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Derek Lowe was the winning pitcher in game 7 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, in which the Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees by a 10-3 score. In 1986, Roger Clemens recorded the win in the Sox' 8-1 victory over the California Angels. And in 1903, Hall-of-Famer Cy Young was the winning pitcher in the Red Sox 7-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in game 7 of that year's World Series.

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Luis Tiant set the record in 1973 as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox when he recorded a total of 23 complete games with no shutouts. Tiant won 20 games that year and finished with an ERA of 3.34.

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The Washington Nationals (formerly Montreal Expos) have retired jersey #10 in honor of both Rusty Staub and Andre Dawson. The New York Yankees have similarly retired jersey #8 to honor two Hall-of-Famers: Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey.

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In the 1996 NLCS the Atlanta Braves were down 3 to 1 against the Cardinals and cam back to win the 1996 NLCS. The Braves went on to lose the 1996 World Series to the New York Yankees 4 games to 2. 1996 was also Manager Joe Torre's first year with the Yankees.

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It happened in 1985, the first year of the best of 7 format, when the Kansas City Royals trailed the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 and came back to win the ALCS. 4-3. The Royals went on to win the 1985 "Show-Me Series" World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3. Interestingly enough, after game 4 of the Wold Series the Royals also found themselves down 3 games to 1 and again had to win 3 in a row to take a series.

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Hall-of-Famer Juan Marichal earned this dubious distinction three times. In 1963, Marichal won 25 games but lost in the Cy Young voting to Sandy Koufax, who also won 25 that year. In 1966, Marichal won 25 games but again lost out to Koufax, who tallied 27 victories. In 1968, Marichal won 26 games but was overshadowed by the outstanding season turned in by Bob Gibson, who won 22 games and compiled an astounding 1.12 ERA.

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The Rockies are the 2nd team in MLB history to win their first 7 playoff games. The first team in MLB history to accomplish this feat was the 1976 Cincinnati Reds.

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Babe Ruth led the Sox to a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs in game 1 of the 1918 World Series with a complete-game shutout. And in 1975, Luis Tiant tossed a complete-game shutout to lead the Red Sox to a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in game 1 of that year's Fall Classic.

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The ALCS has been around since 1969 when Major League Baseball reorganized into divisions. The first ALCS series to award an MVP was the 1980 series between the Royals and the Yankees. The winner of the MVP for the 1980 ALCS was Frank White of the Kansas City Royals. The Royals swept the Yankees in 3 games to become the first American League expansion team to win the Pennant. The Royals went on to lose to the Phillies in the 1980 World Series 4 games to 2.

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The first pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the Cy Young Award was Randy Johnson. The "Big Unit" is also the only Diamondback pitcher to win the Cy Young award. To his credit, though, he won the Cy Young award 4 times with the Diamondbacks (1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002). Randy also won the Pitching Triple Crown (earned run average, wins, and strikeouts) in 2002.

Singe beginning play in 1993, no Colorado Rockies pitcher has ever won the Cy Young Award.

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The NLCS has been around since 1969 when Major League Baseball reorganized into divisions. The first NLCS series to award an MVP was the 1977 series between the Dodgers and the Phillies. The winner of the MVP for the 1977 NLCS was Dusty Baker of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers took that series 3 games to 1. The Dodgers went on to lose in the 1977 World Series to the New York Yankees 4 games to 2.

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Baseball's MVP award has been in existence since 1931. In that first year, the following players won the award:

• American League - Lefty Grove, a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics
• National League - Frankie Frisch, a second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals

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Major League Baseball's Roberto Clemente Award "is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others." Each team nominates a team member for the award. The winner is selected from the 30 team nominees during the World Series. The Roberto Clemente award was first given in 1971 to Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants.

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According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest continuously operated ballpark in the world is Fuller Field in Clinton, Massachusetts. Clinton is a small town located 35 miles west of Fenway Park in Boston, the oldest Major League Baseball ballpark. Fuller Field has been in operation continuously since 1878.

See: Historic ballpark scores in Guinness record book

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The Hank Aaron awarded is awarded the best hitter in the American League and the National League. It is voted upon by a combination of baseball writers (70%) and fans (30%). 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place votes are weighted differently and the player with the most points wins. The award was instituted in 1995 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. The first winners were:

• AL - Manny Ramirez with the Cleveland Indians
• NL - Sammy Sosa with the Chicago Cubs

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The Cy Young Award was introduced in 1956 as an honor given annually to the best pitcher in the Major Leagues. When first introduced, the award was a combined award for the American League and National League. In 1967 the award was expanded to recognize the best pitcher in the American League and the best pitcher in the National League.

The award is voted by 28 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Each member casts a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place vote. The formula used to determine the winner is 5F + 3S + T, where F is the number of first place votes, S is second place votes, and T is third place votes.

All of that being said, the winner of the first Cy Young Award in 1956 was the National League's Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers who went 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA.

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The 1904 World Series was boycotted by the New York Giants so the second World Series was played in 1905. Ironically, it was won by the same New York Giants who boycotted the 1904 Series. They beat the Philadelphia Athletics 4 games to 1.

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The first World Series, between the Boston Pilgrims (now the Boston Red Sox) and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1903, was played at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds in Boston. The Pilgrims (Red Sox) won the Series.

"Up the road from Third Base to Huntington The boys will always sing and sway..." - Tessie, Dropkick Murphys

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US Cellular Field in Chicago has the deepest left and right field distances to the fence in he American League. The distance is 347 feet for both left and right field to the fence.

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National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson finished the 1968 season with a 1.12 ERA over 304.7 innings pitched. This figure, which for much of the 1968 season had held below 1.00, became the lowest ERA among pitchers who pitched 300 innings.

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Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan has his number retired by three Major League teams. The Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros have each retired jersey #24 in his honor, while the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have retired the jersey number (#20) worn by Ryan while he was a member of the Angels.

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In his rookie season, 1954 with the Milwaukee Braves, Hank Aaron wore number 5. He switched to number 44 in 1955, also with Milwaukee. Another interesting Aaron rookie fact - his salary for his first year in the majors was $5,000.

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The save became an official Major League Baseball statistic in 1969. A save is earned by a pitcher who:

• Finishes the game won by his team
• Does not receive the win
• And one of the following:
• Enters the game with a lead of 3 runs or less and pitches at least one inning
• Enters the game with the tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck
• Pitches effectively for at least 3 innings

The blown save became official in 1998.

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On September 28, 1960, in the bottom of the 8th inning with the count 1-1, Ted Williams hit a home run off of Orioles pitcher Jack Fisher to give the Fenway faithful one last treat before retiring. The Red Sox won the game 5-4 but would go on to finish the 1960 season in second to last place.

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The first Wild Card team to make the MLB playoffs and then go on to win the World Series was the Florida Marlins who beat Cleveland in the 1997 Wold Series 4 games to 3. Since then it has been done 3 other times: in 2002 when the Angels beat San Francisco 4-3, in 2003 when the Marlins beat the New York Yankees 4-2, and in 2004 when the Boston Red Sox beat St. Louis 4-0.

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September 14, 2007's game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees at Fenway Park was the second longest 9 inning game in Major League Baseball history at 4 hours and 43 minutes. The Red Sox lost that game 8-7.

The longest 9 inning game also features the same two teams. On August 18, 2006 the Red Sox and Yankees went at it for 4 hours and 45 minutes at Fenway Park. The Yankees also prevailed in that game 14-11. These same two teams also own the record for the longest double hitter at 8 hours and 40 minutes on August 18, 2006 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox lost both ends of the double hitter (as well as a lot of sleep) 12-4 in the opener, and 14-11 in the closer (the longest game).

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Hall of famer Ty Cobb was the first of only two players to accomplish this feat. He first did it in 1907, 1908, and 1909. He then did it for five consecutive seasons (1911-1915) and again for three consecutive seasons (1917-1919).

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American League

• 1969 East Division champion: Baltimore Orioles
• 1969 West Division champion: Minnesota Twins
• 1994 East Division champion: New York Yankees (no playoffs)
• 1994 Central Division champion: Chicago White Sox (no playoffs)
• 1994 West Division champion: Texas Ranges (no playoffs)
• 1994 Wild Card team: Cleveland Indians, although with no playoffs in 1994 the honor was meaningless. The first American League Wild Card team to actually compete in the playoffs was the New York Yankees in 1995.

National League

• 1969 East Division champion: New York Mets
• 1969 West Division champion: Atlanta Braves
• 1994 East Division champion: Montreal Expos (no playoffs)
• 1994 Central Division champion: Cincinnati Reds (no playoffs)
• 1994 West Division champion: Los Angeles Dodgers (no playoffs)
• 1994 Wild Card team: The first National League Wild card team in the no playoff year of 1994 was the Atlanta Braves. The first National League Wild Card team to compete in the playoffs was the Colorado Rockies in 1995.

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Though 2006, the Yankees have won the American League East every year since 1998, 9 years in a row. The Baltimore Orioles were the last team to win before that in 1997. In that 9 years stretch, the Yankees won 3 World Series titles (1998, 1999, & 2000), lost the World Series twice (2001 & 2003), lost the ALCS once (to Boston in 2004), and lost the ALDS three times.

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• The International League Governor's Cup Championships have been around since 1933. Since then, Rochester has the most championships with 10, last winning it all in 1997.
• The older PCL Championships have been around since 1903. Since 1903, the San Francisco Seals had 14 championships. The Seals ceased operations in San Francisco in 1957. They are now the Tucson Sidewinders. The Los Angeles Angels, who played in the PCL in LA until 1957 have 12 championships. The LA franchise has since moved to other cities and now is the third incarnation of the Portland Beavers. For active PCL teams, Albuquerque has 8 championships, and the three incarnations of the Portland Beavers also have 8 championships.

See: Triple-A Baseball Championships for 2007 Triple-A Championship information.

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• Baltimore Orioles - Terry Crowley
• Chicago White Sox - Mike Andrews
• Detroit Tigers - Gates Brown

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Nine Major League Baseball players have hit 50 or more home runs in multiple season. They are:

See: Major League Baseball Single Season Home Run Clubs

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The overall youngest, and also youngest for the National League, was Amos Rusie who threw his no hitter on July 31, 1891 (New York Giants 6, Brooklyn Grooms 0) at the age of 20 years 2 months. The youngest for the American League was Vida Blue who threw a no hitter on September 21, 1970 (Oakland 6, Minnesota 0) at the age of 21 years 1 month.

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There are four Major League Baseball Players tied with four seasons of 50 or more home runs. They are:

• Babe Ruth: 54 in 1920, 59 in 1921, 60 in 1927, and 54 in 1928
• Mark McGwire: 52 in 1996, 58 in 1997, 70 in 1998, and 65 in 1999
• Sammy Sosa: 66 in 1998, 63 in 1999, 50 in 2000, and 64 in 2001

See: Major League Baseball Single Season Home Run Clubs

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Babe Ruth was the first player to set the single season home run record over 50 with 54 in 1920. He then broke his own record in 1921 with 59, and again in 1927 with 60. No other player has accomplished this feat more than once.

See: Major League Baseball Single Season Home Run Clubs

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There are 7 independent professional baseball leagues in North America. Independent leagues have no affiliation with Major League Baseball, hence the name "independent". The leagues are:

• The American Association of Independent Baseball
• The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)
• The Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball (CANAM)
• The Frontier League
• The Golden Baseball League (GBL)
• The Northern League
• United League Baseball (ULB)

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• First to hit 20 home runs in a season - Ned Williamson. Ned, who played most of his career with the Chicago White Stockings, hit 27 home runs in 1884.
• First to hit 30 home runs in a season - Babe Ruth. The Big Bam was the first to surpass 30 home tuns, hitting 54 in 1920. This, of course, also made him the first to hit 40 or more and 50 or more in a season... The Babe was also the first to hit 60 or more with 60 in 1927.

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President Ronald Reagan was the first President of the United States to watch a Major League Baseball game from the dugout.

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Hall of Famer Ernie Banks won back-to-back MVP awards in 1958 and 1959. Ernie played for the Chicago Cubs from 1953 to 1971. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

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Two teams were tied for the American League record for the most runs scored in a game:

1. The Boston Red Sox - The Red Sox scored 29 runs on June 8, 1950, against the St. Louis Browns. The Red Sox won the game 29-4.
2. The Chicago White Sox - The Chicago White Sox scored 29 runs on April 23, 1955, against the Kansas City Athletics. Chicago won the game 29-6.

The Major League record is 36 by the Chicago Colts (now the Cubs) against Louisville in the National League on June 29, 1897. Chicago won that game 36-7.

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The site of Boston's old Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds is now occupied by Northeastern University which features a statue of Cy Young outside of Churchill Hall in almost the same spot as the old pitchers mound. The Huntington Avenue Baseball grounds closed in 1912. When the grounds closed the infield dirt and the remaining grass were moved to Fenway Park. The whole name of the ballpark was the Huntington Avenue American League Base Ball Grounds. It existed from 1901 to 1911 and was home to the Boston Red Sox (then known as the Boston Americans) until 1908.

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Orlando Cepeda was the first designated hitter for the Boston Red Sox on April 6, 1973. He went 0 for 6 in that game, a game where the Red Sox beat the Yankees 15 to 5 behind the complete game pitching of Louis Tiant. 1973 was the only year the Cepeda played for the Red Sox.

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Clise Dudley debuted for the Brooklyn Robins on April 18, 1929. He hit a home run on the first pitch of his first at bat, one of only 3 he hit in his five year career. Clise was a pitcher for the Robins 1929 & 1930) and later the Phillies (1931-1933).

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Hall of Famer Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto was the Yankees regular shortstop from 1941-1946 (except three years in the Navy during World War II - 1943-1945). In his years with the Yankees Scooter participated in 9 World Series and was on the winning side 7 times. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

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Player Lou Gehrig (inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939), manager Joe McCarthy (inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1957), and Babe Ruth (inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936) were last on the same team together in 1934 for the New York Yankees.

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The first pitcher to hit five or more home runs in a single season was Art Nehf who hit 5 in 1924 with the New York Giants. Interestingly, in his 15 seasons in baseall, Art only hit a total of 8 home runs.

More recently, Carlos Zambrano, a pitcher for the the Chicago Cubs, hit 6 home runs in 2006. So far, Carlos has 12 home runs in his 7 seasons in the majors.

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The pitcher with the most home runs in a career is Wes Ferrell. Wes hit 38 home runs in 15 seasons for 6 different teams (Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers, and the Boston Braves) from 1927 to 1941.

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During his career, current Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona played for five teams:

• 1981-1985 - Montreal Expos
• 1986 - Chicago Cubs
• 1987 - Cincinnati Reds
• 1988 - Cleveland Indians
• 1989-1990 - Milwaukee Brewers

During his 10 seasons, Terry had a .274 batting average and hit 16 home runs. Terry has also managed:

• 1997-2000 - Philadelphia Phillies
• 2004-2007 - Boston Red Sox

Terry Francona's father was Tito Francona. Tito played for 9 teams:

• 1956-1957 - Baltimore Orioles
• 1958 - Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers
• 1959-1964 - Cleveland Indians
• 1965-1966 - St. Louis Cardinals
• 1967 - Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves
• 1968 - Atlanta Braves
• 1969 - Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics
• 1970 - Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers

During his 15 seasons, Tito had a .272 batting average and hit 125 home runs.

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During his career, Joe Torre played for four teams:

• 1960-1965 - Milwaukee Braves
• 1966-1968 - Atlanta Braves
• 1969-1974 - St. Louis Cardinals
• 1975-1977 - New York Mets

During his 18 seasons, Joe had a .297 batting average and hit 252 home runs. Joe has also managed:

• 1977-1981 - New York Mets
• 1982-1984 - Atlanta Braves
• 1990-1995 - St. Louis Cardinals
• 1996-2007 - New York Yankees

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• "If you build it, he will come." - Field of Dreams
• "Pick me out a winner, Bobby." - The Natural

See: The Best Baseball Movies

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• What was the date Barry Bonds hit his record breaking 756th home run? - August 7, 2007.
• Who did he hit if off of? - Washington Nationals Pitcher Mike Bacsik.
• In what inning did he hit the home run? - In the 5th inning. The home run gave the Giants a 5-4 lead. Washington went on to win the game 8-6.
• What was the count on Barry Bonds when he hit his 756th home run? - 3 and 2.
• Who caught the 756th home run ball? - Matt Murphy of Queens. He was in San Francisco on his way to Australia. He decided to walk to the ball park to see if he could get a ticket. He probably should have bought a lottery ticket too...

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Cy Young pitched the first no hitter for the Boston Red Sox on May 5, 1904. At the time the team was known as the "Pilgrims".

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Joining "Wake" (Tim Wakefield) with 150 or more pitching wins in a Red Sox uniform are:

• Roger Clemens who pitched for the Sox from 1984 to 1996 and ended up with 192 wins for the Red Sox
• Cy Young who pitched for the Sox from 1901 to 1908 and also ended up with 192 wins for the Red Sox

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Bill Mueller, playing for the Boston Red Sox, hit two grand slams against the Texas Rangers (in the 7th and 8th innings), one from each side of the plate, on July 29, 2003. He hit 3 home runs in that game (the other one was a solo shot in the 3rd). The Boston Red Sox won the game 14 to 7. Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon also hit solo home runs in that game.

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The first opening day night game was on April 18, 1950. In that game, the St. Louis Cardinals, the first major league team to open the season with a night game, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2.

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In 1997, Randy Johnson had two 19 strike out games :

• August 8, 1997 - Seattle Mariners (AL) vs. Chicago White Sox
• June 24, 1997 - Seattle Mariners (AL) vs. Oakland.

In his career, Randy Johnson has also had one 20 strikeout game (May 8, 2001 - Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) vs. Cincinnati), and one 18 strike out game (September 27, 1992 - Seattle Mariners AL at Texas).

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Honus Wagner, who played from 1897 to 1917 (Louisville Colonels from 1897-1899, and the , Pittsburgh Pirates from 1900-1917), stole was the first baseball player to steal third and then home in the same at bat five times in their career. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

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Adam Dunn of the Cincinnati Reds achieved the dubious distinction when he fanned a record 195 times in the 2004 season. By doing so, Dunn broke a record which had stood for over thirty years. The previous record-holder had been Bobby Bonds, who recorded 190 strikeouts in the 1970 season. At the time, Bonds was a member of the San Francisco Giants, although later in his career he went on to play for seven other teams.

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On May 18, 2004, at the age of 40, Randy Johnson ("The Big Unit") pitched a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. He threw 117 pitches and had 13 strikeouts. The Diamondbacks won the game 2-0.

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The baseball teams with the most no hitters pitched are:

• For the National League - the Los Angeles Dodgers with 20
• For the American League - the Boston Red Sox with 17

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George Herman "Babe" Ruth is the only Major League Baseball player to play four different positions in a World Series including pitcher. Babe Ruth was elected to the first class of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

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The 1969 New York Mets are the only Major League World team to play a complete World Series without recording a double play. In that World Series, the Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 1, winning four in a row after loosing the opener.

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Hall of Famer Tom Seaver struck out 10 consecutive San Diego Padres on on April 22, 1970. They were the last ten batters of the game. The Mets won the game 2-1.

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Hall of Famer Willie McCovey hit two home runs in his career twice in his career - once in 1973, and the second time in 1977, one of which was a grand slam. McCovey was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986.

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At the 1977 All-Star Game, pitcher Jim Palmer gave up 3 home runs (2 in the first inning and the first batter of the third inning). Palmer gave up 5 earned runs in the game and was the losing pitcher. The National League won the game 7-5. The 1977 All-Star Game was also the last one played in Yankee Stadium.

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On October 4, 1986, Minnesota Twins shortstop Greg Gagne hit two inside the park home runs in a single game against the Chicago White Sox in the 2nd and 4th innings. The one in the 4th was a 3-run inside-the-park home run. Minnesota won the game 7-3.

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A player better remembered for his hitting records than pitching records, Babe Ruth, has the most innings pitched in a single World Series game - 14.

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Ken Griffey Jr. has won the home run derby 3 times in 1994, 1998, and 1999.

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In game 6 of the 1967 World Series, the Boston Red Sox became the only team in World Series history to hit 3 home runs in a single inning. The Red Sox hit 3 home runs in the 4th inning of game 6. The dingers were hit (in order) by Rico Petrocelli, Carl Yastrzemski, and Reggie Smith off of right handed pitcher Dick Hughes at Fenway Park on October 11, 1967. The Red Sox won the game 8-4 but went on to lose game 7 and the series.

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On April 29, 2007, Troy Tulowitzki of The Colorado Rockies (against the Atlanta Braves) caught a Chipper Jones line drive, stepped on second to get Kelly Johnson out, and then tagged out Edgar Renteria before he could return to first. Colorado went on to win the game 9-7.

The last unassisted triple play before that was performed by Rafael Furcal of the Atlanta Braves on August 10, 2003 against St. Louis. There have only been 14 unassisted triple plays in the history of Major League Baseball (one of which is disputed - in 1878).

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Randy Johnson, at 38 years 1 month and 18 days old, pitched a complete game shout out in a World Series. He did this in game 2 of the 2001 World Series, beating the Yankees 4-0. The Diamondbacks went on to take the series in 7. Randy Johnson also pitched and won game 6 and game 7 of the series. Randy Johnson won the MVP for the 2001 World Series, along with Curt Schilling.

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Hall of famer Johnny Bench, who earned 10 Gold Glove awards in his career, is the National League catcher with the most Gold Glove awards. He also earned two Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, the Rookie of the Year Award and was selected to 14-time All-Star teams.

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Hall of famer Bill Mazeroski hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th in the 1960 World Series to win the series for Pittsburgh over the Yankees. Another hall of famer, Yogi Berra, playing left field that day, watched the ball go out for the home run.

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Number 14, Ernie Banks, who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1953 to 1971, was the first member of the Cubs to have their uniform number retired. Ernie played on 11 All-Star teams, and won the Golden Glove at short stop in 1960. He hit 512 home runs in his career. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

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Slugger Reggie Jackson ("Mr. October") holds the record for the most strikeouts in a career with 2,597.

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Cy Young holds the record for the most innings pitched in a career with 7,356.

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Satchel Paige was the oldest play to appear in Major League Baseball's All-Star game. He was 47 years old when he played in the 1953 All-Star Game.

Other things baseball:

• Best Baseball Movies
• MLB Spring Training
• More baseball trivia
• Visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame

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Boston Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski, a three-time batting champion (1963, 1967, & 1968), retired from baseball with a .285 lifetime batting average. His 1968 batting crown was achieved with an average of .301, the lowest batting average ever for a batting champion. In his 23 seasons with the Red Sox "Yaz" only hit above .300 6 times, the highest being .329 in 1970 when he finished second for the batting title.

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Hall of fame great Ted Williams flew 39 combat missions during two tours of duty over two years during the Korean war. He also spent three years as a Marine flight instructor during World War II.

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The last Major League Baseball player to steal second, third, and then home plate during the same inning was Eric Young of the Colorado Rockies on June 30, 1996.

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The Green Monster at Boston's Fenway Park has been 37.17 feet tall since 1917 (five years after Fenway opened). It did not become green until 1947. Other major Fenway Park milestones include:

• Opened 1912 almost a week after the Titanic sank.
• The first game was an 11 inning win over New York.
• The first World Series played at Fenway was in 1912 (Boston beat the Giants).
• First Sunday game at Fenway was in 1932. Prior to that the Sox played Sunday Games at Braves Field because of Fenway's proximity to a Church.
• The largest crowd at Fenway Park was 47,627 for a Yankees doubleheader on September 22, 1935.
• The first night game was played at Fenway Park in 1947.
• Another Fenway icon, "Pesky's Pole" (the right field foul pole) was named by pitcher Mel Parnell after Johnny Pesky hit a home run around the pole to win a game. It is ironic that the pole is named after a man who only hit 6 home runs in Fenway Park.

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The MLB player with the most times stealing home in a career is Ty Cobb with 54 (50 with Detroit and 4 with Philadelphia). Second place goes to Max Carey with 33 (31 with Pittsburgh and 2 with Brooklyn).

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According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the 23 ways for a baseball player to reach first base are:

1. Hit
2. Fielder's choice
3. Forceout at another base
4. Preceding runner put out allows batter to reach first base
5. Sacrifice bunt fails to advance the runner
6. Hit by pitch
7. Error
8. Walk
9. Intentional walk
10. Pinch-runner
11. Dropped third strike
12. Catcher interference
13. Fair ball hits runner
14. Fair ball hits umpire
15. Sacrifice fly dropped
16. Obstruction of runner
17. Fielder interference
18. Spectator interference
19. Fan obstruction
20. Runner out on appeal
21. Failure to deliver pitch within 20 seconds on a three-ball count
22. Four illegal pitches
23. Game suspended with runner on first; if he's traded prior to the makeup game, another player may take his place

Many thanks to Gary Belsky and Neil Fine, executive editors at ESPN The Magazine for allowing Nutty About Sports to use questions from their book 23 Ways to Get to First Base: The ESPN Uncyclopedia.

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The University of Southern California (USC, or Southern California) has the most NCAA Division I Men's College World Series (MCWS) Championships with 12. Second is Texas with six, and Arizona State and LSU are tied for third with five MCWS titles.

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Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox has been tossed out of 130 baseball games. He has been coaching since 1978, all but four of those with Atlanta (the other four were with Toronto).

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Two teams have won three or more world series in a row. They are:

• New York Yankees
• 5 in a row in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953. In 1954 the New York Giants won the World Series. In 1955 the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series. In 1956 the Yankees won it again. The World Series trophy stayed in New York for 8 years in a row!
• 4 in a row in 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939.
• 3 in a row in 1998, 1999, and 2000. 2000 was the last time they won a World Series.
• The Oakland Athletics
• 3 in a row in 1972, 1973, and 1974.

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The class of 1936, the first class elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, consisted of:

• Ty Cobb
• Walter Johnson
• Babe Ruth
• Christy Mathewson
• Honus Wagner

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The Boston Red Sox have retired six numbers:

1 - Bobby Doerr
4 - Joe Cronin
8 - Carl Yastrzemski
9 - Ted Williams
29 - Carlton Fisk *
42 - Jackie Robinson

The Red Sox criteria for number retirement is that the player must be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and end their career with the Red Sox.

* Carlton Fix was rehired by the Red Sox after he retired from the White Sox so that the Red Sox could retire his number.

Every MLB team has retired 42, Jackie Robinson's number.

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Pitcher Joe Nuxhall made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds on June 10, 1944, at the age of 15 years, 10 months, and 11 days. He pitched for 2/3 of the 9th inning. The reds were behind 13 to 0. His line on the day was 2 hits, 5 walks, and 5 runs. Joe re-debut in the majors in 1952. He played 16 years in the majors, 15 of which were with the Cincinnati Reds. After playing he went on to be a Reds broadcaster. His signature radio signoff phrase was "...Rounding third and heading for home".

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Larry Gowell of the New York Yankees hit a double on October 4, 1972 making him the last American League pitcher to get a hit before the designated hitter rule went into effect in 1973.

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On August 10, 1944, Boston Braves pitcher Red Barrett threw 58 pitches in route to a 2-0 shut out of the Cincinnati Reds. The game was only an hour and fifteen minutes long.

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Thirteen. It happened in Baltimore on July 30, 1971, when Dick Drago of the Kansas City Royals pitched four innings during which he faced thirteen batters and got them all out except Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson, who homered. Another Hall-of-Famer, Jim Palmer, shutout the Royals on two hits through five innings. After 4 and one-half innings, the game was stopped by rain, and went into the books as a 1-0 Orioles win. Thirteen batters is the absolute minimum that a pitcher can possibly face and be credited with a complete game and it would need to happen in this same way.

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Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan signed with the Houston Astros as a free agent following the 1979 season, agreeing to MLB's first million-dollar per year salary and also the first of its kind in any professional team sport.

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Major League Baseball's American League adopted the designated hitter in 1973 allowing someone to be designated to hit for the pitcher. The first designated hitter was the New York Yankees Ron "Boomer" Blomberg, on April 6, 1973. Pitching to "Boomer" was the Boston Red Sox pitcher Louis Tiant. Tiant walked Blomberg.

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Baseball's Triple Crown is earned by any player who leads his league in home runs, batting average, and runs batted in at the end of the season. To date two players have won the Triple Crown twice. They are:

• Rogers Hornsby in 1922 and 1925
• Ted Williams in 1942 & 1947

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Hall-of-Famer Paul Molitor accomplished the feat in game 1 of the 1982 World Series, amassing a total of 5 hits. Despite Molitor's heroics, his Milwaukee Brewers were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

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Rick Monday was selected by the Kansas City Athletics as the first pick in baseball's first amateur draft, held in June of 1965. Monday at the time was an outfielder for Arizona State University. He later went on to enjoy a 19-season career with three different major league franchises, compiling a .264 batting average with 241 home runs and 775 RBI.

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Jack Taylor set the record for the most consecutive complete games pitched in 1906 when he pitched his 185th complete game. Do not look for that record to be broken any time soon. In Major League baseball, 185 is approximately the total number of compete games pitched by all major league pitchers in a year.

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Only two All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) teams were around for the entire existence of the league. Both the Rockford Peaches and the South Bend Blue Sox were in existence from 1943 to 1954. The Peaches won four AAGPBL championships during that period, and the Sox won two.

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The Rockford Peaches were by far the most successful team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) from a championship stand point. They were part of the league from 1943 to 1954 (its entire existence). During that time they won four championships in 1945, 1948, 1949, and 1950. Three other teams are tied for two championships - the Grand Rapids Chicks (1947, and 1953), the Racine Belles (1943, and 1946), and the South Bend Blue Sox (1951, and 1952).

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The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the subject of the 1993 movie A League of Their Own, was a women's professional baseball league which started operations in 1943 and existed for 12 years through 1954. It started with 4 teams in 1943, and at its peak in 1948 had 10 teams.

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Ila Borders was the first woman to win a professional minor league baseball game on July 24, 1998 when she was playing with the Duluth-Superior Dukes. She beat the Sioux Falls Canaries 3 to 1. She was also the first woman to play in a professional minor league baseball game when she debuted in May of 1997 with the St. Paul Saints. She was also the first woman to play in a NCAA or NAIA game game when she pitched for Southern California College on February 15, 1994.

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In 1993, three members of the Toronto Blue Jays took the top three slots of the American League batting championship. They are (in order):

1. John Olerud
2. Paul Molitor
3. Roberto Alomar

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While you would think that marriage proposals are fairly common on the stadium scoreboard, surprisingly at Dodger Stadium they just started doing them this year (2007). So they honestly do not know how many they will do. At Fenway Park in Boston there is a proposal at every home game - making for 81 proposals of marriage. The officials at Yankee Stadium estimated that they do 20 a year (could this confirm what every loyal Red So