MONDAY
Q. Who was the only qualifying pitcher in either league in the 1950's to end the year with an ERA under 2.00?
Hint: He won The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award twice in the American League in that decade.
Hint: Carroll Hardy hit his first major league home run off him, pinch-hitting for Roger Maris.
Hint: His record was 13-0 at home the last time his team won the pennant.
Hint: It was the only season in his 18-year career he received Cy Young Award votes.
- ERA was 1.97 in 1955 (Would likely have won the Cy Young Award, but it didn’t exist until 1956, the year after Cy Young died.)
- Won the award 1956, 57
FCR - Blake Sherry, Dublin, Ohio
Incorrect guesses: Bobby Shantz, Roy Face, Early Wynn, Whitey Ford, Bob Feller, Bob Lemon
TUESDAY
Q. Who is the only 20th–century rookie to win his league’s batting title?
Hint: For good measure, he won it again in his sophomore season.
Hint: He was the first designated hitter to homer in a major league game.
Hint: He was the last batter to face Lew Burdette in a major league game.
- He hit .323 in 1964 in an era that favored pitchers. He was an All-Star that same year and was one half-hearted vote for Wally Bunker from being a unanimous Rookie of the Year. Other rookies to win batting titles are Ross Barnes (.429 in 1876), Pete Browning (.378 in 1882), Abner Dalrymple (.354 in 1878) and Ichiro Suzuki (.350 in 2001).
- Hit .321 in 1965.
FCR - David Johnson, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses: Ron Blomberg, Dave Winfield, Al Kaline, Fred Lynn, Rod Carew, Carl Yastrzemski
TUESDAY TOSS
Q. Who was the only Milwaukee native to play for the Milwaukee Braves?
Hint: He was the first former major leaguer to host Saturday Night Live.
Hint: There is no truth to the rumor that he drives a Chrysler of any kind, but no one said he wasn’t ready for prime time.
FCR - Rick Zucker, St. Louis
Incorrect guesses: Hank Aaron, Johnny Logan
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was the last home run champion to have fewer strikeouts than home runs that season?
Hint: He was also the first player to hit more than one home run in his first ever World Series game.
Hint: The year he led the league in hits, he also led in intentional walks.
Hint: He once quipped, “I’m not sure what the hell charisma is, but I get the feeling it’s Willie Mays.”
- 1955: 192 H, 25 IBB
- In Klu’s greatest season, 1954, Mays beat him out for NL MVP, though he finished a strong 2nd place in the voting.
Incorrect guesses: Barry Bonds, Johnny Mize, Yogi Berra, Albert Pujols, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Andruw Jones, Orlando Cepeda
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who joins Hall of Famer Al Kaline as the only players to hit 375+ home runs in their careers, yet never hit more than 29 home runs in any one season?
Hint: No other lefty has hit more career home runs or drawn more intentional bases-on-balls in the history of his 117-year-old franchise.
Hint: …and he played for 4 other teams during his 22-year career!
Hint: The only time he reached the World Series, his team was swept.
Hint: He was originally scouted at age 12 by the legendary Bill Veeck.
- Baines - 384 career HR, season high, 29 HR in 1984. Kaline - 399 career HR, 29 HR’s in 1962 & 1966
- Among CHW lefties, 1st in HR & w/187 IBB
FCR - Scott Matteson, Shawnee, Kansas
Incorrect guesses: Ted Kluszewski, Jim Edmonds, Eddie Murray, Vada Pinson, Eddie Murray, Jim Thome, Carl Yastrzemski, Stan Musial, Curtis Granderson, Harmon Killebrew, Larry Doby
THURSDAY
Q. Who was the first second baseman to win six Gold Glove awards?
Hint: As it turns out, they were also consecutive. Then, after a 3-year hiatus, he won two more.
Hint: He was history’s first-ever American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player.
Hint: He hit for the cycle the same year that his Hall of Fame teammate did.
FCR - Kellin Neilson, Blanding, Utah
Incorrect guesses: Roberto Alomar, Mark Belanger, Bobby Grich, Davey Johnson, Ryne Sandberg, Bobby Richardson, Rod Carew, Robinson Cano, Carlos Baerga, Lou Whitaker, Bill Mazeroski, Nellie Fox
FRIDAY
Q. What former Blue Jay's apparent 300th career home run bounced off a speaker in the Kingdome, resulting instead in a lofty single?
Hint: He had hit a home run in Briggs Stadium at age 16 as part of an all-city high school game.
Hint: In his second major league at-bat, he homered off a future Hall of Famer.
Hint: He was a left-handed batter until age 10, when his father changed him to right-handed in Little League.
- Homer nixed 05Jun-1979. The following day was his personal D-Day, when he got his 300th off future Blue Jay Jack Morris. Horton had played 33 G for TOR in 1978.
- A star slugger at Northwestern High School in Detroit, Horton hit a home run at Briggs Stadium (which would become Tiger Stadium the next year) in the city championship game in 1960, earning him the nickname “Willie the Wonder.”
- His father, Clinton Horton, had moved the family from Arno, VA to Detroit when Willie was five years old. Willie was the youngest of 14 children.
FCR - David Bender, Washington, DC
Incorrect guesses: Carlos Delgado, Prince Fielder, Joe Carter
END-OF-THE-WEEK BONUS
Q. Who broke Hall of Famer Eppa Rixey’s franchise record for most games pitched for the Cincinnati Reds?
Hint: He is still in the team’s Top 10 all-time for Games Started, Shutouts, Batters Faced and Innings Pitched.
Hint: His debut game in the majors did not presage a long career: 10 batters faced with only 2 retired, a wild pitch, 5 earned runs for a debut day ERA of 67.50.
Hint: So unseemly was that start that he didn’t pitch again in the majors for another 8 years, but eventually made the National League All-Star team—twice.
Hint: When he passed away ten years ago, his services were attended by 6,000 people.
A. JOE NUXHALL
- Rixey ended w/440 G for CIN in 1933. Nuxhall’s 484 stood for 10 years and is still the top spot for left-handers.
- 274 GS = 9th; 20 ShO = 10th; 9,204 BF = 6th; IP 2,169⅓ = 6th.
- Debut 10-Jun-1944 at the tender age of 15, facing an STL that included 5 All‑Stars two batting champions including the immortal Stan Musial.
FCR - Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Incorrect guess: Jim Maloney
SATURDAY
Q. Who was the first Minneapolis native to play more than one season for the Twins?
Hint: He was their first Minnesota Twin with a $1 Million-a-year salary.
Hint: He homered 8 times in his first month of April in the majors.
Hint: He is remembered for a bit of chicanery when he shoved a base runner off the bag and then tagged him out.
- Made $5.5 Million over 5 seasons, 1985-89.
FCR - Dan Silverberg, Aventura, Florida
Incorrect guesses: Kirby Puckett, Ron Herbel, Chuck Knoblauch, Paul Molitor, Bob Allison, Tom Brunansky, Tony Oliva
SUNDAY
Q. Who holds the nearly unbreakable record for most times leading his league in being hit-by-pitch?
Hint: He was the first native of his country to collect an RBI in an All-Star game.
Hint: He set a record with two teammates by being three on the same team when receiving their first Gold Glove Award.
Hint: He had his first 20/20 season with the Padres.
- HBP AL leader 1951-54, 1956-1961 = 10X; Frankie Crosetti & Don Baylor led 8 X each; Ron Hunt & Frank Robinson did it 7 X each.
- Native of Cuba; ASG RBI 1953, 9th inning
- GG with Nellie Fox & Sherm Lollar in 1957, the first year the award was given
- 20 HR + 30 SB in 1950 for the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League
FCR - David Johnson, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses: Ron Hunt, Craig Biggio, Roberto Alomar
ONE LAST ONE
Q. Who is the first manager fired after his team won 103 games that season?
Hint: He lost out on being the Rookie of the Year by the slimmest of margins.
Hint: As a player, he led the league in sacrifice hits the same season he let in plate appearances.
Hint: He was found to have a brain tumor two days after guiding his team to a victory in the All-Star game?
- 1980 NYY 103-59. Gene Michael was the general manager of that team.
- Had 6 1st-place votes to Don Schwall’s 7.
- 736 PA and 16 SH in 1964 to lead the AL, playing for CLE
- 1986 ASG
Incorrect guess: Art Howe, Fred Hutchinson, Jim Fregosi, Yogi Berra
WEEKLY THEME – The non-Hall of Fame players whose statue likenesses adorn major league stadiums. [Click each for photo of statue.]
First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – [Null set]
Incorrect theme guesses:
Tuesday - Players on the Golden Era ballot
- Players who received HOF votes but fell short in the 2014 Golden Era election
Wed - World Series participants during 10 years 1958-1967
- They all have their number retired (except Uecker who has 50 for his years in baseball) and have a statue
- None of them won an MVP or CY Young and have a statue
Friday - Players who made their first impact while still in high school
Sat - Arguably, the worst players with statues outside their home ballparks
- Everyone made their MLB debut before age 21
- All worked for teams honoring them with statues after playing careers were over
- All have baseball diamonds named after them
- World Series rings with the teams that gave them statues
- All statues were made/introduced after 2000.
- These are the most recent players given statues by their teams
_8x10.jpg){kind=link}
