Sunday, July 14, 2013

July 8-14, 2013 First-ballot Hall of Famers inducted with another first-ballot Hall of Famer since the original 1935 group was elected

MONDAY
Q.         Who holds the career record for home runs by a shortstop?
Hint:     He wrote a book titled “Hothead” claiming it was based on his own life.
Hint:     He voluntarily ended his own record streak on September 20, 1998?
Twint:    He was managed by his father in three different major league seasons.
A.         Cal Ripken Jr. (345 SS HR [N.B. A-Rod was closing in before he was switched to 3b.]; 2,362 consecutive games played; Cal Ripken, Sr. managed BAL 1985, 87 and 88)
FCR -    Sean Fink, Edison, NJ

MONDAY QUESTION #2
Q.         Who was the first Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year?
Hint:     Only he and Alvin Dark were so honored before there were separate American and National League awards.
Twint:    The award now bears his name.
A.         Jackie Robinson (ROY 1947, Dark 1948, Jackie Robinson Award)
FCR -    Matt Gibson, Barboursville, WV

TUESDAY
Q.         Who has the highest single season American League batting average since Ted Williams hit .406?
Hint:     He was voted his league’s MVP that year.
Hint:     That season, his team lost the World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Twint:    His older brother is still the youngest pitcher ever to appear in a World Series.
Twint:    He was named his former team’s hitting coach 30-May-2013.
A.         George Brett (BA .390 1980 KCR; AL MVP 1980; PHI over KCR 4-2; Ken Brett 19.020yo 08-Oct-1967)
FCR -    David Wallack, Greenwood Village, CO

TUESDAY QUESTION #2
Q.         Who drove in what would prove to be the winning run in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series?
Hint:     Though only a career .271 hitter, he topped his league four times in on-base percentage.
Hint:     When he hit his career high of 27 home runs in a season, he led the majors in on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+ and sacrifice flies.
Twint:    His last World Series appearance was also the last for Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, and Tony Perez.
Twint:    They lost that series to Baltimore four games to one.
A.         Joe Morgan (Top 9th RBI to provide winning margin in CIN 4-BOS 3 victory; OBP led 1972, 74-76; 27HR 1976, OBP/SLG/OPS/OPS+/SF, .444/.576/1.020/186/12; 1983 WS all with PHI)
FCR -    Michael Daponde, Sacramento, CA

TUESDAY BONUS
Q.         To whom was Jim Bouton referring when a fan asked him how he pitched to this player, Bouton answered “Reluctantly”?
Hint:     Bouton also said the best way to pitch to him was “underground”.
Hint:     He is the only player to hit a home run completely out of Memorial Stadium.
Twint:    In his first season with the Orioles he nearly drowned when his teammates, not believing him when he said he couldn’t swim, pushed him into a swimming pool.
A.         Frank Robinson (Jim Bouton quotes; 8-May-1966, 451ftHR; traded to Baltimore, saved by Andy Etchebarren; “Close don’t count” Time Magazine 31-Jul-1973)
FCR -    Fred Worth, Arkadelphia, AR

WEDNESDAY
Q.         Which player established the record of five hits in a single World Series game?
Hint:     They were all singles.
Hint:     He is the only player to reach 3,000 hits with a triple.
Twint:    In the 1993 World Series, he had a slugging percent of 1.000 and a batting average of .500 in 24 at bats getting two doubles, two triples and two home runs.
Twint:    Like Joe Mauer, he was once a Raider.
A.         Paul Molitor (Game 1 1982WS; 5 singles, 2RBI, 1R; 1993WS; 16-Sep-1996; Cretin-Derham Hall HS Raiders)
FCR -    David Krassin, New York, NY

WEDNESDAY QUESTION #2
Q.         When Roger Clemens was asked to name the game’s three most dangerous hitters, he said this player is the first, fourth and seventh?
Hint:     He has more hits in the 1980s than any other player.
Twint:    For the same decade, he is second only to Rickie Henderson in runs scored.
Twint:    He shot the manager of the Chicago Cubs.
A.         Robin Yount (Clemens quote; 1731 H 1980-89; 957R with Henderson at 1111R confirmed on play index; While hunting quail with Cubs Manager Dale Sveum and former teammate, Yount accidentally shot him while trying to unload on a quail)
FCR -    Fred Worth, Arkadelphia, AR

HUMP DAY BONUS
Q:         When a Yankee scout reacted badly during negotiations, whose father said “Nobody throws a pencil in my house.  Get the hell out and never come back”?
Hint:     After that, instead of going pro, he attended an NCAA Division-1 college with a scholarship that was half baseball and half basketball.
Twint:    While at Notre Dame, he signed with a major league team with a bonus of $108,000 and an offer to pay the rest of his college education, and his father increased his allowance from $2 to $3 a week.
Twint:    As a high school basketball player he broke the Long-Island record for average points per game held previously by Jim Brown.
A.         Carl Yastrzemski’s (His father countered a $60K offer from scout Ray Garland with a $100K offer.  Garland flipped his pencil in the air hitting the ceiling and said “$100,000?  Are you crazy?  The Yankees will never pay that.”; Attended ND 1957-58; Bridgehampton HS)
FCR -    Lou Schiff, Deerfield Beach, FL

THURSDAY
Q:         Who said that the best moment of his career was when he hit a walk off home run driving in Johnny Logan in the 11th inning to clinch the National League pennant?
Hint:     In the World Series that year, he hit .393 with 3 home runs and a triple in 28 at bats.
Twint:    They won the Series in 7, but he was not bestowed the honor of Most Valuable Player of the Series.
Twint:    That honor went to a pitcher.
A.         Hank Aaron (MLN 4-STL 2 on 23-Sep-1957; 1957 WS stats and MVP; WS MVP Lew Burdette)
FCR -    Andrew Milner, Bryn Mawr, PA

THURSDAY QUESTION #2
Q:         Who was the first catcher named by the BBWAA as Rookie of the Year?
Hint:     In his second trip to the World Series he experienced what he said was “…the most embarrassing moment of my life.”
Twint:    He is a baseball player with a contradictory name.
Twint:    He once hosted a baseball instruction television show for kids with Tommy Lasorda and the San Diego Chicken.
A.         Johnny Bench (ROY 1968; 1972 WS struck out on a 3-2 count when Rollie Fingers, at the direction of Dick Williams; faked an intentional walk to Bench and threw a slider for strike three; He did a lot of squatting and was seldom benched; TV show “The Baseball Bunch”)
FCR -    Harvey Judkowitz, Miami, FL

FRIDAY
Q:         Whose son that got his first major league hit 24 years to the day that Dad got his first major league hit?
Hint:     Both hit doubles.
Hint:     Both of their teams lost the game by the identical score of 7-6.
Twint:    He led his league in batting average eight times, and led total hits seven times, but never won a Most Valuable Player award.
Twint:    He did however, win the Branch Rickey, Lou Gehrig and Roberto Clemente Awards over the course of his career.
A.         Tony Gwynn (Tony/Tony Jr. debuts 19-Jul-2006 and 19-Jul-1982; 1995 Branch Rickey Award, 1998 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, 1999 Roberto Clemente Award)
FCR -    Michael Berry, Culver City, CA

FRIDAY QUESTION #2
Q:         To whom was announcer Jack Buck referring when he announced after this player’s Game 6 World Series extra-innings walk off home run “And we’ll see you tomorrow night!”?
Hint:     His team went on to win the World Series where both teams, for the first time in baseball history, had finished last in their respective divisions the previous season.
Twint:    He had a horrific career-ending injury when he was hit in the face by a Dennis Martinez pitch and suffered a broken jaw.
Twint:    After high school, he became a Brave.
A.         Kirby Puckett (26-Oct-1991 MIN v ATL walk off; 28-Sep-1995, his last major league season game; Bradley University Braves, Peoria, IL)
FCR -    Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, RI

WEEK-ENDING BONUS
Q:         Which Hall of Famer faced nearly 7,000 fewer batters than Cy Young, but had over twice Cy Young’s strike out total?
Hint:     He also pitched 99 fewer games than Cy Young.
Twint:    And yet, he never won the Cy Young Award.
Twint:    He was the last pitcher inducted into the Hall of Fame in the 20th Century.
A.         Nolan Ryan (BF/K/G Young 29,565/2,803/906, Ryan 22,575/5,714/807; HOF Induction 1999).
FCR -    Rick Zucker visiting Abbey Garber in Dallas, TX

SATURDAY
Q:         Who is the only player in the 3,000 hit club with fewer than 1,500 hits for each of the teams he played for?
Hint:     He was once referred to on the air as “... the stretch limo of baseball players”.
Twint:    He never played a game in the minor leagues.
Twint:    He was once arrested for killing a seagull, but was provided a strong defense by Billy Martin.
A.         Dave Winfield (6 teams, 1,300 H was most with NYY; Martin said “They say he hit the gull on purpose.  They wouldn’t say that if they’d seen the throws he’d been making all year.  It’s the first time he’s hit the cutoff man”.)
FCR -    Mitchell Below, Oakland, CA

SATURDAY QUESTION #2
Q:         The year Mike Flanagan won the Cy Young Award, whom did he dub “Cy Old”?
Hint:     He gave up the most home runs of any pitcher in an All-Star Game.
Hint:     His teammates believed they would win when he ate pancakes for breakfast, earning him the nickname “Cakes”.
Twint:    In his 558-game career, facing 16,114 batters, he never gave up a grand slam.
A.         Jim Palmer (Flanagan responded when asked about another former Oriole CYA winner “Yeah, Palmer is Cy Old” he replied without cracking a smile; 3HR ASG 19-Jul-1977; 303HR allowed; Palmer interview, final question)
FCR -    Kevin Johnson, Broken Arrow, OK

SUNDAY
Q:         What pitcher performed an age-related feat that has been equaled only by Kerry Wood?
Hint:     He is the first pitcher to win 24 games in a season before the age of 21.
Twint:    Only Nolan Ryan has thrown as many one-hitters.
A.         Bob Feller (Matched his age w/17 Ks in a G @ 17 13‑Sep‑1936, Wood w/20 Ks in a G @ 20 06‑May‑1998; 24 W 1939, age 20; 12 one‑hitters)
FCR -    Richard Schabowski, Saint Francis, WI

SUNDAY QUESTION #2
Q:         What former starter walked fewer than 100 batters in his last 670+ innings in the majors?
Hint:     He had over 350 major league starts before this streak began.
Twint:    During one six-season stretch, he struck out 458 and walked a mere 51.
A.         Dennis Eckersley (97 BB/674 IP 1988-98; 361 GS 1975-87; 6 yrs:  1988-93)
FCR -    R.J. Lesch, Adel, IA


WEEKLY THEME – First-ballot Hall of Famers inducted with another first-ballot Hall of Famer since the original 1936 group was elected.

Feller & J. Robinson      1962



Morgan & Palmer          1990

Brett, Ryan & Yount       1999

Puckett& Winfield          2001

Molitor & Eckersley       2004

Ripken & Gwynn            2007


First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Bill Deane, Cooperstown, NY


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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