MONDAY
Q. What Hall of Fame
hurler was compared to a train long before Nolan Ryan was?
Hint: His other, more
common, nickname is mispronounced by 90% of people. (In a random survey
of Horsehide Trivia acquaintances.)
Hint: He finished his final
full minor league season with 100 decisions, going 72-25-3, including both
league & non-league games. It was also the team’s final season
as a minor league franchise.
Hint: He reached the
300-victory total before any other pitcher in history.
A. PUD GALVIN
- Called “The Little
Steam Engine”
- Multiple versions exist for the “Pud” nickname AND its
pronunciation. In one, it rhymes with “stood”, because Galvin
turned opposing batters in to pudding. Another camp claims it is the
truncation of the “pudgy” which fairly accurately describes his physique.
The former theory has more research backing, but fewer converts.
FCR - Terence Vent, Spokane,
WA
Incorrect answers: Walter Johnson, Old Hoss Radbourn
NOVA BONUS
Q. Who won the first
American League Rookie of the Year Award?
Hint: He led his league in
home runs and RBI one year, but lost the league MVP Award to a player who had
been crafty enough to win the Triple Crown the season prior and play for a
first-place team both years.
Hint: When he pinch-hit
grand slams in each league, the only player who had done that before was Jimmie
Foxx.
Hint: He broke his
franchise’s record for home runs in a season four consecutive seasons.
A. ROY SIEVERS
- AL ROY in 1949 (Previous ROY awards were for MLB; both happened
to be NL.)
- 1957: Led AL with 114 RBI and 42 HR’s. Mickey Mantle
was that year’s MVP.
- PH GS 21-Jun-1961 for first baseman J.C.
Martin of CHW off Johnny
Antonelli of CLE then again 26-May-1963 for P Chris
Short of PHI off Bill
Henry of CIN
- HR totals of 24, 25, 29 & 42 (1954-57) failed to sway his
team's parsimonious owner when requesting a pay increase. He was me the
the infamous line: “We finished next to last with you; we can finish next
to last without you.” [Calvin
Griffith]
FCR - Richard Tharp,
Gaithersburg, MD
N.B.: Thanks to reader Dr.
Paul Scimonelli of Columbia, Maryland for his help with this question.
His biography of Sievers (www.paulscimonelli.com) will be out soon.
Incorrect answers: Mickey Vernon, Jackie Jensen, Walt Dropo,
Al Rosen, Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Walter Johnson
TUESDAY
Q. Who was the target
of Chris Berman’s nickname game when Berman inserted “innocent until proven…”
between his first and last name?
Hint: He is the left
fielder watching the spaceship fly overhead in the movie “Men in Black”.
Hint: He tied his
franchise’s record for doubles in a season and broke its record for RBI in the
same season.
Hint: He used his middle name,
not his first, in all his transactions. (Who would DO that?!)
- Bernard Innocent Until Proven Gilkey.
- 44 2b & 117 RBI for the 1996
Mets
FCR - Mark Kanter,
Portsmouth, RI
Incorrect answers: Albert Pujols, Butch Huskey, Bobby
Kielty, Ron Guidry, Jim Edmonds
TUESDAY BONUS
Q. Who was the first
left-handed pitcher to win 200 career games without ever winning 20 games in a
season?
Hint: He was one of two
Dodgers to throw no-hitters between the last of Sandy Koufax’ and the first
(and only) of Fernando Valenzuela’s.
Hint: He was the winning
pitcher in the only World Series loss of Ron Guidry’s career.
Hint: He pitched under the
management of Danny Murtaugh, Chuck Tanner and Jim Leyland. (No truth to
the rumor that he also played for Fred Clarke.)
A. JERRY REUSS
- Career totals: 220/191
FCR - Mark DeLodovico,
Rockville, MD
Incorrect answers: Don Sutton, Andy Messersmith, Claude
Osteen, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres, Woody Fryman, Tommy John, Burt Hooten,
John Candelaria
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who is the only
player in MLB history with more than 500 career RBI and fewer than five (5!)
home runs?
Hint: He was behind the
plate when one of history’s most famous pitches was thrown.
Hint: In his baseball
career, he was a player, a manager, farm director for two different teams,
general manager and assistant and general counsel to the Office of the
Commissioner.
A. MUDDY RUEL
- 536 RBI; 4 HR’s
- Was the Yankee catcher when pitcher Carl
Mays threw the fateful pitch that killed Ray
Chapman on 16-Aug-1920.
FCR - Gary Moore, Walker, MI
Incorrect answers: Mickey Owen, Ralph Houk, Rube Walker,
Rick Ferrell
MIDWEEK BONUS (Mistakenly
connected to this week’s theme)
Q. Who was the only
pitcher in the 1950's to follow a 20-win season with a 20-loss season?
Hint: He boasted a 6-pitch
arsenal and was called "The Thomas Edison of the Mound".
Hint: He surrendered Johnny
Mize's 300th career home run.
Hint: He appeared in the
World Series while on furlough from the Army.
- 20-16 in 1951 then 14-21 in 1952
- Played in 1943 WS while on leave from military
FCR - Bill Carle, Lee’s
Summit, MO
Incorrect answers: Eddie Lopat, Robin Roberts, Bobo Newsom,
Mel Stottlemyre, Warren Spahn, Early Wynn, Bob Friend, Ned Garver, Bob Turley,
Bobby Shantz, Virgil Trucks
THURSDAY
Q. Who was the next
Phillies pitcher to lead the league in wins after Grover Cleveland Alexander?
Hint: It was more than a
decade later.
Hint: After baseball, he
was a Deputy Sheriff in Vigo County, Indiana.
Hint: When he decided to
run for Sheriff in 1968, his opponent and eventual victor was former basketball
player Clyde Lovellette.
- 1931 NL lead with 19 wins, tied with two pitchers possibly even
less well-remembered than he: Bill
Hallahan of the WS champion STL and Heinie
Meine of PIT.
- The attention drew media attention across the country, not only
because both were former professional athletes, but because of their heights:
Elliott was 6’5” and Lovellette was 6’9”.
FCR - John Wills, San
Francisco, CA
Incorrect answers: Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, Curt
Simmons
FRIDAY
Q. Who was the first
20th-century player to collect 200 in a season for 4 consecutive years?
Hint: In a year when there were three
major-league baseball teams in his hometown, he was the only native on any of
the three teams.
Hint: Two of his teammates
also exceeded 200 hits in the first two years of his string. One of those
teammates did it the third year as well.
Hint: He signed with the
Buffaloes, but never played for them—never even showed up.
A. JACK TOBIN
- 200+ H 1920-23 (202, 236, 207 & 202)
FCR - Tom Zocco, Rocky Hill,
CT
Incorrect answers: Wee Willie Keeler, George Sisler, Wilbert
Robinson, Bill Terry, Lou Gehrig
END-OF-THE-WEEK BONUS
Q. Who held the
Dodgers’ record for pitching appearances in a season until it was shattered by
Mike Marshall?
Hint: When he changed his
name from the German one he was given at birth, he likely didn’t know it would
be one of the most popular names in major league history.
Hint: He is buried in the
same cemetery as a certain 8-time batting champ.
A. BOB MILLER
- Miller appeared in 74 games in 1964, breaking the record of 70
that Ron
Perranoski had set just two
seasons prior. Mike
Marshall then pitched in 92
games in 1973 then set the all-time and still-standing record of 106 in 1974.
- Name at birth was Robert Lane Gemeinweiser. There are 3
other players with the same first and last name in baseball-reference, two of
whom were contemporaries for two seasons.
- Interred in Dearborn Memorial Park in Poway, California, as are Tony
Gwynn and 16-year major
league veteran Deron
Johnson.
FCR - Ralph Fessler,
Ellicott City, MD
Incorrect answers: Ralph Branca, Mark Eichhorn, Ron
Perranoski, Jim Brewer, Phil Regan
SATURDAY
Q. Who was the first
left-handed pitcher to win 20 games in a season for the original St. Louis
Browns?
Hint: It came a year after
he led the league in ERA and a year before he led the same league in losses.
Hint: He owns no-hitters in
two leagues.
Hint: He won 165 games in
the minors after his major league career.
Hint: He also umpired in
the minor leagues.
- 27- 23 in 1894
- 3.18 ERA in 1893 (Ironically, the year the distance between the
batter and pitcher was expanded to 60 feet, 6 inches, as it remains today)
- No-hitters: 04-Oct-1891 pitching for the St. Louis Browns of the
American Association in his first major league start (He had appeared in relief
prior to that.) and on 22-Apr-1898, pitching for the Cincinnati Reds of the
National League.
FCR - Dave Serota, Kalamazoo,
MI
Incorrect answers: Eddie Plank, Lefty Stewart
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who holds the record
for assists in a single game by a third baseman?
Hint: The year he hit 17
triples, it was only good for a tie for 4th in the league.
Hint: In one game that same
year, he stole 2nd, 3rd & home in the same inning
Hint: Not wearing a helmet
one year in spring training, he was knocked unconscious by a pitch to the head
thrown by one of baseball’s faster pitchers ever.
A. BOBBY BYRNE
- 12 assists 18-Jun-1910
- 17 triples 1910
- Steals on 25-Aug-1910. It was the first steal of home in
extra innings by a National Leaguer in the 20th century.
FCR - Dave Serota,
Kalamazoo, MI
Incorrect answers: Eddie Collins, Jimmy Collins, Don Zimmer,
Home Run Baker, John McGraw, Ron Santo, Tommy Leach
SUNDAY
Q. Who was the first to
play for four different major league St. Louis teams?
Hint: He was the first
pitcher to get a round tripper against “Big Six”.
Hint: He was the first
pitcher to win 50 games as a St. Louis Brown.
Hint: He did so in the
first 4 years of the team’s existence in St. Louis.
- 4 STL teams: 1897-98 NL STL Browns, 1899 STL Perfectos, 1900-01 STL
Cardinals, - 1902-05 AL STL Browns.
- 51 W 1902-05
FCR - Mike McCroskey, Sugar
Land, TX
Incorrect answers: Silver King, Dizzy Dean, Jack Powell
THEME FOR THE WEEK - Players who were A.) born,
B.) raised, C.) educated, D.) had their major league debuts
in St. Louis, MO and E.) played for ten seasons in the majors. We found no other city that can make that
claim about that many players.
Player
|
B./St. Louis
|
School
|
MLB Debut
|
Team
|
League
|
01-Jun-69*+
|
[Likely in St. L]
|
28-Apr-91
|
Browns
|
AA
|
|
31-Dec-84+
|
[Likely in St. L]
|
11-Apr-07
|
Cardinals
|
NL
|
|
22-Oct-00
|
[Likely in St. L]
|
12-Apr-23
|
Browns
|
AL
|
|
25-Dec-56
|
[Likely in St. L]
|
22-May-75
|
Brown
|
NA
|
|
24-Sep-66
|
Univers. City HS
|
4-Sep-90
|
Cardinals
|
NL
|
|
18-Feb-39
|
Beaumont HS
|
26-Jun-57
|
Cardinals
|
NL
|
|
19-Jun-49
|
Ritenour HS
|
27-Sep-69
|
Cardinals
|
NL
|
|
20-Feb-96
|
Soldan HS
|
29-May-15
|
Browns
|
AL
|
|
18-Nov-26
|
Beaumont HS
|
21-Apr-29
|
Browns
|
AL
|
|
17-Sep-74*+
|
[Likely in St. L]
|
20-Aug-97
|
Browns
|
NL
|
|
Tobin
|
04-May-92*+
|
St. Malachy’s
|
16-Apr-14
|
Terriers
|
FL
|
*Died in St.L
|
|||||
"+Buried"
|
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – No one
Incorrect theme guesses:
Monday -
Pitchers with most opening day starts for a single team
Tuesday - All-Stars from
Saint Louis, Missouri
- Players born in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Players born in St. Louis who began their major league
careers with a team from St. Louis.
- Players who were born in St. Louis and began their ML
careers in St. Louis
- Never played in a postseason for STL
Wednesday - Best Berman nicknames
- Players who were born in St. Louis, played for a St.
Louis team and still live in the
greater St. Louis area
Thursday - Phillies season stats leaders at
Shibe Field
Sunday - Played for the Browns in both the NL and later incarnation as the AL Browns
Questions archived here:
http://horsehidetriviA. blogspot.com/
Horsehide Trivia home
page: https://sites.google.com/site/tnfotobbpics/home/horsehide-trivia
.jpg){kind=link}
No comments:
Post a Comment