The MLB is known to be America’s past time. the MLB was founded in 1869 and the first professional team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The current MLB League has 30 teams for all across the United States. Some of the more recognizable team names around the world include the New York Yankees, Boston Red socks, and the Chicago Cubs. Baseball is a popular sport around the world for all ages, especially in the Dominican republic where a lot of professional players have come from.
The MLB attracts many different kinds of athletes every year. The sport is different than most other professional sports, in the American league, they have a position where the players only job is go and bat. It could be compared to kickers, and punters in the NFL, but the athlete profile between the two different sports couldn’t be more different. The NFL kickers and punters are often the smallest guys on the field while the DH (designated hitter) is often the biggest guy on the field.
Some of the most influential players in the history of the MLB have been the designated hitters. One of the more recent designated hitters to retire was David Ortiz or better know as Big Papi by most people. He helped transform the MLB and the position DH into what it is now. He is the definition of a home run machine. Throughout his 20 seasons, Ortiz hit 30 or more home runs 10 plus times. But he didn’t just hit home runs, he was a 10 time All-star and a 6 time Silver Slugger award winner. In 2013 he also won the World Series MVP award.
Most professional athletes just focus on the one sport that they play, but baseball is a little different. Over the years there have been some iconic football players that have also played baseball. Coming out of college, Bo Jackson was a stud football player for the Auburn tigers before he got drafted to the NFL and played for the Raiders. He also played for the Kansas City Royals. Bo was an incredible athlete and drew the eyes of everyone in the crowd on both the football and baseball fields.
In the past recent years, the MLB has been known for teams that hand out huge long term contracts. The most recent long term contract is manny machado’s contract with the San Diego Padres. Machado signed a 10 year $300 million contract which is the richest contract in sports history. This is just the first big signing of this off season. Bryce Harper is still unsigned and is expected to get an even bigger contract than Machado did. The MLB is the place to go if someone if looking for a major long term contract.
Wyatt's World Blog 