This week’s
theme and questions have been authored by Narragansett’s own Rev. Gerry Beirne.
MONDAY
Q. What
fan favorite won two batting titles with the Red Sox but finished his
fourteen-year major league career under .300?
Hint: He
lost a third title on the last day of the season to a future Hall of Fame
teammate.
Hint: He
was once traded for an ordained minister and a Roman.
Addint: His career was split among 644 games at first base, 642 at third
base and 463 at shortstop.
Addint: He even played one game in the outfield.
Addint: He was 45 in 63.
A. Pete Runnels (Final career avg .291;
Beaten by Ted Williams .329 to
.322 in 1958; Traded for Albie Pearson 23‑Jan‑1958
and for Roman Mejias 26‑Nov‑1962;
Played for the Houston Colt 45’s in 1963 and ’64.)
FCR - Jan
Finkel, Swanton, MD
Most common incorrect
answers: Fred Lynn, Nomar Garciaparra,
Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans,
Billy Goodman, Mickey Vernon, Jackie Jensen
TUESDAY
Q. Who
threw the first pitch in the brand new Yankee Stadium in 1923?
Hint: He
also scored the first run ever there.
Hint: He
also then threw out the first ball in 1976 at the refurbished Yankee Stadium.
Hint: He
won twenty games four times but lost Game Four to the Miracle Braves.
Addint: He was a pall bearer at Miller Huggins’ funeral.
Addint: This Slippery Rock grad is the only Yankee manager to have played
for the A’s and Red Sox?
A. Bob Shawkey (18‑Apr‑1923; 15‑Apr‑1976; 1914 WS L 13‑Oct‑1949;
FCR - Robert Pfuhler, Staten Island, NY
Most common incorrect
answers: Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Joe
Bush
TUESDAY, TUESDAY
Q. Who
was the first A's pitcher to start five Opening Day games?
Hint: In
one stretch, he hurled twenty consecutive complete games.
Hint: No
pitcher in either league has had more complete games in a season than he had
that year.
Hint: He
once led the American League with nineteen losses.
Addint: He spurned draft picks by both the Indians and the Cards to attend
Florida State.
Addint: He twice coached for the Blue Jays in the majors.
A. Rick Langford (Open Day starts: 1978, 79, 80, 82 & 83; 20-CG streak 1980, 28
CG; 19 L 1977; Drafted by STL 1971, 11th round
& by CLE in 1972, 36th round;
Coached for Jays in 2000 & 2010)
FCR - Steve
Bonfield, Calgary, AB
Most common incorrect
answers: Eddie Plank, Catfish Hunter, Vida
Blue, Lefty Grove, Dave Stewart, Rube Waddell, Mike Norris, Chief Bender
TUESDAY, TUESDAY, TUESDAY
Q. After
skipping minor league ball, who hit his first home run in his first game off a
Hall of Fame pitcher?
Hint: In
Japanese ball, he was given uniform #50 because that is how many homers he was
expected to clout.
Hint: He
was in the inaugural class of players inducted to the College Baseball Hall of
Fame.
Addint: His four home runs in a single major league game is still a record
that hasn’t been broken.
A. Bob Horner (1st HR off Bert Blyleven 16‑Jun‑1978; Played
for the 1987 Yakult Swallows;
4-HR G 06‑Jul‑1986; CBHOF)
FCR - Dayton Headlee, Omaha NE
Most common incorrect
answer: Pete Incaviglia, Cecil Fielder,
Rick Monday, Mike Ivie
WEDNESDAY
Q. Whom
did Bill James call the “most inconsistent player ever”?
Hint: It
had something to do with his seasonal batting averages dropping 88, 47, 42 and
69 points.
Hint: He
was a two-time batting champion but with a lifetime average under .300.
Hint: He
was Dwight Eisenhower's favorite player.
Addint: He played his final games for a team that beat the Yankees in the
World Series.
A. Mickey Vernon (Finished with 1960 PIT)
FCR - Stephen
Klatsky, Washington, DC
Most common incorrect
answer: Ferris Fain, Rico Carty, Harmon
Killebrew, Elmer Valo, Roy Sievers
HUMP DAY BONUS
Q. Whose
first three collegiate at-bats were home runs?
Hint: Each
one on the first pitch no less.
Hint: True,
it was at 4,400 feet of altitude, but still…
Hint: He
is among the few players to hit three home runs in a game in each league,
National and American.
Addint: His father, Jim, was a minor league infielder in the Milwaukee
Braves organization in 1961-1962.
Addint: He has four seasons of managing in the minors under his belt.
A. Cory Snyder (Played for BYU; 3-HR Gs: 21‑May‑1987 playing
for CLE & 17‑Apr‑1994 playing
for LAD; Father Jim Snyder; Managed
the St. George Starzz of the independent Golden Baseball League 2007. They became the Roadrunners for 2008 & 2009 and the Maui Na
Koa Ikaika in 2010)
FCR - No
one
Most common incorrect
answer: Robin Ventura, John Olerud, Pete
Incaviglia, Mark McGwire, Lou Gehrig, Phil Nevin
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Damon
Runyan called him "the doctor because he is first aid to the injured and
without equal as an extinguisher of batting rallies and run riots."
Hint: Although
a moundsman, he boasted of a lifetime nifty .285 batting average.
Hint: He
is a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.
Addint: His ball-playing brother once broke up his PCL no-hit bid with two
outs in the ninth inning.
FCR - Dave
Washburn, Marietta, GA
Most common incorrect
answer: Lefty Grove, Waite Hoyt, Wes
Farrell
THURSDAY
Q. For
what pitcher was the “Quality Start” invented?
Hint: He
lost Game 7 of the American League Championship Series—the game that cemented
the Red Sox’ comeback from an 0-3 series deficit.
Hint: After
he broke his non-pitching hand punching a wall in early September—a move that
jeopardized his team’s chances during the run to the playoffs—he admitted the
cause was “Stupidity”.
Hint: He
was the first player to sign a contract worth $100 million.
Addint: Though 0-3 in three World Series starts, he still managed to get a
ring with the Marlins.
A. Kevin Brown (QS conceived by Brown’s
agent, Scott Boras; 2004 ALCS stats; Broken hand incident; $105 M w/1998 LAD, two years
later A-Rod became the first
$200 M player; 1993 WSs 0-2 with
series winner FLA)
FCR - Mark
Pattison, Washington, DC
MCIA: Wes Ferrell, CC Sabathia, Kenny Rogers, Roger
Clemens, A.J. Burnett, Curt Schilling. Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Joba
Chamberlain,
THURSDAY, THURSDAY
Q. Who
was the first black pitcher to hit a home in a World Series game?
Hint: It
was the only World Series in his fourteen-year major league career.
Hint: Less
than a month earlier, he pitched a one-hitter, surrendering a double to Don
Blasingame in the 3rd.
Hint: Three
additional times in his career was Blasingame the only player to get a hit in a
one-hitter.
Addint: He sang "What a Wonderful World" at Kirby Puckett's memorial service.
A. Mudcat Grant (WS HR 13‑Oct‑1965, G 6; Blas
H 25‑Sep‑1965)
FCR - Dave
Serota, Kalamazoo, MI
MCIA: Al Downing, Don Newcombe, Joe Black, Earl
Wilson
FRIDAY
Q. What
versatile player led the majors in two of three batting Triple Crown categories
seven seasons after he’d led the majors in pitching strikeouts?
Hint: In
his great offensive season, he also led in hits, triples, slugging, OPS, OPS+,
total bases and led his league in doubles.
Hint: In
his great pitching season, he also led in strikeouts per nine innings.
Hint: In
neither season did he lead his team to postseason play.
Addint: He still holds the Cincinnati Reds franchise record for career
batting average and single season batting average.
A. Cy Seymour (BA .377 in 1905; Ks 1898;
Career BA with the Reds .332)
FCR - Richard Tharp, Gaithersburg, MD
MCIA: Babe
Rutt, Lefty O’Doul, Smokey Joe Wood, Bullet Joe Bush
FRIDAY, FRIDAY
Q. Who
is the youngest pitcher to start an Opening Day game for the Yankees franchise?
Hint: Among
left-handed pitchers in the modern era, only he and Tom Glavine have won twenty
games in a season five times, yet not been elected to the Hall of Fame.
Addint: He will be forever linked with Fred Toney.
A. Hippo Vaughn (Opening Day 1910 @ 22 yrs
old; Pitched an epic, extra-inning double no‑hit game with Fred Toney 02‑May‑1917.)
FCR - Dave
Washburn, Marietta, GA
Most common incorrect
answer: Whitey Ford, Ron Guidry, Urban
Shocker, Lefty Gomez, Andy Pettitte
END-OF-THE-WEEK BONUS
Q. "No man is going to sell my carcass
unless I get half!" Who uttered this comment on refusing to be sold to
Pittsburgh?
Hint: His
Hall of Fame career spanned twenty years, nine teams, three leagues and seven
positions.
Hint: In
his best season, he led the National League in hits, triples, RBI, batting
average, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and total bases.
Addint: He and his brother formed the first brother battery in professional
baseball history.
A. Deacon White (PIT deal 1889, leading
to his participation in the short-lived Players League; Career year 1877 when he began
to play C less and more at 1b; Played with brother Will White in Boston 1877 and Cincinnati 1878‑80.)
FCR - Rich
Klein, Plano, TX
Most common incorrect
answer: Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Rickie
Henderson
WEEK-ENDING BONUS
Q. Who
was the first switch-hitter in the modern era to lead the league in home runs?
Hint: His
180 runs batted in set an
International League record in 1930.
Hint: At
forty years old, he was named Minor League Player of the Year while with Albany
of the Eastern League.
Hint: He
nicknamed himself the "All-American Louse" for breaking up four
no-hitters in late innings.
Hint: He
was born in Altoona, but he’s buried in Mexico.
Addint: He got his nickname as a child when he hit his team's only ball and
snagged it on a fence nail, ripping the cover.
A. Ripper Collins (35 HR in 1934; MiLPOY 1944;
B. 30-Mar-1904 Altoona, PA, Interred in Mexico, New York)
FCR - Fred
Worth, Arkadelphia, AR
Most common incorrect
answer: None
SATURDAY
Q. Who
is the only player to hit twenty home runs while batting less than.210 in a
season in which he was traded?
Hint: He
once commented, entering the 21st century, "Records are falling
like they're flies that have been hit by a can of Raid."
Hint: He
was the first player to hit a double and home run in the same inning twice
during his career.
Hint: He
operates a grill at the ballpark of the team for whom he once starred.
Addint: He great hosts an annual bowling tournament in Milwaukee to benefit the
Child Abuse Prevention Fund.
Addint: He was the first player ever selected by the Seattle Pilots in the
June draft.
A. Gorman Thomas (.209, 22 HR in 1983; HR/2b
combos: 8th inning 19‑Sep‑1982 & 9th
inning 03‑Sep‑1983; Gorman’s
Grill @ Miller Park; Bowling tourney; 1969
Draft)
FCR - J.J.
McCoy, Washington, DC
Most common incorrect
answer: Boog Powell, Dave Kingman, Mark
McGwire, Greg Luzinski, Adam Dunn, Rob Deer
SATURDAY SATURDAY
Q. Who
was the last National League catcher to lead the league in triples?
Hint: He’s
also the only NL catcher ever to do
it and it was the only time in his 21-year career that he led the league in
anything.
Hint: He retired just this year.
Hint: He
was a high school classmate of Royals' former part-owner Avron Fogelman.
Addint: He is the only catcher to steal home in a World Series game.
A. Tim McCarver (13 3b in 1966; Retired
from broadcasting; Fogleman; WS SB G 7 15‑Oct‑1964)
FCR - Steve
Schwartz, Chico, CA
Most common incorrect
answer: Jason Kendall, Ivan Rodriguez
SATURDAY BONUS
Q. Who
was the first player to hit a walk-off home run in extra innings of a World
Series game?
Hint: He
hit it off a future Hall of Famer.
Hint: If
the BWAA award for MVP of the World Series had begun a year earlier, he would
have been a leading candidate.
Hint: He
worked on a tugboat for 25 years after his baseball career, work which he said
he loved.
Addint: He was also the last player to bat in the Polo
Grounds for the Giants.
A. Dusty Rhodes (WS HR off Bob Lemon 29‑Sep‑1954 G 1,
scoring Willie Mays and Hank Thompson
ahead of him; 1st WS MVP 1955; Polo Grounds AB
FCR - Andy
Milner, Bryn Mawr, PA
Most common incorrect
answer: Tommy Henrich, Eddie Mathews, Don Mueller
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who
has pitched more major league innings than anyone in history except Cy Young?
Hint: He
was very open about his use of a performance enhancing drug.
Hint: In
the minors he had 100 decisions, going 72-25-3.
Addint: In one season!
Addint: He counted Grover Cleveland (not
Grover Cleveland Alexander) as a personal friend.
A. Pud Galvin (6,003.1 innings; PED use; Stats
accomplished for the 1878 Buffalo Bisons of
the International Association)
FCR - Max Burgess, Houston, TX
Most common incorrect
answer: Walter Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Phil
Niekro, Roger Clemens
SUNDAY
Q. What
two-time home run champion once changed leagues without changing teams or
cities?
Hint: He
was the last 19th century player to hit a grand slam on Opening Day.
Addint: He missed most of the 1895 season with appendicitis.
A. Bug Holliday (HR champ 1889 w/19 &
1982 w/13, The 1889
Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American
Association became the 1990 Cincinnati
Red Legs in the National League;
GS 20‑Apr‑1894)
FCR - Makoto
Ozawa, Scarsdale, NY
Most common incorrect
answer: Hugh Duffy, Richie Sexson, Ryan
Braun
WEEKLY THEME – Players that you
probably didn’t know were named James.
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – Joe
Ullian, Santa Barbara, CA (after the Shawkey question)
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