Sunday, August 29, 2021

2021-08-23 Select major league pitchers who have coached high school baseball teams after leaving the majors

MONDAY  —23-Aug

Q.  Who is the only pitcher to win consecutive Cy Young Awards playing on a different team for each one?

Hint: #1    He is the youngest pitcher in the Expansion Era to reach 250 career victories.

Hint: #2    He broke Cy Young’s record for the most seasons in a row with at least 15 wins.

Hint: #3    He once pitched 72⅓ innings without issuing a walk.

A. GREG MADDUX  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans. Maddux won his 1st CYA in 1992 playing for CHC.  He won it again the following season, but on 02-Dec-1992, he signed with ATL.  He also won in 1994 & 1995, the first pitcher to win 4 in a row.

-   #1   250th W = 05-Jul-2001 (35 years, 82 days)

-   #2   Young had 15+ W for 15 straight years (1891-1905).  Maddux did it for 17 straight years (1988-2004)

-   #3   72⅓ w/o a BB = 2001, the streak broken, ironically, by an IBB on 12-Aug-2001.

FCR -  Jim Nelson, Port St Lucie, Florida

Incorrect guesses:  Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, CC Sabathia, Justin Verlander, Gary Maddox, Mike Mussina 

 

TUESDAY  —24-Aug

Q.  Who was the last twentieth century pitcher to win both games of a double header?

Hint: #1    He once surrendered home runs to both Ripken brothers in the same inning.

Hint: #2    He was the pitching victory in Joe Torre’s 1,000th managerial win.

Hint; #3    He was on the mound the first time in MLB history every opponent had an 0 for 3 day since a certain famous game in 1880.

A. DAVID WELLS  [SABR Bio]

-   Ans.      W X2 = 17-Jul-1989(1) & 17-Jul-1989(2)

-   #1   Ripken HRs = 15-Sep-1990.  He would be their teammate in 1996.

-   #2   Torre’s 1,000th = 30-Apr-1997 In Seattle.  Torre would win 1,326 more.

-   #3   Perfect G = 17-May-1998.  1st perfect with no documented substitutions.  The first perfect game ever recorded was by Lee Richmond 12-Jun-1880.  He also only faced only 9 discrete batters.

FCR -  Laura Peebles, Arlington, Virginia

Incorrect guesses:  Wilbur Wood, Wes Stock, Marino Rivera, David Cone, Chien-Ming Wang

 

WEDNESDAY  —225-Aug

Q. Who threw the first pitch in a major league game in the state of Arizona?

Hint: #1    He had only recently returned from pitching for Team USA in the BWC.

Hint: #2    He led the league in strikeouts in a work-stoppage season, but with a total that might have led the majors in many other years.

A. ANDY BENES  [B-R Bio]

-   Ans.     1st ARI G = 31-Mar-1998.  1st pitch here.  He surrendered a single to COL’s Mike Lansing on the second pitch of that at-bat.

-   #1   Pitched for team USA in the Baseball World Cup, the premier event of the International Baseball Federation at the time, later to be replaced in that respect by the World Baseball Classic.

-   #2   Led the NL in K in 1994 w/189, a total that would have led the entire majors four times in the 1950s alone.

FCR -  Tom Byrne, Old Greenwich, Connecticut

Incorrect guesses:  Randy Johnson, Willie Blair, Nolan Ryan, Curt Schilling

 

THURSDAY  —26-Aug

Q.  Which Notre Dame grad and one-time Cleveland Indian threw the first pitch in the New Comiskey Park?

Hint: #1    He was the only American League pitcher to win at least ten games every year from 1990 to 1996.

Hint: #2    He had (has) a famous side-gig.

A. JACK McDOWELL  [B-R Bio]

-   Ans.     Comiskey II debut = 18-Apr-1991.  Induced DET’s Tony Phillips to fly out to LF.  Played for CLE in 199697.  Attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California.

-   #1   14, 17, 20, 22, 10, 15 & 13 1990—96.

-   #2   McDowell was front man for a group called Stickfigure.  Here’s a sample of their work.  I’ll let you guess the origin of the group’s name.

FCR -  Len Levin, Providence

Incorrect guesses:  Charles Nagy

 

FRIDAY  —27-Aug

Q.  Which Texan has four World Series rings, two each from different American League East competitors?

Hint: #1    He appeared in nearly one hundred games for the Baltimore Orioles.

Hint: #2    At one time, no other right-handed pitcher had pitched in relief in more major league games.

Hint: #3    He attended university in Georgetown.

A. MIKE TIMLIN [B-R Bio]

-   Ans.     Born in Midland Texas.  Won WS w/TOR in 1992, 1993; won WS w/BOS in 2004, 2007.

-   #1   Played 99 G for BAL in 1999 & 2000.

-   #2   Pitched in 1,058 G in his 18-season career.  Only 4 were starts.  Mariano Rivera later passed him.

-   #3   Attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

FCR -  Mark DeLodovico, Rockville, Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Sidney Ponson, John Axford, Hoyt Wilhelm

 

SATURDAY  —28-Aug

Q.  Who was the last White Sox pitcher to toss complete games in consecutive starts in the twentieth century?

Hint: #1    He has the most victories of any of the twenty-five alumni of the University of Miami who pitched in the majors.

Hint: #2    His teammates wore his uniform number on their caps during their first World Series championship.

Hint: #3    Although he played for the United States in the World Junior Championships, he later played for the Canadians.

A. ALEX FERNANDEZ  [B-R Bio]

-   Ans.     CGs = 21-Sep & 26-Sep-1995.

-   #1   MLB record = 107-87

-   #2   FLA won the 1997 WS and wore #32 on their caps because he was injured and not able to play.  He was still voted a full WS share.  He was out with a shoulder problem, which hounded him until he retired in 2001.

-   #3   Although he had played in two seasons for CHW, he pitched for their AAA farm team the Vancouver Canadians for 4 G in 1992.  He played for the US Junior Team in the 1987 World Junior Championships.

FCR -  Jim Easton, London, Ontario

Incorrect guesses:  Mark Buehrle, Jack McDowell

 

SUNDAY  —29-Aug

Q.  Who was the first pitcher to retire more than forty consecutive batters?

Hint: #1    His ratio of walks per inning pitched led the league in his third full year in the majors.

Hint: #2    He pitched for his team the first time they appeared in the postseason in the playoff era.

A. JIM BARR  [B-R Bio]

-   Ans.     Retired 41 straight batters 23-Aug & 29-Aug-1972.  He broke the record of 38 set by Harvey Haddix 21-May, 26-May-1959.  The record was later tied by Bobby Jenks in 2007 then broken by Mark Buehrle in 2009 and again by Yusmeiro Petit in 2014.

-   #1   Led the NL w/1.76 BB/9IP in 1974.

-   #2   Played for SFG in 1971 NLCS.

FCR -  Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Incorrect guesses:  Randy Johnson, Yusmeiro Petit, Don Drysdale,  Tom Seaver, Greg Maddux, Orel Hershiser, Rick Wise, Luis Tiant

 

 

WEEKLY THEME – A sampling of major league pitchers who have coached  high school baseball teams after leaving the majors.

 

Pitcher                  High School                                     MLB Yrs        WAR

Barr...................... Granite Bay (CA)....................................... 12............. 30.8

Benes................... San Dieguito Academy (Encinitas, CA).... 14............. 31.2

Fernandez............ Various (Broward & Palm Beach counties) 10............. 27.7

Maddux................ Bishop Gorman (NV)................................. 23........... 104.8

McDowell............. San Dieguito Academy (Encinitas, CA).... 12............. 27.8

Timlin................... Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, CO).... 18............. 19.1

Wells.................... Point Loma (CA)*...................................... 21............. 53.6

*Pitcher’s Alma Mater

 

Others include

Bill Swift, Troy Percival, Chad Bradford, Rob Murphy, Kerry Ligtenberg, Calvin Schiraldi

 

 

 

First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeTom Byrne, Old Greenwich, Connecticut (after Timlin)

 

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Monday  -  Players who began their MLB career as a pinch runner

 

Tuesday -  All-Star pitchers who pitched for the Dodgers and Padres

               -  All-Star pitchers who pitched for both LAD & SDP, but weren't All-Stars for either

               -  Pitchers to finish 3rd for the Cy Young Award twice

               -  Pitchers 40 or older who led league in walks per 9 innings

 

Friday     -  Pitchers of record with same last name

 

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