Baltimore Orioles

Wade Daniel Townsend is a Minor League Baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He was the Tampa Bay Rays' first-round draft pick out of Rice University in 2005, signing for a $1.5 million bonus. Townsend was initially drafted by the Baltimore Orioles with the eighth pick of the 2004 Draft,... but he returned to Rice to finish his degree and was ruled ineligible to continue negotiation with the Orioles. In college, Townsend spent his first season as a reliever for Rice, which went to the College World Series and finished second in the nation in ERA. Townsend was 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA and six saves as a freshman, recording 51 strikeouts, 22 walks, and 10 wild pitches in 51.1 innings. As a sophomore in 2003, he struggled with his control in his first appearance but came into his own as a weekday starter, pitching Rice's non-conference games against rival Houston and Big 12 opponents. He finished the season 11-2 with a 2.20 ERA, beating defending national champion Texas twice, including once in the CWS, Houston three times, and single wins over Nebraska, Baylor, and Texas A&M.
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Wade Daniel Townsend is a Minor League Baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He was the Tampa Bay Rays' first-round draft pick out of Rice University in 2005, signing for a $1.5 million bonus. Townsend was initially drafted by the Baltimore Orioles with the eighth pick of the 2004 Draft,... but he returned to Rice to finish his degree and was ruled ineligible to continue negotiation with the Orioles. In college, Townsend spent his first season as a reliever for Rice, which went to the College World Series and finished second in the nation in ERA. Townsend was 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA and six saves as a freshman, recording 51 strikeouts, 22 walks, and 10 wild pitches in 51.1 innings. As a sophomore in 2003, he struggled with his control in his first appearance but came into his own as a weekday starter, pitching Rice's non-conference games against rival Houston and Big 12 opponents. He finished the season 11-2 with a 2.20 ERA, beating defending national champion Texas twice, including once in the CWS, Houston three times, and single wins over Nebraska, Baylor, and Texas A&M.
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The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's... American League. Since their inception in 1998, the club has played at Tropicana Field. Having finished in last place in nine of their first ten seasons, the Rays' first season with a winning record was 2008, when they won their first division title and proceeded to win the pennant. Since 2007, the Rays have had four straight winning seasons and three playoff appearances, including two AL East championships. In November 2007, majority owner Stuart Sternberg made significant changes to his franchise's image, changing the club's name from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the "Tampa Bay Rays", which he described as "a beacon that radiates throughout Tampa Bay and across the entire state of Florida." The teams' primary colors, formerly black, green, and blue, were changed to navy blue, Columbia blue, and gold, and the team's symbol was changed from a devil ray to a ray of sunlight. The devil ray symbol, however, is still used on the sleeve of their jerseys, and there is still a tank of cownose rays in the outfield.
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The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of... Major League Baseball 's American League . The "Blue Jays" name originates from the bird of the same name, and the fact that blue is the traditional colour of Toronto's other professional sports teams, the Maple Leafs and the Argonauts. Nicknamed "the Jays", the team's official colours are royal blue, navy blue, white, and red. An expansion franchise, the club was founded in Toronto in 1977, initially owned by the Labatt Brewing Company. Originally based at Exhibition Stadium, the team began playing its home games at the SkyDome, upon completion of its construction in 1989. Since 2000, the Blue Jays have been owned by Rogers Communications, and in 2004, the SkyDome was purchased by that company, which renamed the venue to Rogers Centre. They are the second MLB team to be based outside the United States, and currently the only team outside the U.S. after fellow Canadian franchise, the Montreal Expos, relocated to Washington, D.C. after the 2004 season .
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The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was... founded in Detroit in 1894 as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant 10 times . The team currently plays their home games at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit. The Tigers constructed Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue and began playing there in 1896. In 1912, the team moved into Navin Field, which was built on the same location. It was expanded in 1938 and renamed Briggs Stadium. It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961 and the Tigers played there until moving to Comerica Park in 2000. The club is a charter member of the American League, one of four clubs still located in its original city. Detroit is also the only member of the Western League, the AL's minor league predecessor, that remains in its original city under its original name.
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The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in 1977, the Mariners are a member of the Western... Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July 1999. From their 1977 inception until June 1999, the club's home park was the Kingdome. The "Mariners" name originates from the prominence of marine culture in the city of Seattle. They are nicknamed "the M's", a title featured in their primary logo from 1987–1992. The current team colors are Navy Blue, Northwest Green , and Metallic Silver, after having been Royal Blue and Gold from 1977–1992. Their mascot is the Mariner Moose. The organization did not field a winning team until 1991, and any real success eluded them until 1995 when they won their first division championship and defeated the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. The game-winning hit in Game 5, in which Edgar Martinez drove home Ken Griffey, Jr. to win the game in the 11th inning, clinched a series win for the Mariners, and has since become an iconic moment in team history.
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The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the... Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since 1994, the Rangers have played in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in Arlington, Texas. The team's name is borrowed from the famous law enforcement agency of the same name. The franchise began in 1961 as the Washington Senators, an expansion team awarded to Washington, D.C., after the city's first ballclub, the original Washington Senators, moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. After the 1971 season, the new Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, and debuted as the Rangers the following spring. The Texas Rangers Baseball Club has made five appearances in the MLB postseason, all following division championships, in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2010, and 2011. In 2010, the Rangers advanced past the Division Series for the first time, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. Texas then brought home their first American League Pennant after beating the New York Yankees in six games.
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