Answers for the Week of December 27, 2010

MONDAY

Q.         Who is the only Hall of Famer to be managed by his father in the majors?

Hint:     He broke a record everyone agreed couldn’t be broken.

Twint:    He holds the record for winning American League Most Valuable Players Awards the furthest apart.

A.         Cal Ripken (Cal Ripken, Sr. 1985, 87-88; 2,632 consecutive games played, smashing Lou Gehrig’s 2,130; MVPs 1983, 1991)

First Correct Respondent - Harvey Judkowitz, Miami, FL

TUESDAY

Q.         What Hall of Famer hit cross-handed until veteran Negro Leaguers talked him out of it?

Hint:     He has more right-handed at-bats than any major leaguer in history.

Twint:    He really wasn’t bad at all.

A.         Hank Aaron (12,364 ABs; nickname Bad Henry, ironically playing on his easy-going personality)

FCR -    Rod Nelson, Detroit

WEDNESDAY

Q.         Who was the last switch-hitter to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award?

Hint:     He’d have been a Yankee but for Bowie.

Twint:    He won the Sporting News National League Pitcher Of The Year for a third-place team.

A.         Vida Blue (1971 AL MVP; Trade from the A’s to the Yankees vetoed by commissioner Bowie Kuhn in 1976; POY 1978 SF Giants)

FCR -    Frank Workman, Lake Forest Park, WA

MIDWEEK BONUS

Q.         Who once said, "Every time I look at my pocketbook, I see Jackie Robinson."?

Hint:     He is the only Hall of Famer named for a Supreme Court Chief Justice (probably).

Twint:    His home town no longer exists.

A.         Willie Mays (Willie Howard Mays was named for his father who was named for William Howard Taft; Westfield, AL was a company town, razed when the company left)

FCR -    Ron Kaufman, Pickering, ON

THURSDAY

Q.         Who is the youngest player in the top 20 on the career triples list?

Hint:     Vin Scully once quipped, "How good was he? He was good enough to take your breath away."

Twint:    His father was from the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

A.         Stan Musial (Tied for 19^th w/177 triples; His father Lukasz Musial, was from the Polish village of Mojstava in the province of Galicia)

FCR -    Jim Moyer, Ellicott City, MD

FRIDAY

Q.         What left-hander did Phil Nevin cause to lose his major league job?

Hint:     A statue of him is prominently displayed outside a major league park.

Hint:     He was on THREE pennant-winning teams.

Twint:    He debuted at age 18 on a team with three Hall of Famers.

Twint:    He finished in the top two in MVP voting for three consecutive seasons.

A.         Hal Newhouser (He was a scout for the Astros and wanted them to sign Derek Jeter.  When they overrode his suggestion and took Nevin, Newhouser quit in protest; statue at Comerica Park in Detroit; Won flags with the Tigers in 1940 & 45 and the Indians in 1954; 1939 Tigers w/Greenberg, Gehringer and Averill; MVPs in 1944-45, 2^nd in 1946)

FCR -    Randall Chandler, Germantown, TN

SATURDAY

Q.         Who was the first batter to lead the league in slugging in his rookie season?

Hint:     Roy Smalley was a college teammate.

Twint:    He was the only player to collect 10 RBI in a game in the 1970s.

A.         Fred Lynn (Slugged .566 in 1975; Smalley at USC 1972-73; 18-Jun-1975)

FCR -    Frank Workman, Lake Forest Park, WA

WEEKEND BONUS

Q.         Who was the first Cincinnati Reds player to hit home runs in five consecutive games?

Hint:     His pitching record in high school was 30-2.

Hint:     Both losses were on unearned runs.

Twint:    He played center field for the first time in the game where Hank Aaron got his 3,000^th career hit.

A.         Johnny Bench (HRs 30-May thru 03-Jun-1972; Binger, OK High School; CF on 17-May-1970)

FCR -    Phillip Oppenheim, Sacramento, CA

SUNDAY

Q.         What former Blue Jay enjoyed considerable post-career éclat by coaching Little League baseball?

Hint:     He hit three grand slams in a 10-day period, including one during a teammate's no-hitter.

Twint:    He is the only MVP whose son was on a Little League World Series champ.

A.         Jeff Burroughs (Successfully coached the Long Beach All-Stars to the 1992 and 1993 championships.  His son Sean was on those teams and played in the majors for five seasons.)

FCR -    Andrew Milner, Bryn Mawr, PA

WEEKLY THEME – Players who won a Most Valuable Player Award before turning 24

Winner          Born     Won    Age

Aaron           1934     1957     23

Bench          1947     1970     23

Blue             1949     1971     22

Burroughs    1951     1974     23

Lynn             1952     1975     23

Mays            1931     1954     23

Musial          1920     1943     23

Newhouser   1921     1944     23

Ripken         1960     1983     23

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Robert Workman, Ashburn, VA (after the Blue question)