MONDAY
Q. Who played more games for a single major league franchise than any other player?
Hint: During that span, he won three batting titles and seven Gold Gloves, and earned eighteen All-Star selections.
Twint: He is the last player to win the batting Triple Crown.
A. Carl Yastrzemski (3,308 G for the Boston Red Sox; TC 1967)
FCR - Dave Pugh, Baltimore
TUESDAY
Q. Before Cecil Fielder in 1990, who was the last slugger to hit more than 50 home runs in a season?
Hint: Five years before, for the same team, he had lost his starting position to a Comeback Player of the Year Award winner.
Twint: The machine he was part of in those day was big. It was also red.
A. George Foster (52 HR in 1977; 1972 CBPY Bobby Tolan)
FCR - J.R. Richardson, Clarksville, MD
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was the second-ever National League Most Valuable Player elected from the Pittsburgh Pirates?
Hint: The first one had already been in the Hall of Fame for almost a decade.
Twint: He was the first man ever inducted into both the college basketball and college baseball halls of fame.
A. Dick Groat (MVP 1960, previous was Paul Waner 1927, HOF 1952; National College Baseball Hall of Fame, National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame)
FCR - Dave Serota, Kalamazoo
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. What Hall of Famer’s home town no longer exists?
Hint: No one seems to miss it.
Hint: No other hitter owns a longer span between his first and last 50-home run seasons.
Twint: Had the Gold Glove Award existed at the beginning of his career, he might have sixteen instead of the record-tying twelve he did win.
A. Willie Mays (Westfield, Alabama; 51 HR in 1955, 52 HR in 1965)
FCR - Ira Kotel, Short Hills, NJ
THURSDAY
Q. Who holds the National League record for consecutive games played?
Hint: He was once considered a serious candidate for the U.S. senate.
Hint: He has twice been a part of a group vying to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Twint: He, like Willie Mays and Gary Carter, was twice voted the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game.
A. Steve Garvey (1,207 G; Senate campaign derailed [failed to launch, really] when unflattering details of his personal life came to light; AS MVP 1974, 78)
FCR - David Krassin, New York
FRIDAY
Q. Who played the most games in a season for the Boston Red Sox?
Hint: In the 112-year history of the American League, only he and Ty Cobb have led the league in total bases for three consecutive seasons.
Twint: He won a batting Triple Crown in AAA ball before coming to the majors.
A. Jim Rice (163 G in 1978; AL TB 1977-79, Cobb led 1907-09; TC [.337/25/93] in 1974 for Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League)
FCR - Bill Kreifeldt, Midvale, UT
SATURDAY
Q. Who tied Ted Williams on the career home run list with his only home run of the season?
Hint: Only one of his career home runs did not clear the fence.
Hint: For good measure, he hit one over the fence two innings later in the same game.
Twint: He hit two triples off a Hall of Famer in his major league debut.
A. Willie McCovey (03-May-1980 off Scott Sanderson; 15-Sep-1967 off Steve Blass; 30 Jul 1959 off Robin Roberts)
FCR - Barry Nelson, Guilderland, NY
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who was the first and, for almost thirty years, only, native of his home country to win the Rookie of the Year Award?
Hint: A total of five natives from that land have now won it.
Hint: He was fashion-forward in his final playing years, sporting disco-ready sideburns.
Twint: His professional debut came just before his father died.
Twint: His father, long a legendary baseball player in his native country, had earned a notable nickname which was then partially bequeathed on the son.
A. Orlando Cepeda (1958 ROY; Subsequent Puerto Rican ROYs: Benito Santiago 1987, Sandy Alomar, Jr. 1990, Carlos Beltran 1999; Geovany Soto 2008; Sideburns particularly w/1972 Braves; Father Pedro “Papa Bull” Cepeda died 27-Apr-1955, just days before Orlando’s “Baby Bull’s” first game with the Kokomo Giants [We took the small liberty of calling Puerto Rico a country since people born there call it a country.])
FCR - Brian Hirst, Pemberton, NJ
SUNDAY
Q. Who was the only player to collect 10 RBI in a game in the 1970s?
Hint: In an article in Deadspin in 2008, he was called “America’s Fishing Buddy”.
Twint: He was the first player to win the League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award while playing for the losing team.
A. Fred Lynn (18-Jun-1975; Article; ALCS MVP for the 1982 Angels)
FCR - J.J. McCoy, Washington, DC
WEEKLY THEME – MVP-winning teammates of Juan Marichal.
Player MVP Yr Marichal
Cepeda 1967 1960-66 Giants
Foster 1977 1969-71 Giants
Garvey 1974 1975 Dodgers
Groat 1960 1967 Giants
Lynn 1975 1974 Red Sox
Mays 1954, 65 1960-72 Giants
McCovey 1969 1960-72 Giants
Rice 1978 1974 Red Sox
Yastrzemski 1967 1974 Red Sox
First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Jim McCoy, Melrose, MA
Horsehide Trivia
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