This week’s theme,
questions and hints are from Toronto’s Sarah
Grynpas.
Q. Who has the
lowest career ERA for any pitcher with over 200 wins?
Hint: Although he
threw a forkball before the advent of the forkball, no one tried to copy his
grip.
Hint: Teammates
called him “The miner”.
Hint: He managed
for St. Louis in between playing stints.
- ERA = 2.06; W = 239
- The grip [click here] was not one of
choice. “Bullet” Joe Bush is
said to have invented the forkball, circa 1919.
- He had worked in
coal mines in Indiana as a teenager.
- He joined with
other big leaguers and jumped to the short-lived Federal League where he was
player/manager for SLM before going to BTT between the two teams
he was 14-11 with a swelling ERA, by his standards, of 3.52. When he joined CHI in 1915, he improved
to 17-8 with an ERA of 2.09, and his team won a championship.
FCR - Paul Greenwell,
Fort Worth
Incorrect guesses: Ed
Reulbach, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Lindy McDaniel, Carl Hubbell,
Virgil Trucks, Ed Walsh, Dizzy Dean
TUESDAY
Q. Who was
Harry Caray's first radio play by play partner for an MLB team?
Hint: He got his
first major league job as second choice after Branch Rickey.
Hint: The only
other player in the 20th century with his nickname also shared his
(completely unrelated) given name.
- They did radio play by play for the Cardinals
and Browns in 1945.
- Cincinnati called up Rickey from Class D but Rickey
refused to play on Sundays. Street was less devout.
- Gabby Street and Gabby Hartnett were both named
Charles.
FCR - Derek Granger, Chandler, Arizona
Incorrect guesses: Dutch Leonard , Dizzy Dean, Jerry Coleman, Joe
Garagiola, Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, Joe Buck
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was the oldest player to have a
multiple home run game the last day he played?
Hint: In his most famous game, he scored two runs
in a 7-6 victory.
Hint: He holds the record for most seasons as the
league RBI leader.
- On his last day as a player (03-Oct-1897,
first game of a doubleheader), he
hit two home runs. He was 45
yrs 169 days old.
- That game he refused to play in was against Moses
Fleetwood Walker and only relented when he was told he’d forfeit the
gate. He
scored a run.
- Led the NL in RBI 8 times: 1890-92, 84-86, 88 & 91.
FCR - Pat Ray, Paradise Valley, Arizona
Incorrect
guesses: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Lou
Gehrig Ted Williams, Barry Bonds
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who tied Cy Young for the American
League’s first triple crown?
Hint: He is the reason baseball players began to wear
sanitary socks.
Hint: Tony Gwynn tied his career batting average.
- TC in 1901, the AL’s first year = .426 + 14 HR
+ 125 RBI. Young won the pitching TC the
same season with 1.62 ERA + 33 wins + 158 K
- He got cut from a spike and the dye in his
socks caused an infection. The Boston Herald, reported it
like this: “July 4, 1905 – Manager Lajoie
of the Cleveland club
will be out of the game for five days. He
is troubled with cellulitis, an accompaniment of blood poisoning, in his left
ankle. He sustained a scratch in
Friday's game, and it is thought the dye of his stocking penetrated the wound.” [The first drugs to successfully fight
infection were introduce in 1909, but not widely available until World War II.]
- Career BA for both = .3382
FCR - Richard Ottone, Sykesville, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses: Cap Anson, Tris Speaker, Jesse
Burkett, Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Addie Joss
THURSDAY
Q. Who was the first pinch-hitter to get a
hit in an All-Star game?
Hint: After he retired he would walk up to ten
miles each day. While playing, he walked
slightly over eight miles his whole career.
Hint: He set a record when he turned four double
plays in a game by a third baseman.
- He doubled off Lefty Grove in the first ASG
in 1933, hitting for SS Dick Bartell.
- Total career BB = 472. Multiplied
by 90’ = 8.045 miles.
FCR - Andrew Milner, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Incorrect
guesses: Andy Carey, Harland Clift, Earl
Averill, Smokey Burgess, Eddie Yost
FRIDAY
Q. Who is the oldest National League player
to record an extra base hit as his 3,000th?
Hint: He received no MVP votes the year he led
the league in all triple-slash categories and stolen bases.. He came in second
the year he no black ink at all.
Hint: He is easily the greatest player of all
time at his position, according to Bill James.
- It was a double. He was 40.
- Zero MVP votes in 1904 because ”MVP” didn’t
exist yet. A shame, because his .349/.423/.520
w/53 SB was bound to get
some attention. In 1912 he was second in
the vote totals behind the Giants’ Larry Doyle.
- James notes that there is a huge gulf between
Wagner and the 2nd-place SS.
FCR - Timothy Kearns, Washington, DC
Incorrect
guesses: Tris Speaker, Stan Musial, Ty
Cobb, Ozzie Smith, Roberto Clemente, Mike Schmidt, Wade Boggs, Rogers Hornsby,
Tony Gwynn, Ichiro Suzuki, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Willie Mays
SATURDAY
Q. Who is the only qualifying rookie to hit
.400 in the modern era?
Hint: He also holds the record for on-base
percentage among qualifying rookies.
Hint: Connie Mack compared him favorably to Ted
Williams.
- Logged a BA of .408 in 1911 for CLE
in his first full season. Finished
behind Ty Cobb’s .419 for the batting title.
- OBP = .489 in 1911
- Mack’s exact words were, “I wish I had a
Williams. I had one once and I lost him.
Joe Jackson, one of the greatest hitters
of all time.” Mack traded Jackson from PHA to
CLE
in the middle of the 1910 season for a handful of beans. Jackson had only played 10 games for the A’s.
FCR - Jonathan Glass, Cross River, New York
Incorrect
guesses: Eddie Collins, Rogers Hornsby
Nap Lajoie, Ross Barnes, Babe Ruth
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who was the only player to see action in
four separate World Series championships for the Red Sox?
Hint: He once hit a leadoff homer in each game of
a doubleheader.
Hint: He’s the reason that there is a rule that
the runner can advance (tag up) as soon as the fielder makes any contact with a
fly ball.
- Hooper played in the WS of 1912,
1915,
1916
and 1918.
Heinie
Wagner was on the BOS roster 1906-13, 15-16 & 18 but only saw
action in the 1912 WS.
- HRs 30-May-1913
(1) off Bob Groom & 30-May-1913
(2) off Walter Johnson. He was the first player ever to do it. He had 670 plate appearances that year yet
only hit 2 additional homers. The next
person to accomplish thus feat was (as you might expect) Rickey Henderson, but
a full 80 years had passed. Only 2
others have done it: Brady Anderson
in 1999 & Ronald Acuna in 2018.
- With a runner at third, he used to juggle the
ball off his glove, forcing the runner to stay on base as Hooper moved close
enough to get him out. The new rule
changed all that.
FCR - Jesse Asbury, Norman, OK
Incorrect
guesses: David Ortiz, Duffy Lewis,
Dustin Pedroia
SUNDAY
Q. Who did John Thorn call the most
important player not in the Hall of Fame?
Hint: He hit four doubles and a home run in his
final game.
Hint: He was a also pitcher for Brooklyn.
Hint: He’s the last player to qualify for this
week’s theme.
- In Thorn’s
book
“Baseball
in the Garden of Eden”. Thorn
also authored Creighton’s SABR Bio.
- It was the game where he got a hernia and died.
- Pitched for the Brooklyn
Stars and Brooklyn Excelsiors.
FCR - Jeff Kabacinski, Wilmington, Delaware
Incorrect
guesses:
WEEKLY THEME – From the TV show “the Simpsons”, it’s the 17th
episode of Season 3: Homer at the Bat. It aired 06‑Feb‑1992. The nuclear plant softball team is going to
play the Shelbyville softball team and Mr. Burns makes a million dollar bet on
the game. To ensure he will win, he wants to bring in a team of ringers. Here
is the lineup he wants to use in the big game:
1b - Anson
2b - Lajoie
SS - Wagner
3b - Traynor
C - Street
LF - Jackson
CF - Hooper
RF - Creighton
P - Brown
After being informed
that all of the players he wants have already passed away, Burns brings in some
modern ringers (…which you’ll no doubt see some time as a weekly theme.)
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Mike Sparks, Sarasota (after Street)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tuesday - Players
who both played and managed teams in St. Louis
Wed - Something
to do with The Simpsons
Fri - All
Time MLB team as selected by someone 75 years ago. Connie Mack or someone
like that.
-
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