In the 1950s, major league owners Calvin Griffith and Horace Stoneham called the stadium the finest facility in the minors ; Stoneham added that " there were not two better " major league stadiums of the time ( although not specifying which specific two he thought were the Met's equal ) Indeed, the Met's primary purpose was to attract a big-league team to the area.

AutoZone Park was built to " big-league " standards, the primary difference being the absence of outfield seats or seats far down the foul lines, and could perhaps be better described as a " major league stadium with only the ' good ' seats ".

Under its music director, Michael Palmer, it sounded for the most part like a big-league band, at home in a big-league setting ".

An average season at age 25 did not bode well for his chances as a prospect, but he parlayed an invitation to spring training with the Red Sox in 2001 into a spot on the big-league team for opening day.

Left-handed catchers have only caught eleven big-league games since 1902, However, some observers, including the famed statistician Bill James and ESPN writer Rob Neyer, have suggested that the real reason that there are no left-handed catchers is because left-handed players with strong throwing arms are almost always encouraged, at an early age, to become pitchers.

Benny Distefano, the last lefty thrower to catch a big-league game ( in 1989 ), noted that lefty catchers have difficulty on bunts up the third base line and on fielding throws home for plays at the plate.

After leading Seattle to a dismal 20-38 mark to end the 1980 season, Wills was fired on May 6, 1981 with the M's deep in last place at 6-18 ( giving him a career mark of 26-56, one of the worst records ever for a non-interim big-league manager ).

Williamson himself said that he was " trying to find my rhythm and it's hard to do that at the big-league level.

In mid-March, manager LaRussa said Ankiel did not figure into the mix at the big-league level and needed to play regularly at Triple-A Memphis as he continued his conversion from pitching.

The first big-league team to play games at night was the 1930 Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues, who carried portable lights around on their team bus, against the House of David baseball team.

The town contains the headquarters of the Pottsville Maroons Memorial Committee, whose job it is to keep alive the spirit of Pottsville's only big-league sports franchise.

Also, he is the only pitcher in big-league history to win World Series games in three decades ( 1966, 1970 – 71, 1983 ).

He played 21 big-league seasons, all with the Chicago White Sox, and is the franchise leader in wins.

Max convinces him the best thing to do is make the other prisoners believe they are not just two silly doormen, but genuine big-league gangsters called ' The Phoenix Twins '.

Graffanino is primarily a contact hitter ( just 481 strikeouts in 2787 big-league at-bats ) who is able to get on base ( career. 336 OBP ) – and his speed is above average, with 53 stolen bases in 78 attempts.

However, two weeks later the Mets signed veteran Rey Sánchez to a one-year deal, with the plan being to allow Reyes to mature in the minors while Sanchez kept the big-league spot warm for him.

He served the Yankees as manager of the big-league club for portions of two seasons, compiling an 18-22 record in and an 18 – 31 record in.

He also managed in the Mexican Winter League for four seasons, and let it be known he felt qualified to pilot a big-league club.

He played two games in Shreveport in 1999 before receiving his promotion to the big-league club in 1999.

Due to its location in a natural bowl, only minimal renovations ( such as connecting dugouts directly to the clubhouses ) would be necessary to ready it for a big-league team.

In his short big-league career, Hubbs was considered to be an excellent fielder but a poor hitter.

It also said that unless the Spurs drew well immediately, " Denver's stay in big-league hockey could be exactly 27 years shorter than Gordie Howe's.

Both players were purchased by the Tigers, and Cicotte made his big-league debut on September 3, 1905.

One month later, on September 20, Zambrano gained his first big-league victory by finishing out the fifth inning against the Houston Astros.

Valo's big-league playing career was affected by three franchise relocations.

Elia received his first big-league assignment when he was hired by Green to manage the Cubs in 1982.

Although night games played under artificial illumination dated back to the 1880s and were introduced in minor league baseball in the late 1920s, they were initially dismissed as an unwelcome gimmick by the big-league clubs.

That season, the Astros set what was then a big-league record for strikeouts in a season by a pitching staff.

While being scouted by major league baseball teams, Cope suffered a knee injury that ended his hopes of a big-league career.

Baseball had a rich tradition in Arizona long before talk of bringing a big-league team even started.

" We knew they were bringing great talent through their farm system, but we certainly didn't expect it to pay off with big-league success so quickly ," said Will Lingo, editor of Baseball America.

His work there earned him an invitation to join the big-league Cardinals ' broadcast team in St. Louis the following season.

His first strikeout victim was Pat Jarvis, and he gave up his first major league home run to Joe Torre, a future big-league manager.

Spending the All-Star break working together, Lau taught Brett how to protect the entire plate and cover up some holes in his swing that experienced big-league pitchers were exploiting.

Whether sound was captured on cylinder, disc, or film, none of the available technology was adequate to big-league commercial purposes, and for many years the heads of the major Hollywood film studios saw little benefit in producing sound motion pictures.

Starting in 1963 Ashburn became a radio and TV color commentator for his original big-league team, the Phillies.

Jumping between the big leagues and Mexico for the next few seasons, he put together one more solid big-league season in 1996 for the San Diego Padres, going 13 – 8 with a 3. 62 ERA.

He succeeded Cal Ermer as Minnesota's big-league manager following the ' 68 season.

His final big-league numbers for 1981:. 210 average, just four homers and 18 RBI in 138 at-bats.

During his tenure as big-league skipper, the Orioles won six Eastern Division titles, four American League pennants, and a World Series championship.

From 2005 to 2010, the Hooks have graduated 29 players to the major leagues and have had another 31 players with big-league experience wear the Corpus Christi uniform.