Sunday, April 13, 2014

April 7-13, 2014 Players who finished 2nd in home runs in the major leagues in consecutive seasons

MONDAY
Q.         Who was the first player to win the Most Valuable Player Award at two different positions?
Hint:     In 1938 he fell two homers short of tying Babe Ruth's single season record.
Hint:     He was Hammerin' Hank before Hammerin' Hank.
Twint:    He lost nearly four years to military service partly due to the fact that he re-enlisted after Pearl Harbor was attacked.
A.         Hank Greenberg (MVP 1935 1B, 1940 LF; 58 HR 1938 to Ruth’s 60; Nickname the same as Henry Aaron; Out from early 1941-1944, he was discharged 05-Dec-1941, but signed up again 30-Jan-1942)
FCR -    Will McCracken, Bradenton, FL
Incorrect answers:  Hack Wilson, Robin Yount, Jimmie Foxx, Alex Rodriquez

MONDAY HUSKY WILDCAT
Q.         Whose towering blast in the nation's capital became the first "tape measure" home run?
Hint:     The uniform number he became famous for is not the number he first wore.
Twint:    "I would have hated to be named Gordon."
A.         Mickey Mantle (HR off Chuck Stobbs 17‑Apr‑1953 out of Griffith Stadium, traveling a purported 565 feet, as measured and reported by Yankee publicity director Red Patterson; Well-known for wearing (being!) #7, originally wore #6;  Named by his father after future Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane, who had won the AL MVP 3 years before; Cochrane's birth name was Gordon.)
FCR -    Robert Heckman, Alexandria, VA
Incorrect answers:  Harmon Killebrew, Frank Howard, Ted Williams

TUESDAY
Q.         Who was the first Atlanta Brave to win a league Most Valuable Player Award?
Hint:     To show it wasn’t a fluke, he won another the very next year.
Hint:     He hit more career homers than Tony Perez, Orlando Cepeda, Ralph Kiner or Joe DiMaggio but never earned enough votes to gain entry into the Hall of Fame.
Twint:    Russ Nixon said of him "He's scary.  Do they have something above MVP?"
A.         Dale Murphy (MVP 1982-83; 398 HR [Perez 379, Cepeda 379, Kiner 369, DiMaggio 361]; It might be worth noting that Nixon was coach for the last-place Reds those two seasons.)
FCR -    Joel Gross, Dunwoody, GA
Incorrect answers:  Bob Horner, Dwayne Murphy , Terry Pendleton, Eddie Matthews, Joe Adcock, Jeff Burroughs, Darrell Evans

TUESDAY BONUS
Q.         Babe Ruth held the career home run record for over forty years and three months.  Whose record did he break originally?
Hint:     He led his league once in home runs, once in RBI and once in batting average.
Hint:     Alas, they were not in the same season.
Twint:    His wife gave him a weather vane made from baseball bats.  It stood as a landmark in Waterbury, Connecticut for years after his retirement from the game.
Twint:    His is the example most people use when explaining why left-handed throwers shouldn’t play third base.
A.         Roger Connor (Ruth broke both his records:  For… a. # of career homers and b. Time holding that record; Connor tallied 138 HRs, a record for 26 years, 25 days, Ruth passed him in 1921; Led in HR w/14 in 1890, in RBI w/130 in 1889 & in avg. w/.371 in 1885; Committed 60 E in 83 G @ 3B as a rookie in 1880.)
FCR -    Gary Glasser, Fort Lee, NJ
Incorrect answers:  Frank Baker, Cy Williams, Hank Aaron, Tris Speaker, Sam Crawford, Socks Seybold, Babe Ruth, Buck Freeman, Everett Scott, Sam Thompson, Ken Williams, Wally Pipp, Bob Johnson, Ned Williamson

WEDNESDAY
Q.         Which post-expansion Washington Senator won his league's RBI title, home run title, most walks and most intentional bases-on-balls, but only finished 5th in the AL MVP voting?
Hint:     The year he won a World Series ring, both of his postseason extra-base hits were off a future Hall of Famer.
Hint:     As a junior in college, he was an All-American basketball player and was drafted by the NBA.
Twint:    At the time he retired, he led his franchise in total home runs, RBI, bases-on-balls, extra-base hits, on-base %, slugging, OPS, games played, at-bats, inter alia.
A.         Frank Howard (1970 stats: 44 HR, 126 RBI, 132 BB, 29 IBB lost to Boog Powell who didn't lead in a single offensive category; 1963 WS G 1 2B & G 4 HR off Whitey Ford; Played basketball at Ohio State, NBA 1958 draft 3rd round, 5th pick; Texas Rangers franchise, which includes 1901-1971 when they were the Washington Senators.)
FCR -    Bob Chan, Oakland, CA
Incorrect answers:  Harmon Killebrew, Jeff Burroughs, Roy Sievers

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.         Who is the only player to hit 23 triples in a season since 1950?
Hint:     The following year he led the American League in triples with 13.
Hint:     He hit an Opening Day home run in his first at-bat as a Yankee.
Twint:    He is putting up $5 million of the $7 million need to build a stadium at his alma mater, the University of Illinois at Chicago.
A.         Curtis Granderson (23 3b in 1949: Dale Mitchell; 13 3b 2008; HR 04‑Apr‑2010; UIC announcement)
FCR -    David Krassin, New York, NY
Incorrect answers:  Rickey Henderson, Willie Wilson, Tim Raines, Derek Jeter, Dale Mitchell, Ichiro Suzuki, Jim Rice, Rod Carew, Roy White, Mickey Rivers, Lance Johnson, Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays, Bernie Williams

THURSDAY
Q.         Who was the first player to hit three home runs in a game thrice in a season?
Hint:     He once sat next to the First Lady during the State of the Union Address.
Hint:     He was the last player to collect a combined 300 Runs + RBI in a season.
Twint:    Some say he has tried to save face by changing race.
A.         Sammy Sosa (09‑Aug‑, 22‑Aug‑ & 23‑Sep‑2001; SOUA 1999; 2001:  146 R + 160 RBI; Pigment change story)
FCR -    Richard Tharp, Gaithersburg, MD
Incorrect answers:  Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize, Mark McGwire, Ben Oglivie, Ryan Braun, George Brett, Henry Aaron

FRIDAY
Q.         Who was the first New York Mets player to lead the National League in home runs?
Hint:     His batting average that season was fourteen points lower than the National League Cy Young Award winner's.
Hint:     He holds the record for most home runs in a final season.
Twint:    In his only major league pitching appearance, he finished a game started by Juan Marichal, Sam McDowell, Don Carrithers and Elias Sosa in an 11-0 losing effort.
A.         Dave Kingman (1982 37 HR; .204 BA to Steve Carlton’s .218; 35 HR 1986; 15-Apr-1973)
FCR -    Dean Kloner, New York, NY
Incorrect answers:  Howard Johnson, Eddie Murray, George Foster, Frank Thomas, Daryl Strawberry, Ralph Kiner, Mike Piazza, Richie Ashburn

END-OF-THE-WEEK BONUS
Q.         Who was the founding member of the 30/30 Club?
Hint:     He holds the records for fewest games played in a 100-RBI season.
Twint:    Although born 74 years apart, he and his namesake are the only two major leaguers to attend Fort Pleasant High School, San Jose, CA.
A.         Ken Williams (30/30 in 1922 w/39 HR & 37 SB, [There WAS no "club" until Willie Mays went 36-40 in 1956.]; 105 RBI in 102 G 1925; Ken Williams, born 1964)
FCR -    Josh Sullivan, Tomball, TX
Incorrect answers:  Bobby Bonds, Rusty Staub, Barry Larkin, Willie Mays, Jose Canseco, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Baby Doll Jacobsen, Frank Robinson

SATURDAY
Q.         Who was the first player with a three-home-run game in each league?
Hint:     At the height of his career, he was arrested for fishing out of season.  (Yes—fishing!)
Twint:    He was also arrested at age seven for repeated theft.
A.         Babe Ruth (3HR 21‑May‑1930 w/NYY & 25‑May‑1935 w/BSN [He also did it twice in interleague play:  06‑Oct‑1926 & 09‑Oct‑1928; Fishing arrest)
FCR -    Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, RI
Incorrect answers:  Johnny Mize, Frank Robinson, Jim Thome

WEEKEND BONUS
Q.         Who was the last player to hit four triples in one game?
Hint:     His record of reaching base in 64 straight games stood for fifty years.
Hint:     He led the majors with 123 bases-on-balls in his rookie season.
Twint:    He was succeeded by a future Hall of Fame manager who then managed the final 22 games of his 2,288-game career.
A.         Bill Joyce (4 3b 18‑May‑1897, George Strief the only other player with 4 3b in 1 G 25‑Jun‑1885; OB record 1891-1941; 123 BB 1890 in the Players’ League; Managed the NY Giants to a respectable 179-122 record 1896-98 but was succeeded by Cap Anson, who bowed out with an unremarkable 9-22.)
FCR -    Micki Maynard, Phoenix, AZ
Incorrect answers:  Joe Morgan, Ted Williams, Baby Doll Jacobson, Eddie Yost, Billy Hamilton, Tris Speaker, Joe DiMaggio

SUNDAY
Q.         Who was the first player to lead the American League in hits playing for two teams?
Hint:     After he committed 86 errors at third base in one year, still a National League record for that position, he was wisely re-assigned.
Hint:     Contemporaries believed that had he played in the 1920s and1930s, he’d have been a power hitter on par with the best of that era.
Twint:    After retiring, he coached baseball at West Virginia University, his alma mater.
Twint:    Not stopping there, he later became mayor of Morgantown.
Twint:    He appeared in the rare 1903 E1007 Breisch Williams baseball card set.
A.         Charlie Hickman (179 H w/BOS & CLE; 86 E in 1900 playing for NYG)
FCR -    Josh Sullivan, Tomball, TX
Incorrect answers:  Frank Baker, Ned Williamson, Ginger Beaumont, Roger Connor, Wee Willie Keeler, Kevin Mitchell

WEEKLY THEME – Players who finished 2nd in home runs in the major leagues in consecutive seasons.

Player          Years/HRs       Behind
Connor         1887 / 17      Billy O'Brien / 19
                    1888 / 14      Jimmy Ryan / 16
Granderson    2011 / 41      Jose Bautista / 43
                    2012 / 43      Miguel Cabrera / 44
Greenberg      1939 / 33      Jimmie Foxx / 35
                    1940 / 41      Johnny Mize / 43
Hickman       1902 / 11      Socks Seybold / 16
                    1903 / 12      Buck Freeman / 13
Howard         1969 / 48      Harmon Killebrew / 49
                    1970 / 44      Johnny Bench / 45
Joyce            1894 / 17      Hugh Duffy / 18
                    1895 / 17      Sam Thompson / 18
Kingman       1975 / 36      Mike Schmidt / 38
                    1976 / 37      Schmidt / 38
Mantle          1960 / 40      Ernie Banks / 41
                    1961 / 54      Roger Maris / 61
Murphy         1984 / 36      Tony Armas / 43
                    1985 / 37      Darrell Evans / 40
Ruth             1932 / 41      Jimmie Foxx / 58
                    1933 / 34      Foxx / 48
Sosa             1998 / 66      Mark McGwire / 70
                    1999 / 63      McGwire / 65
Williams        1921 / 24      Babe Ruth / 59
                    1922 / 39      Rogers Hornsby / 42

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – No one

Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday
               -  Famous Jewish players
               -  Baseball players featured on USPS postage stamps
               -  Players who debuted as the youngest player in the league
               -  Sluggers who retired in their 30s
               -  Unanimous American League MVPs
               -  Players who debuted as the youngest in their league and went on to win multiple MVP awards
               -  American League home run champs
               -  50+ home run hitters
               -  Home Run leaders with 50 or more in a season
               -  Hitters who have led the league in walks and strikeouts in the same season

Tuesday  
               -  Back-to-back MVP award winners
               -  Home run leaders by decade
               -  First time MVP and RBI champs in the same year
               -  Debuted at teenagers, won multiple MVP awards
               -  Debuted as teenagers, led the league in home runs multiple times
               -  A team made up with a multiple MVP in each position
               -  Multiple MVP's

Wednesday
               -  Players who won a HR title playing OF and 1B


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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