September 23-29, 2013 The only men to play more than 163 games in a season (regular season)

MONDAY/TUESDAY

Q.         Who won the National League Rookie of the Year Award the year the last season the National League had only eight teams.

Hint:     Joe Torre finished behind him in the voting.

Twint:    He finished second to Johnny Bench in National League MVP voting both times Bench won the award.

A.         Billy Williams (ROY 1961; 218 MVP votes to Bench’s 326 in 1970 and 211 to Bench’s 263 in 1972)

FCR -    Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, RI

WEDNESDAY

Q.         Whose death in 2010 was the final element needed for his election to the Hall of Fame?

Hint:     He was the only one of ten candidates elected to the Hall by its Golden Era Ballot Committee in the Committee's first-ever vote.

Hint:     He missed being unanimous by one vote, a far better showing than his previous high of 43.1%.

Hint:     An All-Star nine times, he never experienced postseason play.

Twint:    He was cremated and his ashes scattered on ground at Wrigley Field.

A.         Ron Santo (Died 02-Dec-2010)

FCR -    David Krassin, New York, NY

THURSDAY

Q.         Who spent more than eight seasons in the minors before reaching the majors, but then was the league MVP in his third full season?

Hint:     He was the first manager to face his son in a major league game.

Twint:    He was the first batter to appear in a game for the Montreal Expos.

A.         Maury Wills (Minors 1951-59; Father/son G 24‑Jun‑1980; MTL G 08‑Apr‑1969)

FCR -    Mark Jones, Birmingham, AL

FRIDAY

Q.         Who was the second player in Major League Baseball history to play all nine positions in a nine inning game?

Hint:     Coincidentally, the first batter he faced was the first player in baseball history to accomplish the same feat.

Hint:     He was the starting pitcher for that game, giving up no hits, a walk, a balk, no runs and had a strike out to his credit.

Hint:     The future Hall of Famer he struck out led the league in strike-outs that year (at the plate, not from the mound).

Twint:    He is the most recent player to lead the league in both doubles and triples in the same year.

A.         Cesar Tovar (22-Sep-1968; Faced lead-off batter Bert Campaneris who had played all 9 08-Sep-1965; Reggie Jackson led the majors in 1968 with 171 K; 36 2b, 13 3b in 1970)

FCR -    Richard Tharp, Gaithersburg, MD

SATURDAY

Q.         Who led the National League in caught stealing the year after his 70 stolen bases led the league?

Hint:     That year he had over 650 at-bats without hitting a home run, a feat equaled only four other times in major league history.

Hint:     His 70 stolen bases were the most by a Pittsburgh player since Billy Sunday had 71 in 1888.

Twint:    His trade to Canada signaled the final days of his career in the majors.

A.         Frank Taveras (25 CS 1978; 654 AB; Finished with the Expos, batting .161)

FCR -    Richard Tharp, Gaithersburg, MD

IN MEMORIAM

Q.         Who was the Tigers’ first-ever designated hitter?

Hint:     His first major league home run came a decade earlier, in his first at-bat, in a pinch-hitting role.

Hint:     He was the only Tigers to hit .300 in the year of the pitcher.

Hint:     Until tied this year by Jason Giambi, he held the record of twice pinch hitting walk‑off home runs in the same season.

Hint:     On 11‑Aug of that year, he had game-winning, walk-off hints in both ends of a double header.

Hint:     He hit .450 as a pinch-hitter that year, with an on-base percentage .542.

Hint:     He was one nine Tigers who were teammates a major league record ten years in a row.

Twint:    As a teenager, he was convicted on a charge of breaking and entering and served time in the same prison in Ohio when the movie Shawshank Redemption was later filmed.

Twint:    He served as a mentor to Ron LeFlore, who also spent some time in prison before making it in baseball.

Twint:    As the Tigers hitting coach, he helped transform Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell from slap hitters into power hitters.

A.         Gates Brown (DH 07‑Apr‑1973; Debut HR 19‑Jun‑1963; Hit .370 in 1968 [No other Tiger with more than 3 AB hit over .300.]; PH, Walk-off HRs 11‑Apr‑1968 & 11‑Aug‑1968 [1]; Walk-off H 11‑Aug‑1968 [2], Giambi’s 2 PH W-O HRs 29‑Jul‑2103 & 24‑Sep‑2013; 9 Teammates 1964-73: Cash , Freehan, Horton, Kaline, Lolich, McAuliffe, Northrup & Stanley)

FCR -    David Krassin, New York, NY

SUNDAY

Q.         What Puerto Rican native was the Giants shortstop the year their third baseman made his only All-Star appearance?

Hint:     Few people know he played for the Senators.

Hint:     He hit .324 in eleven games in two World Series, taking home the trophy once.

Twint:    He was a teammate of Hall of Famers Steve Carlton, Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays.

A.         Jose Pagan (Jim Davenport AS in 1962; 1962 WS, 1971 WS; San Juan, Puerto Rico Senators)

FCR -    Rich Klein, Plano, TX

WEEKLY THEME – The only men to play more than 163 games in a season (regular season)

Pagan       164     1962        Regular season plus three-game playoff

Santo        164     1965        Regular season plus two ties replayed

Taveras     164     1979        Regular season plus two ties replayed

Tovar        164     1967        Regular season plus two ties replayed

Williams    164     1965        Regular season plus two ties replayed

Wills          165     1962        Regular season plus three-game playoff

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Jeff Bergida, Albany, NY (after the Wills Q.)

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