Lloyd Waner

Lloyd James Waner (March 16, 1906 – July 22, 1982), nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. His small stature at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) and 132 lb (68 kg) made him one of the smallest players of his era. Along with his brother, Paul Waner, he anchored the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield throughout the 1920s and 1930s. After brief stints with four other teams late in his career, Waner retired as a Pirate.

Waner finished with a batting average over .300 in ten seasons. He earned a selection to the MLB All-Star Game in 1938. Lloyd and Paul Waner set the record for career hits by brothers in MLB. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1967. He worked as a scout for the Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles after retiring as a player.

Early life

Waner was born on March 16, 1906 in Harrah, Oklahoma, and grew up on a farm with his older brother, Paul. The two worked from dawn to dusk every day, and baseball was their only form of entertainment. Influenced by their father, who was a minor league player in Oklahoma City, Paul and Lloyd's love and natural talent for the game developed over the years. The Waners learned to hit against corncobs and cut down saplings in the woods to use as bats. Lloyd graduated from McLoud High School and attended three semesters at East Central State University in Ada, Oklahoma before going into professional baseball.

Troy Tulowitzki

Troy Trevor Tulowitzki (born October 10, 1984), nicknamed "Tulo", is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Colorado Rockies.

After a standout college baseball career for California State University, Long Beach, the Rockies selected Tulowitzki with the seventh overall selection of the 2005 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut the following year. Tulowitzki is a five-time MLB All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.

Tulowitzki's arm, range and instincts at shortstop are highly regarded. Furthermore, his size, ability and leadership skills have garnered him comparisons to Cal Ripken, Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.

High school career

Tulowitzki graduated from Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, California. He earned four varsity letters in baseball and two in basketball. He was twice named second team All-State in baseball, and was a 3-time team Most Valuable Player. As a junior, Tulowitzki had a batting average of .536. He also went 15–1 on the mound. As a senior, he batted .519 with 6 home runs. In basketball, Tulowitzki won league MVP, and was second team All-State and team MVP, averaging 22.6 points per game during his senior year. He was named Fremont High Athlete of the Year in 2002.

Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki (鈴木 一朗, Suzuki Ichirō), often referred to mononymously as Ichiro (イチロー, Ichirō) (born October 22, 1973), is a Japanese professional baseball right fielder for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has spent the bulk of his career with two teams: the Orix Blue Wave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan, where he began his professional career, and the Seattle Mariners of MLB in the United States. After the Mariners, he played two and a half seasons in MLB with the New York Yankees. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including MLB's single-season record for hits with 262. He had 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons, the longest streak by any player in history. Between his major league career hits total in both Japan and the United States, Ichiro stands at second place all-time, trailing only Pete Rose.

In his combined playing time in NPB and MLB, Ichiro received 17 consecutive selections both as an All-Star and Gold Glove winner, won nine league batting titles and been named Most Valuable Player (MVP) four times. While playing in NPB, he won seven consecutive batting titles and three consecutive Pacific League MVP Awards. In 2001, Ichiro became the first Japanese-born position player to be posted and signed to an MLB club. He led the American League (AL) in batting average and stolen bases en route to being named AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP.