N.B. The authors acknowledge that the Save was not an official statistic until 1969. We are proceeding this week as if it had always been.
MONDAY
Q. Who, at the age of 36, was the youngest player ever elected to the Hall of Fame?
Hint: He holds the top four places in Dodger pitching history for strikeouts in a season.
SABR Hint: All three of his Cy Young Awards were by unanimous vote.
Twint: He played basketball at the University of Cincinnati.
Twint: He had a tryout with the Pirates, but they failed to offer him a contract.
A. Sandy Koufax (CYAs 1963, 65, 66)
First Correct Respondent - Lawrence Creeden, Boulder City, NV
TUESDAY
Q. Whose refusal to join the Cincinnati Reds was because he wouldn’t shave off his trademark moustache?
Hint: He was the first relief pitcher to amass 300 saves.
SABR Hint: He still owns the lowest ERA of any Cy Young Award winner.
Twint: He was converted from starter to reliever by Hall of Famer Dick Williams.
Twint: He was with the Red Sox and Cardinals, but never appeared in a game for either.
A. Rollie Fingers (300th S 21-Aug-1982; 1.04 ERA in 1981)
FCR - Al Blumkin, Brooklyn
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was the first American League pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a season?
Hint: In the first game, he faced Bob Feller; In the second, the last out was Ted Williams.
Hint: Gene Woodling hit a home run in each game.
SABR Hint: He was once traded for Hall of Famer Joe Gordon.
Twint: In 1969, he became the president of the American Association.
Twint: That same season, the AA renamed its top pitching award in his honor.
A. Allie Reynolds (No-nos 12-Jul-1951 & 28-Sep-1951)
FCR - Dean Georges, Rockaway Beach, NY
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who was the first pitcher to appear in 700 games for a New York-based major league team?
Hint: He broke Juan Berenguer’s 15-year-old record for victories by a Panamanian pitcher.
SABR Hint: He struck out Russ Davis all seven times he faced him.
Twint: He struck out Pedro Martinez all five times he faced him.
Twint: He donated his 2001 Rolaids Relief Award to the (FDNY) Fire Department of New York.
A. Mariano Rivera (700th G 27-Sep-2006; 68th W 28-Sep-2008)
FCR - John Rickert, Terre Haute
IN MEMORIAM
Q. Who is the only player traded for Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and Tony Perez?
Hint: His arm “popped” during a 1983 game, immediately ending his 18-year major league career.
Hint: He was pitching to a bear at the time.
Hint: He was he opposing pitcher in Tom Seaver’s debut.
Twint: He was discovered while playing semi-pro softball in Kentucky.
A. Woody Fryman (28-Jul1983 while pitching to Floyd “Honeybear” Rayford; Seaver debut 13-Apr-1967)
FCR - P.L. Cohen, Brooklyn
IN MEMORIAM TWO
Q. Which classmate of Richard Nixon was the first Whittier College alumnus to appear in a major league game?
Hint: Hubie Brooks was the next Whittier position player in the bigs, 43 years later.
Hint: He fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Hint: The Dodgers celebrated his 100th birthday in ceremonies preceding the final game of the 2009 season.
Twint: He wore #4 for the Dodgers after Hack Wilson and before Duck snider.
Twint: After World War II, he and his wife Vi ran a trailer park in Twentynine Palms, California.
A. Tony Malinosky (Dodgers ceremony 04-Oct-2009)
FCR - Rod Nelson, Detroit
THURSDAY
Q. What pitcher broke Sandy Koufax’s single-game World Series strikeout record?
Hint: He coached the Mets six years before his namesake played for them.
SABR Hint: Steve Carlton broke his National League career strikeout record.
Twint: During a mound conference, he told battery mate Tim McCarver, “Get back behind the batter. The only thing you know about pitching is how hard it is to hit.”
Twint: He was charged with assault on the same day as was fellow Cy Young Award winner Dwight Gooden.
A. Bob Gibson (17 Ks 02-Oct-1968; The other Bob Gibson; Held NL K record till 1982; 19‑Feb‑2002 Alleged road-rage incident.)
FCR - Peter Beagle, Oakland
THURSDAY THOROUGH
Q. Who was the first American League players’ representative?
Hint: He was the first Yankee to earn 100 career saves.
Hint: At the end of his playing career, he stepped immediately into the Red Sox front office.
SABR Hint: He was in the front office of the New York Mets during their formation.
Twint: In 1944, he went on the voluntarily Retired List in order to remain in war work.
Twint: He was the General Manager of the Miracle Mets and died that following off-season.
A. Johnny Murphy (Rep on 08-Jul-1946; 100th S 05-Jun-1946; Retired after 1947 season; Joined Mets in 1962; Died 14-Jan-1970)
FCR - P.L. Cohen, Brooklyn
FRIDAY
Q. Which major leaguer was the last alumnus of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology?
Hint: He failed to retire a single batter in his last major league game following his 15-year career.
SABR Hint: This one’s for you, John.
Twint: He gave up the last World Series inside-the-park home run.
Twint: In the 1918 season, he led the National League in batters face while allowing the most hits and the most earned runs.
A. Art Nehf (Rose-Hulman, named Rose Polytechnic Institute at the time; 12-Oct-1929)
FCR - Phillip Opperman, Sacramento
IN MEMORIAM
Q. Who is the only manager to defeat Ted Turner?
Hint: Turner later hired him.
Hint: In his first at-bat in the majors, a pinch-hit appearance, in front of a National League record opening-day crowd, he hit a home run on the first pitch he saw.
Hint: He was he manager of the World Series champion 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, famous for their theme and theme song, “We are Family”.
Twint: He is the first manager to be traded for a player.
A. Chuck Tanner http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/11/chuck-tanner-1929-2011/ (Turner game 11-May-1977; HR 12-Apr-1955; Traded for Manny Sanguillen 05-Nov-1976. N.B. There WAS a prior mag/player swap: 27-Nov-1967, Gil Hodges was traded by the Washington Senators to the New York Mets for Bill Denehy and $100,000. Thanks to Jeff Freedman for catching that. [And for having the wisdom to read the Twitter clues.])
FCR - Paul Hirsch, Danville, CA
FRIDAY FOLLOW-UP
Q. Who was the first Yankee to save 20 games in a season?
Hint: That year, he set the major league season save record.
Hint: He was the first recipient of the Babe Ruth Award.
Twint: His nickname was “The Gay Reliever”.
Twint: Incident to his marriage to Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio is reputed to have quipped, “It’s better than rooming with (him).”
A. Joe Page (27 S in 1947; Babe Ruth Award 1949)
FCR - John Rickert, Rose-Hulman, Indiana
IN MEMORIAM
Q. Who ended his own iron-man streak of 3,769 consecutive home games to attend Cal Ripken’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown?
Hint: He set the record at two different stadiums.
Hint: Andy Etchebarren said of him, “He was a wonderful man who will bypass everything and go straight to heaven.”
Hint: Cal Ripken said, “Today, Baltimore lost a very special man… O’s games won’t be the same without him.”
Twint: Jim Palmer asked, ”How many guys do you know who walk into a room and light it up?”
A. Ernie Tyler, Baltimore Orioles umpire attendant since 1960. He died yesterday from a brain tumor. http://www.baltimoresun.com/videobeta/?watchId=4a3899ea-2813-4369-a657-a5490360871a
FCR - Blake Sherry, Dublin, OH
SATURDAY
Q. Who earned his first win in the game where Bob Gibson got his 3,000th strikeout?
Hint: In 1981, he attempted to rehabilitate his career with Tabasco.
Hint: He has the most at-bats in a hitless season before getting a hit in the postseason.
Twint: His World Series ring was the first such ever sold on eBay.
A. Will McEnaney (17-Jul-1974; 1981 for the Tobasco Olmecas of the Mexican League; WS hit 1975; eBay sale in March 2003 for $6,500.01 [WS replica rings had been auctioned there before.])
FCR - Bradley Curtis, Roseville, CA
SUNDAY
Q. Who went mid-season from the second division Senators to have the best ERA on the eventual World Series champions?
Hint: In only six starts one year, he pitched two shutouts.
Hint: Although primarily a reliever, he once took a no-hitter deep into the 9th inning against a pitcher who had thrown two no-hitters the year before.
SABR Hint: He threw shutouts in his next two starts.
Twint: Rose to the rank of sergeant during World War II in the U.S. Army.
Twint: His last stint in professional baseball was as the 3rd manager for the 1960 Charleston White Sox.
A. Bob Kuzava (Trade to the Yankees 15-Jun1951; Near no-hitter 08-Aug-1953 vs. Virgil Trucks; SHO)
FCR - Al Blumkin, Brooklyn
Pitcher Series
WEEKLY THEME – Pitchers who recorded the final outs in multiple World Series.
First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Jeff Miller, Brookeville, MD
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