Q. Which
one-time Cleveland Indian famously hit but a solitary triple in his 20+ year
career.
Hint: He got
stranded at third.
Hint: He was the
first pitcher on a 20th century American League team to lead the majors
in ERA after the team had moved to a new city.
FCR - Vince Guerrieri,
Elyria, Ohio
Incorrect guesses: Rocky
Colavito, Luis Tiant, Satchel Paige, Dick Bosman, Phil Niekro, Addie Joss, CC
Sabathia, Jim Perry, Gaylord Perry, Bartolo Colon, Dick Donovan, Diego
Segui, Bob Lemon
TUESDAY
Q. Which Hall
of Famer’s name change (The one primarily used by fans and the media) allowed
another Hall of Famer to re-emerge on the Double-Uniques list?
Hint: For eleven
years, he was the only native of his state enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Now he is the only living one.
Hint: He is one of
the pitchers who claimed victories against all existing major league teams
before the 1993 expansion.
- With an evolution more than a revolution, Gossage
has begun to ask the media to list him as “Rich” instead of “Goose”. MLB, Baseball-Reference and Fan Graphs have
complied, but others, such as Wikipedia, Baseball Almanac and even the HOF have yet to catch up. With that sobriquet gone, Goose Goslin reclaims his double‑unique status.
- In 2008 Gossage became the first native of the state
of Colorado elected to the Hall. This
year he was joined in Cooperstown by the late Roy Halladay.
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- By the start of the 1993 season, all 26 MLB
teams had been beaten at least once by Doyle Alexander, Tommy John, Gaylord Perry,
Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Scott Sanderson, Mike Torrez, Rick Wise
& Gossage.
FCR - John Blankstein, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses: Bert Blyleven, Greg Maddux, Gaylord Perry,
WEDNESDAY
Q. Whose facial hair became the standard
for a generation?
Hint: A Hall of Fame manager turned him from a
starter to a reliever.
Hint: As a result, he became only the second relief
pitcher elected to the Hall.
- Grew a classic handlebar mustachioed. Matched by many of his Oakland A’s teammates
and eventually throughout MLB
- A’s Manager Dick Williams saw Fingers potential
as a reliever and made the conversion complete in 1971. After a 5⅓-inning loss to Bert Blyleven 21 May 1971, the next 825 G he
pitched in MLB were as a reliever.
- HOF in 1992.Hoyt Wilhelm preceded him in 1985
and he was followed there by Eckersley (2004), Sutter (2006), Gossage (2008),
Hoffman (2018), Rivera & Smith (2019).
FCR - Kellen Nielson, Blanding, Utah
Incorrect
guesses: Dennis Eckersley, Catfish
Hunter, Bruce Sutter, Brian Wilson, Goose (sic) Gossage, John Smoltz
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who is the only pitcher to appear in MLB
All-Star games in the 1970s, 80s and 90s?
Hint: He was the only pitcher to ever accumulate
more saves than base runners in a season. (Minimum 25 saves.)
Hint: He has considerable fan acclaim in a bay-area
city, but his greatest fame in his hometown, also a bay-area city.
- MLB AS for CLE in 1978, for BOS in 1981 the
A’s in 1988, 90, 91 & 92.
- In back-to-back seasons Eckersley
posted identical SO/BB ratios of 18.3. In 1989, he struck out 55 while walking
just 3 and in 1990 fanned 73 while issuing only 4 free passes.
- An All-Star for Boston (“The Bay State”) 1981, he returned to New England in 2003 and became
a popular Red Sox announcer. Still, his
most notable playing achievements were posted w/OAK in his birthplace of
Oakland, California, you know… the Bay Area.
FCR - Mark Mapes, Madison, Wisconsin
Incorrect
guesses:
THURSDAY
Q. Whose record for career postseason
strikeouts was broken by Justin Verlander Tuesday night in Houston?
Hint: He was the first pitcher to surrender a hit
to an Orioles pitcher after the advent of the Designated Hitter.
Hint: His famous pitching coach insisted,
“Greatest slider I’ve ever seen from a right-handed pitcher!”
Hint: He is known for seldom losing any wager
related to his golf game.
- Smoltz had stuck out 199 postseason batters
ending in the 2009 NLDS. Verlander entered the G w/196 postseason Ks
and struck out 6 Nats before succumbing to their offensive onslaught.
- Talent assessment was from Atlanta Braves’
pitching coach Leo Mazzone.
FCR - Michael Campos, Redmond, Washington
Incorrect
guesses: Mariano Rivera, Jim Palmer Greg
Maddux
FRIDAY
Q. Who was the last Yankee pitcher to hit a
home before the advent of the DH?
Hint: He was also the first Yankee pitcher to come
to bat in a game after the advent of the DH.
Hint: He won The Sporting News “Reliever of the
Year” award the first year it was given.
Hint: He and his brother were mentioned as a
great one-two pitching punch for the Cardinals.
- He pitched for STL 1955-62; his brother Von was on the club in 1957-58. The
upshot was that the pairing was not quite the “Dean brothers redux” that had
been hoped for. The parallels, though,
of two hard-throwing brothers from a small town in the South, were hard to
ignore.
FCR - Steven Wright, Naperville, Illinois
Incorrect
guesses: Sparky Lyle, David Cone, Ken
Forsch, Von McDaniel, Bruce Sutter, Dave Righetti, Bob Forsch, Catfish Hunter,
Mel Stottlemyre
SATURDAY
Q. What Boston Red Sox hurler set the
record for most consecutive save opportunities when he locked down his 54th?
Hint: He surrendered the first of Alex Rodriguez’
696 major league home runs.
Hint: His 21-year career in the majors ended just
two seasons before his son rose to the Bigs, earning along the way a Gold
Glove, a Silver Slugger and multiple All-Star appearances.
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- 54 S w/o a blown S, a record since broken, was
set in 1998-99 for BOS
FCR - John Blankstein, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Incorrect
guesses: Lee Smith, Jonathan Papelbon,
Bob Stanley
WORLD SERIES BONUS
Q. What one-time Phillie was the first
pitcher to win an ERA title playing for a team based in California?
Hint: His first All-Star game came in his ninth
season in the majors.
Hint: His final All-Star game came seven years
before he retired.
Hint: In his time pitching for the Atlanta
Braves, his ERA was over 50.00.
FCR - Jeff Kabacinski, Wilmington, Delaware
Incorrect
guesses: Steve Bedrosian, Rick Wise, Dean
Chance, Jaime Moyer, Jack Sanford
McRIB
BONUS
Q. Who was the winning pitcher of the game
where Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list?
Hint: He shares a hometown with one of the major
leagues’ most notorious owners.
Hint: He was acquired by the Cardinals to replace
Bob Gibson in their pitching rotation.
Hint: He was drafted 20th overall by
Detroit in 1965.
- On 28-May-1975 he was traded by ATL with a player to be named later to STL for Ray Sadecki and Elias Sosa.
He did replace Gibson in the STL rotation.
FCR - Bob Flynn, Chandler, Arizona
Incorrect
guesses: Tom House, Mike Marshall
=-1
SUNDAY
Q. Who holds the Senators' single-season
records for saves, games pitched and games finished?
Hint: He surrendered a 500-home-run club member’s
first career home run.
Hint: He was known for his ritual of touching his
hat, belt and shirt before every pitch.
- [photo not available]
FCR - Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect
guesses: Darold Knowles, Gaylord Perry, Pedro
Ramos, Walter Johnson, Win Mercer
WEEKLY THEME – Pitchers
with career minimums of 100 wins, 100 losses and 100 saves.
Name W SV L Career G ERA
Eckersley*..... 197..... 390..... 171..... 1975—1998...... 1,071....................... 3.50
Fingers*......... 114..... 341..... 118..... 1968—1985......... 944....................... 2.90
Gordon.......... 138..... 158..... 126..... 1988—2009......... 890....................... 3.96
Gossage*...... 124..... 310..... 107..... 1972—1994...... 1,002....................... 3.01
Kline.............. 114..... 108..... 144..... 1952—1970......... 736....................... 3.75
McDaniel....... 141..... 174..... 119..... 1955—1975......... 987....................... 3.45
Miller.............. 105..... 153..... 103..... 1952—1968......... 704....................... 3.24
Reed.............. 146..... 103..... 140..... 1966—1984......... 751....................... 3.46
Smoltz*.......... 213..... 154..... 155..... 1988—2009......... 723....................... 3.33
Wilhelm*........ 143..... 228..... 122..... 1952—1972...... 1,070....................... 2.52
*Hall
of Fame
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme –
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tuesday - Pitchers
with most career wins in relief
Wed - Hall
of Famers that have a World Series Save
- HOF
pitchers known by their middle names and/or nicknames and not by their given
first names.
- All
time saves leaders list
- Career
leaders in games pitched
- Relief
pitchers in the Hall of Fame
- HOF
relievers who also were starters
- Relief
pitchers with over 100 career wins
- Relievers
in the Baseball Hall of Fame
Thursday- Hall of Fame pitchers with at least 100 wins
and 100 saves
- Career
save leaders from the 20th century
Friday - Relief
pitchers with over 100 career wins and 150+ saves
- Hall
of Famers who led the league in saves
- Hall
of Fame pitchers who were converted from a starter to a reliever during their
career
- HOF
pitchers beginning their careers as starting pitchers then converting to
relievers.
