Origins of the Big 12 map…Click on title: origins-of-the-big12_c.gif.
Thanks to MG’s Helmets {Click here}. Thanks to College Football Data Warehouse {Click here}. Thanks to Army Corps of Engineers site {Click here}.
November 18, 2008
November 16, 2008
England: FA Cup 2008-’09, Second Round Proper. The 39 Clubs who have qualified.
[ Note: Map is updated to all games played on 18th November. Text below is not updated. All re-plays have been played, except for Grays Athletic v. Carlisle United. All clubs that won re-plays have been added to the map. Sorry if there are any errors...I just wanted to get the updated map out there before I shut down for today.]
FA Cup First Round replays are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. There was one match on Monday…Northampton Town 2-5 Leeds United. There are 14 replay matches scheduled for Tuesday…{Click here}.
On the chart to the right of the map, clubs which have secured passage to the Second Round are listed in large type. These 26 clubs have thieir crests shown on the map, along with a thumbnail description of the club, which includes the club’s name, it’s location, it’s league and level, and it’s average attendance as of 10th November, 2008.
Clubs which must play replays on 18th November are listed in small type. When the replays are all done, I will add the winners’ crests and thumbnail information to the map, and make another post before the Second Round Proper (which is scheduled for 29th November) .
The current attendance figures of clubs which have advanced to the Second Round so far range from the 19,747 per game that League One’s Leicester City draw, all the way down to the 240 per game that Curzon Ashton are drawing.
Of the 26 clubs who have qualified, there are 18 clubs from the League, and 8 non-League clubs.
Curzon Ashton FC, from Ashton-under-Lyme, Greater Manchester, plays in the Unibond First Division North. This league is in the 8th Level in the English Football pyramid. Here is the official site of the Unibond leagues: http://www.unibondleague.com/.
There is one club from the 7th Level who has qualified: Eastwood Town FC, of Nottinghamshire. [ Note: the image on ETFC's crest is of Badgers, which is their nickname. ] The club plays in the Unibond Premier Division. Here are the tables for the Unibond Leagues (7th and 8th Levels) : http://www.unibondleague.com/tables.php
Two clubs from the 6th Level have qualified: Alfreton FC, of Derbyshire, and Blyth Spartans AFC, from Northumberland. Both are in the Conference, North…currently billed as the Blue Square North.
There are 4 clubs from the 5th Level, which has been traditionally known as The Conference (official name is now the Blue Square Premier League) : Kidderminster Harriers FC are from around 15 miles south-west of Birmingham, in Worcester . Torquay United FC hail from the Torbay area of Devon. Histon FC are from a small suburb of Cambridge. Forest Green Rovers FC are from the Cotswold Hills {see this}, in the small town of Nailsworth, which is near Stroud, Gloucestershire. Here is the 5th and 6th Levels’ official site: http://www.footballconference.co.uk/.
17 clubs have qualified from the League. [The league, of course, being the top 4 Levels, the top two of which don't enter the FA Cup until the Third Round.]
There are 10 clubs from the 4th Level, League Two. They are (in descending order of current average attendance) : Bradford City FC, Port Vale FC, Gillingham FC, Notts County FC, Wycombe Wanderers FC, AFC Bournemouth, Brentford FC, Chesterfield FC, Morecambe FC, and Macclesfield Town FC.
The 8 clubs from the 3rd Level, League One, are (in descending order of current average attendance) : Leeds United FC, Leicester City FC, Millwall FC, Peterborough United FC, Tranmere Rovers FC, Scunthorpe United FC, Leyton Orient FC, and Crewe Alexandra FC.
There are six clubs who are still alive who are from Greater Manchester. There are five clubs from Greater London who are still alive. There are three clubs are from the south Derbyshire/ south Nottinghamshire region of the East Midlands who have qualified for the Second Round: Alfreton Town, Eastwood Town, and Notts County. These three clubs are located rather close together, within a circle with a radius of about 10 miles.
Thanks to Tony’s English Football Site for attendance figures [Note: the link is set to go to the League One attendance figures. ] {Click here}.
FA site: http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/.
November 13, 2008
NCAA Division I-A / Football Bowl Subdivision, the Pac-10: Attendance map (2007 figures) and Team Profiles.
…
…
The Pac-10 was formed in 1959. Its roots are in the Pacific Coast Conference, which began play for football in 1916, and existed to 1959. Founding schools in the PCC were California (of Berkeley, CA), Washington (of Seattle, WA), Oregon (of Salem, OR), and Oregon State (of Corvallis, OR). The following year, 1917, Washington State (of Pullman, WA) joined. Stanford (of Palo Alto, CA) joined the next year, 1918.
In 1922, the conference expanded to 8 teams with the addition of Southern California [ie, USC] (of Los Angeles, CA), and Idaho (of Moscow, ID). Montana (of Missoula, MT) joined in 1924. The PCC swelled to 10 teams when UCLA (of Los Angeles, CA) joined in 1928. Montana left the PCC in 1950, to join the Mountain States Conference.
The dominant schools in PCC football were the four California schools. UCLA won 12 Conference Titles, both USC and California won 11 Titles, and Stanford won 8 Titles. The 6 other schools won a total of 14 Titles, the highest being Oregon with 5. The two Rocky Mountain schools, Idaho and Montana, never won a football title.
The divide between the California schools and the other 6 schools was also evident in another way. Many university leaders in the California schools considered the Northwest schools academically inferior, and advocated a split to form a separate California conference, for schools that held a higher standard of the student athlete.
So it is ironic that the split-up of the Pacific Coast Conference came about after a scandal involving illegal payments to players on the UCLA and USC teams. UCLA officials and coaches eventually admitted to widespread payments to players, and in turn blew the whistle on phony USC programs that paid players. 3 of the 4 California schools (but not Stanford), as well as Washington, were eventually implicated in the pay-for-play scandal, and the PCC disbanded in 1959.
In July, 1959, the Athletic Association of Western Universities was formed, comprising California, Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Washington. This in spite of the fact that many at Stanford had wanted UCLA to be expelled for their part in the pay-for-play/ slush fund scandal. For its first few years, 1960-’62, the AAWU was popularly known as the Big Five. The Northwest schools were initially blocked from joining, but Washington State was able to join in 1962, and it became known as the Big Six.
Oregon and Oregon State were finally able to join in 1964. Idaho was never invited, and stayed independent until joining the Big Sky Conference in 1963.
In 1968, the AAWU changed its name to the Pacific 8 Conference, aka the Pac-8.
In 1978, the conference added two schools from the Western Athletic conference: Arizona State (Tempe, AZ), and Arizona (Tuscon, AZ), and changed its name to the Pacific-10 Conference, aka the Pac-10.
Thanks to the contibutors to the Wikipedia pages on the PCC {Click here} and the Pac-10 {Click here}. Thanks to the College Football Data Warehouse site {Click here}. Thanks to the College Football All-Time Database (http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/database/index.htm). Thanks to the College Football History site…I have set he link to the Oregon Ducks page, which talks about the origins of their mascot and how Oregon officials were able to secure rights for use of the Donald Duck character (but only on merchandise sold in-state) {Click here}.
Thanks to Helmet Hut {Click here}. Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {Click here}. Thanks to the Helmet Project site {Click here}.
Thanks to MG’s Helmets. This is a site I have just come across, which has beautiful computer aided illustrsations of football helmets in most every league and conference. I also like it because the site has a very comprehensive set of old NFL helmets (but alas, no old college helmets…for that you have to go to the Helmet Project site). MG’s Helmets is the best site out there for throwback NFL helmets. {Click here, for MG’s Helmets.}
November 11, 2008
2008-’09 Turkiye Kupasi (Turkish Cup), 3rd Round: Zoom Map of all 20 clubs in the 4 Groups.
A slate of matches in the Turkish Cup’s 3rd Round are to be played on the 11th through the 13th of November. The 3rd Round is unusual for a European national Cup competition in that it is in a league format. The 20 clubs still in the competition have been split up into 4 groups. The top four 07/08 Super Lig finishers are seeded, and placed in seperate groups. Those clubs are: Galatasary (reigning champions), 2nd place finishers Fenerbahce, 3rd place finishers Besiktas, and 4th place finishers Sivasspor.
Teams play all four other teams in their group, with the top two advancing to the 4th Round, which is a standard knockout competition.
In this season’s 3rd Round, there are 6 clubs from the lower leagues, including 2 clubs that are in the 3rd Level (which is called the TFF Second League): Tokatspor and Alanyaspor.
Four clubs are from the the 2nd Level, which is known as the TFF First League, but is officially called the Bank Asya 1. Lig. Altay SK of Izmir, has won the Cup twice, the last time in 1980.
Here is Wikipedia’s page on the Turkiye Kupasi, which includes a list of all the clubs that have won the Turkish Cup {Click here}.
Cup holders are the central Anatolian club Kayserispor. One interesting sub-plot in the Turkish Cup is the perennial failure of giants Fenerbahce to win the Cup, for 25 years running. In 2005, Fenerbahce was demolished by Galataaray 5-1. Fenerbahce then lost the next year to Besiktas, 3-2 in AET. A Galatasaray supporter sent me this image of his fellow fans mocking Fenerbahce’s cup history, the inference being that they haven’t won the Cup since the Stone Age {see this}.
Thanks to the pclion fc site {Click here}, for information and images.
Thanks to the Soccerway site for fixtures and results {Click here}.
November 9, 2008
NCAA Division I-A/ Football Bowl Subdivision, the Big Ten: Attendance Map (2007 figures) and Team Profiles.
…
…
The Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives was founded on February 8, 1896. The conference became popularly known as the Western Conference. Its original schools were Chicago, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin. Indiana and Iowa joined in 1899, and the conference became popularly known as the Big Nine.
Michigan left the conference in 1908 (for a time); Ohio State joined in 1913. When Michigan re-joined in November 1917, the conference started to be known as the Big Ten.
The University of Chicago decided to de-emphasize athletics, and their football team left the conference in 1939. By 1946, that school’s athletic program was out of the conference entirely, and the conference once again became known as the Big Nine. Three years later, 1949, Michigan State joined, and it was the Big Ten again.
It is interesting to note that throughout this whole time, the conference was officially known as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives. The conference did not shed this anachronistic name until 1987, when the Big Ten was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation. Three years later, Penn State joined, but it was decided to keep the name Big Ten (after all, it’s foolish to mess with an established brand name}. The conference slyly acknowledges their 11 schools, though, by having a logo which shows the number 11, in the spaces to either side of the T in Ten.
On the team profiles chart on the right, in most cases I have concentrated on showing the evolution of the teams’ headgear design, rather than load up on alternate logos. It’s interesting to note that two teams won national titles in the 1960s in the first season after changing their helmets. In 1965, Michigan State first introduced a logo on their green helmet, a Spartan warrior’s head in profile. The team went on to win the consensus national title, with a 10-1 record. Ohio State, in 1968, adopted the iconic style they use to this day, a silver helmet with red, white, and black stripes, accented with buckeye-leaf decals (awarded to players for stand-out play). Coach Woody Hayes won his last National Title that season, as the Buckeyes were undefeated, and were the undisputed national champions.
This time, I have used photos (instead of illustrations) of each teams helmet logo and/ or design, in the rectangles to the immediate left of the teams’ names. The Ohio State design was perplexing, because it was difficult to tell if the decals are black, or green. They do sell green decals on the internet, but it appears these are not authentic. And there are illustrations of Ohio State helmets out there that depict green buckeye-leaf decals {see this}, but they appear to be inaccurate. From this Ohio State fan site message board thread, it seems the case is solidly made that they are are black {see this, a thread from the Buckeyes Planet site}. But on Ohio State coach Jim Tressel’s site, he uses green icons to chart the player’s decal-award tally {see this}. Still, the photo on that site certainly shows black leaves.
The Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan has an excellent site. I have set the following link to the Michigan Stadium Story page, but there are lots of pages to peruse {Click here}. Here is the Michigan versus Ohio State rivalry section, set at the two team’s stadiums comparison {Click here}; and art of UM vs. OSU football program covers {Click here}.
Thanks to the invaluable College Football Data Warehouse site: {Click here}. Thanks to Helmet Hut {Click here}. Thanks to the College Football All-Time Database, at http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/database/index.htm .
Thanks to the contibutors to the Big Ten pages at Wikipedia {Click here}. Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page, at http://www.chriscreamer.com/ . Thanks to Logo Shak, at http://www.logoshak.com/ . Thanks to Logo Server, at http://www.logoserver.com/College.html . Thanks to the NCAA site, specifically for this list of college football National Champions {Click here}. Thanks to the College Football History site {Click here}.
Next up…the Pac-10, to be posted Thursday.
November 6, 2008
England- Football Trophies Chart, inclusive to 30th May 2009.
[Chart now includes 2008-2009 League Cup Title and 2008-2009 Premier League Title, both to Manchester United; and 2008-2009 FA Cup Title, to Chelsea.]
This chart measures major trophies won by English football clubs, since the first FA Cup Final, in 1872, up to the 2008 Champions League Final of 21st May, 2008. The clubs’ kits are shown in descending size, to represent major trophies won.
Six different titles are represented, with three of these titles given half weight.
The 3 titles given full weight are… 1. FA Cup, 1872-2008 [official name: the Football Association Challenge Cup]. 2. English First Division Title, 1890-1992/ Premier League Title, 1993-2008). 3. European Cup, 1956-1992/ UEFA Champions League Title, 1993-2008.
The 3 titles given half-weight are… 4. League Cup, 1961-2008 [official name: the Football League Cup]. 5. Fairs Cup, 1958-1971 [the official name was the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup]/ UEFA Cup, 1972-2008. 6. UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, 1961-1999 [defunct].
Shown are the top 26 currently existing League clubs. When two or more clubs were tied on total weighted trophies (ie, 2 points for League Title, FA Cup, or Champions League Title; 1 point for League Cup, UEFA Cup, or Cup Winners’ Cup), I listed the most recent title-winner first. This occurred four times: between #’s 10.-11., #’s 12.-13., #’s 18.-21., and #’s 23.-24.
Defunct, or Amatuer/ Non-League clubs who won FA Cups in the 19th Century are listed at the far right, bottom. The first FA Cup took place on 16th March, 1872 {see this}. The match was won by Wanderers FC {see this}, who hailed from Battersea Park, south-west London. They defeated Royal Engineers 1-0, at Kennington Oval, in Lambeth, south London. There were less than 2,000 spectators. Here is a nice account, from the FA- CupFinals site [Note, when you click to the site, go to the blue bar at far left, and click on "1870s" below the 'Final Details' list {Click here}.
As it happens, every football club that has won the English Title made the top 26. [On the list of trophies below each club's kit, the English Title is referred to as "League Title".] Two clubs that have never won the English Title are in the top 26: Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. The Trotters have won the FA Cup 4 times, the last a half-century ago in 1958. Bolton’s highest league finish was one season later, in 1959, when they finished in 4th place. They did manage a 6th place finish in 2005. The Hammers have won 3 FA Cups (their last in 1980) and a Cup Winners’ Cup (in 1965); the East London club’s best league finish was 5th place in 1999.
There are 9 currently existing clubs that have won just one FA Cup, but no other major trophies. They are listed at the far right of the chart, at the top. There are similarly 9 clubs that have won League Cups, but no other major trophies, including Leicester City, who have won the League Cup 3 times, and Norwich City, winners of this trophy twice (see far right, center).
All kits are up to date, for the 08/09 season.
Thanks to the Colours Of Football site (http://www.colours-of-football.com), for the kits.
Thanks to the Albion Road site {Click here}, for fact-checking…which is a way of saying thanks to Jeremy for convincing me that I should include the Cup Winners’ Cup titles in the chart.
November 2, 2008
NCAA Division I-A/ Football Bowl Subdivision, the SEC: Attendance map (2007 figures) and Team Profiles.
I have decided to re-visit the College Football Conference Maps that I made last November and December. I have begun with the SEC, or Southeastern Conference, the home of the National Champions: the LSU Tigers.
Southeast Conference /Football site, with standings {Click here}.
BCS Standings and AP Poll (ESPN site) {Click here}.
Here is the list of SEC Conference Champions {Click here}.
At the top right of each team’s box, I listed pertinent information from last season, including final rankings and bowl outcomes (if applicable). At the top left of each team’s box, there is each team’s helmet logo (or in the case of Alabama, the typeface of the number on the helmet). Below that is a potted history of each school’s football program, starting with the school’s name, their current head coach, the date of the school’s establishment, and the school’s current enrollment. Then there are listed a few dates that were high points of the school’s football program. The final line lists Conference Titles (Southwest Conference Titles are listed for Arkansas; ACC Titles are listed for South Carolina…these two schools joined the SEC in 1992). Finally, in the bottom right hand side of each box, there are 2 or 3 throwback and/or alternate logos, or old football helmets, with dates.
In the map section, just below the 2007 attendance figures, is the list of SEC Titles, by team. I have made the list of Conference Titles only SEC-specific, as opposed to last year, when I included titles from the earlier conferences that these teams were in (that nobody really cares about). Those conferences were the Southern Intercollegiate Association (circa 1895-1921), and the old Southern Conference (circa 1922-1932). The SEC was formed in 1932, when 13 members of the Southern Conference, who were all located west and south of the Appalachian Mountains, left to form their own conference. The first season of SEC football was in 1933.
10 of those original 13 SEC teams are still in the conference. The schools that have since left are: Tulane (now in Conference USA), Georgia Tech (now in the ACC), and Suwanee (now in Division III). As mentioned above, in 1991, the SEC added 2 members, Arkansas and South Carolina, who both began play in 1992. Also in 1992, the SEC began the two-division set-up, which includes the SEC Championship Game {see this}. This conference championship game was the first of it’s kind in the American college football scene; since then, several other conferences have followed suit. Division I Conferences that now have a playoff final are: The Big 12, the ACC, the Big East, Conference USA, and the MAC. The SEC is the only college football conference with it’s own television contract, with CBS, and it has the most lucrative deal {see this}.
Here is a nice site I just came across, which has a page with 17 of the largest stadiums in college football; included are these SEC teams’ stadia: Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama {Click here (the College Football By Charlie site) }.
Finally, as any regular viewer of this site knows, I am a fool for old and obscure logos and uniforms. Here are some nice old helmets of SEC teams, from the cool site Helmet Hut…Click on the following names (and then click on the date under each helmet): Alabama. Arkansas. Auburn. Florida. Georgia. LSU. Ole Miss. South Carolina. Tennessee. Helmet Hut rules.
Thanks to the nameless contibutors to the SEC conference and SEC football teams’ pages on Wikipedia {Click here}. Thanks to the Helmet Hut site {Click here}. Thanks to the NationalChamps.net site, and it’s all-time database section {Click here}. Thanks to the CBS Sports /College Football site {Click here}.
Thanks to The Helmet Project site {Click here}.
October 30, 2008
Greece: Super League, clubs in the 2008-09 Season.
…
…
Greek football turned professional after the 1958-59 season of the Panhellenic Championship. From 1959 to 2005, the Alpha Ethniki was the first division in Greece. In 2006, this competition was replaced by the Greek Super League. For the professional era, Olympiacos has the most titles, 26, including the last 4 championships. Panathinaikos has the second most, 16 (the last in 2004); AEK Athens is third with 9 (but none since 1994). These three clubs, all from Greater Athens, comprise the big 3 in Greece. AEK and Pana are both from Athens proper; Olympiacos are from the port city of Piraeus, just west of Athens.
The Olympiacos v. Panathinaikos derby is the biggest in the country. Here is an article on the rivalry, from the Bleacher Report site {Click here}. On 9th November, Panthinaikos hosts Olympiacos. For the Greek Super League table and all matches, {Click here (SoccerStats site) }.
There are only two other clubs who have won a pro title in Greece. They are PAOK Thessaloniki, who have been champions twice (last in 1985); and Larisssa (champs once, in 1988). PAOK Thessaloniki are from Salonika, Greece’s second largest city. Larissa hail from the region of Thessaly, in central Greece.
To see a map of the regions of Greece, {Click here}. Here is a list of clubs in the league this season, by region {Click here}.
Greece’s domestic league is currently ranked #14 by UEFA for competition in Europe {see this}.
Currently playing in Europe. In the Champions League, Panathinaikos, in Group B. {See this, from Wikipedia…the page has been updated to include breakdowns of the scenarios of all the games on Matchday 4, which is to be played on 4th and 5th November).
In the UEFA Cup Group Stage, the only Greek team competing this season is Olympiacos {see this}. [In the 07/08 UEFA Cup Group Stage, there were 5 clubs from Greece...Panathinaikos, AEK Athens, Aris Thessalonika, Larissa, and Panionios.]
Thanks to the EFS site, for the attendance figures {Click here}.
October 27, 2008
NCAA Division I Football: Map- The 58 highest drawing teams (2007 attendance figures).
…
My last college football map featured the 44th-highest drawing teams (from 2007 attendance figures). I was able to get up to 58 teams for this one…so this map shows all NCAA Division I teams that drew over 40,000 per game in 2007.
[I can tell I am really pushing the limit on memory in the drawing program, because it took a long time to download the map, when I inserted it into this post. Plus, the whole configuration prevents the addition of any more teams...it would just become too crowded and hard to see each team. So I will put this type of map aside now, and return to posts featuring maps of NCAA Division I football Conferences (like I made last November and December). I will start with the SEC, next week.]
This map finally includes the teams that comprise pretty much all of the biggest rivalries in college football. This can be seen with the inclusion of teams like Oregon State (v. Oregon), Oklahoma State (v. Oklahoma), Iowa State (v. Iowa), Utah (v. BYU), Kansas and Kansas State, and Mississsippi and Mississippi State. Also, finally, there are actually some teams from the northeast…Rutgers and Boston College. The team closest to my hometown (of Rochester, NY), Syracuse, did not make the cut. Their program is really in the doldrums, with their head coach set for the axe, and they only drew 35,009 last season (62nd highest).
On the map, I wish I could have shown teams that have become recently successful, like Boise State and TCU, or that are high-flying upstarts like Ball State. But all these teams’ average gates fell short of 40,000, although Boise plays to capacity.
Boise State’s stadium only holds 30,000, and they played to 101% capacity last season. The Broncos are currently ranked #11; they were the 69th highest-drawing team last season, at 30,338 per game.
TCU, Texas Christian University, drew 30,018 per game in ’07 (68% capacity), the 77th highest. The Horned Frogs are currently ranked #12.
Ball State, of Muncie, Indiana, is most famous, it seems, for being David Letterman’s alma mater. In the first week of October, the Cardinals, powered by their potent offense, made it to the AP Poll for the first time ever, at #25. They currently are #18, and remain undefeated. Ball State averaged only 13,085 per game last season (115th in Division I, and I bet there were a few lower division teams that outdrew that figure).
Tulsa is a school better known for it’s very competitive basketball program. The Golden Hurricanes football team (currently ranked #19) drew 24,539 last season, at 69% capacity and the 86th highest in Division I.
So that’s all the teams in the current AP top 25 Poll {Click here} that didn’t make the map. For the record, the teams that just missed the map, drawing between 39,881 and 38,068 in 2007 were: Louisville, Stanford, Connecticut, and Air Force Academy.
2007 Division I attendance figures {Click here}.
October 22, 2008
2008 Baseball World Series, Tampa Bay Rays: Team Roster, with Birthplaces and Home Towns Listed.
…
…
The map features the full 25-man Tampa Bay Rays World Series roster. The locations on the map are for where each Tampa Bay Rays player (and their manager) went to high school. Instead of making this map one that records birthplaces, I tried to make it better reflect where each player grew up (ie, their home town).
Here are the 5 longest serving players on the Devil Rays/ Rays…1. Carl Crawford, OF (since July 20, 2002). 2. Rocco Baldelli, OF (since March 31, 2003). 3. B.J. Upton, OF (since August 2, 2004). 4. Scott Kazmir, P (since Aug. 23, 2004). 5. Edwin Jackson, OF (since April 22, 2006).
As with the Phillies current roster, the Rays have 2 players who went to high school in the same town. Rocco Baldelli and bullpen pitcher Dan Wheeler both attended schools in Warwick, Rhode Island. Two Latin American players now on the Rays were signed in their teens by MLB clubs. Venezuelan catcher (and All-Star) Dioner Navarro was signed by the New York Yankees when he was 16. Dominican outfielder Willy Aybar was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers when he was 17. And there is one Ray, back-up catcher Michel Hernandez, who fled Cuba when his ball club, Havana Industrial, was playing in Mexico, in 1996. 18 years old at the time, Hernandez sought and received asylum in Venezuela, where he still lives.
Tampa Bay Rays’ regular season statistics {Click here}.
Philadelphia Phillies’ regular season statistics {Click here}.
Here is a nice feature on the MLB site that ties in with the two roster/hometowns maps I posted today: {Click here for mlb.com’s Pennant Traces}.
___
Thanks to the contributors to the Tampa Bay Rays pages on Wikipedia {Click here}. Thanks to Baseball Cube {Click here}.
