Many more were journeymen, like the catcher Moe Berg, who was said to be able to speak six languages and was unable to hit above .240 in any of them.

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Indeed, the first dividends are paying off in young talents like outfielder Adam Jones and catcher Matt Wieters.

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And after a couple of key trades netted elite minor leaguers like pitcher Zack Wheeler and catcher Travis d'Arnaud, better days could be ahead.

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It was at this point that a series of unlikely events began to transpire, starting with rookie catcher Buster Posey playing like Johnny Bench the last two months of the season, and ending with 34-year-old Edgar Renteria leading the team to its first World Series victory since 1954.

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In 2004, the probe called Stardust swung by a comet called Wild 2, stuck out sort of a big catcher's mitt--I think it looks more like a tennis racket--and hopefully it picked up some of the particles thrown off by the comet.

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He made the team's bullpen out of spring training, but he still pitches like a starter, mixing all of his pitches to great success, said catcher Chris Stewart.

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