Tuesday, May 30, 2017

2017-05-22 Alumni from colleges whose mascots are (were) BIRDS, but not birds of prey.

MONDAY
Q.        Who had the highest 20th century batting average for any shortstop?
Hint:     He was North Carolina’s first favorite son to make it into the Hall of Fame.
Hint:     He had aches.  He had pains.  Some of them luscious.
A.         LUKE APPLING
-  He hit .388 with CHW in 1936.
-  Nicknames:  “Old Aches and Pains” & “Luscious”
FCR -  Rick Zucker, St. Louis
Incorrect answers:  Ernie Banks, Arky Vaughn, Honus Wagner

TUESDAY
Q.        Who was the American League’s first black first baseman?
Hint:     He said, "Part of history?  I have no notions about that.  I just want to play baseball."
Hint:     He was the first native of South Carolina to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Hint:     He was the first black player to hit a home run for the American League in the All-Star game.
A.         LARRY DOBY
-  Played 1st base in his 2nd game ever 06-Jul-1947.
-  ASG HR 13-Jul-1954
FCR -  John Rudy, Cooperstown
Incorrect answers:  Luke Easter, Vic Power, Eddie Murray, Dick Allen

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Which pitcher is the only one in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates to win more than 20 games in 4 separate years?
Hint:     They were consecutive seasons.
Hint:     He still holds the record for most losses in a season by a starting pitcher and he did it the year before his string of 20’s.
Hint:     The state claiming him as a favorite son was not the state he was born in.
A.         VIC WILLIS
-  23 W in1906, 21 in 1907, 23 in 1908 & 22 in 1909
-  Record of 12-29 in 1905
-  Born in the NW corner of Maryland and his family moved to Delaware when he was young.
FCR -  Steve Cardella, Sacramento
Incorrect answers:  Doc Ellis, Will White, Wilbur Cooper, Jack Chesbro, Smoky Joe Wood, Vernon Law, Wilbur Cooper, John Candelaria, Bob Friend

THURSDAY
Q.        Who was elected the American League’s Most Valuable Player the first year that Ted Williams won the Triple Crown?
Hint:     He is the only man to manage 2 different American League teams in the same city.
Hint:     He broke an uncomfortable silent shunning and was the first teammate to offer to play catch with Larry Doby the day of Doby’s major league debut.
A.         JOE GORDON
1942 MVP Gordon had 270 MVP voting points to Williams’ 249 with 12 first-place votes to Ted’s 9.  Williams led the AL (and the majors) in HR [36], RBI [137] & AVG [.356].  The Kid was also tops in the majors that year in runs, bases-on-balls, slugging, OBP, OPS, OPS+ and Total Bases.  Gordon led the AL in Double plays grounded into and led the majors in strikeouts by batters.
-  Doby’s debut 05-Jul-1947
FCR -  Mark Kanter Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Incorrect answers:  Lou Boudreau, Mickey Vernon, Al Rosen, Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio

IN MEMORIAM
Q.        What father of 7 pitched a perfect game on Fathers’ Day?
Hint:     It was the first perfect game in the National League in the 20th century.
Hint:     In his American League no-hitter, six years earlier, Ted Williams was the final out.
Hint:     He was the second pitcher, after Cy Young, to win 100 pitching decisions, chalk up 1,000 career strikeouts and toss no-hitters in each league.
Hint:     When his career ended in 1971, only Walter Johnson had more career strikeouts.
Hint:     He is the only pitcher to surrender an inside-the-park home run to Hank Aaron.
Hint:     Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1996 by the Veterans’ Committee, he is the only Hall of Fame player to serve in the U.S. congress.
Hint:     His first major league team, the Detroit Tigers, allowed him to miss his first three spring trainings so he could finish his college degree at Xavier and still play pro ball.
Hint:     Upon retiring from the U.S. senate, he remarked, “…being able to throw a curve ball is not a bad ability for a politician to have.”
A.         JIM BUNNING
-  Perfect game 21-Jun-1964; Prior no-hitter 20-Jul-1958
-  Career K total:  2,855 (W. Johnson’s K total:  3,509)
-  Aaron’s IPHR:  10-May-1967
FCR -  Ken Auerbach, Bonita Springs, FL
Incorrect answers: 

FRIDAY
Q.        What Red Sox player led the league in being hit-by-pitch the same season they won their first World Series this century?
Hint:     He spurred his team to gritty excellence, urging’ “Cowboy up!”
Hint:     He hit 131 more home runs in the majors than his uncle did.
A.         KEVIN MILLAR
-  17 HBP in 2004
-  Uncle Wayne Nordhagen hit 39 HR in his 8-year MLB career
FCR -  Jeff Freedman, Westwood, California
Incorrect answers:  Babe Ruth, Johnny Damon, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis

END-OF-THE-WEEK BONUS
Q.        Whose name (and nickname) was comically mispronounced by his hometown fans?
Hint:     After throwing his 2nd career no-hitter passed on a bottle of champagne offered to him he instead celebrated with an orange soda.
Hint:     It was the first no-hitter broadcast nation-wide on television.
Hint:     On the advice of friends, started using a 5-lb. stainless steel ball during his warm-ups just before throwing that 2nd career no-hitter.
Hint:     Partly because the no-hitter was against his cross-town rivals, the team’s owner promptly awarded him with a nice monetary bonus.
A.         CARL ERSKINE
-  It came out as “Oisk”, a pronunciation routinely mocked by people outside of Brooklyn.
-  2nd no-no:  12-May-1956 vs. NYG; First one
-  Received $500 from Walter O’Malley
FCR -  Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Incorrect answers:  Charlie Hough

SATURDAY
Q.        What Padres pitcher, in his pennant-winning year, had a record of 9 wins, 8 losses and 8 saves?
Hint:     He returned to the majors after major arm surgery, though not as successfully as did Tommy John.
Hint:     Tim Raines was at the plate when he threw his last pitch.
Hint:     He won the highly-respected Hutch Award later that year.
A.         DAVE DRAVECKY
-  Last pitch 15-Aug-1989
Hutch Award 1989
FCR -  Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Incorrect answers:  Trevor Hoffman, Rich Gossage, Stirling Hitchcock, Doug Jones

SUNDAY
Q.        Whose tied Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby’s record for home runs in a season by a second baseman?
Hint:     He never had another year with even half that total in the 12 other years of his major league playing career and is not even in the top 20 for career home runs by a second baseman.
Hint:     The last major league hit ever given up by Sandy Koufax was his.
Hint:     He was a teammate of both home run kings Hank Aaron and Sadaharu Oh.  (Not at the same time.  That would be a record.)
A.         DAVEY JOHNSON
-  42 HR in 1973, tying Hornsby’s 1922 total
-  136 career HR
-  Koufax hit, World Series 06-Oct-1966, 6th inning
-  Teammate of Aaron 1973-74 w/ATL; Of Oh 1975-76 w/Yomiuri Giants
FCR -  Rich Lerner, Silver Spring, Maryland
Incorrect answers:  Jeff Kent, Felix Mantilla, Jim LeFebvre

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND BONUS #1
Q.        Which Detroit Tigers reliever once traded 4 autographed baseballs for a fan's slice of pizza while waiting in the bullpen?
Hint:     That same year, he led the league in saves, was voted on to the All-Star team and finished in the top 5 in Cy Young Award voting.
Hint:     He got to the World Series just once in his 16-year MLB career, but did managed to add a save to his résumé there.
Hint:     In 2014, he represented the Tigers in the Hall of Fame Classic in Cooperstown.
A.         TODD JONES
-  Best season:  2000
2006 WS
FCR -  Larry Lamb, Oakwood, Ohio
Incorrect answers:  John Hiller, Guillermo Hernandez, Jose Valverde, Aurelio Lopez, Terry Forster

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND BONUS #2
Q.        Who cooled down the red-hot Red Sox in 2016 by leading the team in strikeouts?
Hint:     His impressive 5.3 WAR, however, trailed only Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia.
Hint:     He was the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series the first time his school won the tournament.
Hint:     He encourages the use of a pleonastic honorific.
Hint:     He was named for his father who was named for a certain American soul singer-songwriter and performer nicknamed "Mr. Excitement".
A.         JACKIE BRADLEY Jr.
-  143 K
-  Played for U. of So. Carolina in 2010
-  The use of “Jr.” as part of his name unnecessary since no one else has ever used that name in the majors.
-  His father was named for crooner Jackie Wilson.
FCR -  Barry Nelson, Guilderland, New York
Incorrect answers:  David Price

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND BONUS #3
Q.        What pitcher with an 11-year MLB career had the thrill of seeing his son make the majors in 2016?
Hint:     He also has two brothers who played professional baseball, one of which made it to the majors.
Hint:     He (the dad) led the league in several categories during his time with 8 different teams.  He also threw for 8 minor league teams.
Hint:     As a member of the Giants, he won the Willie Mac Award honoring his spirit and leadership.
Hint:     He started well, making the Topps All-Star Rookie Team.
A.         MARK LEITER
-  Son also named Mark Leiter (but with no ‘Jr.’ designation)
-  Brother Al Leiter had a 16-year career in the majors and was 3 times on teams that won the World Series.  Brother Kurt Leiter played 4 years in the minors.
-  Unfortunately, the categories he led in were what you might call negative categories.  His 17 losses led the NL in 1997, as did his 115 earned runs allowed that year.  He also led his league in hit batsmen three straight seasons, from 1994 to 1996, and in 1996, the 37 homers he gave up were tops in the NL.
-  Shared the 1995 Willie Mac Award with teammate Mark Carreon.
FCR -  Ralph Fessler, Ellicott City, Maryland
Incorrect answers:  Steve Bedrosian, Bengie Molina, Lance McCullers, Clay Bellinger, Derek Law


WEEKLY THEME – Alumni from colleges whose mascots are (were) BIRDS, but not birds of prey. [No eagles, hawks, falcons, etc.)

Appling........... Oglethorpe U................ Stormy Petrels
Bradley........... So. Carolina.................. Gamecocks
Doby............... Long Island U............... Blackbirds
Erskine........... Anderson U................... Ravens
Gordon........... U. of Oregon................. Ducks
Jones............. Jacksonville State......... Roosters
Leiter.............. Ramapo College........... Roadrunners
Millar.............. Lamar University........... Cardinals
Willis............... U. of Delaware.............. Blue Hens

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – No one

Incorrect theme guesses:

Tue         -  Players with the nickname "Luscious"
Sun         -  All had played or coached for a World Series champion Whose franchise had not won a World Series ever before or in over 20 years.







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