N.B. Bill Deane wrote in with an important correction for this week: "Neither Combs nor Sewell scored on the "Called Shot"
homer, since it was a solo shot in the fifth inning." Keep that in view.
MONDAY
Q. Who
led the majors in stolen bases in his 20th big league season?
Hint: He
played for five more years in the majors.
Hint: He
had two full minor league seasons after that.
Hint: He’d
probably play today if anyone would sign him.
Twint: Despite
his insistence, he IS the greatest of
all time.
A. Rickey Henderson (20th yr. 1998;
1,406 SB, which is 468 ahead of Lou Brock. Worded another way, if you added Ichiro’s
SB total to Brock’s, you STILL wouldn’t have as many as Rickey had by
himself. Indeed the greatest.)
FCR – Jesse-Douglas
Mathewson, Memphis, TN
MOONDAY
Q. Who
has the American League’s longest hitting streak since World War II?
Hint: He
was drafted as a pitcher out of high school by the Cardinals, but chose instead
to become a Golden Gopher.
Twint: He
became the sixth member of the exclusive 3,000-hit, 500-stolen base club.
A. Paul Molitor (39 consec G in 1987;
University of Minnesota; 3,319 H + 504 SB, joining Honus Wagner
3,420/723, Eddie
Collins 3,315/744, Lou Brock
3,023/938, Ty Cobb 4,189/897 & Rickey
Henderson 3,055/1,406)
FCR - Walt
Cherniak, Woodbine, MD
TUESDAY
Q. What
major league batter once went 115 consecutive games without striking out?
Hint: His
49 home runs seldom draw any attention.
Hint: His
consecutive-games-played streak was once the second-best all time.
Twint: His
cousin was credited with invented with a pitch so slow it got its own name.
A. Joe Sewell (115 G, no K between 12-Sep-1931
& 28-Jul-1932;
49 careers HR; 1,103 Consec. G from 13-Sep1922
thru 30-Apr-1930;
Cousin Rip
Sewell is credited with invented the Eephus pitch.)
FCR - Rick
Zucker, St. Louis, MO
TWOSDAY
Q. What
Hall of Fame centerfielder was called “The Kentucky Colonel”?
Hint: In
fact, he played for the Colonels.
Hint: No
American Leaguer had more triples in a season between the end of the Deadball
Era and the end of World War II.
Twint: He
played with Ruth and was married to Ruth.
A. Earle Combs (B. Pebworth, KY; Played
for the 1922
& 1923
Louisville Colonels; 23 3b in 1927; Teammate Babe Ruth, wife & high school
sweetheart Ruth McCollum.
FCR - Fred Worth, Arkadelphia, AR
WEDNESDAY
Q. What
third baseman was one of the first three teammates to hit 40 home runs in a
single season? (I am open to better
wording on that one. I hope you know
what I am asking.)
Hint: Only
eighteen lefties have ever hit more home runs in a major league career.
Twint: The
look he projected on some of his baseball cards was more page-boy than Hank
Bauer. (No, not Mitchell Page.)
A. Darrell Evans (41 HR w/Hank Aaron’s
40 and Davey
Johnson’s 43 on the 1973 Atlanta
Braves; Haircut)
FCR - David Knox, Pinson, AL
WHENZDAY
Q. Who
was the last player mobbed on the field by fans following a dramatic postseason
home run?
Hint: He
was the first player drafted in the 1970s.
Twint: He
was the first ever Cleveland Indians position player to win the Rookie of the
Year Award.
A. Chris Chambliss (HR ALCS G 5
14-Oct-1976, He actually only touched the earth where home plate had once
securely resided before it was absconded with by ecstatic revelers. Security has tightened up considerably since
then.; Drafted
by Cleveland in January 1970, 1st overall; ROY
1971)
FCR - Quentin Wittrock, Minneapolis, MN
THURSDAY
Q. Who
replaced Mickey Mantle as the Yankees’ clean-up hitter during Mantle’s final
year in the majors?
Hint: Fellow
future All-Star Reggie Smith was his double play partner on their high school
baseball team.
Hint: One
year in the majors, he accepted over 300 chances in the field without making an
error.
Twint: In
different seasons, he led the American League in runs, walks and at-bats.
Twint: He
has two World Series championships on his player résumé.
Twint: He
played on Chet Brewer's traveling All-Star teams in the 1960s.
A. Roy White (13-Aug-1968
first hit in the 4th spot in the order; Played with Smith at
Centennial
High School in Compton, CA; 314 OF Ch in 1971; Led AL w/104 R in 1976, w/99
BB in 1972 and w/639 AB in 1973; WS W 1977, 78)
FCR - Walt Cherniak, Woodbine, MD
IN MEMORIAM
Q. What
Braves pitcher got lost driving to the stadium on his first scheduled start
after receiving his driver’s license?
Hint: He
circled the city three times in a rented car before running out of gas.
Hint: He
had two brothers who also pitched in the majors.
Hint: He
and one of his brothers each pitched rain-shortened no-hitters.
Hint: After
hitting the lead-off batter with the first pitch of a game, opposing pitchers
threw at him all four times he batted.
He was hit only once and ended up winning the game.
Twint: In
1991, he was one of four Yankees forced to get haircuts to meet team grooming
standards.
Twint: He
had four additional brothers who played in the minors.
A. Pascual Perez who died on Thursday (Atlanta
reader Calvin Johnson wrote to say, “I was at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium
that night when he circumnavigated Atlanta's Perimeter Highway, Interstate 285,
waiting for him to show up. After that,
whenever Perez would circle the bases as part of his pre-game ritual, he would
don a Braves warm-up jacket with I-285 emblazoned across the back! He was good-humored about this incident,
always a character, and this is a tragic loss for us here in Atlanta who
remembered him fondly.”; Brothers Melido
and Carlos;
Pascua’s no-no 24-Sep-1988,
Melido’s no-no 12‑Jul‑1990;
12-Aug-1984
plunked Alan
Wiggins and was then thrown at by the Padres’ staff.)
FCR - Rick Gross, Miami, FL
FURS DAY
Q. Who
was the only player between Babe Ruth and Rick Ankiel to hit his first home run
as a pitcher and later hit another home run as a position player?
Hint: Bill
James designated an award in his name for the most over-hyped player for a
decade.
Hint: His
more productive seasons were spent on WWII service teams.
Hint: Before
he had ever played a game in the majors, a New York sports writer wrote of him,
“All he has to do is sit at home, wait until he’s eligible and he’s a cinch to
make the Hall of Fame.”
Twint: In
the U.S. Army as a pitcher, he went 25-0, averaged fifteen strikeouts a game
and batter .567.
A. Clint Hartung (1st HR 02-Jun-1947,
as pos. player 15-Aug-1952)
FCR - Art Springsteen, Sunapee, NH
FRIDAY
Q. Who
was the first player to team with Rickey Henderson to begin a game with two
home runs?
Hint: His
only World Series home run is largely forgotten.
Hint: He
had a brother who played in the majors and two cousins who played in the NFL.
Twint: He
attended the same high school as had Ted Williams, but now lives in London.
A. Mike Davis (HR 09-Sep-1983;
WS HR G 5 20-Oct-1988;
Brother Mark,
Cousins Dave Grayson [Sr. & Jr.] played pro football.)
FCR - Jim McCoy, Melrose, MA
FRIED DAY
Q. Who
was the first National League player to hit a hundred career home runs after homering
in his first major league at-bat?
Hint: He
is the last person in major league baseball with his nickname.
Twint: His
fiery temper saw him ejected, but led to Ernie Banks’ managerial debut.
A. Whitey Lockman (1st HR 05-Jul-1945
off George
Dockins, 100th HR 18-Aug-1955
off Karl
Spooner; Ejection as Cubs Mgr on 08-May-1973;
Ret. From the Marlins front office in 2001.)
FCR - Randall Chandler, Germantown, TN
SATURDAY
Q. Which
American League shortstop hit both of his homers in the 1979 season on the same
day?
Hint: They
were the first two home runs of his major league career.
Hint: One
of his salient trademarks was his omnipresent toothpick.
Twint: You
likely don’t think of him as an Expo.
A. U L Washington (HR 21-Sep-1979;
Expo in 1985)
FCR - David Krassin, New York
SUNDAY
Q. Who
replaced the injured Colby Rasmus on the Team USA roster for the 2008 Olympics?
Hint: Bronze
medal that time, but not too long thereafter he earned the equivalent of MLB
gold.
Hint: He
would have had a second ring, but he was traded to a last place team two months
too early.
Twint: The
player for whom he was traded had had a “triple-hit” hit this last postseason.
A. Nate Schierholtz (WS w/SF 2010; Traded
with minor leaguers Tommy Joseph & Seth
Rosin July 31, 2012
for Hunter Pence.)
FCR - Paul Hirsch, Danville, CA
WEEKLY THEME
– Baserunners who scored on a famous home run
Baserunner Date HR Hitter Significance
Chambliss 02-Oct-1978 Bucky Dent Playoff series winner
Combs 01-Oct-1932 Babe Ruth Called shot
Davis 15-Oct-1988 Kirk Gibson WS game 1 win
Evans 08-Apr-1974 Hank Aaron 715th career HR
Hartung 03-Oct-1951 Bobby
Thomson Pennant winner
Henderson 23-Oct-1993 Joe Carter WS winner
Lockman 03-Oct-1951 Bobby
Thomson Pennant winner
Molitor 23-Oct-1993 Joe Carter WS winner
Schierholtz 05-Sep-2007 Barry Bonds 762nd career HR
Sewell 01-Oct-1932 Babe Ruth Called shot
Washington 24-Jul-1983 George Brett Pine tar HR
White 02-Oct-1978 Bucky Dent Playoff series winner
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – Bill
Garrod, Edgewood, WA
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
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