Eric Scott Hinske (born August 5, 1977 in Menasha, Wisconsin) is a Major League Baseball outfielder, first baseman, and third baseman currently in the Atlanta Braves organization. Hinske has spent time at the major league level with the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves playing third base, first base, left field, and right field. He is listed at 6'2", 235 pounds. The 2002 AL Rookie of the Year Award winner, Hinske may be best known for having played in three consecutive World Series each one with a different team, losing with the Rays in 2008 and winning with the Red Sox in 2007 and Yankees in 2009.

Eric played for Menasha High School under the coach of Terry Wittmann, where he broke many hitting records, in addition to playing football as a running back. After playing for the University of Arkansas, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 17th round of the 1998 amateur draft.

In March 2001, Hinske was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Miguel Cairo.

Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is an American professional baseball third baseman with the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Although initially a shortstop, he has spent most of his career as the starting third baseman for the Braves. In 2002 and 2003, Jones primarily played left field, before returning to third base in 2004.

Jones debuted in 1993, and has played his entire career with the Atlanta Braves. Chipper won the 1999 National League Most Valuable Player Award, as well as the 1999 and 2000 National League Silver Slugger Award for third basemen. He currently holds the Braves team record for career on base percentage (.406), and on July 5, 2007, he passed Dale Murphy for third place on the Braves all-time career home run list.

In his career, through the 2011 season, Jones is a .304 hitter with 454 home runs, 1,455 walks, and 1,561 RBI in 2,387 games. He is behind only Eddie Murray on the all-time switch hitters career RBI list. He is considered one of the game's best all-around hitters, and one of the best switch hitters in the history of the game. He is the only switch hitter in Major League Baseball history to have a .300+ career (.304 at the end of the 2011 season) batting average and 400 or more home runs.

Frederick Charles "Freddie" Freeman (born September 12, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman with the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball.

Freeman was drafted by the Braves in the second round (78th overall) of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft, out of El Modena High School. He was the Braves' fifth-best prospect heading into the 2009 season, according to Baseball America, and the 11th-best prospect overall in their midseason top 25.

Freeman was called up to the Braves on September 1, 2010, as part of the team's September call-ups, and made his major league debut that same day. On September 5, 2010 he got his first career hit off of Florida Marlins pitcher Clay Hensley, and on September 21, 2010, he hit his first home run off of Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay. Freeman was not a part of the Braves' playoff roster.

Freeman began the 2011 season as the starting first baseman for the Braves. After a slow start, his performance improved and he had been mentioned as a strong candidate for rookie of the year. On July 4, 2011, Freeman hit two home runs against the Colorado Rockies, for his first multi-home run game. Freeman was the first Braves rookie to reach 50 RBIs by July 18 since Hank Aaron accomplished this feat in 1954. He was the named NL rookie of the month for July; during that month, Freeman led all Major League rookies with 38 hits, a .362 batting average, and a.433 on-base percentage in July 27 games. He also led all NL rookies with six homers and 17 runs. His 18 RBIs tied for the most in the NL among rookies.

Hideki Matsui (松井 秀喜, Matsui Hideki^?, born June 12, 1974) is a Japanese Major League Baseball designated hitter and outfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.

After playing the first ten seasons of his career for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he played the next seven seasons, from 2003–2009, for the New York Yankees of North America's Major League Baseball. As a free agent, Matsui has had one-year stints with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Oakland Athletics, and in April of 2012 signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. Matsui has been successful in both leagues, winning the Central League Most Valuable Player Award three times in Japan, as well as the World Series Most Valuable Player Award in the United States.

Hideki Matsui was born in Neagari, Ishikawa, Japan (later merged into Nomi, Ishikawa). According to an interview on YES Network's "CenterStage", Matsui originally batted right-handed as a child. However, when he started playing with his older brother and his friends, Matsui was such a good hitter that his embarrassed brother insisted that he bat left-handed or stop playing with them. Matsui soon became an overpowering left-handed batter, thereafter batting left-handed.

Stephen James Strasburg ( /ˈstrɑːzbərɡ/; born July 20, 1988) is a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Nationals, who selected him with the first pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. Strasburg signed a record $15.1 million contract with the Nationals. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals in 2010.

Strasburg was called the "most-hyped pick in draft history" by ESPN and the "most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball" by Sports Illustrated.

In 2008, as a sophomore at San Diego State University, Strasburg went 8–3 with a 1.58 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 98⅓ innings for the Aztecs. Four of his thirteen starts in 2008 were complete games, two of which were shutouts. On April 11 of that year, he struck out a Mountain West Conference record 23 batters in a game versus the University of Utah.

Strasburg finished the 2009 season 13–1 with a 1.32 ERA, 59 hits allowed, 16 earned runs, 19 walks, and 195 strikeouts in 109 innings pitched. In his final home start on May 8, 2009, Strasburg threw his first career no-hitter while striking out 17 Air Force batters. His lone loss came against the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA Regionals as Virginia advanced toward the College World Series, but he still struck out 15 in seven innings during the loss.