MONDAY
Q. Who was the first player to go five-for-five in his major league debut?
Hint: He twice hit for the cycle. (Not that day. That would be a record.)
Hint: He was on four pennant winners but only played in the two World Series.
Hint: An outfielder, he once recorded four assists in a game and on another occasion made ten putouts in a single game.
Twint: He was scouted by his local newspaper circulation editor. That man later became a Hall of Fame manager.
A. Fred Clarke (5/5 30-Jun-1894; 4 A/G in 1910, 10 PO/G in 1911; Ed Barrow at the Des Moines Register)
First Correct Respondent – Henry Hascup, Lodi, NJ
TUESDAY
Q. What batter trails only Ted Williams and Babe Ruth in career on-base percentage?
Hint: He began his career playing shortstop but moved over to play mostly third base.
Hint: He scored 140 runs in a season three times.
Twint: Tony LaRussa would have passed him in 2012.
A. John McGraw (.466 OBP; Williams: .482, Ruth: .474; Career managerial wins 2,763 to LaRussa’s 2,728)
FCR - Frank DiPeima, Morristown, NJ
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who hit the last bounce home run in major league history?
Hint: He held for 42 years and 13 days, the big league record for games played at catcher.
Twint: He was replaced by Ernie Lombardi in Lombardi’s debut.
A. Al Lopez (BHR 12-Sep-1930 off Ray Kolp over Bob Meusel’s head and into the bleachers at Ebbets Field; Passed Gabby Hartnett’s, 1,792 G caught on 03-Sep-1945, passed by Bob Boone on 16-Sep-1987 w/ Boone’s 1,919th. Record is now held by Ivan Rodriguez at 2,427 and counting; Lombardi debut15-Apr-1931)
FCR - Dick Adams, Ellicott City, MD
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who played third base for the Yankees in Mickey Mantle’s last game?
Hint: That season he hit a home run against the Cy Young Award winner as well as an inside-the-park job against the American League’s WHIP leader.
Twint: He was the first manager to guide the Blue Jays for as many as 500 games.
A. Bobby Cox (Mantle’s finale 28-Sep-1968; HR against Denny McClain on 02-Jun, IPHR against Dave McNally on 05-Aug; 355-329 in 648 games managing Toronto 1982-85)
FCR - Peter Mitchell, Mission Viejo, CA
THURSDAY
Q. Who was the only baseball player in the inaugural induction class for the University of Miami Hall of Fame?
Hint: He taught high school industrial arts and phys-ed in the off season.
Hint: He only faced a total of three pitches at the major league level—all strikes.
Hint: If possible, his fielding was even worse: He had two chances in the field and made an error on half of them.
Twint: His playing career ended when he injured his shoulder in a fight with Sal Yvars in a 1946 minor league game.
A. Walter Alston (Didn’t not me to be more elusive than appropriate for a Thursday, but the question should have read “Miami University”; Sole MLB game 27-Sep-1936)
FCR - Eddie Deezen, Hollywood, CA
FRIDAY
Q. Whose plebian behavior on the field belied his patrician nickname?
Hint: It’s not true that he wrote a book on classical art.
Twint: He can tell you the difference between Horatio and Polonius.
Twint: He popularized a now common baseball sartorial affectation.
A. Earl Weaver (“The Earl of Baltimore”; Book he did write: Weaver on Strategy; Hamlet reference; He turned his cap backwards in order to argue with umpires with, um… enhanced propinquity.)
FCR - Randall Chandler, Germantown, TN
SATURDAY
Q. Who was the first native of New Hampshire to be inducted to the baseball Hall of Fame?
Hint: He left a secure factory job in Waltham to play ball.
Hint: He died in Denver and is buried in Wyoming.
Twint: He led teams to championships in Oshkosh and Omaha.
A. Frank Selee (b. 26-Oct-1859 in Amherst, NH,, HOF 1999; d. 05-Jul-1909 in Denver, CO, buried in Wyoming Cemetery, Melrose, MA)
FCR - Frank DiPrima, Morristown, NJ
SUNDAY
Q. Who was offered a scholarship to Niagara University to play baseball in spite of never attending high school?
Hint: He was portrayed by Hugh Sanders in the movie The Winning Team.
Twint: He was the first manager to win a pennant in both the National League and the American League.
A. Joe McCarthy (Sanders, The Winning Team; Pennants w/1929 Cubs and 1932 Yankees)
FCR - Wayne McCombs, Claremore, OK
WEEKLY THEME – Managers with 400 wins over .500
Manager Wins Losses Diff.
Cox 2,504 2,001 503
Selee 1,284 862 422
Weaver 1,480 1,060 420
First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Dave MacEntee, Beacon, NY
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