Royals management is feeling pretty good about themselves right now, ranking #18 out of 30 for highest salaries and still  producing the top American League team in the nation.

RANK TEAM CURRENT DIFF AVG SALARY
1 Dodgers $241,128,402 $ – $7,778,335
2 Yankees $208,830,659 $ – $8,031,948
3 Phillies $179,521,056 $ – $5,791,001
4 Tigers $163,078,526 $ – $5,824,233
5 Red Sox $154,380,395 $ – $5,717,792
6 Giants $148,239,158 $ – $5,490,339
7 Nationals $134,366,735 $ – $4,798,811
8 Rangers $132,491,596 $ – $4,140,362
9 Blue Jays $129,427,700 $ – $4,793,618
10 Angels $128,046,500 $ – $4,415,396
11 Reds $112,378,771 $ – $3,405,417
12 Diamondbacks $111,798,833 $ – $3,726,627
13 Cardinals $108,020,360 $ – $3,857,870
14 Orioles $105,084,121 $ – $3,389,810
15 Brewers $102,724,338 $ – $3,804,605
16 Rockies $99,579,071 $ – $3,688,113
17 Braves $97,855,673 $ – $3,156,634
18 Royals $90,481,500 $ – $3,351,166
19 Padres $89,881,695 $ – $2,899,409
20 White Sox $89,551,982 $ – $3,316,740
21 Mariners $89,539,642 $ – $3,087,573
22 Twins $84,912,500 $ – $3,396,500
23 Mets $84,281,011 $ – $3,121,518
24 Indians $82,500,800 $ – $3,055,585
25 Rays $82,035,490 $ – $2,828,810
26 Pirates $77,845,999 $ – $2,883,185
27 Athletics $77,220,900 $ – $2,490,996
28 Cubs $74,546,356 $ – $2,662,369
29 Astros $44,985,800 $ – $1,606,635
30 Marlins $41,836,900 $ – $1,549,514

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Posted in A1 Baseball, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, General, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

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“GAME ON” ~ The Truth comes Out!

Posted on October 21, 2014 | Leave a comment
The Royal Giants

The Royal Giants

“I’m a baseball fan first, and a Giants fan second”. You’ve heard it over and over again right here on this blog and no matter what anyone says I meant it. I meant it when I said it, and I mean it now, but to tell you the truth this World Series stuff was getting right down to the wire when I realized I knew everything about the Giants and nothing about the Royals. Due diligence required I take a crash course in Royalspedia and I’ve been doing my best.

For example, I know the Kansas City Royals team are faster than lightening, I mean, not just the runners, but the entire team. Even the mascot. Scary stuff. Well, maybe not the mascot so much. But they lead all of Major League Baseball in stolen bases and they even run to first base on a walk. They also have not only one, but three starters in a lights-out bullpen.   And all week long I’ve been playing that “Kansas City Here I Come” song in my head.  It won’t go away, just over and over again.

So now that I’m feeling a little more knowledgeable about the  Kansas City Royals It sort of gives me a sense of kinship with both teams  and I’m appreciating the true competitive nature of this series, something that was eluding me before.

Bum & Morse

Bum & Morse

But this morning I’m hearing that the Giants have named Michael Morse as the Designated Hitter for the series and I’m just a little in shock.  For some reason I’ve had this feeling all along the DH should be Madison Bumgarner.  Not to take anything away from Morse who should, by all accounts, be named the happiest most fun-loving and most cordial of all the Giants team members.  He’s my pick for Mr. Congeniality anyhow.

But imagine if Bum were to pitch a no-hitter and hit a grand slam in the same game…….and in a World Series game to boot, the thought of the thrill of it is overwhelming!  And it could happen!  But not if he’s warming the bench on offense.

So there it is.  The lady’s gonna politely clap for a Royal good play,  but her fingers will always be crossed for that  Giant triumph.

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Posted in Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants

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“Those Classy Cardinals” Not the fans ……Not this year…..

Posted on October 17, 2014 | 3 comments
Ishikawa Game Ending HR

Ishikawa Game Ending HR

Wow!  After reveling in happiness of the Giants really, really long-shot of making it,once again to the World Series, I was very quickly yanked back to reality this morning when a respected website brought my attention to “way too many” tweets posted by some very misguided Cardinal fans last night.   Maybe it’s the sign of the times, the state of our country, the desperate need to find something good in our lives.  Whatever the reason, it doesn’t reflect well on the St Louis Cardinal fans.

Those Classy Cards

Those Classy Cards

Back in 2011 I posted a blog about “Those Classy Cardinals” and I meant it.  It was one of my favorite postings.  They’d been voted the best fans in Major League Baseball and there was a reason for it.  They were knowledgeable and they were polite and they were one of my favorite teams. Busch Stadium has been on my bucket list of places to visit ever since.   My least favorite team was the Phillies and it was also because of the fans.  They were nasty and hateful not only in their tweets and blogs but also when you visited their stadium as evidenced by the Giants entry into the playoffs and their treatment of Tim Lincecum and others.

This is worse.  I’ve always tried to make this a kid-friendly blog because, after all, isn’t that what baseball’s all about?  But I’m sure not above linking to it and here it is in case you want a dose of early morning reality, “Baseball’s Best Fans“.  Yeah, right.

This World Series is historic in that it’s the first World Series that will be played by two Wild Card teams each with under 90 wins in the regular season.  I’m a baseball fan first, and a SF Giants fan second.  And,to tell you the truth, I know squat about the Kansas City Royals.  But no matter how the series goes, the best team, for this year, in this series, is going to win.  And not because the umpires made a bad call or the pitcher(s) weren’t spot on, or someone’s out on the DL.  It’s because the best team always wins.  And if you’re such a sorry individual you can’t take it and it’s too much for you because it wasn’t your team who prevailed, well suck it up.  This is baseball and it’s not for the faint of heart.  It’s for the love of the game ……whether you like it or not.

GO GIANTS AND GO ROYALS!  May the best team win ….. and they will.

Note:  To clarify that last paragraph.  The tweets that were posted on that site, and there were hundreds of them, were so vile, so full of hatred and bigotry, and spewed such filth it made them almost unintelligible.  You would almost have to have read it to understand my response.  However, the powers-that-be took the blog down within minutes of my posting so that it’s no longer available, and that’s a good thing.   I’m even a little embarrassed that I tried to share it with you in the first place, it was that bad.

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A4 Uncategorized, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals

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Name Origins of all 30 Major League Baseball Teams

Posted on September 22, 2014 | Leave a comment
Cincinnati Red Stockings. 1st Professional Baseball Team

Cincinnati Red Stockings. 1st Professional Baseball Team

Cincinnati Red Stockings Photo Courtesy “www.todayifoundout.com” Daven Hiskey.

I “Stumbled” on this great post that lists the origins of all 30 Major League Baseball Teams.  It appears the Boston Red Sox hold the oldest named team dating back to the 1860’s, popularized by the Cincinnati Red Stockings from 1867-1870 and used by Boston’s National League franchise from 1871-1876.

But the actual team name origin that’s  with the same team is the San Francisco Giants, formerly the New York Giants, that dates back to 1885.    

Read the original Post  Stumbleupon.com, written by Scott Allen. 

 

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, General, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

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2012 MLB Team and Player Salaries

Posted on September 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

2012 All Star Game Photo

Here’s the 2012 update to our 2011 listing published August 27, 2011.  This comes to us compliments of USA Today.  If you’ll click the individual teams, you can access the individual players salaries.  It will be interesting to note the annual salaries of the teams that make the playoffs;  in other words, did they get what they paid for?  For example; the Washington Nationals have the best record in the Majors this year, but have the 11th Lowest Salary out of 30 Teams.   Salary Chart Linked Here

2012 MLB Salaries  
 

TEAM

 TOTAL PAYROLL
New York Yankees $ 197,962,289
Philadelphia Phillies $ 174,538,938
Boston Red Sox $ 173,186,617
Los Angeles Angels $ 154,485,166
Detroit Tigers $ 132,300,000
Texas Rangers $ 120,510,974
Miami Marlins $ 118,078,000
San Francisco Giants $ 117,620,683
St. Louis Cardinals $ 110,300,862
Milwaukee Brewers $ 97,653,944
Chicago White Sox $ 96,919,500
Los Angeles Dodgers $ 95,143,575
Minnesota Twins $ 94,085,000
New York Mets $ 93,353,983
Chicago Cubs $ 88,197,033
Atlanta Braves $ 83,309,942
Cincinnati Reds $ 82,203,616
Seattle Mariners $ 81,978,100
Baltimore Orioles $ 81,428,999
Washington Nationals $ 81,336,143
Cleveland Indians $ 78,430,300
Colorado Rockies $ 78,069,571
Toronto Blue Jays $ 75,489,200
Arizona Diamondbacks $ 74,284,833
Tampa Bay Rays $ 64,173,500
Pittsburgh Pirates $ 63,431,999
Kansas City Royals $ 60,916,225
Houston Astros $ 60,651,000
Oakland Athletics $ 55,372,500
San Diego Padres $ 55,244,700

               

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Posted in Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

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Porking out at the Ballpark on Mother’s Day!

Posted on May 7, 2012 | 3 comments

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 Some of the above pictures courtesy of  Fox Sports MLB’s Best Food List.

I just found out I’m going to the Oakland A’s – Detroit Tigers game on Mother’s Day so I went online to find out what’s for dinner!  My search found this great website  with such tantalizing food pictures I think I’ll conjure up some ballpark food for dinner tonight!

One of my favorite ballpark foods is the Primanti Brothers Sandwich at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.  When I was there the fans were lined up around the block for this one.  The special sandwich (pictured above) includes not only the roast beef, but also the salad and french fries  stacked high and part of the sandwich.

And someday I’m going to try those Rocky Mountain Oysters at Coors Stadium.  Or maybe I’ll watch someone else try them but it’ll still be an experience.

And for dessert it’s a toss-up between those yummy looking cupcakes at Safeco Field in Seattle and the  funnel cakes at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

If you don’t have plans for your mom, your kid’s mom or someone else that’s really special on Mother’s Day why not consider taking her to dinner at the Ballpark!  You’ll get to enjoy the camaraderie of some the greatest fans in all of sports, hopefully a great game and some really terrific food.

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, A3 Ballpark Food, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

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“TOP BASEBALL PLAYERS OF PAST 60 YEARS!” A Mathematical Study.

Posted on November 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

This is the third year we’ve published this study by Dr. Don Davis.  It’s one of our most popular blogs and we’re happy to be able to share it again with you.  Be sure to link to his website  for additional information, changes and criteria he used in compiling his study.

“2011 Baseball Players Mathematical Study, written by Don Davis, Department of Mathematics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA., and printed here with his permission.”

Pos’n First team Second team Third team Fourth team Fifth team
P,1 Roger Clemens, 266.0 Tom Seaver, 181.1 Bob Gibson, 140.4 Juan Marichal, 107.9 Curt Schilling, 85.1
P,2 Randy Johnson, 202.1 Warren Spahn, 167.5 Sandy Koufax, 137.8 Gaylord Perry, 102.8 Phil Niekro, 84.9
P,3 Greg Maddux, 197.5 Bob Feller, 157.6 Robin Roberts, 136.5 Roy Halladay, 102.1 Johan Santana, 84.6
P,4 Pedro Martinez, 187.5 Steve Carlton, 143.5 Jim Palmer, 133.2 Fergie Jenkins, 87.2 Nolan Ryan, 83.7
C Johnny Bench, 111.2 Yogi Berra, 92.9 Gary Carter, 75.6 Mike Piazza, 74.8 Ivan Rodriguez, 71.0 Continue reading →

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

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