Joey Votto

Joseph Daniel "Joey" Votto (born September 10, 1983 in Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian Major League Baseball player for the Cincinnati Reds. He plays first base.

First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team. A first baseman is the player on the team playing defense who fields the area nearest first base, and is responsible for the majority of plays made at that base. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the first baseman is assigned the number 3.

Also called 1b, first base, first sacker or cornerman, the first baseman is ideally a tall player with good flexibility and quick reflexes. Flexibility is needed because the first baseman receives throws from the other infielders, the catcher and the pitcher after they have fielded ground balls. In order for the runner to be called out, the first baseman must be able to stretch towards the throw and catch it before the runner reaches first base. First base is often referred to as "the other hot corner" — the "hot corner" being third base — and therefore, like the third baseman, he must have quick reflexes to field the hardest hit balls down the foul line, mainly by left-handed pull hitters and good right-handed hitters that possess the ability to hit to the opposite field. Such prominent examples of first-basemen include: Lou Gehrig, Jeff Bagwell, Albert Pujols, Hank Greenberg, Tony Pérez, Andres Galarraga, Keith Hernandez, and Don Mattingly.

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the Central Division of the National League.

The franchise originated in 1882 as a charter member of a defunct 19th century Major League, the American Association. The name "Reds" evolved from their original name, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball's first professional baseball team. The Reds then joined the National League in 1890.

The Reds have enjoyed sporadic success over their 125-plus years. They won the AA's inaugural season in 1882, and did not win another championship until the Black Sox scandal ridden World Series of 1919. After struggling in the 1920s (starting in 1927) and 1930s, the Reds made it back to the World Series in 1939, and won it in 1940. They returned to the bottom half of the standings from 1941-1960, except for a third-place finish in 1956, until winning the National League pennant in 1961. After losing to the Yankees in the 1961 World Series, the Reds were unable to piece together any consistent pennant contending teams until the "Big Red Machine" teams of the 1970s. They won 6 National League West Division titles and four National League pennants from 1970-1979, including consecutive World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. Their most recent World Series championship was in 1990, and most recent playoff appearance was in 1995.

Since 2003, the Reds have played their home games in Great American Ball Park, a baseball-only facility built next door to their previous home, Riverfront Stadium, which has since been demolished. The Reds field manager is Dusty Baker, their general manager is Walt Jocketty, and their majority owner is Bob Castellini. The Reds also have a tradition, whereby the team always start each regular season at home.[http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nl/cincyreds/reds.html]

In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning National League Champions are the Philadelphia Phillies.

Prior to 1969, the National League champion (the "pennant winner") was determined by the best win-loss record at the end of the regular season. There were four ad hoc three-game playoff series due to ties under this formulation (in 1946, 1951, 1959 and 1962), as also happened once (1948) in the American League (the AL, however, used a single-game playoff).

A structured postseason series began in 1969, when both the National and American Leagues were reorganized into two divisions each, East and West. The two division winners within each league played each other in a best-of-five series to determine who would advance to the World Series. In 1985, the format changed to best-of-seven.

The NLCS and ALCS, since the expansion to best-of-seven, are always played in a 2-3-2 format: Since 1995, games 1, 2, 6 and 7 are played in the stadium of the team that has home field advantage, and Games 3, 4 and 5 are played in the stadium of the team that does not. Home field advantage is given to the team that has the better record, with the exception that the team that made the postseason as the Wild Card team cannot get home field advantage. From 1969 to 1993, home field advantage was alternated between divisions each year regardless of regular season record.

In 1981, a divisional series was held due to a split season caused by a players' strike.

In 1994, the league was restructured into three divisions, with the three division winners and a wild-card team advancing to a best-of-five postseason round, the National League Division Series (NLDS). The winners of that round advance to the best-of-seven NLCS. The NLDS was first played in 1995 due to the cancellation of the 1994 postseason during another players' strike.

The Milwaukee Brewers are the only National League team to have not played in the NLCS. However, the Brewers, as an American League team from 1969 through 1997, played in and won the 1982 American League Championship Series.

Category: File - :2004 WorldSeries Trophy.jpg|thumb|The Commissioner's Trophy from the Boston Red Sox's 2004 World Series win

The World Series has been the annual championship series of the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada since 1903, concluding the postseason of Major League Baseball. Since the Series takes place in October, sportswriters many years ago dubbed the event the Fall Classic; it is also sometimes known as the October Classic or simply The Series. It is played between the League Championship Series winning clubs from MLB's two circuits, the American and National Leagues. The World Series has been played every year since 1903 with the exception of 1904 (boycott) and 1994 (player strike). Though professional baseball has employed various championship formulas since the 1860s, the term "World Series" is usually understood to refer exclusively to the modern World Series.

Although the name "World series" might imply an international competition, no international federation has ever sanctioned the series as a world championship event. Nevertheless, as only a handful of countries have national baseball leagues and, historically, the best baseball players generally play for MLB teams, the winners of the World Series are sometimes informally referred to as "world champions" by fans, players, executives, and the media within the United States and Canada.

The World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff except for 1903, 1919, 1920, and 1921, when the winner was determined through a best-of-nine playoff. The winning team is awarded the Commissioner's Trophy and the team presents its players and executives individual World Series championship rings. The Series-winning club also receives a larger proportion of the gate receipts from the series.

The New York Yankees of the American League have played in 40 of the 105 World Series and have won 27 World Series championships, most of any Major League franchise. From the National League, the Dodgers have participated the most in the Series with 18 appearances (9 each in Brooklyn and Los Angeles), and have won the Series 6 times (once as Brooklyn, five times as Los Angeles). The St. Louis Cardinals have represented the National League 17 times and have won 10 championships, which is the second most of any Major League Team.World Series by franchise Presently, the Chicago Cubs have played the most seasons without winning the World Series, with their last championship coming in 1908.List of World Series at Baseball Reference