MONDAY
Q. Who
famously hit the only home run of his 21-year Hall of Fame career in his very
first at-bat?
Hint: He
got his first career pitching win that day thanks, in part, to that home run.
Hint: Some
people claim that he hit his only career triple that day. He did only have one, but it was the
following season, the same year he hit two of his three career doubles.
Twint: He
set a record for rookies for most games played as a pitcher (since broken).
Twint: Jackie
Robinson’s retirement precipitated his first trade in the majors.
A. Hoyt Wilhelm (HR/W 23-Apr-1952;
3b 04-Jun-1953,
2bs 04-May
& 18-Jul,
3rd 2b 25‑Sep‑1966;
71 G in 1952; Robinson’s
retirement necessitated a first-string first baseman so the Giants traded
Wilhelm for former Giant)
FCR - Bill
Carle, Lee’s Summit, MO
MONDAY BONUS
Q. Whose
record for pitching Games Finished in the National League did Kent Tekulve
break?
Hint: He
was the first 20th century National League pitcher to earn ten
victories in a season while suffering only one loss that year.
Hint: His
manager called him “Sam Spade”.
Twint: He
was the first Pirates pitcher to win the Sporting
News Fireman of the Year Award.
A. Roy Face (574 GF in NL, Tekulve ended
with 638; FOY
1962)
FCR - Frank
Workman, Lake Forest Park, WA
TUESDAY
Q. What
Dodgers pitcher led the majors in winning percentage in 1963?
Hint: He
was Tommy Lasorda’s pitching coach for fifteen years.
Twint: He
was the first pitcher to appear in fifty games in ten consecutive seasons.
A. Ron Perranoski (16-3, .842; LAN coach 1981-94;
50+ G 1961-70)
FCR - Andrew
Milner, Bryn Mawr, PA
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who
was the first 20th century pitcher to appear 100 consecutive games
without suffering back-to-back losses?
Hint: He
acquired his nickname because of his size and facial resemblance to an
Argentine boxer.
Hint: He
led his league in games six times, tying the record held by Joe McGinnity.
Twint: He
would have a World Series victory in his record by today’s reckoning of
pitching wins.
Twint: Even
though he was in a serious automobile accident in which he lost his left arm,
he continued to pitch in oldtimers’ games.
A. Firpo Marberry (Luis Firpo; WS W
in 1924 went instead to Tom Zachary)
FCR - Fred
Brillhart, Mechanicsburg, PA
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. What
Detroit native attended Berkley High School, but was a basketball star at
Michigan State?
Hint: He
surrendered a home run in fellow Polish-American Tony Kubek's final major
league at-bat.
Hint: He
struck out Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Duke Snider and Willie McCovey and
All-Stars Dick Groat and Julian Javier in two innings of work.
Twint: Sportswriter
Jim Murray wrote that "He brings one weapon—a fastball. It's like saying all a country brings to a
war is an atom bomb."
A. Dick Radatz (Berkley HS, MI; Kubek HR
03-Oct-1965;
Ks in 1963
All-Star Game)
FCR - Mitchell Below, Oakland, CA
THANKSGIVING EVE SPECIAL
Q. What
former Ram was the General Manager of the “Miracle Mets”?
Hint: In
college, he once struck out sixteen and scored the game-winning run, the game’s
only run, on a passed ball.
Hint: In
an exhibition game, he pitched a shutout against the House of David.
Hint: He
had ten complete games as a Yankee rookie, three more than he would total in
the remainder off his thirteen-year major league career.
Twint: He
compiled a 1.10 ERA in eight World Series appearances. Never lost a game. Never lost a Series.
Twint: Author
Richard Tofel claimed that this player’s nickname came from 1935-37 Yankees
teammate Pat Malone, who had tired of his incessant complaining about meals and
accommodations.
A. Johnny Murphy (Fordham University Rams; Fordham 1-0 over
Columbia 23-Apr-1929; Nickname “Grandma”)
FCR - Damian Begley, New York, NY
THURSDAY
Q. Whose
pitches did a fellow All-Star pitcher call “…slow, slower and slowest”?
Hint: A
Hall of Fame opponent quipped, “I still don't see how [he] threw the ball that
soft and got it to home plate.”
Hint: He
won an ERA title on a team in its first year in a new (and, one might fairly
assume, grateful) city.
Twint: He
served up Mickey Mantle's 500th career home run.
A. Stu Miller (First quote by Milt Pappas;
2nd quote Frank
Robinson; ERA title 1958 w/SFG; Mantle
HR 14‑May‑1967)
FCR - Paul Hirsch, Danville, CA
PLYMOUTH ROCK EXTRA
Q. Who
was the last Yankee pitcher to hit a home run before the advent of the
designated hitter?
Hint: Although
he played 21 seasons in the majors, including for the Cardinals, Giants, Cubs,
Royals and Yankees, no team of his ever advanced to postseason play.
Hint: He
had a brother who also played in the majors and another brother who played
minor league baseball.
Twint: He
once retired 32 consecutive batters over a four-game span.
A. Lindy McDaniel (HR 28-Sep-1972
off Mickey
Lolich; Brothers Von
& Kerry
Don; 32 straight retired 18-, 21-, 23-
& 25‑Aug‑1968,
finally snapped w/a pinch-hit double by Gates Brown)
FCR - Roger Erickson, Kansas City, MO
FRIDAY
Q. What
pitcher had an 18-year career in the Bigs with over 800 appearances but never
once spent time on the disabled list?
Hint: When
he retired, the only people who had pitched in more games in the majors were Cy
Young, Hoyt Wilhelm and Lindy McDaniel.
Hint: After
his playing days, he was pitching coach for the Giants, Twins and Indians, two
of which he had played for.
Twint: He
held Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Johnny Bench, Harmon Killebrew,
Bill Mazeroski, Joe Morgan, Stan Musial, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, and
Willie Stargell to a collective .149 batting average (28-for-188).
A. Don McMahon (874 G)
FCR - Paul Hirsch, Danville, CA
BLACK FRIDAY BONUS
Q. Who
was the first pitcher to save thirty games in a season in the majors?
Hint: This
stalwart righty struck out 293 and won 20 games in his first professional
season.
Hint: Only
Eddie Plank, Sandy Koufax and he finished their careers with final major league
seasons of ERAs under 1.80.
Twint: He
was the first pitcher to appear in 84 games in a season.
A. Ted Abernathy (20-13 for the 1952
Roanoke Rapids Jays of the Class D Coastal
Plain League; 1.70 in 1972, Plank
1.79 in 1917, Koufax
1.73 in 1966; 84 G 1965)
FCR - John Wilson, Mesa, AZ
SATURDAY
Q. Before
Tim Wakefield did it in 2001, who was the last Red Sox pitcher to win a game as
both a starter and reliever in the same series?
Hint: Although
he spent twelve years in the majors, he didn't make his debut until he was
nearly 32 years old, earning him the nickname “Old Folks”.
Hint: The
only home run he hit in the majors was a grand slam off ace Billy Pierce.
Hint: During
one game at Fenway Park, a seagull flew over and dropped a three-pound smelt that
landed on him while he was pitching for the Browns.
Twint: He
set the American League record for most consecutive games pitched, none
complete, but at the time it was also the league record for most games pitched
in a season.
A. Ellis Kinder (Start/W; 18-Jul-1950,
Relief/W: 20-Jul-1950;
B. 26‑Jul‑1914, Debut 30‑Apr‑1946; GS off Pierce 06‑Aug‑1960,
he also won that game; Smelt smack 17‑May‑1947,
he won that game, beating Boston 4–2; 1953 69 straight G)
FCR - Bill Carle, Lee’s Summit, MO
SATURDAY BONUS
Q. Who
was the first 20th century National Leaguer to toss shutouts in his
first two starts?
Hint: The
baseball field on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia is
named in his honor.
Hint: In
one stretch, he pitched in seven of his team’s eight games, earning three wins,
four saves and allowing no earned runs.
Twint: He
was the first pitcher to suffer a loss at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
A. Al Worthington (ShOs: 06-Jul
& 11-Jul-1953;
Worthington Stadium;
Excellent stretch: 18‑
through 31-Jul-1965;
LA L 18-Apr-1958)
FCR - Bob Wilber, Spokane, WA
SUNDAY
Q. Who
surrendered Willie McCovey's first major league home run?
Hint: He
had a ritual of touching his hat, belt and shirt before every pitch.
Twint: After
his first year in the majors, his pitching record was 0-7.
A. Ron Kline (McCovey HR 02-Aug-1959;
Debut year 1952)
FCR - Randall Chandler, Germantown, TN
WEEK’S FINALE
Q. Who
was the first player ever to pitch in eighty major league games in a season, along
the way breaking the record set in 1879?
Hint: When
the Twins hit five home runs in a single inning, he surrendered that odious
fifth one.
Hint: Not
entirely his fault. He had nothing to do
with the first four.
Hint: Two
batters and two hits later, he finally got the out he was sent in to secure.
Twint: No
other pitcher has ever given up at twenty home runs in a season while making
three starts or fewer.
Twint: He
missed by one year being a teammate of Hank Aaron’s on the Indianapolis Clowns.
A. John Wyatt (81 G in 1964, record of 76
set by Will
White in 1879, tied in 1883 by Pud Galvin
and Charles
Radbourn; 5th HR by 09-Jun-1966;
23 HR in 1965, 0 starts; On the Clowns 1953-55, Aaron in
1952 )
FCR - Steven Elsberry, Windsor Heights, IA
WEEKLY THEME
– Pitchers with 100 saves before the save became an official statistic in 1969. These saves were not recorded earlier, but
were retroactively figured in the 1960s.
Abernathy 103
Face 188
Kinder 102
Kline 103
Marberry 101
McDaniel 122
McMahon 106
Miller 154
Murphy 107
Perranoski 107
Radatz 119
Wilhelm 196
Worthington 107
Wyatt 103
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – Bill
Carle, Lee’s Summit, MO
Horsehide Trivia blog has the
questions and answers from this week as well as from previous weeks: http://horsehidetrivia.blogspot.com/
