Q. What former
Oriole is the only position player to win a World Series MVP award more than
once?
Hint: He is also
the only multiple winner to do it playing for different teams.
Hint: His cousins
have racked up a total of ten 30-30 seasons in the majors.
Hint: He never
even had one.
- The other two
multiple WS MVP’s are Sandy Koufax,
pitcher for the Dodgers in 1963 & 65 and Bob Gibson, pitcher for the
Cardinals, in 1964 & 68.
- Cousin Bobby Bonds
of SFG (2); NYY (1); CAL (1); & CAL+CHW (1). Cousin Barry Bonds,
son of Bobby, for PIT (2) and for SFG (3).
FCR - Scott Matteson,
Shawnee, Kansas
Incorrect guesses:
Frank Robinson, Eddie Murray, Brooks Robinson, Pat Borders,
Rick Dempsey
TUESDAY
Q. What player
followed his Rookie-of-the-Year season immediately with an MVP and a World
Series championship season?
Hint: It looked at
first as though he were after Reggie’s career strikeout title, leading the
league in strikeouts as a rookie, but his K numbers have calmed down since his
first year.
Hint: By eschewing
his draft by the Blue Jays, he was able to qualify later for the
Dick Howser Award, the same award won by Robin Ventura, Buster Posey,
Mark Teixeira and Todd Helton, among others.
- 2015 = 199 K; 2016 = 154 K; 2017 = 128 K
- TOR had chosen him 11th in the 18th round
in the 2010 draft. Instead he attended and played for the University of San Diego and was taken by the
Cubs in the 1st round of 2013. Seems now like the right choice.
- He did indeed become the 27th
recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy in 2013.
FCR - Richard Noonan, Central Islip, New York
Incorrect guesses: Cal Ripken, Dustin Pedroia, Jose Canseco,
Ryan Howard, Buster Posey, Mike Trout
WEDNESDAY
Q. What former Phillies catcher, nicknamed
“Bad Dude”, was four times an All-Star?
Hint: He was the first National League catcher to
steal 25 bases in a season.
Hint: He ended Greg Minton's record streak of
269.1 consecutive innings without surrendering a home run.
Hint: He managed Tim Raines and Tony Armas one
season in the minors.
- Played exactly one (1) game for PHI before being traded to
NYM for Tug McGraw, among others.
AS for NYM in 1977, 79, 80 & 82.
- Stole 25 bases in 1978. 91 in his career.
- Minton HR 02-May-1982. Minton later said, “I thought about tackling
him as he rounded third, but then I remembered that he's strong and once played
football.” Minton still holds the record.
- Managing the Harrisburg Senators in 2006, he
had both Tim Raines, Jr. and Tony Armas, Jr. on his roster.
FCR - Mark Linneman, Sacramento
Incorrect
guesses: Bob Boone, Darren Daulton, Ted
Simmons
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who was the first pitcher in over half a
century to win the Rookie of the Year Award and later win league MVP?
Hint: Six times he finished in the top 5 in Cy
Young Award voting.
Hint: In his no-hitter’ against Milwaukee
Brewers, he struck out 12, walked four and recorded a fastest ball of 102 mph.
Hint: His 30 consecutive scoreless postseason
innings against one team broke the record held by Christy Mathewson.
FCR - Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Incorrect
guesses: Vida Blue, Sandy Koufax,
Madison Bumgarner, Clayton Kershaw, Orel Hershiser, Fernando Valenzuela
THURSDAY
Q. Whose nickname growing up was a
reflection of his leadership at a young age?
Hint: Even if he had never been caught attempting
a steel one season, he wouldn’t have led the league. He did manage, however, to lead in times
caught stealing.
Hint: He and his brother have played for a total
of 12 major league franchises since 2007 and yet his similarity score that is
the closest belongs to multiple Gold Glove, multiple All-Star Alex Gordon.
- B. J. Upton for “Bosman Junior”. “Senior” was of course his father.
FCR
- Chaunce Venuto, Tooele, Utah
Incorrect guesses: Jeff Francoeur, Justin Verlander
FRIDAY
Q. Who was the first 21st-century
right fielder to start a triple play?
Hint: During the half dozen years he was with the
Cardinals, his ‘walk-up’ song was “Sky Falls Down”.
Hint: Two of his brothers have played in the majors,
but of the three, only he has been on an All-Star team.
- TP 01-Aug-2002 9-6-3! Mike Lowell had hit a single to RF
off pitcher Chuck Finley. Finley walked the next batter, Derek Lee. Up next was the 3rd
batter, Eric Owens, who stung a line
drive to RF that nobody thought would be caught. Drew, however, got there, caught it and immediately
throw to Renteria at 2nd to
get Lowell. Renteria then whipped a
throw to Tino Martinez at 1st to
get Lee. Finley was, as you might imagine,
elated.
- Brothers Stephen, currently under
contract with the Nats and Tim, who played for 3 teams in 5 years for in
the majors.
FCR - Barry Nelson, Guilderland, New York
Incorrect
guesses: Jason Heyward
SATURDAY
Q. When A.J. Burnett threw a wild pitch to
Adam Kennedy in a game late in the 2011 season, he became the Yankees’ all-time
franchise leader for wild pitches in a single season. Whose record did he break?
Hint: The next inning, facing Kennedy again, he
added another to establish the Yankee record that still stands.
Hint: He was Comeback
Player of the Year the same season his teammate won the Cy Young Award.
Hint: He was MVP in the Texas League when he was
in the Mets’ system.
FCR - Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect
guesses: Ryne Duren, David Cone, Whitey
Ford, Al Downing, Dwight Gooden, Kenny Rogers, Nolan Ryan, Tommy Byrne, Dave
Righetti
SUNDAY
Q. Who has suffered the anonymity of having
more than 20 other players of professional baseball use the same first and last
name?
Hint: His production was steady if not
spectacular… He played in the majors for 6 years on 4 teams.
Hint: On his first team he played with and for 6
who are now Hall of Famers.
Hint: On his second team, he played for a World
Series MVP and two teammates who had been MVPs and one would enter the Hall
without playing for any other team.
Hint: On his third team, he played alongside a
first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Hint: On his fourth team, he played alongside the
player who holds the all-time record for most pinch-hits in the majors.
There have been multiple people named Michael Kelly and Mike
Kelly in baseball history.
·
Mike Kelly (minors01) - Bernard
Francis Kelly, minor league player from 1916-1929 and major league coach
- Played for HOFers Bobby Cox and John Shuerholz
and with 1994-95 Braves of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Chipper
Jones also former MVP Terry Pendleton.
He played again with Pendleton in Cincinnati.
- Played for WS MVP Ray Knight on the 1996-97 Reds
and with former MVP’s Kevin Mitchell and Barry Larkin, the latter being a future
HOFer.
- Played with first-ballot HOFer Wade Boggs
while with the 1998 Devil Rays.
- On the 1999 Rockies, his teammate was Lenny
Harris, career pinch hit leader as well as former NL MVP Larry Walker.
FCR - Richard Giovanoni, Morton Grove, Illinois
Incorrect
guesses: Hal Smith, Bob Johnson, Bob
Miller, Lee May, Joe Smith, Bill White
WEEKLY THEME – Number
#2 draft choices who probably should have been taken #1.
Year Drafted
#2 By MLB
Yrs #1 By MLB
G’s
2013..... Bryant........... Cubs................. 3...... Mark
Appel............ Astros........... 0
*Had been drafted in
previous rounds.
Yrs. In Italics = Still in the majors
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Joe
Ullian, Santa Barbara (after Verlander)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Wed - College
All - Americans who won World Series & were multiple MLB All‑Stars.
Sun - players
who were the 2nd Overall Pick, Who played for Team USA at some level (Olympic
Theme)
- #2
overall pick, who were Award Winners at some level of professional baseball
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