Sunday, June 15, 2014

June 9-15, 2014 Players whose names have, at least for pronunciation purposes in English, an unneeded z: Redundanzees

MONDAY
Q.         Who was the first to play in 3,300 major league games?
Hint:     He was the first American League player to win a Gold Glove Award and batting title in the same season.
Twint:    He replaced Ted Williams in left field for the Red Sox.
A.         CARL YASTRZEMSKI (3,300th G 18-Sep-1983, total 3,308 [Only Pete Rose has more.]; GG/batting title 1963)
FCR -    Bob Heckman, Alexandria, VA
Incorrect answers:  Tris Speaker, Cap Anson, Ty Cobb, Cal Ripken, Luis Aparicio, Brooks Robinson, Pete Rose, Robin Yount, Lou Boudreau, Paul Molitor, Al Kaline, Rod Carew         

TUESDAY
Q.         Who was the last player to lead the league in home runs while hitting home runs more times than he struck out?
Hint:     He graduated from college, but not until he had helped his school win the Big Ten football championship—its only undefeated season ever.
Hint:     He was the first player to hit two home runs in his first World Series game.
Hint:     He was one of the first players to evaluate and improve his on-field performance by studying game film.
Twint:    The team didn’t like the sleeveless look—at first.
A.         TED KLUSZEWSKI (1954:  49 HR, 35 K [but finished a distant second to Willie Mays in MVP voting that year]; Indiana University at Bloomington 1941-46 with the 1945 team going 11-0-1; G1, 1959 WS; His wife Eleanor used the family camera to shoot game footage which Klu reviewed at home; He claimed his tight uniform constricted his swing, so he tore the sleeves out to create a now iconic look.)
FCR -    Mark Linneman, Sacramento, CA
Incorrect answers:  Johnny Mize, Johnny Hornsby, Chuck Essegian, Kirk Gibson, Dave Winfield, Ted Williams, Steve Garvey, Charlie Keller, Gene Tenace, Greasy Neale

IN MEMORIAM
Q.         Whose World Series start was pre-empted by Loma Prieta?
Hint:     Undeterred, the following year he became the last pitcher to win more than 25 games in a season, winning the Cy Young Award in the process.
Hint:     He won World Series championships with teams from both ends of California.
Hint:     He was also the pitching coach for the Diamondbacks when they won their World Series.
Hint:     He once struck out Reggie Jackson to end a World Series game, a feat that’s now part of Dodger lore.
Hint:     He also once started a World Series game only to be pulled without recording a single out.
Twint:    He was employed by the Oakland A’s at the time of his passing.
Twint:    He surrendered Mike Schmidt’s 400th home run.
Twint:    He was frank about his battle with alcoholism in his autobiography, calling it his greatest victory.
A.         BOB WELCH (Was scheduled to pitch the 3rd G of the 1898 WS when the famous earthquake struck shortly before game time,  A two-week delay resulted so A’s manager Tony LaRussa decided to go with his hot hand, Dave Stewart, who would be by then, equally rested.  Stewart won and Oakland swept San Francisco; 1990 CYA; WS win w/LAD in 1981, OAK in 89; ARI in 2001; Pre-"Mr. October" K, G 2 1978 WS; Bad start: G 1, 1981 WS; Schmidt HR 15-May-1984; Book:  Five O’Clock Comes Early)
FCR -    Mark Hayne, Dumfries, VA

WEDNESDAY
Q.         Whose lovely locks gently caress the shoulders of the Cubs’ ace?
Hint:     He has averaged almost exactly a strikeout per inning for the past four seasons.
Hint:     A three-sport standout in high school, he was runner-up for Mr. Football in his state—as a junior!
Twint:    His record of 1,249 yards receiving was third in the storied history of the Fighting Irish.
Twint:    He caught passes in eight straight games, a team record.
A.         JEFF SAMARDZIJA (Tresses; IP between the beginning of 2011 and 07-Jun-2014 = 560.1, Ks = 556)
FCR -    Josh Sullivan, Tumball, TX
No incorrect answer, but the following variations were among those sent in: 
S.
Samardija
Samardijia
Samardja
Samardjia
Samardjia
Samardjza
Samardzia
SamardzijaZ
Samardzja
Samardzjia
Samarja
Samarjzia
Samarzdija
Samarzdija
Samarzjia
Smadrzja
Smardia
Smardijiza
Smardizja
Smardja
Smardjia
Smardjzia
Smardzia
Smardzjia
Smarjia
Smarjia
Smartizia
Smarzazdjia
Symardija
Szamarjida
Szchmardija
Szmardja

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.         What major leaguer was teammate of Alex Rodriguez in high school?
Hint:     He is one of five American players to win both an Olympic gold medal and a World Series championship.
Hint:     He once had to go on the fifteen-day DL when he tore his right hamstring while warming up in the on-deck circle.
Hint:     The year he won his Gold Glove Award was the only season he received MVP votes.
Twint:    He was a big part of last year’s Miracle brawl.
FCR -    Bob Kimball, Washington, DC
Incorrect answers:  Tino Martinez, Mark Buehrle

THURSDAY
Q.         Who was nicknamed "Scrabble" during his time with the Blue Jays?
Hint:     He was an important part of a recent St. Louis Cardinals World Series championship, with four pitching appearances and zero runs scored.
Twint:    He was also an important part of the Highlanders winning their conference and going to the NCAA tournament.
FCR -    Max Burgess, Austin, TX
Incorrect answers:  Octavio Dotel, Chris Carpenter

FRIDAY
Q.         Who was the only pitcher to win more than 10 decisions for the Toronto Blue Jays in their inaugural season?
Hint:     He was named to an All-Star team, but never saw All-Star action.
Hint:     He has been a full time pitching coach at the New York Baseball Academy for 20 years.
Twint:    His son played for four years in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
A.         DAVE LEMANCZYK (13-16 in 1977, 1979 ASG; NYBA; Son Matt)
FCR -    Rich Klein, Plano, TX
Incorrect answers:  Jim Clancy, Jerry Garvin, Pete Vuckovich, Dave Stieb

SATURDAY
Q.         Which NCAA Division I pitcher trailed only David Price in college strikeouts the year before being drafted.
Hint:     He was the fourth overall pick, behind only Tim Beckham, Pedro Alvarez and Eric Hosmer.
Hint:     After a few games as a starter, he became a mainstay in the bullpen, striking out 19 with a 1.35 ERA in 18 appearances.
Hint:     He also did not allow a single inherited runner to score.
Twint:    Sidelined by a rectus abdominis tear, he made a full recovery following off-season surgery.
A.         BRIAN MATUSZ
FCR -    Richard Tharp, Gaithersburg, MD
Incorrect answers:  Drew Storen, Daniel Moskos, Trevor Rosenthal

WEEKEND BONUS
Q.         Eyechart
Hint:     Homered off a known diabetic.
Hint:     Nail
Twint:    Was a backup to Terry Kennedy in 1984, but was not on the Padres postseason roster.
Twint:    His 39 games played that year was a career high.
A.         DOUG GWOSDZ ("Eyechart" was the nickname give Gwosdz by his coaches, mocking the seemingly random assemblage of letters composing his name; His only major league home run was off Bill Gullickson, famous for his struggle with diabetes, on 21-Aug-1983; Gwosdz translates roughly to "nail" in Slavic.)
FCR -    Don Masi, San Antonio, TX
Incorrect answers:  Doug Mientkiewicz, Len Dykstra, Josh Willingham,

SUNDAY
Q.         What Oral Roberts University alum once led the Pacific Coast League in saves?
Hint:     He has invented a product called the ThrowTrac to help young players develop proper throwing habits and skills.
Twint:    After his playing career, he scouted for the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants, signing Hayden Penn, Nick Noonan, Brett Pill and Dan Runzler.
A.         RAY KRAWCZYK (ORU, ; ThrowTrac, endorsed by Chuck Finley and Lee Carballo)
FCR -    Bob Chan, Oakland, CA
Incorrect answers:  Lech Walesa


WEEKLY THEME – Players whose names have, at least for pronunciation purposes in English, an unneeded z.  Let's call them the Redundanzees.

Name              \Pronunciations given in www.baseball-reference.com\
Gwosdz               \GOO-sh\
Kluszewski           [klu-ZOO-skee]
Krawczyk            [KRAV-chick]
Lemanczyk          \luh-MAN-chick\
Matusz                 \MAT-iss\
Mientkiewicz        \mint-KAY-vich\
Rzepczynski        \zep-CHIN-skee\
Samardzija          \suh-MAR-jah\
Yastrzemski         \yuh-STREM-skee\
There are others, but these all had 100 games in the Bigs.

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Joe Ullian, Santa Barbara, CA (after the Samardzija question)

Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday   -  Players with over 3000 career games played
               -  Offensive Players with the best single-season WAR of all time

Tuesday   -  300 homers with a Z in their name
               -  The all-time Polish-American all-star team
               -  The top home run hitters whose name ends in "ski"
               -  The top home run hitters who have a 'z' in their name
               -  Polish guys with hard-to-spell names who led the league in HR
               -  Names that is often misspelled
               -  Polish guys with hard to spell names who led the league in HR
               -  Players whose names end in ski / whose names we can't pronounce or write
               -  Members of the Polish American sports hall of fame

Wednesday
               -  Big Ten Football Players
               -  College football stars
               -  Polish-American players who went to college in Indiana
               -  Guys who have 'z's in their name who made an All-Star team
               -  High scrabble values for players
               -  Multi sport athletes from Indiana colleges
               -  Polish who hit WS homers
               -  Polish who went to college on scholarship for other sports
               -  Polish Gold Glove winners
               -  Polish bat left, throw right

Thursday  -  Toughest names to spell
               -  Players with the most often misspelled names
               -  Players whose last name has a Z following a consonant
               -  Players with letter z in last name
               -  Players with insanely hard-to-spell names
               -  Players of Polish descent
               -  At least 10 letters in the last name
               -  Silent consonants in the last name
               -  Players with more than ten letters in their last name, including a z
               -  All-Alphabet Chart team
               -  Proud Poles
               -  Announcers’ Nightmares
               -  Players with long and hard-to-spell last names who won a World Series
               -  Players whose name you can only correctly say with a mouthful of phlegm

Friday      -  Non-Latino players with a Z in their names

Saturday  -  Players with Z in their name not as the first letter
               -  American-born players, who played baseball at the college level, and all had the letter Z in their surname

Sunday    -  Members of the Polish baseball HOF
               -  Players of Polish descent with over 100 major league appearances.
               -  Non-Hispanic players from the past 20 years with at least one z in their name
               -  Polish sounding players not born in Chicago
               -  Vowel to consonant ratios


We archive our questions here:  http://horsehidetrivia.blogspot.com/





No comments:

Post a Comment