Sunday, November 11, 2012

November 5-11, 2012 Players credited with inventing or designing baseball-related products


This week’s theme and questions are from reader Barry Sparks of York, PA.

MONDAY
Q.         Who was the first Yankee to homer in his first World Series at-bat?
Hint:     He roomed with Ernie Banks in the Negro Leagues.
Hint:     He was named to six All-Star teams in six years.
Twint:    He was the first black to model clothes for the men’s fashion magazine GQ.
A.         Elston Howard (WS HR 1 28-Sep-1955; ASGs 1960 to 1962; GQ appearance following his 1963 MVP)
First Correct Respondent - Christopher Bell, New York

TUESDAY
Q.         Who authored the book that ranks third on Sports Illustrated’s” Top 100 Sports Books of All Time”?
Hint:     He shares a nickname with Orel Hershiser.
Hint:     He pitched in his only All-Star Game in 1963.  He had one perfect inning.
Hint:     He was once traded for Roric Harrison and Dooley Womack.
Hint:     Yes, THE Dooley Womack!
Twint:    He helped form the Vintage Base Ball Federation.
A.         Jim Bouton (SI 100; “Bulldog”; ’63 ASG 6th inning; Harrison/Womack  trade 24-Aug-1969, Bouton mocked his own baseball status by highlighting how unknown his former teammate Womack was; VBBF).
FCR -    Bill Carle, Lee’s Summit, MO

WEDNESDAY
Q.         Who came up to the majors as a pitcher, played 281 games in the outfield, but was elected to the Hall of Fame as a catcher?
Hint:     Told his friends he was born in Ireland, but he was actually born in Toledo, Ohio.
Hint:     Played all positions but designated hitter during a seventeen-year career.
Twint:    He was the catcher in four World Series shutout games.
A.         Roger Bresnahan (4 Sho in 1905 WS; HOF 1945)
FCR -    Mike McCroskey, Sugar Land, TX

THURSDAY
Q.         Who compiled a 35-game hit streak as a 22-year-old in his second major league season?
Hint:     He went 5-for-5 in his major league debut.
Hint:     He is still seventh on the all-time triples list.
Twint:    He is still seventeenth on the managerial wins list.
Twint:    He was elected to the Hall of Fame as a player/manager.
A.         Fred Clarke (Streak 1895; Debut 30-Jun-1894; 220 3Bs; 1,602 Mgr W; 1945 HOF)
FCR -    Art Springsteen, Sunapee, NH

FRIDAY
Q.         Who was the first St. Louis Cardinals pitcher to lead the league twice in ERA?
Hint:     He lost 20 games in a season and three years later won 20 games.
Hint:     He’s behind only Bob Gibson for most career shutouts by Cardinal pitcher.
Twint:    He was one of seventeen spitballers allowed to use the pitch after it was banned in 1920.
A.         Bill Doak (1914 and 1921; 1917 and 1920; StL ShO: Gibson 56, Doak 30)
FCR -    J.R. Richardson, Clarksville, MD

IN MEMORIAM
Q.         Who is the son in the only father/son tandem in the Hall of Fame?
Hint:     One of his last actions as American League President was to overrule the umpire’s decision and restore George Brett’s “pine tar” home run.
Hint:     He is credited with ending the 1981 baseball strike.
Hint:     He had a 40-year career in baseball including being the Yankees’ farm system director in the 1940s.
Hint:     His son has served as a major league executive for more than 25 years.
Hint:     He becames the oldest living Hall of Famer upon Phil Rizzuto passing in 2007.
Twint:    As eight years as the general manager of the Yankees, the team never made the postseason.
Twint:    The ALCS MVP Award is named for him.
A.         Lee McPhail (who passed away Thursday:  http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8611020/lee-macphail-hall-famer-ex-al-president-dies-95)
FCR -    Harvey Judkowitz, Miami, FL

SATURDAY
Q.         Who was the first major leaguer to play a complete season without an error?
Hint:     Had a 21-game hitting streak in his first full season.
Hint:     On Ford Frick’s recommendation, he was accepted as the baseball coach at Florida State University, where he led the Seminoles to three College World Series appearances.
Hint:     He followed up on 189 wins at FSU by coaching the Michigan State University baseball team to more career wins that anyone else ever had.
Twint:    During World War II, he applied seven times to enter the service before being accepted for “limited service”.
Twint:    Once in the service, he recruited eighteen-year-old trumpeter Carl Severnson to entertain the troops at Ft. Lewis.  (The trumpeter was later known as “Doc”.)
A.         Danny Litwhiler (Errorless year 1942 w/ the streak extending to 187 consecutive games in the outfield; Hitting streak 1940; FSU 1955-63; 488 W @ MSU
FCR -    John Gottko, Corvallis, OR

SUNDAY
Q.         Who surrendered Pete Rose’s 3,631st hit, the one that broke Stan Musial’s hit record?
Hint:     He was once traded with a now popular announcer for The Mad Hungarian.
Hint:     He was voted #83 on Kansas City Royals Top 100 list.
Twint:    He shares a nickname with a Hall of Famer.
A.         Mark Littell (Record H 10-Aug-1981; Traded with Buck Martinez for Al Hrabosky; “Country” [Enos Slaughter])
FCR -    Andrew Milner, Bryn Mawr, PA


WEEKLY THEME – Players credited with inventing or designing baseball-related products.

Bouton                  Big League Chew (bubble gum).  Amurol Products introduced Big League Chew in 1980.  Big League Chew generated $18 million in wholesale sales in the first 12 months.  Bio
Bresnahan             Introduced catcher’s shin guards in 1907.  Bio
Clarke                   Had patent for flip-down sunglassesBio
Doak                     Fielder’s glove with webbing between thumb and figure.  The Premier Players Glove (often referred to as the Doak model) was introduced in 1920. Bio
Howard                 Batting donut ring.  Invented in the early 1960s; originally called the Elston Howard on-deck batting weight. Bio
Littell                     Nutty Buddy (virtually indestructible protective athletic cup). Bio
Litwhiler                 JUGS speed gun and Diamond Grit (used to absorb water on the field; originally called Danny Dust.  Litwhiler didn’t stop there.  Here are some of his other contributions: http://www.baseballnews.com/features/stories/baseballs_great_inventor_of_all_time.htm).


First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Dick Adams, Ellicott City, MD 

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



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