2021-06-28 Hall of Famers who played or coached for Tony La Russa

MONDAY  —28-Jun

Q.  Which speedster got a head start when he was born in the back seat of his father’s Oldsmobile on the way to the hospital in Chicago?

Hint: #1    He is the only player who scored more major league runs than Ty Cobb.

Hint: #2    He is the only player to collect three stolen bases in each of three consecutive games.

A. RICKEY HENDERSON  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans. B. 25-Dec-1958 in Chicago.

-   #1   Scored 2,295 R vs. Cobb’s 2,245.

-   #2   3+ SB on 03-Jul, 04-Jul & 08-Jul-1983.

FCR -  Ted Rosenholm, Granby, Massachusetts

Incorrect guesses:  Pete Rose, Lou Brock

 

TUESDAY  —29-Jun

Q.  Whose record for consecutive strikeouts did Aaron Nola tie on Friday last?

Hint: #1    He was the first Rookie of the Year to garner multiple Cy Young Awards.

Hint: #2    The year he was elected to the Hall of Fame, only five voters left him off their ballots.

A. TOM SEAVER  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.     Phillie Nola (No lie!) struck out 10 of his 12 strikeouts of Mets batters in succession, tying the record set by Mets pitcher Tom Seaver 22-Apr-1970.  Seaver’s were the last 10 Padres of the G.

-   #1   ROY in 1967; CYA in 1969, 1973 & 1975.

-   #2   Of the 430 HOF ballots voting, 425 or 98.84% had Seaver’s name on them.

FCR -  David Krassin, L.A.

Incorrect guesses:  Nolan Ryan

 

TUESDAY TWICE  —29-Jun

Q. Who led the National league in home runs while Roger Maris was hitting sixty-one in the junior circuit?

Hint: #1    He was the first player to lead the majors in RBI in a season playing for a team on the West Coast.

Hint: #2    He is one of only four players to win a Rookie of the Year Award unanimously and then win a league Most Valuable Player Award unanimously.

A. ORLANDO CEPEDA  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.     Hit 46 HR for SFG in 1961.

-   #1   142 RBI in 1961

-   #2   Unanimous ROY 1958, unanimous MVP 1967.  The other 3 are Frank Robinson (1956, 1966); Albert Pujols (2001, 2009); Mike Trout (2012, 2014)

FCR -  Dave Jackson, Irving, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Willie McCovey, Frank Robinson, Willie Mays, Steve Carlton

 

WEDNESDAY  —30-Jun

Q.  Who is the only pitcher to hold his team's single-season wins record as well as their single-season saves record?

Hint: #1    He has more postseason stolen bases than any other major league pitcher.

Hint: #2    He broke his own 262-game errorless streak during the same game his teammates tied a major league record by hitting eight home runs while giving up none.

A. JOHN SMOLTZ  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.     For the Atlanta Braves, Smoltz had 24 W in 1996 and had 55 S in 2002.  [Note:  The Braves’ franchise record for pitching wins in a season is owned by John Clarkson who had 49 in 1889.]

-   #1   All other pitchers in MLB history combined have 3 postseason stolen bases.  Yes, you read that right.  If you watched the videos, (seriously, watch the videos), you have watched half of all pitcher stolen bases in postseason history.

-   #2   8 HR G = 22-May-2006.

FCR -  Roy Glasser, Valrico, Florida

Incorrect guesses:  Bob Gibson, Mike Marshall

THURSDAY  —01-Jul

Q.  Who is the youngest Hall of Famer born in Mobile, Alabama?

Hint: #1    He and another Hall of Famer were high school teammates.

Hint: #2    Those two players managed one hundred hits each during both of the strike years of 1981 and 1994.

Hint: #3    He the only shortstop ever voted Most Valuable Player of a League Championship Series in the 20^th century.

A. OZZIE SMITH  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.     B. 26-Dec-1954.  The older ones are Satchel Paige, Henry Aaron & Willie McCovey.

-   #1   Smith and Eddie Murray attended Locke HS in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

-   #2   Smith:  100 H in 1981, 100 H in 1994.  Murray:  111 H in 1981, 110 H in 1994.

-   #3   MVP of the 1985 NLCS.  The award, begun in 1977, finally had its most recent SS LCS MVP in 2020 when Corey Seager earned the honor.

FCR -  John Kleeb, Reston, Virginia

Incorrect guesses:  Willie Mays

 

FRIDAY  —02-Jul

Q.  Who was the first Hall of Fame  catcher to play in at least 150 games in a season but allow fewer than five passed balls?

Hint: #1    He homered every year for twenty-three consecutive seasons.

Hint: #2    He was an owl in college.

A. CARLTON FISK  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.     Had 4 PB in 151 G in 1977

-   #1   Had at least 1 HR each year from 1971-1993.

-   #2   Attended Keene State U. in Keene, New Hampshire.

FCR -  Richard Lerner, Silver Spring Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Gary Carter, Gabby Hartnett, Ivan Rodriguez, Bill Dickey

 

T.G.I.F. BONUS  —02-Jul

Q.  Which pitcher holds the record for finishing the most All-Star Games?

Hint: #1    He is one of only four Hall of Famers born in the Mountain Time Zone.

Hint: #2    No other major leaguer has won more games that he didn’t start in the expansion era.

A. RICH GOSSAGE  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.     Finished 6 ASG:  1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1984 & 1985.

-   #1   He was born in Colorado as was Roy Halladay.  Ralph Kiner was born in New Mexico and Harmon Killebrew was born in Idaho.

-   #2   Won 115 G 1972-94 in relief & won 9 more that he did start, all 9 of those coming in 1976.

FCR -  Randall Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee

Incorrect guesses:  Mariano Rivera, Bruce Sutter, Trevor Hoffman, Bruce Sutter, Goose (Gossage has chosen not to go by this name, thus freeing up Goose Goslin for double-unique status.)

 

SATURDAY  —03-Jul

Q.  What pitcher threw 28⅔ innings at the outset of his major league career before surrendering an earned run?

Hint: #1    He pitched in All-Star games in each of three decades.

Hint: #2    He was the last American Leaguer over 35 years old to win a Most Valuable Player Award.

A. DENNIS ECKERSLEY  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.     Debut = 12-Apr-1975; 1^st ER against = 5^th inning 31-May-1975, a rookie record that still stands.

-   #1   Pitched in ASG in 1977, 1982, 1988, 1990, 1991 & 1992.

-   #2   AL MVP in 1992 @ age 37.

FCR -  Tom Cleary, Macungie, Pennsylvania

Incorrect guesses:  Gaylord Perry, Rollie Fingers, Roger Clemens, Virgil Trucks

 

WEEKEND BONUS  —03-Jul

Q.  Who hit a qualified .350 or better for four out of five straight seasons since Tony Gwynn did it?

Hint: #1    He is a member of two very select MLB “clubs”.  One has three members.  The other has only two!

Hint: #2    He is the only player in MLB history who can claim 350 home runs, 200 steals, a .300 batting average and a .400 OBP.

A. LARRY WALKER  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.     He hit .366 .363, .379, .309 & .350 1997-2001.

-   #1   He is one of only 3 Canadian who have won MVPs:  Walker in 1997, Justin Morneau in 2006 & Joey Votto in 2010.  He is one of only 2 Canadians in the Hall of Fame.  The other is Fergie Jenkins.  Those are his Canadian Clubs.

-   #2   Walker left a career legacy of 383 HR, 230 SB, .313 BA & .400 OBP.

FCR -  Rick Sagriff, Kingston, Ontario

Incorrect guesses:  Ichiro Suzuki, Barry Bonds, George Brett, Miguel Cabrera      

 

SUNDAY  —04-Jul

Q.  Who is the only batter to homer in the twenty-fifth inning of a major league game?

Hint: #1    He hit more than three hundred home runs in his career but the most he ever hit in a single season was twenty-nine.

Hint: #2    He was drafted #1 overall in the June draft because a franchise owner watched him play in Little League and followed his career until he was eligible to be drafted.

Hint: #3    He received a personal apology from the president.

A. HAROLD BAINES  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans. In the G that began on 08-May-1984 between MIL & CHW, Baines homered off Chuck Porter on the 753^rd pitch of the G to secure the W for the ChiSox.    

-   #1   Hit 384 career HR and had seasons of 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 & 29, but never more.

-   #2   White Sox owner Bill Veeck kept an eye on young Harold’s career then had his people take him as the initial player chosen in 1^st Round of the 1977 MLB June Amateur Draft.

-   #3   During his 2000 campaign for president, George W. Bush claimed tongue-in-cheek that the worst mistake he made in his career was trading away Sammy Sosa (who was at that time in the midst of his HR record-setting run) for Baines.  Baines was the Bench Coach for Mgr. Ozzie Guillen on the 2005 WS Champion CHW.  Then when CHW were invited to visit the White House, Baines went with team after first balking.  During the visit, President Bush apologized to Baines for his campaign remarks and sent him a written duplicate.

FCR -  Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Incorrect guesses:  Al Kaline, Pete Incaviglia, Leon Durham, Robin Ventura

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTION  —05/06-Jul

Q.  Who was the first batter in major league history to rack up 100 home runs for each of three different clubs?

Hint: #1    He was privileged to play in two perfect games.

Hint: #2    He once hit a home run in a major league game that would have traveled 650 feet had it been able to be measured.

A. REGGIE JACKSON  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.             OAK = 269 HR; NYY = 123 HR; CAL = 144 HR

-   #1   Perfect games:  Jim Hunter’s = 08-May-1968 & Mike Witt’s = 30-Sep-1984

-   #2   in the 1971 ASG, 25-year-old Jackson’s 2-R HR off Dock Ellis in the 3^rd inning hit a light tower above the stands in Tiger Stadium.  A team of local Wayne State University physics professors did the math and agreed that the ball would have traveled around 650 feet from home plate.  Very few people doubt the accuracy of their calculation.  MLB's longest verified HR distance is circa 575' by Babe Ruth on 18-Jul-1921, to straightaway CF at Navin Field, Detroit, which landed nearly across the intersection of Trumbull & Cherry Streets.  Consensus on Mickey Mantle’s 1^st HR of 1953, off WSH’s Chuck Stobbs at an unscientifically-reported 656', is that the “measured” distance was more marketing hype that documented fact.

FCR -  David Holtz, Northridge, California

Incorrect guesses:  Dave Kingman, Darrell Evans

 

 

WEEKLY THEME – Hall of Famers who played or coached for Tony La Russa

 

Player             La Russa tm / Years          Pos

Baines............ CHW// 1980-86............ OF

     "                   OAK / 1990-92.............DH

Cepeda............ CHW// 1980...............Coach

Eckersley......... OAK / 1987-95............ RP

    "                   STL  / 1996-97..............RP

Fisk.................. CHW// 1981-86............C

Gossage....... OAK / 1993..................... SP

Henderson....... OAK / 1989-93............. OF

    "                    OAK / 1994-95.............OF

Jackson............. OAK / 1987...................OF

Seaver............. CHW// 1984-86............SP

Smith............... STL  / 1996..................SS

Smoltz............... STL  / 2009................SP

Walker............. STL  / 2004-05.............OF

 

This list, although fairly lengthy already, will no doubt grow in the future.  It will be, however, at least a full generation before we know the final total.

 

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Philip Trostler, Norwich, Connecticut

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Monday  -  Hall of Famers who played in four decades

               -  Hall of Famers who played for 8 or more teams

               -  Players who refer to themselves in the 3^rd person

 

Tuesday -  Players with highest % of HOF vote

               -  Future Hall of Famers who were traded in their primes

               -  HOFers who had multiple stints with the Mets

               -  HOF’s with more than 95% voted in

               -  Players traded by the teams they'd eventually be in the HoF for

               -  Hall of Famers who were traded away but wear the original team's cap on their HOF plaques

               -  Hall of Famers who played one season with the Boston Red Sox

               -  Players to get 94.8% of the HOF vote in their first year on the ballot

               -  Hall of Famers who played for the Red Sox

               -  Hall of Famers who played for the Red Sox late in their career?

 

Wed        -  Hall of Famers who changed teams during a season

               -  HOF members who were traded in their career

 

Sunday   -  Hall of Famers traded in their final season

               -  Hall of Famers who were post-season MVPs in years their team did not win the WS

               -  All Stars gamers who represented different teams in different decades

               - Guys in Cooperstown or about to enter the Hall who played in at least three different decades

 

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This week’s quiz archived here:  https://horsehidetrivia.blogspot.com/2021/07/2021-06-28-hall-of-famers-who-played-or.html Includes all incorrect guesses.

 

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