July 9-15, 2012 Pitchers who won 20 games in their last season in the majors

(Monday & Tuesday used for relaying the Preliminary and Quarter-final rounds of the SABR 42's Trivia Contest)

WEDNESDAY

Q.         What pitcher had a record of 36-40 with 4 saves over his first 6 seasons in the majors, only pitched for six more years, but still made it to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot?

Hint:     Perhaps it was because of his 8 Hall of Fame teammates.

Twint:    Hollywood tough-guy actor Richard Widmark was, for a time, his father-in-law.

A.         Sandy Koufax (HOF teammates: Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Tom Lasorda, Dick Williams, Don Drysdale & Don Sutton; Married to Anne Heath Widmark 1969-82)

FCR -    Bob Kimball, Washington, DC

THURSDAY

Q.         Who holds the American League record of more than ten pitching victories in seventeen consecutive seasons?

Hint:     His career winning percentage is better than that of Jim Palmer, Juan Marichal, Kid Nichols or Joe McGinnity.

Hint:     He twice took perfect games into the ninth inning.

Twint:    His nickname, while physiognomically or academically inappropriate, makes sense if you pronounce his family name the way his grandfather did.

A.         Mike Mussina (11 or more wins 1992-2008; W% .6383; Perfect games broken up in the ninth 30-May-1997 & 02-Sep-2001)

FCR -    Arieh Siegal, Austin

FRIDAY

Q.         What minor league teammate of Ty Cobb was called up to the majors with Cobb?

Hint:     Cobb debuted on a Wednesday.  This guy played his first game that Sunday.

Hint:     His nephew’s son also played in the majors.

Hint:     His main pitch, the knuckleball, was the source of his nickname.

Twint:    He won 90 games in the last four seasons of the deadball era.

A.         Eddie Cicotte (Debut 03-Sep-1905, Cobb on 30-Aug-1905; Grandnephew Al Cicotte; “Knuckles”; 90-48 1917-20)

FCR -    John Shiffert, Morrow, GA

SATURDAY

Q.         Who was the first American League pitcher to lose three games in a single World Series?

Hint:     His broad shoulders and neck earned him the nickname "the biggest and littlest man in baseball."

Hint:     In Salt Lake City in 1915 he pitched over 400 innings, won over 30 games and nearly got 300 strikeouts.

Twint:    His namesake in the Negro Leagues was credited with seventeen career no-hitters, including a perfect game.

A.         Lefty Williams (3L 1919 WS; 418.2 IP, 33-12 & 294 K for the AA 1915 SLC Bees; The other Lefty Williams)

FCR -    Kevin Johnson, Broken Arrow, OK

SUNDAY

Q.         Who was the winningest pitcher on the 1903 Superbas?

Hint:     He came to Brooklyn from the Oakland Clamdiggers of the Pacific Coast League where he had won 35 games the previous year.

Hint:     After the 1903 season, the team wanted him back, but he declined, sending a note to the team (with the unsigned contract for the 1904 season) that declared, "I do not like living in the East and will not report."

Twint:    No other pitcher has even won 20 games in his only season in the majors.

A.         Henry Schmidt (22-13 for Brooklyn; 1902 Oakland Clamdiggers)

FCR -    Larry Creeden, Boulder City, NV

WEEKLY THEME – Pitchers who won twenty games in their last season in the majors

Cicotte        1920     21-10    Bio

Koufax       1966     27-9

Mussina      2008     20-9

Schmidt      1903     21-13

Williams      1920     22-14    Bio

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Gregg Gaylord, Chicago (after the Mussina question)

Horsehide Trivia blog has the questions and answers from this week as well as from previous weeks:  http://horsehidetrivia.blogspot.com/

Horsehide Trivia home page:  https://sites.google.com/site/tnfotobbpics/home/horsehide-trivia