query: occupation eric munson
supports: The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major league status. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season, 25 years after the formation of the National League (the "Senior Circuit"). A tournament held in 1933 at the Chicago World's Fair spurred interest in the game. The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America (founded 1933) governs the game in the United States and sponsors annual sectional and World Series championships. The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) regulates rules of play in more than 110 countries, including the United States and Canada; before the WBSC was formed in 2013, the International Softball Federation filled this role. Women's fastpitch softball became a Summer Olympic sport in 1996, but it (and baseball) were dropped from the 2012 Games; they will be reinstated for the 2020 Games. Eric Walter Munson ( born October 3 , 1977 in San Diego ) is a former Major League Baseball catcher who currently plays for the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball . He was the third overall pick in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft by the Detroit Tigers , behind Josh Hamilton and Josh Beckett . He is of no relation to former major league catcher Thurman Munson . The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor league affiliate teams when other teams would be willing to have them play in the majors. The Rule 5 draft is named for its place in Major League Rules. (It is sometimes mistakenly referenced with a Roman numeral.) The June Rule 4 draft, known as simply "the draft", "amateur draft", or "first year player draft", is a distinctly different process in which teams select high school and college players. Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947  August 2, 1979) was an American Major League Baseball catcher. He played his entire 11-year professional baseball career for the New York Yankees (19691979). A perennial All-Star, Munson is the only Yankee to win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. They were a charter member of the American Association in 1882 and joined the NL in 1890. At the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading the league in a particular category is referred to as a "title". Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players each, who take turns batting and fielding. The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in . They are the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the AL. The Tigers have won four World Series championships (1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984), 11 AL pennants (1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2006, and 2012), and four AL Central division championships (2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014). The Tigers also won division titles in 1972, 1984 and 1987 while members of the AL East. The team currently plays its home games at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit. The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. The Red Sox have won eight World Series championships and have played in 13. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox' home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox" name was chosen by the team owner, John I. Taylor, around , following the lead of previous teams that had been known as the "Boston Red Stockings", including the forerunner of the Atlanta Braves. The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the team moved to Los Angeles before the 1958 season. They played for four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving to their current home of Dodger Stadium in . José Antonio Bautista Santos (born October 19, 1980) is a Dominican professional baseball right fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates. His professional career began when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the 20th round of the 2000 first year player draft. In 2010, Bautista became the 26th member of the 50 home run club while leading the major leagues in home runs for the first of two consecutive seasons, and, from 201015, has hit more home runs than any player in the major leagues. An MLB All-Star selection six consecutive times, he has won three Silver Slugger Awards and two Hank Aaron Awards. In addition, he has received the American League Player of the Month Award five times and the Player of the Week four times. Before being traded to the Blue Jays, Bautista primarily played third base. The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League (AL) champion team and the National League (NL) champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner's Trophy. As the series is played in October (and occasionally November), during the autumn season in North America, it is often referred to as the Fall Classic. The 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1999. A total of 1474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. Joshua Patrick Beckett (born May 15, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. A three-time Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star, he played for the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important defensive player, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and closer. Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Texas Rangers organization. He previously played for the Cincinnati Reds (2007) and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (20132014). Hamilton is a five-time MLB All-Star and won the American League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2010. 
  He was the first overall pick in the 1999 MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He was considered a blue chip prospect until injuries and a drug addiction derailed his career, beginning in 2001. Prior to the 2007 season, Hamilton was selected by the Chicago Cubs (picking for the Reds) in the Rule 5 draft. During the off-season he was traded to the Rangers.
  During the 2008 season, Hamilton was named to the AL All-Star team. He also participated in the Home Run Derby, where he hit a record 28 home runs in the opening round and finished with 35 home runs, which was second-most all-time in derby history. He made the All-Star team the next four seasons as well. In 2012, Hamilton received more votes than any other player on the All-Star Game ballot, besting by approximately 3.5 million votes the vote count set in 2011 by José Bautista. Hamilton won the AL batting title in 2010. On October 22, 2010, Hamilton was selected as MVP of the 2010 ALCS. On November 23, 2010, Hamilton was named the 2010 AL MVP, earning 22 of 28 first-place votes. On May 8, 2012, Hamilton became the 16th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game. All 4 home runs were 2-run home runs, and he set an AL record for total bases in a game with 18. The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike. The wicket-keeper is the only member of the fielding side permitted to wear gloves and external leg guards. The wicket-keeper may also wear a helmet with a mesh face guard to help protect from injury. Comerica Park is an open-air ballpark located in Downtown Detroit. It serves as the home of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball, replacing Tiger Stadium in 2000. Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his/her turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket. In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR, also "homer", "dinger", "dong", "bomb", "blast", "goner" , "shot", or "four-bagger") is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home 
  safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process. In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles (or making contact with either foul pole) without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is also the "inside-the-park" home run, increasingly rare in modern baseball, where the batter reaches home safely while the baseball is in play on the field. When a home run is scored, the batter is also credited with a hit and a run scored, and an RBI for each runner that scores, including himself. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit, and a run for each runner that scores including the batter. Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Detroit is the major city in the larger Metro Detroit region. Downtown Detroit is bordered by M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to the west, Interstate 75 (I-75, Fisher Freeway) to the north, I-375 (Chrysler Freeway) to the east, and the Detroit River to the south. The city's main thoroughfare M-1 (Woodward Avenue) links Downtown to Midtown, New Center, and the North End. The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division, where they are the defending World Series champions. The team plays its home games at Wrigley Field, located on the city's North Side. The Cubs are one of two major league teams in Chicago; the other, the Chicago White Sox, is a member of the American League (AL) Central division. The team, first known as the White Stockings, was a founding member of the NL in 1876, becoming the Chicago Cubs in 1903. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are an American professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The Angels have played home games at Angel Stadium of Anaheim since 1966. The "Angels" name was continued by team owner Gene Autry out of tribute for the Los Angeles Angels, a Minor League franchise in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), which played in South Central Los Angeles from 1903 to 1957. The current Major League franchise was established as an expansion team in 1961 by Autry, the team's first owner, who bought the rights to the Angels name from Walter O'Malley, the former Los Angeles Dodgers owner, who acquired the PCL franchise from Philip K. Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs at the time. The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. The Yankees are one of two Major League clubs based in New York City; the other is the New York Mets. The club began play in the AL in the season as the Baltimore Orioles (not to be confused with the modern Baltimore Orioles.) Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchased the franchise (which had ceased operations) and moved it to New York City, renaming the club as the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders were officially renamed as the "Yankees" in .
candidates: baseball player count fence game general major master member prior relief pitcher runner softball player
answer: baseball player