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Known to be the legendary baseball manager, Sparky is one of the most popular managers in the entire baseball history. He started with the Cincinnati Reds and ended up with Detroit Tigers, all these from 1970 to 1995. Regardless of how tough the going was, he was able to lead these two teams to heights of success.

He was the only baseball manage to have won the World Series in the American League and the National League. He was also the first to win a hundred games in one season for both leagues. He is the ambassador for baseball and also a world renowned speaker.

Sparky is a philanthropist and the founder of CATCH, a charitable institution for underprivileged kids in Detroit. He started this in 1987.

Photo via baseballguru.com

Alston was just a boy when he discovered he was a pitcher and the nickname Smokey was what he earned for all his fastballs. He grew up very fond of basketball and baseball all throughout his educational years from gradeschool to college.

It was in 1954 when Smokey was promoted to become manager of the Dodgers. The Dodgers under Smokey’s management won the International League twice and finished in second place for the following year. From then on, success made up Alston’s trademark. He was voted manager of the year in years 1955, 1959 and 1963.

He died in Oxford, Ohio on October 1, 1984.

Photo via Britannica.com

Born In Mobile, Alabama, this former all time home run king of the baseball world, played as an outfielder for a total of 23 years for the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers. He is a world record holder for various baseball accomplishments including 2,297 batted runs, 1,477 extra base hits, 6,856 total bases and with more than thirty home runs. He also belongs in the list of top 5 career runs and hits.

His record for the most career home runs which reached 755 was beaten by Barry Bonds with 756 home runs on August 7 of 2007. In year 1999, in commemoration of the 25^th anniversary of Babe Ruth’s record being beaten by Hank, the Hank Aaron Award was presented by the Major League Baseball – a prestigious award that was given yearly by the best hitter in every league. In 2002, Hank Aaron was given the honor to be awarded with the Presidential Medal Freedom.

Photo via hankaaronbiography.com

Here is a baseball pitch grip generally thought of as a movement pitch, or somewhat similar to cut fastball, a cutter or sinker. The two seam fastball is a pitch that requires a slightly tight grip and deeper in the throwing hand compared to the four-seamer.

In pitching a two-seam fastball, the position of your index and middle fingers are kept directly on top of the narrow seams of the baseball. (See above photo).

Then, keep your thumb on the bottom side of the baseball and on the silky leather in between the narrow seams.

The two seam fastball pitch requires a firm grip to give essential friction; And this is a good advantage to cause the baseball to change direction, it can “back up” or “run in” to the throwing hand side of the plate. It slightly reduces the speed of the pitch as well, which is slower than four-seam fastballs.

(Photo via thecompletepitcher.com)

Chan Ho Park, who pitched for the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies out of the bullpen last season, has made a one year deal agreement with the New York Yankees. This announcement was made Monday at a news conference in Seoul, South Korea. Although the Yankees have not confirmed the signing and even the team’s General Manager Brian Cashman has not disclosed if the deal was really approved and finalized. There were some talks between Park’s agent Jeff Borris and Cashman, and according to Brian Cashman, the deal is not yet over.

It was said that the offered package is worth US$1.2 million with an additional $300,000 in performance bonuses if Park decides to join the Yankees. And this is exactly what Chan Ho Park agreed to when he announced in the news conference his decision to join the New York Yankees. The 36-year old right-hander went 3-3 with a 4.43 earned-run average in 45 games with the NL champion Philadelphia Phillies last year. Park also made 3 1-3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in the World Series.

Park has a career record of 120-95 with a 4.35 ERA over 16 big-league seasons with the Phillies, Rangers, Dodgers, Padres and Mets. And the first South Korean to play in the Major League

(Photo via zimbio.com)

Lou Gehrig aka “Iron Horse”, won the Triple Crown in 1934, leading the American League in batting average (.363), home runs (49), and runs batted in (RBIs; 165).

Lou sacrificed many body injuries to play the consecutive MLB games.  Not as popular as his teammate, Babe Ruth. Lou was a tremendous baseball player; from 1926 to 1938 he hit at least 100 runs for 13 straight seasons,.  He made an American League record of 184 RBIs and hit 493 home runs in 1931.

Unfortunately, in 1938, Lou Gehrig was too ill to play baseball.  He was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a deadly disease that affects the central nervous system.  Lou Gehrig has no choice but to retire from baseball. He was the first player to have the honorable rite of retiring his uniform number, 4 presented by the Yankees. Lou Gehrig was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.  And 2 years later, Lou Gehrig died of ALS at the age of 37.  A movie was made in memory of the great player, his life story entitled “The Pride of the Yankees”.

(Photo via repairstemcell.wordpress.org)

Another common breaking ball grip that combines a bit of beginners curve and knuckle curve, it’s called the overhand curveball or popularly known as the straight curveball.

Learning the straight curve requires good skill in throwing a beginners curveball, because both grips are somehow similar in principles. Working on the beginners grip is a stepping exercise towards the straight curve pitch. As mentioned, both pitching grips are almost the same except for the position of the index finger. It should be placed on the baseball contrary to beginners curve where the index finger is pointed at a target.

To do this pitch, the thumb action goes upward. It rotates up while the middle and index fingers rotate down. The arm movement must be a little short at the end. The position of your pitching arm elbow must be to the opposite hip. This makes a short follow through while giving a real snap off the pitch.

(Photo via completepitcher.com)

Collecting baseball cards may not just be a hobby it may also provide you with an asset that you or your heirs will be able to sell someday for a lot of money.

Baseball cards have value for different reasons to different people. But how much the piece of history worth is important to many collectors, or people just looking to sell cards they may have inherited.

So, what is the most valuable baseball card that you know? According to recent research done by Forbes Magazine in 2009, the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth Rookie Card would range from $250,000-$500,000 in good condition. Now, if you happen to stubble onto one of these in near-mint condition the value of this card would shoot up to an estimated 3-5 million dollars! Unfortunately no one has ever found one as of yet.

So, is there a card that would likely sell for a cool 3 million bucks in 2009/2010 if it were put up for auction?  In fact there is, that card is a near-mint condition 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner Rookie card also known as the “Gretzky Wagner” after Wayne Gretzky bought it in 1991 for $451,000.

Have you ever wondered, where and when baseball started? Who invented baseball? Well. No one precisely knows the answers to these questions, but settlers in America brought with them the English games of cricket, rounders and the similar townball, which gradually evolved into the game we know today.

The first known reference to “baseball” as a game was in 1791 in Massachusetts where a town bye-law banned it from the proximity of the town meeting house. There is also a detailed account of a game of base ball in Ontario, Canada in June1838.

However, in 1845 the ‘Knickerbocker Rules’, named after the breeches worn at the time, were devised to regularize the playing of baseball. Alexander Cartwright was given credit for shaping baseball into what it is today. On September 23, 1845, Cartwright published “Rules and Regulations of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club.” These 20 rules are the basis of the rules of the present Major League Baseball (MLB). The Knickerbockers became the first team to wear uniforms.

More years later and baseball had become so popular that professionals started to play for the better and richer teams and the game was transformed. The success of this formula and the popularity of the game itself led to the foundation of a National League which was the first true major league.

Although baseball started in England it has come a very long way from its humble origins.

Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson was an exceptionally talented and disciplined baseball hitter, with a career average of .317. He was known as the most aggressive and successful base runner of his era. But these statistic achievements were not the real reason for his significance. In 1947, Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. As the first black man to openly play in the major leagues since the 1880s, he was instrumental in bringing an end to racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated African-Americans to the Negro leagues for six decades.

In 1999, he was named by Time magazine on its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Also in 1999, he ranked number 44 on the Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as the top vote-getter among second basemen.

Jackie Robinson did it all. He scared the pitchers, rattled the fielders, broke the batting record books but most importantly he opened the doors for the blacks in Major League Baseball. Baseball was a sport that was run by the Whites and played by the Whites, this had changed forever.

In 1962, Jackie Robinson was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Jackie Robinson died at the premature age of 53 in 1972. After his death the Jackie Robinson Foundation was instituted. It provides scholarships to 141 students annually who are sent to more than 60 colleges all over the country.