MONDAY
Q. Who
threw out the honorary first pitch at Opening Day at Dodger Stadium this year?
Hint: This
Hall of Famer had try-outs with the Giants and Pirates but never played for
either.
Hint: He
made a throwing error on the first batted ball he fielded in the majors.
Hint: His
next batter was a future fellow Hall of Famer.
He walked.
Twint: He
became dominant on the mound after taking the advice of a teammate to slow his
pitches down.
Twint: He
is the youngest person ever elected to the Hall of Fame.
A. Sandy Koufax (2013
pitch; Debut game error 24-Jun-1955;
Walked Henry
Aaron; Pitching advice came from catcher Norm Sherry;
Age at HOF election :36 yrs 20 days)
FCR - Chuck
Durante, Dover, DE
TUESDAY
Q. Who
was the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter after his fortieth birthday?
Hint: It
was a perfect game.
Hint: His
300th victory was with the Giants and was a rain-shortened affair
that probably shouldn’t have been played.
Twint: His
nickname was the result of a collision with a teammate.
A. Randy Johnson (Perfecto 18‑May‑2004,
40 yrs 251 days old [N.B. Warren Spahn threw a no-hitter in 1961, 5 days after
his 40th birthday. Nolan Ryan then threw
his last TWO no-hitters after he was 40.
Cy Young, however did it first in 1908.]
No idea where I got my original research.]; 300th 04‑Jun‑2009;
“You’re a big unit!” exclaimed collidee Tim Raines
during BP in 1988.)
FCR - Dan
Gurrola, Torrance, CA
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who
held the modern, single-season strikeout record for a record 61 years?
Hint: He
pitched for Orphans and Colonels alike.
Twint: It
was well known that he would leave games, in uniform, to chase fire engines.
A. Rube Waddell (349 K in 1904, almost
broken by Bob
Feller w/348 in 1946, but broken by Sandy Koufax
w/382 in 1965; Louisville Colonels in 1897 & 99, Chicago Orphans
[Cubs] in 1901)
FCR - R.J. Lesch, Adel, IA
THURSDAY
Q. Who
upstaged Rickey Henderson on the day Henderson declared himself the “greatest
of all-time”?
Hint: He
is the only player to have his number retired by three different teams.
Twint: In
addition to his seven no-hitters, he also threw twelve one-hitters and eighteen
two-hitters.
A. Nolan Ryan (Pitched his
record-extending 7th no-hitter on 01-May-1991
when Henderson
broke Lou
Brock’s career stolen bases record; Uni #30 Angels, #34 Astros &
Rangers)
FCR - David Ramsden, Barcelona, Spain
FRIDAY
Q. Who
was only the second American League pitcher to start the All-Star Game and win
that game's MVP honors?
Hint: His
career Adjusted ERA+ is the highest in history for a pitcher with over ten
starts.
Hint: Despite
his small stature, he was called up to the majors partly because his older
brother was doing well on the same team.
Hint: The
MLB television channel deemed his best season superior even to Walter Johnson’s
best season.
Twint: During
one seven-year period, he led his league in ERA five times.
A. Pedro Martinez (ASG 11‑Jul‑1999;
Mariano Rivera with exactly 10 GS has an Adj.
ERA+ of 205, easily eclipsing Martinez’ 154; Debut with LAD 24‑Sep‑1992,
brother Ramon;
“Baseball's
Greatest Pitching Seasons: The Prime Nine Revisited”; ERA leader 1997, 99,
2000, 02 & 03)
FCR - Bob Kimball, Washington, DC
SATURDAY
Q. What
pitcher led the National League in strikeouts for a record seven consecutive
seasons?
Hint: With
zero wins in eight starts (twenty appearances) in the first four years of his
career in the majors, he was an unlikely candidate for the Hall of Fame. Yet there he is.
Hint: His
professional career began with the Prohibitionists.
Twint: He
was the first pitcher to win the Most Valuable Player Award in the National
League.
A. Dazzy Vance (K leader 1922-28;1912 York
[PA] Prohibitionists;
NL
MVP 1924)
FCR - Fred Worth, Arkadelphia, AR
SUNDAY
Q. Who
was the first pitcher to start five Opening Day games for the Houston Astros?
Hint He
struck out fifteen batters in his major league debut.
Twint: Though
his career was ended untimely, only Roy Oswalt and Nolan Ryan have more
strikeouts for the Astros.
A. J.R. Richard (Opening Day starts
1976-80; Debut 05‑Sep‑1971;
Ryan’s
Ks 1,866, Oswalt’s
1,593, Richard’s 1,493 in a 10-yr career)
FCR - Bill Chuck, Brookline, MA
WEEKLY THEME
– Pitchers leading the league in strikeouts with 100 more than the runner-up
Pitcher Year Team Ks Runner-up Team Ks Diff
Johnson 1993 Mariners 308 Mark
Langston Angels 196 112
1999 D’Backs 364 Kevin Brown Dodgers 221 143
2000 D’Backs 347 Chan Ho Park Dodgers 217 130
Martinez 1999 Red Sox 313 Chuck Finley Angels 200 213
J.R. Richard 1979 Astros 313 Steve
Carlton Phillies 213 100
Ryan 1973 Angels 383 Bert
Blyleven Twins 258 125
1974 Angels 367 Bert
Blyleven Twins 249 118
Vance 1924 Robins 262 Burleigh
Grimes Robins 135 127
Waddell 1903 A’s 302 Bill Donovan Tigers 187 115
1904 A’s 349 Jack Chesbro Highlanders 239 110
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – No
one
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
No comments:
Post a Comment