Sunday, September 28, 2014

September 22-28, 2014 Players with multiple seasons of 50 home runs

MONDAY
Q.         Who was the first player to have uniform #7 retired?
Hint:     His numbers were astronomical.  So was his nickname.
Hint      "He's the best prospect I've ever seen." - Branch Rickey
Twint:    Quoth he, "I don't care who you are, you hear those boos."
A.         MICKEY MANTLE (#7 Ret. 08-Jun-1969 [Craig Biggio is the only other player to have #7 retired.]; "The Commerce Comet")
FCR -    David Ramsden, Barcelona, Spain
Incorrect answers:  Dominic DiMaggio, Pete Reiser

TUESDAY
Q.         Who is the only player to lead the league in runs scored for more seasons than did Ted Williams?
Hint:     Every time he led, he led the majors, not just his league.
Hint:     All his counterpart runs leaders in the other league, saving one, made it to the Hall of Fame.
Twint:    No one better
A.         BABE RUTH (Eight (8!) times:    Year    total     Over           #
1919     103       Burns           86
1920     158       Burns         115
1921     177       Hornsby     131
1923     151       Youngs      121
1924     143       Hornsby     121
                        Frisch        121
1926     139       Cuyler        113
1927     158       Hornsby     133
                        Waner        133
1928     163       Waner        142
FCR -    Cappy Gagnon, South Bend, IN
Incorrect answers:  Rickey Henderson, Pete Rose, Stan Musial, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Eddie Yost

WEDNESDAY
Q.         Who garnered MVP votes in in 14 of his first full 15 seasons in the majors, taking home the top prize thrice?
Hint:     His season in that string with no MVP votes, his second, he still made the All-Star team.
Hint:     He and a former #1-ranked professional tennis player share a nickname.
Twint:    Despite that success, his team's owner called a contract with this player "…one of his biggest regrets."
Twint:    654 and holding…
A.         ALEX RODRIGUEZ (MVP votes 1996, 1998-2010, MVP in 2003, 05, 07; AS 1996-98, 2000-08, 2010-11; TEX owner Tom Hicks, referring to Rodriguez' 2001 contract; "A-Rod", Andy Roddick; Career HR total, but potentially could increase)
FCR -    Tommy Garber, Austin, TX
Incorrect answers:  Albert Pujols, Yogi Berra, Chipper Jones, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Stan Musial, Mike Schmidt, Joe DiMaggio

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.         Who is the only player to play in every inning of eleven All-Star games?
Hint:     He would likely have been Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year had it not been for the accomplishment of a certain English doctor.
Hint:     He had eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons, never, however, leading the league during that stretch.
Twint:    He endorsed Chesterfield cigarettes, though he rarely smoked.
Twint:    He endorsed Red Man chew, even though he never used smokeless tobacco.
A.         WILLIE MAYS (1957, 58, 59a, 59b, 61a, 61b, 62a, 64, 65, 66 & 68; Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile in 1954; Mays never led the league in RBI, but retired 8th on the all-time career RBI list.)
FCR -    Victor Piacentile, Yorktown Heights, NY
Incorrect answers:  Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, Cal Ripken, Albert Belle, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron

THURSDAY
Q.         Who is the only A's first baseman to win the Gold Glove Award?
Hint:     Claims he's never owned an ox of any color.
Hint:     He was the first player to receive the Players Choice Man of the Year award.
Twint:    He was the first National Leaguer to hit thirty home runs before the All-Star break twice.
Twint:    He and Ray Langford were the first National League teammates to combine for 100 home runs in a season.
A.         MARK McGWIRE (GG 1990; Often compared to Paul Bunyan whose legendary pet ox Babe, was blue; PC MOY)
FCR -    Mark Camps, Albany, CA
Incorrect answers:  Jimmie Foxx, Josh Donaldson, Vic Power a, Orlando Cepeda, Al Simmons
            a Reader Dave Johnson pointed out that Power should also qualify as an answer to the question because he played more games at first base for the Philadelphia A’s than the Cleveland Indians in 1958.  Power won the second ever GG @ 1b, but was with the Indians at the time the award was given.  Just imagine the word "Oakland" in the question and we'll be fine.

FRIDAY
Q.         Who is the only player to hit his 500th home run for the Reds?
Hint:     It was hit on Fathers' Day, with his father in the stands.
Hint:     It was a two-run home run, with a Hall of Famer scoring ahead of him.
Hint:     His first major league hit was a double off of the newly-appointed Diamondbacks GM.
Twint:    He is the only three-time winner of the Home Run Derby.
A.         KEN GRIFFEY, JR. (500th HR 20-Jun-2004 [Turns out no scored ahead of him.  It was a solo shot as he was the first batter of the 6th inning.]; 2b 03-Apr-1989 off Dave Stewart, ARI new GM)
FCR -    Morris Buenemann, Florissant, MO
Incorrect answers:  Adam Dunn, Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome

SATURDAY
Q.         What slugger set the American League record by collecting 104 RBI just in his home park in a season?
Hint:     He also had 71 on the road that year.
Hint:     He had 100 RBI in thirteen consecutive seasons, putting him in a tie with Lou Gehrig and Alex Rodriguez for that major league record.
Twint:    He is the first player to win Most Valuable Player Awards in consecutive seasons.
A.         JIMMIE FOXX (104 RBI at Fenway in 1938; 100 RBI 1929-41; MVP 1932-33)
FCR -    Andrew Distler, New York, NY
Incorrect answers:  Manny Ramirez, Hank Greenberg, Lou Gehrig, Hack Wilson, Barry Bonds, Juan Gomzalez

WEEKEND BONUS
Q.         Who, in his first year with the team, hit as many home runs as had ever been hit in a season in the 64-year history of that franchise?
Hint:     The record had been established by a rookie a mere eight years earlier.
Hint:     He still holds the season home run record for the franchise.
Twint:    The Saturday Evening Post published a story with his byline entitled "The Home Run I Would Hate to Hit", about not wanting to break the Babe's season home run record.
Twint:    More than fifty years later he admitted, "That was a big fat lie."
Twint:    Of major league players born in his home state, he is the only one inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame.
A.         RALPH KINER (23 HR, PIT 1946, established by Johnny Rizzo in 1938; 54 HR 1949; SABR BIO regarding the story and his recanting of the sentiment)
FCR -    No one
Incorrect answers:  Roy Sievers, Harmon Killebrew, Hank Greenberg, Roger Maris, Babe Ruth, Albert Belle, Mark McGwire, Brady Anderson, Frank Robinson, Eddie Mathews

SUNDAY
Q.         Who owns the highest season RBI total in the National League since Hack Wilson's otherworldly 191 in 1930?
Hint:     He once led the league in runs scored, RBIs, intentional walks and total bases but had no stolen bases with only two attempts.
Hint:     Despite this, he had over 200 stolen bases in his eighteen-year career.
Hint:     Jason Giambi said of him "Yellowstone might be the only park that could hold him.  He's the best of the best. "
Twint:    It was once tweeted that a photo of his looked "downright vampiric".
A.         Sammy Sosa (2001: R 146 / RBI 160 / TB 425 / IBB 37; 234 SB; Known to be “skin bleaching”, Giambi quote at the 2002 Home Run Derby; Panamanian TV personality Nairobi Dacosta uploaded a photo on her Twitter of Sosa looking “downright vampiric”)
FCR -    Darrell Hanson, Altoona, IA
Incorrect answers:  Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Hack Wilson, Prince Fielder, Chuck Klein b, Ernie Banks, Tommy Davis
b170 RBI, but in the very same season as Wilson.

WEEKLY THEME – Players with multiple seasons of 50 home runs:

Ruth           -     1920     54*                   *Won league HR title
                  -     1921     59*                   **Won league MVP
                  -     1927     60*
                  -     1928     54*

Foxx           -     1932     58* **
                  -     1938     50**

Kiner           -     1947     51*
                  -     1949     54*

Mays          -     1955     51*
                  -     1965     52*

Mantle        -     1956     52* **
                  -     1961     54

Griffey        -     1997     56* **
                  -     1998     56*

McGwire     -     1996     52*
                  -     1997     58
                  -     1998     70*
                  -     1999     65*

Sosa          -     1998     66**
                  -     1999     63
                  -     2000     50*
                  -     2001     64

Rodriguez   -     2001     52*
                  -     2002     57*

                  -     2007     54* **

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Morris Buenemann of Florissant, MO

Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday   -  Players who held a record that Derek Jeter broke
               -  Yankees with retired numbers

Tuesday   -  NYY captains
               -  NYY retired numbers

Wednesday
               -  Yankees career home run leaders
               -  Yankees all-time strikeout leaders
               -  Yankee MVPs
               -  Players who played on the most World Series-winning teams
               -  Youngest batters to reach 500 HRs

Thursday  -  Players who held home run records that were broken

Saturday  -  Players who led the league in homers for more than one team
               -  Guy with more than 530 home runs


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




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