MONDAY
Q. Who
is the only catcher to be a college alumnus and win a league MVP Award?
Hint: He
was also voted Rookie of the Year.
Hint: After
only six full years in the majors, has already caught three no-hitters.
Twint: And
played first base in a fourth.
Twint: He
has also been on the wrong end of a no-hitter.
- Attended
Florida State University and was NL MVP in 2012*
- NL
ROY in 2010
- Caught
no-hitters thrown by: Chris Heston 09-Jun-2015;
Tim
Lincecum 13-Jul-2013;
Matt
Cain 13-Jun-2012
- Was
at 1st base for no-hitter by Tim
Lincecum 25-Jun-2014
- Was
catcher on losing team to Homer
Bailey 02-Jul-2013
FCR - Morris
Buenemann, Florissant, MO
* Without considering the hints, Mikey
Cochrane also qualifies.
Incorrect answers: Elston Howard, Jeff Torborg, Thurman Munson,
Joe Mauer, Mike Piazza, Bill Freehan, Bob Boone
IN MEMORIAM
Q. What
Floridian fireballer pitched the last no-hitter in the history of the Houston
Colt 45’s?
Hint: It
was, however, a historical first.
Hint: The
“hit king” did not get one of his 4,256 that day, but did score one of his
2,165 runs.
Hint: It
was the only run scored in that game.
Hint: The
opponent’s starting pitcher that day was 35 years old, but had debuted in the
majors twenty years earlier.
Hint His
World Series ERA was spotless.
Twint: After
his retirement, he coached for Louisiana
College in Pineville, LA.
Twint: He
passed away on Sunday at the age of 82 of a kidney infection.
Twint He
had suffered with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
- No-hitter
23-Apr-1964.
On 17-May-1963,
Don
Nottebart pitched the only other no-hitter for Houston before they became
the Astros
beginning in 1965. Born in West Palm Beach,
Florida
- The
game was historic because never before had a pitcher thrown a no-hitter and
lost that game.
- Pete
Rose scored the only run by means of a two-base E, then a fielder’s choice
followed by another error in the top of the 9th inning. The 2-base E was Johnson’s overthrow of 1b on
Rose’s bunt.
- Cincinnati
pitcher Joe
Nuxhall threw a 4-hit shutout to win that game.
FCR - Chuck
Durante, Dover, DE
Incorrect answers: J.R. Richard, Don Wilson, Don Nottebart
TUESDAY
Q. Only
two pitchers in major league history have won multiple Cy Young Awards, pitched
multiple no-hitters and been on multiple World Series Championship teams. One is Sandy
Koufax. Who is the other?
Hint: You
might think of him as a freaky Husky Samson.
Twint: He
was the first 21st century pitcher to make his major league debut
within one year of being selected in the amateur draft.
FCR - Charlie
Vascellaro, Baltimore, MD
Incorrect answers: Madison Bumgarner, Randy Johnson, Roger
Clemens, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Jack Morris, Clayton Kershaw, Jim Palmer
WEDNESDAY
Q. What
taciturn hurler owns the lowest career ERA in World Series history? (20 innings
min.)
Hint: It
would be even lower if not for a singular wallop by this year’s World Series
MVP.
Twint: He
also holds the World Series career records for WHIP, hits allowed per nine
innings pitched and win/loss percentage (tie).
- WS
ERA 0.25 in 36 innings
- HR
by Salvador
Perez in 7th
inning G 1 2014 WS
- WS
WHIP .528, H/9 inn. 3.50, 4 W 0 L.
FCR - Ryan
Storts, Loveland, OH
Incorrect answers: Jeremy Affeldt, Mariano Rivera
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. What
ovate hot-corner maven chose to play for the Red Sox even though his then
current team had offered him a similar deal?
Hint: Growing
up, his baseball heroes were Omar
Vizquel and Andrés
Galarraga.
Twint: In
his first two years in the majors, he played fourteen games behind the plate.
- Giants
executive Bobby
Evans said, "He felt like he needed a new challenge, and he wanted to
try something new."
- 14
G @ C 2008-09
FCR - Ryan
Storts, Loveland, OH
Incorrect answers: Mike Lowell, Adrian Beltre
THURSDAY
Q. Who
tied Sandy Koufax’s record of fourteen strikeouts in a perfect game?
Hint: Whereas
Koufax exceeded that strikeout total for a game eight times and twice had
eighteen, it was this guy’s career high.
Hint: After
John Montefusco in 1975, he was the next Giants rookie pitcher to strike out
twelve or more batters in a game.
Hint: He
was the youngest player his league in his first MLB season.
Twint: He
won both series-clinching playoff games for his team to clinch the pennant one
year.
Twint: Symmetrically,
he also lost a game in each of those series.
- Perfecto: 13-Jun-2012
- 12
K’s in a G in his rookie year 06-Aug-2006
- Youngest
in NL in 2005; Born 01-Oct-1984
- Won
NLDS clincher 11-Oct-2012
& NLCS clincher 22-Oct-2012
- Lost
NLDS G 1 06-Oct-2012
& NLCS G 3 17-Oct-2012
FCR - Ryan
Storts, Loveland, OH
Incorrect answers: Randy Johnson, Len Barker, Chris Heston
THURSDAY EXTRA THANKFUL BONUS
Q. What
Puerto Rican Cavalier LOOGY delivers his pitches at or below his beltline?
Hint: With
0 starts, he has pitched in 771 career games.
Hint: That
places him 13th on the list of pitchers with the most games pitched,
but with no starts.
Hint: Not
one of the thirteen is in the Hall of Fame.
Hint: If
his 2016 performance is typical, he could move into ninth on the list.
Twint: Although
he and his namesake were on the Red Sox together for two months, they never
formed a battery in a game.
- Born
in San
Juan; Attended the University of
Virginia, and is typically used as a Left-handed One-Out
Guy.
- You
must be subscribed to Baseball-Reference’s PLAY INDEX to see: The
List. [Horsehide Trivia highly
recommends this very reasonably-priced subscription.]
- Catcher
Javy
Lopez was his teammate on the Red
Sox in 2006 from 04-Aug until 01-Oct.
FCR - Larry
Hayes, San Francisco, CA
Incorrect answers:
FRIDAY
Q. Whose
slider is often referred to as the best in baseball?
Hint: Although
his mound presence is fearsome, he’s gentle as a puppy in his personal life.
Hint: He
once retired thirty straight batters in ten innings over a span of fourteen games.
Hint: He
won one of the California state legislature’s 2015 Latino Spirit Awards.
Hint: Even
though a lefty*, right-handed batters only hit .170 against him in 2015.
Twint: He
is the regular catcher at AT&T Park for the ceremonial first pitch.
- Most
batters know a slider is coming but Romo maintains a career 2.57 ERA.
- 10
perfect innings from games from 04-Jul thru 06-Aug-2011, equivalent of a
perfect game and more.
- Latino
Spirit Award given for community activism.
FCR - Paul
Goodson, Cheyenne, WY
*Romo is a righty. It’s his son Rilen who is the lefty.
Incorrect answers: Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt
SATURDAY
Q. What
Dominican reliever has spent half his twelve-year career on each side of the
Bay?
Hint: His
ERA his first six years was an unimpressive 5.11; the last six 2.22.
Hint: He
started his professional baseball career with false documents using the
pseudonym Jairo Garcia Paulino.
Hint: That
allowed him also to lie about his age, where he claimed he was three years
younger.
Hint: He
once got a save by pitching an immaculate inning.
Twint: He
broke Omar
Infante’s wrist in a World Series game.
- Oakland
A’s 2004-09; San Francisco Giants 2010-15
- False
birth date of 07-Mar-1983 was given when he was first signed.
- Hit
Infante
in the wrist with a fastball in the bottom of the 9th inning of the
4th and last game of the 2012 WS.
Infante was the 1st batter he faced. 28-Oct-2012
FCR - Larry
Hayes, San Francisco, CA
Incorrect answers: Yusmiero Petit
SUNDAY
Q. After
four seasons of pitching the World Series, whose postseason ERA ranks 4th
all-time, slightly better than Babe Ruth’s?
Hint: He
is shown pitching, but never credited, in a television spot stressing the
precision of GMC vehicles.
Hint: When
he realized that his major league team was paying him $500,000 a year too much,
he returned the money.
Twint: His
autobiography is not “as told to… “. He
wrote it himself.
- Postseason
ERA = 0.86, behind Mariano
Rivera 0.70, Harry
Brecheen 0.83 & Wade Davis
0.84, but ahead of Babe
Ruth’s 0.87. Pitch in WS in 2007, 2010, 2012
& 2014.
- GMC TV ad [I personally
have never of a finesse pitcher referred to as a “Rembrandt”.]
FCR - Steve
Elsberry, Windsor Heights, IA
Incorrect answers: Madison Bumgarner, Barry Zito
WEEKLY THEME – Players who won
three championships with the San Francisco Giants: 2010, 2012, 2014
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – Brian
Wood, Pacific Grove, CA
Incorrect theme guesses:
Wed - World Series winning pitchers who also threw a
no-hitter and won a Cy Young for the Giants
- New York/San
Francisco Giants World Series MVPs
- MVPs on the
giants WS team
- Giants’ World
Series MVPs
- The starting
lineup for game 7 clincher
Thursday - The
lineup on the field for the clinch
- Players who
were drafted by the Giants in the first round and played in a World Series for
the Giants
Sunday - SF
Giants WS Pitchers/Records
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