William Lee Gullickson (born February 20, 1959 in Marshall, Minnesota) is a former major league baseball pitcher who played for six different major-league teams, in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, during an 18-year professional career, of which 14 seasons were spent in MLB.

MLB career (1979–1987)[link]

Gullickson was selected in the June 1977 Major League Baseball Draft by the Montreal Expos, the second player to be drafted. He finished second behind Steve Howe in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 1980, after a season in which he went 10–5 with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.00, and set a major-league record for most strikeouts in a game by a rookie, with 18. Gullickson held that record for 18 years, until Kerry Wood broke it with 20 strikeouts in 1998. Gullickson currently holds the Montreal Expos-Washington Nationals all-time strikeout record for a single game with 18 strikeouts.

In 1981, he helped the Expos to their only division title with a 7–9, 2.81 record. The Expos lost the National League Championship Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games; the Dodgers went on to defeat the New York Yankees for the 1981 World Series title in six games. Except for the 1981 strike season, Gullickson was in double figures in wins for every year onward.

On December 12, 1985, Gullickson was acquired by the Reds, along with catcher Sal Butera; the Reds sent pitchers Andy McGaffigan and John Stuper and catcher Dann Bilardello to the Expos. The next year Gullickson was acquired by the New York Yankees for their 1987 pennant drive, but he was unhappy there, and in 1988 accepted a two-million-dollar offer to pitch in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants.

NPB career (1988–1989)[link]

Gullickson stayed with the Giants for two seasons, with a record of 21–14. Kazushige Nagashima, the son of Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima, got the first hit in his professional career, a home run, off Gullickson. When asked about his time in Japan, Gullickson said it was strange; the only English words that he saw were "Sony and Mitsubishi."^{[citation needed]}

Overcomes diabetes to excel[link]

Although only in Japan for a short time, Gullickson left behind a positive legacy. When he was in Japan, it was considered a miracle that Gullickson, a patient of type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, played a professional sport. Since 1998, the Japan Diabetes Mellitus Society (JADMC) has placed the "Gullickson Award" for the patient who is deemed a superior influence on society.

While in Japan, Gullickson had also developed a close friendship with a young Japanese pitcher, Masumi Kuwata, and even named his son "Craig Kuwata Gullickson" in his honor. On the flip side, Kuwata learned many things from Gullickson, and grew to be one of the best players in Japan. Meanwhile, Kuwata had always wished to play in MLB, and at last, this dream was realized in 2007, as he became a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nearly 20 years after meeting Gullickson, Kuwata became an MLB rookie, at the age of 39.

At the age of 12, Sam Fuld, an aspiring baseball player who also had diabetes, met Gullickson, and talked to him for two minutes. "That was enough to inspire me," Fuld said.^[1] "Any time I can talk to young diabetic kids, I look forward to that opportunity," said Gullickson.^[2] Fuld is now a major league outfielder with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Back to MLB (1990–1994)[link]

Gullickson signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros after the 1989 season, and had a mediocre 1990 season before being released. He then signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Detroit Tigers, with whom he pitched for four seasons. While with the Tigers he met a young boy, who was then 12, who also had diabetes, and talked to him for two minutes. It was future major leaguer Sam Fuld, who battled to make the Cubs' 2008 team. "That was enough to inspire me," Fuld said. "Any time I can talk to young diabetic kids, I look forward to that opportunity."^[3]

In 1991 Gullickson led the American League in wins, with 20, his career high, but in 1994 was forced to retire due to injuries, at age 35.

Family[link]

Gullickson is married to Sandy Gullickson. Their six children are all involved in sports or other physically intensive endeavors:

• Cassie Gullickson is on the track and field team at the University of Notre Dame.^[4]
• Carly Gullickson, is a professional tennis player, whose highest world ranking in singles is 123 and in doubles 52.^[5]
• Chelsey Gullickson ^[6] won the 2010 NCAA Division I women's singles tennis championship for the University of Georgia.^[7]
• Craig Gullickson was a standout pitcher at Cardinal Newman High School, where he was one of the best pitchers in the state of Florida. He received a scholarship to play for Clemson University after his performance in the High School All Star Game.^[8]
• Callie Gullickson is a dancer.^[9]
• Chloe Gullickson is also a tennis player.^[9]

See also[link]

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• List of pitchers who have struck out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning MLB game

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

Charles William Lea (December 25, 1956 – November 11, 2011) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1980 through 1988, Lea played for the Montreal Expos (1980–84, 1987) and Minnesota Twins (1988). He batted and threw right-handed.

Lea was drafted three times, by the Mets (1975), Cardinals (1976) and White Sox (1977), but did not sign and decided to go on to Memphis State University. Finally, he signed with the Montreal Expos after being selected in the 1978 draft.

Lea played for the Double-A Memphis Chicks in the Southern League from 1978–80 and was selected an All-Star in 1979 and 1980. After a 9-0 mark and a 0.84 ERA in his last season at Memphis, Lea was called to the majors and debuted with the Expos in the 1980 midseason. He finished his rookie season with a 7-5 record.

In the strike-shortened 1981 season, Lea won five games, including a no-hitter against the Giants on May 10.^[1] He was only one of three Expos to throw a no-hitter, the others being Bill Stoneman, twice, in 1969 and 1972, and Dennis Martínez, who pitched a perfect game in 1991.

In 1982, Lea finished with a 12-10 mark and a 3.24 ERA. His most productive season came in 1983, when he collected career-highs in victories (16), strikeouts (137), and starts (33), posting a 3.12 ERA. Then, in 1984 Lea was 15-10, set personal marks in ERA (2.89) and innings pitched (224.1), and was selected as a National League All-Star where he was the starting and winning pitcher in the All-Star game.

Lea suffered arm and shoulder injuries and could not pitch at all in 1985 and 1986. He spent most of 1987 rehabilitating in the minor leagues and appeared in one inning for the Expos. A free agent before the 1988 season, he signed with the Minnesota Twins, finishing 7-7 with a 4.85 ERA.

In a seven-season career, Lea posted a 62-48 record with 535 strikeouts and a 3,54 ERA in 923.1 innings. He added 22 complete games and eight shutouts in 152 games pitched (144 as a starter).

Lea was inducted to the Tennessee Sports of Hall of Fame in 1999.^[2]

Lea died on November 11, 2011.^[3]

See also[link]

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

References[link]

External links[link]

• Baseball Library
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2012)

Tracy Donald Jones (born March 31, 1961 in Hawthorne, California), is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues from 1986 to 1991. Jones was drafted by the New York Mets in the 4th round of the 1982 amateur draft, but did not sign. In January 1983 Jones was selected as the first overall pick of the secondary phase of the amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds. Jones debuted with the Reds in 1986 and in 1987, he played in 116 games, batted .290, and stole 31 bases. In 1988, Jones was traded with Pat Pacillo to the Montreal Expos for Jeff Reed, Herm Winningham, and Randy St. Claire.^[2] Jones would later be traded to the Giants, the Mariners, and eventually the Tigers where he played his final game on October 6, 1991.

Jones also hosts a couple of radio shows.^[3] He is known for his brash personality and overstating his importance as a professional baseball player.^{[citation needed]}

Jones' son, Hunter, was drafted in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB first year player draft by the Cleveland Indians.^[4]

Batting Stats[link]

• 493 Games
• 356 Hits
• 27 Home Runs
• 164 RBIs
• 62 Stolen Bases
• .273 Batting Average

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Baseball Almanac

Carly Gullickson

Country	United States
Residence	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA
Born	(1986-11-26) November 26, 1986 (age 25) Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	65.8 kg (145 lb; 10.36 st)
Turned pro	2003
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US$509,238
Singles
Career record	185-143
Career titles	2 (ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 123 (July 20, 2009)
Current ranking	No. 277 (August 30, 2010)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	Q2 (2009)[1]
French Open	1R (2009)
Wimbledon	1R (2003)
US Open	1R (2003, 2005, 2009)
Doubles
Career record	148-84
Career titles	2 (WTA) & 18 (ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 52 (April 3, 2006)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2010)
French Open	2R (2009)
Wimbledon	2R (2006 & 2008)
US Open	3R (2009)[2]
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	1
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
US Open	W (2009)
Last updated on: June 21, 2010.

Carly Gullickson (born November 26, 1986, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking is No. 123, which she reached on July 20, 2009. Her career high doubles ranking is No. 52, set at April 3, 2006. She is the daughter of former major league baseball player Bill Gullickson, and the older sister of tennis player Chelsey Gullickson. She won the 2009 U.S. Open mixed doubles event, partnering with Travis Parrott.

Grand Slam Finals[link]

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1-0)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2009	US Open	Hard	Travis Parrott	Cara Black Leander Paes	6–2, 6-4

WTA doubles winner (2)[link]

• 2006 – Tier III Quebec City, Canada w/( Laura Granville)
• 2004 – Tier III Quebec City, Canada w/( María Emilia Salerni)

ITF singles winner (2)[link]

• 2008 – $25k Hammond, USA ^[3]
• 2005 – $50k Charlottesville, USA

ITF doubles winner (18)[link]

• 2010 – $50k Charlottesville, USA w/( Julie Ditty)
• 2009 – $25k Hamanako, JPN w/( Nicole Kriz)
• 2009 – $50k Charlottesville, USA w/( Nicole Kriz)
• 2009 – $75k Dothan, USA w/( Julie Ditty)
• 2008 – $50k Lawrenceville, USA w/( Julie Ditty)
• 2008 – $75k Albuquerque, USA w/( Julie Ditty)
• 2008 – $50k Vancouver, Canada w/( Nicole Kriz)
• 2008 – $50k Allentown, USA w/( Nicole Kriz)
• 2008 – $25k La Quinta, USA w/( Shenay Perry)
• 2008 – $25k Surprise, USA w/( Shenay Perry)
• 2007 – $25k Pelham, USA w/( Nicole Kriz)
• 2006 – $50k San Francisco, USA w/( Laura Granville)
• 2006 – $25k Allentown, USA w/( Tetiana Luzhanska)
• 2005 – $75k Pittsburgh, USA w/( Teryn Ashley)
• 2005 – $50k Los Gatos, USA w/( Teryn Ashley)
• 2005 – $75k Dothan, USA w/( Galina Voskoboeva)
• 2005 – $50k Orange, USA w/( Jennifer Hopkins)
• 2004 – $75k Albuquerque, USA w/( Maureen Drake)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Carly Gullickson at the Women's Tennis Association
• Carly Gullickson at the International Tennis Federation

Rube Goldberg
Born	Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (1883-07-04)July 4, 1883 San Francisco, California, United States
Died	December 7, 1970(1970-12-07) (aged 87)
Resting place	Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York
Occupation	Engineer, Sculptor, News Reporter, Cartoonist
Known for	Rube Goldberg machines

Reuben Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970) was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.

He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to those drawn by W. Heath Robinson in the UK and Storm P in Denmark^{[citation needed]}. Goldberg received many honors in his lifetime, including a Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning in 1948 and the Banshees' Silver Lady Award 1959.^[1]

Goldberg was a founding member and the first president of the National Cartoonists Society,^[2] and he is the namesake of the Reuben Award, which the organization awards to the Cartoonist of the Year. He is the inspiration for various international competitions, known as Rube Goldberg Machine Contests, which challenge participants to make a complex machine to perform a simple task.

Life[link]

Goldberg was born July 4, 1883, in San Francisco, California, to Jewish parents Max and Hannah Goldberg. He was the second of four children (older brother Garrett, younger brother Walter, and younger sister Lillian). Rube married Irma Seeman in 1916. They lived at 88 Central Park West in New York City and had two sons named Thomas and George. He started drawing when he was only four years old. Goldberg did not share a surname with his children because of the amount of hatred towards him during World War II from the political nature of his cartoons. He ordered his sons to change their names from Goldberg for safety reasons. Both of his sons chose the last name of George, wanting to keep a sense of family cohesiveness. Thomas and George's children now run a company called RGI (Rube Goldberg Incorporated) to maintain the Goldberg name. John George (Thomas's son) is assisted by his cousin Jennifer George^[3] (George's daughter) and John's son Joshua George to keep the family name alive.^[4] Reuben died in 1970 at the age of 87, while his widow, Irma, died 20 years later on April 26, 1990 at the age of 95.^[5]

Career[link]

Rube Goldberg with family, 1929

Goldberg's father was a San Francisco police and fire commissioner, who encouraged the young Reuben to pursue a career in engineering. Rube graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1904 with a College of Mining degree^[1] and was hired by the city of San Francisco as an engineer for the Water and Sewers Department. After six months he resigned his position with the city to join the San Francisco Chronicle where he became a sports cartoonist.^[1] The following year, he took a job with the San Francisco Bulletin, where he remained until he moved to New York City in 1907.

Goldberg drew cartoons for five newspapers, including the New York Journal American|New York Evening Journal and the New York Evening Mail. His work entered syndication in 1915, beginning his nationwide popularity. He was syndicated by the McNaught Syndicate from 1922 until 1934.

A prolific artist, Goldberg produced several cartoon series simultaneously, including Mike and Ike (They Look Alike), Boob McNutt, Foolish Questions, Lala Palooza and The Weekly Meeting of the Tuesday Women's Club. The cartoons that brought him lasting fame involved a character named Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts. In that series, Goldberg drew labeled schematics of the comical "inventions" that would later bear his name.

Cultural legacy[link]

This postcard book, Rube Goldberg's Inventions!, was compiled by Maynard Frank Wolfe from the Rube Goldberg Archives. The cover illustration shows Professor Butts and the Self-Operating Napkin. The "Self-Operating Napkin" is activated when the soup spoon (A) is raised to mouth, pulling string (B) and thereby jerking ladle (C), which throws cracker (D) past parrot (E). Parrot jumps after cracker and perch (F) tilts, upsetting seeds (G) into pail (H). Extra weight in pail pulls cord (I), which opens and lights automatic lighter (J), setting off skyrocket (K), which causes sickle (L) to cut string (M) and allow the pendulum with the attached napkin to swing back and forth, thereby wiping chin.

In 1931 the Merriam-Webster dictionary adopted the word "Rube Goldberg" as an adjective defined as accomplishing something simple through complex means.^[6]

Predating Goldberg, the corresponding term in the U.K. was, and still is, "Heath Robinson", after the English illustrator with an equal devotion to odd machinery (although Heath Robinson's creations did not have the same emphasis on the sequential or chain reaction element).

Goldberg's work was commemorated posthumously in 1995 with the inclusion of Rube Goldberg's Inventions, depicting Professor Butts' "Self-Operating Napkin" in the Comic Strip Classics series of U.S. postage stamps.^[7]

Film and television[link]

Rube Goldberg wrote a feature film featuring his machines and sculptures called Soup to Nuts, which was released in 1930 and starred Ted Healy and The Three Stooges.

In the 1962 John Wayne movie Hatari!, an invention to catch monkeys by character Pockets, played by Red Buttons, is described as a "Rube Goldberg."

In the late 1960s and early 70s, educational shows like Sesame Street and The Electric Company routinely showed bits that involved Rube Goldberg devices, including the Rube Goldberg Alphabet Contraption, and the What Happens Next Machine.^[8][9]

Various other films and cartoons have included highly complex machines that perform simple tasks. Among these are Flåklypa Grand Prix, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Wallace and Gromit, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, The Way Things Go, Edward Scissorhands, Back to the Future, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Goonies, Gremlins, the Saw film series, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Cat from Outer Space, Malcolm, Family Guy, and Waiting...

Also in the Final Destination film series the characters often die in Rube Goldberg-esque ways. In the film The Great Mouse Detective, the villain Ratigan attempts to kill the film's heroes, Basil of Baker Street and David Q. Dawson, with a Rube Goldberg style device. The classic video in this genre was done by the artist duo Peter Fischli & David Weiss in 1987 with their 30 minute video "Der Lauf der Dinge" or "The Way Things Go".

Honda produced a video in 2003 called "The Cog" using many of the same principles that Fischli and Weiss had done in 1987.

In 2005, the American indie/alternative rock band The Bravery released a video for their debut single, "An Honest Mistake," which features the band performing the song in the middle of a Rube Goldberg machine.

In 1999, an episode of The X-Files was titled "The Goldberg Variation". The episode intertwined characters FBI agents Mulder and Scully, a simple apartment super, Henry Weems (Willie Garson) and an ailing young boy, Ritchie Lupone (Shia LaBeouf) in a real-life Goldberg device.

The 2010 music video "This Too Shall Pass - RGM Version" by the rock band OK Go features a machine that, after four minutes of kinetic activity, shoots the band members in the face with paint. "RGM" presumably stands for Rube Goldberg Machine.^[10]

Games[link]

The popular 1963 board game Mouse Trap, as well as its sequels Crazy Clock (1964), and Fish Bait (1965) are based on Rube Goldberg machines.^{[citation needed]} Some examples of Goldberg-inspired video games are Incredibots, LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, the 1990s-era series of The Incredible Machine games, and Crazy Machines.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Chindōgu
• Deathtrap (plot device)
• Domino effect
• Frederick Rowland Emett
• Jean Tinguely, Swiss artist who created Rube Goldberg–like sculptures
• Mickey One
• PythagoraSwitch
• Robert Storm Petersen (Storm P.), a Danish contemporary artist who drew "inventions" similar to Rube Goldberg's
• Steampunk

References[link]

External links[link]

• Great Video of Goldberg-type device made from Legos
• Toonopedia entry
• Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Oral History Interview, 1970
• Annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest
• NCS Awards
• Rube Goldberg in 'Creative Contraptions'
• IMDB biography
• Rube Goldberg Honda Commercial, "Cog", at Snopes.com
• Guide to the Rube Goldberg Papers at The Bancroft Library
• 10 Viral Rube Goldberg clips at Salon.com