Sunday, September 8, 2019

2019-09-02 Six strikeouts in a single game


Q.        Who is the only Milwaukee Brewer to collect 200 hits in a season three times?
Hint:     He was the first player to hit an inside-the-park home run in Exhibition Stadium.
Hint:     He was once described in Baseball Digest as the “Rodney Dangerfield of baseball”.
A.         CECIL COOPER  [SABR Bio]
-  219 H in 1980 led the AL and remains the franchise record; had 205 in 1982 & 203 in 1983.
-  ITP HR 05-May-1977, only the 14th G ever played there.
-  Baseball Digest, June 1981, p. 18 article by The Boston Herald American’s Joe Giuliotti, mostly because Cooper’s outstanding 1980 was overshadowed by George Brett’s .390 that year, among other things.        
FCR -  Joe Liss, Metairie, Louisiana
Incorrect guesses:  Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Hank Aaron

TUESDAY
Q.        Who helped teammate Ben Sheets claim his first major league pitching victory by slamming three home runs in his support?
Hint:     He was not very popular in the Queen City as he was the first opposing player to hit ten career home runs at the Great American Ballpark.
Hint:     His baseball accomplishments at USC put him on a par with the greatest players that school has ever had.
A.         GEOFF JENKINS
-  3 HR 28-Apr-2001, 8-4 W over MON
-  At USC, he is in the tops of the all-time offensive record book, a worthy peer of Mark McGwire.
FCR -  Mike Anderson, Maumelle, Arkansas
Incorrect guesses:  Fred Lynn, Craig Counsell, Richie Sexson, Andruw Jones 

WEDNESDAY
Q.        What name bursts into a movie plot around a breakfast campsite in a 1991 comedy?
Hint:     As a baserunner, he once famously fielded a ground ball and tossed it to the opposing shortstop, thereby avoiding a double play.
Hint:     He abandoned his teenage fling with boxing after suffering seven straight knockouts.
A.         DON HOAK  [SABR Bio]
-  In “City Slickers” the city slickers are true-believer baseball fans who are challenged with an off-the-cuff, seemingly insignificant question.  The scene:
“- Phil Berquist: Do you HATE baseball?
- Barbara Robbins: No.  I like baseball.  I just never understood how you guys can spend so much time discussing it.  I mean I think the game is great, but I don't MEMORIZE who played third base for Pittsburgh in 1960.
- Berquist: (Without hesitation and nearly in unison with colleagues Mitch Robbins and Ed Furillo: “Don Hoak!
- Robbins: See, that's exactly what I mean.”  Watch clip here)
[Reader Jeff Rowell added the following:  The female line is actually Helen Slater's character Bonnie Rayburn not Patricia Wettig's Barbara Robbins who is not in the scene. Of course I noticed that the IMDb quotes page has it wrong which I'm assuming is where the quote was pulled from. I only noticed because I knew Billy Crystal's character's last name is Robbins and that his wife wasn't on the trip with him.”]

-  In the G on 21-Apr-1957 Hoak intercepted a grounder hit by teammate Wally Post and flopped it to opposing SS Johnny Logan.  The umps ruled Hoak out—that was easy.  Post, however, was allowed to remain safe at first base  The MLB rules committee acted quickly and now in such a circumstance, both runners would be out, citing baserunner’s deliberate interference.
FCR -  Dave Serota, Kalamazoo
Incorrect guesses:  Vic Wertz, Van Lingle Mungo, Mickey Mantle, Mookie Wilson, Marv Throneberry, Henry Aaron

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.        What Badger’s signing bonus was driven so uncomfortably high by a bidding war among multiple franchises and their scouts, that it was a chief motivator for major league baseball to institute the draft?
Hint:     He was the first player to homer in his expansion team’s new permanent stadium.
Hint:     He got the chance later in his career to play for Ted Williams.
A.         RICK REICHARDT
-  Playing He so impressed the scouts that a bidding war ensued for his signing.  He received a $200,000 signing bonus from LAA so high that it was the most ever paid.
-  HR at Angels Stadium 19-Apr-1966.
-  Played 107 G for the 1970 WSA, managed by Williams.  Did not hit .406.
FCR -  Steven Harmon, Sacramento
Incorrect guesses:  Mike Epstein, Harmon Killebrew, Ken McMullen, Bob Johnson

THURSDAY
Q.        Who won the Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player Award the year before Tony Perez did?
Hint:     He is only the second-ever MVP from the Salt Lake City Bees in the 120-year history of the PCL.
Hint:     A rookie from the University of Utah, he played 134 games in centerfield for the Cubs the year after they lost Ken Hubbs?
Hint:     During his eight-year career in the majors, he played every outfield position and every infield position.
A.         BILLY COWAN
-  PCL MVP 1963; Perez won in ’64.
-  Dick Hall, fellow U of U alum, won the PCL MVP in 1959 playing for SLC.   
-  Full-time CF for CHC in 1964.  Hubbs, NL ROY in 1962.  Hubbs died just before spring training in ’64.
FCR -  Dan Silverberg, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:  Don Hahn, Don Young, George Altman, Bob Dernier, Adolfo Phillips

FRIDAY
Q.        Who was only fifteen games into his thirteen-year MLB career when a work stoppage shut down everyone’s games?
Hint:     During a two-year stretch, he had seven walk-off hits for the Cubs, five of them home runs.
Hint:     He sometimes suffered an identity crisis, at least among television baseball announcers.
Hint:     He is the only Toronto Blue Jay ever to lead his league in sacrifice hits.
A.         ALEX S. GONZALEZ
-  Played his first game in the majors in the spring of 1994.
-  Walk-offs:     1.) 06-May-2002* off Mike Timlin;
2.) 18-Jun-2002* off John Rocker;
3.) 01-Aug-2002 off Trevor Hoffman;
4.) 09‑Sep‑2002* off Jim Brower;
5.) 04-May-2003* off Steve Reed;
6.) 10-May-2003* off Cal Eldred;
7.) 05-Jul-2003 off Esteban Yan
*Home run
-  His opposite number, the SS for FLA in the 2003 NLCS, had he exact same name on the scorecard.  The Marlins Alex Gonzalez is from Venezuela. does not use a middle name and went on to win a ring that year.
-  Led the AL in SH w/16 in 2000.
FCR -  John Rickert Terre Haute
Incorrect guesses:  George Bell, Andre Dawson, Derek Lee, Carrol Hardy

SATURDAY
Q.        Who was called the “toughest pitcher he ever faced” by Ty Cobb himself?
Hint:     His career pitching stats far surpass even those posted by an in-his-prime Pedro Martinez.
Hint:     He advanced from Class D to the majors during his first season as a professional.
A.         CARL WEILMAN  [SABR Bio]
-  Over Weilman’s 9-year career (1912-1920), Cobb hit just .236 against him and .383 versus the rest of the American League.  (Admittedly, Cobb may have said this about more than one pitcher.)
-  No, not that Pedro Martinez. This one, who shares a birthday (November 29) with Weilman.
-  After playing just 50 G with the 1912 Maysville Rivermen of Kentucky’s Blue Grass League (the equivalent of a modern-day Rookie league) Weilman made his major league debut with SLB on 24-Aug-1912
FCR -  Sarah Grynpas, Toronto
Incorrect guesses:  Addie Joss, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Joe Wood, Chief Bender, Babe Ruth, 3-Finger Brown, Bill Bayne, Rube Waddell, Satchel Paige

SUNDAY
Q.        What Dallas, Texas-born slugger hit the first home run in the history of Taiwan Major League Professional Baseball?
Hint:     He needed a fielder’s mitt for only 3% of the games during his eight-year major league career.
Hint:     While providing color on Red Sox post-game shows on NESN, his signature “Kapow” was used to describe a home run.
Hint:     His “Fans” and “Sons” have extended his baseball presence well beyond his playing career.
Hint:     He is the eponymous inspiration for this week’s theme.
A.         SAM HORN
-  HR in TML in 1996.  Exact game yet to be verified.
-  In 12 of his 389 career games in the majors, he played 1st base.  Baseball‑Reference lists his positions as “Designated Hitter and Pinch Hitter”.
-  Sons of Same Horn” is a cyber message board dedicated to Boston Red Sox fans.  A group calling themselves “Fans of Sam Horn” nominated him to be President if Red Sox Nation.  No records of an actual election exist.
-  Striking out six times in a game was christened a “Sam Horn” by his teammate after Horn became the 5th player to do it.  The Dickson Baseball Dictionary lists it as a single word, “Horn”, although it is usually used with both names.
FCR -  Chuck McGill, Westford, Vermont
Incorrect guesses:  Don Orsillo


WEEKLY THEME – Batters who struck out six times in a single game.  The “Olympic Rings” or platinum sombrero applies to a player striking out five times in a game.   A “Sam Horn” refers to a player striking out six times in a game.  The term was coined by pitcher Mike Flanagan after teammate Sam Horn of the Baltimore Orioles accomplished the feat in 1991.

Player              Date          _   Team    Opp    _   Rslt       Innings     __   PA        K
Cooper........... 14-Jun-1974......... BOS..... CAL........ L 3-4........ 15................ 8................. 6
Cowan............ 09-Jul-1971.......... CAL..... OAK........ L 0-1........ 20................ 8................. 6
Gonzalez........ 09-Sep-1998........ TOR..... CLE........ L 3-6........ 13................ 6................. 6
Hoak............... 02-May-1956........ CHC..... NYG........ L 5-6........ 17................ 9............... 6
Horn............... 17-Jul-1991.......... BAL...... KCR........ L 8-9........ 15................ 8................ 6
Jenkins........... 08-Jun-2004......... MIL....... ANA........ W 1-0....... 17................ 7................ 6
Reichardt........ 31-May-1966........ CAL..... CLE........ L 5-7........ 17................ 8................. 6
Weilman......... 25-Jul-1913.......... SLB...... WSH....... T 8-8........ 15................ 6................. 6 



First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeMichael Temple, Chicago (after Hoak)

Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday  -  Players drafted by the Cardinals in the rule 5 draft and then returned who went on to become all-stars

Tuesday -  All-time Milwaukee Brewers games played leaders
               -  Former Brewers who reached World Series, but not on their first team
               -  All-Stars is in the Miller Park walk of fame is it
               -  Milwaukee Brewers who hit three home runs in one game.
               -  Platinum sombrero owners -- 5 strikeouts in  a game

Wed        -  Platinum sombrero owners -- 5 strikeouts in  a game
               -  Players who led their leagues in putouts and double plays in the same season

Thurs      -  Two-sport stars

Friday     -  Theme is MLB players with a high school named after them












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