Sunday, September 25, 2022

2022-09-19 MLB TV's Promo filler

MONDAY  —19-Sep

Q.  Who has the most career total bases in the history of the game?

Hint: #1  In each of fifteen of his major league seasons, he racked up more than 300 total bases.

Hint: #2  He had an additional five years with more than 200 each.

Hint: #3  Four times he led the majors in total bases and in an additional four seasons, he led his league.

Hint: #4  He never had fewer than 100 total bases in any of his twenty-five seasons in professional baseball.

A.  HANK AARON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Had 6,856 TB.

-  #1  9 straight years he had over 300 TB.

-  #2  See career stats.

-  #3  ~

-  #4  ~

FCR -  Chip Bird, Abingdon, Virginia

Incorrect guesses:  Barry Bonds, Stan Musial, Pete Rose, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Rickey Henderson

 

MONDAY II  —19-Sep

Q.  Who stole home and homered, in a single game, six times?

Hint: #1  He had four seasons with at least 210 hits and 100 walks.

Hint: #2  He was the first twentieth century player to hit four hoe runs in a game.

A.  LOU GEHRIG  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  SB+HR/G = 29-Jun-1927; 30-Jul-1927(1); 19-Jul-1929; 07-Jun-1930; 15-Apr-1931; & 12‑Apr‑1932.

-  #1  Had 215+H and 100+BB = 1927, 1930, 1931 & 1934

-  #2  4 HR = 04-Jun-1932.

FCR -  John Salvino, Denver

Incorrect guesses:  Ichiro Suzuki, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Tony Lazzeri, Ty Cobb, Chuck Klein, Stan Musial, Babe Ruth, Jim Bottomley

 

TUESDAY  —20-Sep

Q.  Who was the first shortstop to win more than one American League MVP?

Hint: #1  He drove the pace car for the Daytona 500 the year that Kevin Harvick won that race for the first time.

Hint: #2  He broke a career record on offense that had been held by Hank Aaron but he was then himself passed by Albert Pujols.

A.  CAL RIPKEN  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  MVP in 1983 & 1991

-  #1  Race was on 18-Feb-2007

-  #2  Cal retired with the most double-plays grounded into, 350.  Pujols is the current record holder adding to his total as recently as Saturday.

FCR -  Dan Greder, Ames, Iowa

Incorrect guesses:  Ozzie Smith, Lou Boudreau, Alex Rodriguez, Ernie Banks, Robin Yount

 

TUESDAY II  —20-Sep

Q.  Who is still the youngest player to reach the combination century mark of one hundred home runs and one hundred stolen bases?

Hint: #1  For years, he was considered the best player in the majors.

Hint: #2  If the second half of his career matched the first half, it would only take the slightest of increases to land him second all-time in career WAR, trailing only Babe Ruth.

A.  MIKE TROUT  [Wiki Bio]

-  Ans. Trout had already amassed 104 career SB on 17-Apr-2015 when he hit his 100th HR run at age 23 years, 257 days.  The record for that dual achievement had been Alex Rodriguez whose 100/100 mark was reached at age 23 years, 309 days.

-  #1  Remarkable considering that 2 of his 3 MVPs were won playing for 3rd- & 4th-place teams.

-  #2  Using the most rudimentary of projections,… If you doubled Trout’s current career WAR, it wouldn’t take much of an increase to imagine him topping Walter Johnson’s 164.9, considering how much time Trout has missed while totaling up the 81.5 he had as of last night.

FCR -  Frank Stephenson, Rome, Georgia

Incorrect guesses:  Rickey Henderson, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey, Jr., Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Cesar Cedeno, Ty Cobb, Albert Pujols, Mickey Mantle, Willie Keeler, Eric Davis

 

IN MEMORIAM  —20-Sep

Q.  Who was the first player ever to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game for a major league team domiciled on the Pacific Coast?

Hint: #1  He was the first player to win a Gold Glove and a National League MVP in the same season.

Hint: #2  His son enjoyed six seasons on major league rosters.

Hint: #3  He was the first player that the Topps baseball card company didn't sign to a contract who later made it to the majors.

Hint: #4  He was a mystery guest on “What's My Line”.

Hint: #5  He participated in a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of one of his old managers.

Hint: #6  He led his league in stolen bases for six years straight, half of those seasons leading the majors.

Hint: #7  In one of those seasons he became the first player in the modern era to steal one hundred bases in a single year.

Hint: #8  He was the first player to make a plate appearance for a major league team based outside the United States.

Hint: #8  There are many who believe he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

A.  MAURY WILLS  [SABR Bio; MLB obit]

-  Ans.  On 30-May-1962(1) in the Polo Grounds, Wills, playing for LAD, hit a solo, inside-the-park home run off the Mets’ righty Bob Moorhead in the 5th inning.  Wills then went over the fence off lefty Vinegar Bend Mizell in the 9th, scoring LAD’s 13th and final R.

-  #1  Was NL MVP in 1962 & NL SS GG in 1961 & 1962.

-  #2  Son Elliott Taylor “Bump” Wills played for TEX & CHC.

-  #3  Wills’s earliest card.  Read the Topps/Wills story here.

-  #4  TV appearance was 23-Jan-1966.  It was the 800th episode of the show.

-  #5  Wills helped roast Leo Durocher in 1973.  Wills is the first speaker.

-  #6  He had seasons of 50, 35, 104, 40, 53 & 94 1960-1965.

-  #7  Ty Cobb, with his 96 in 1915, was the only other player who had passed 90.  [Stolen bases in the 19th century were calculated differently.]

-  #8  Drafted by the MON in the expansion draft of 1969 he led off their 1st G 08-Apr-1969.

-  #9  Although his peak was spectacular, his dominant numbers were there over the long haul and en finished with a career WAR of 39.6.  Most of those in the Hall put up WAR ratings of 50 an above.

FCR -  Doug Christy, Sarasota

Incorrect guesses: 

 

WEDNESDAY  —21-Sep

Q.  Who leads all Cleveland Guardians/Indians in career home runs, strikeouts and bases on balls?

Hint: #1  He tied Cal Ripken on the career home run list on Opening Day one year.

Hint: #2  He finished second on the career strikeout list for batters.

A.  JIM THOME  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Thome played for 6 teams in his MLB career, but his 337 HR, 1,400 K & 1,008 BB are all franchise highs.

-  #1  Cal retired with 431 HR.  Thome hit his 431st on Opening Day 2006.

-  #2  Ever since Reggie Jackson sailed past Willie Stargell on the career strikeout list in 1982 and continued to add to his total year after year, ending at a monumental 2,597.  Very few thought Jackson’s could ever even be approached  However, Thome’s career K # of 2,548 was set for good on 03‑Oct‑2012, just 49 short.  He retired for good, gracefully accepting the silver medal.

FCR -  Jason Winston, Riverside, California

Incorrect guesses: 

 

WEDNESDAY II  —1-Sep

Q.  Who was the first major league player depicted on a U.S. postage stamp?

Hint: #1  He was the first player to win the Rookie of the Year Award at one position, then the Most Valuable Player Award at another.

Hint: #2  He was a competitive swimmer in college.

A.  JACKIE ROBINSON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Robinson’s stamp was issued on 02-Aug-1982.  He has been on U.S. stamps more than any other player:  1999, 2000

-  #1  Was ROY (the 1st ever) following the 1947 season for his play at first base.  He was the NL MVP in 1949 as a second baseman.

-  #2  Jackson was briefly on the UCLA swim team.

FCR -  Quentin Wittrock, Coon Rapids, Minnesota

Incorrect guesses:  Mickey Mantle

 

THURSDAY  —22-Sep

Q.  Which one-time Oakland A’s designated hitter, hit more than a fifth of his fourteen career grand slams in a single month?

Hint: #1  As a teenager, he received personal instruction in his backyard batting cage from none other than Ted Williams.

Hint: #2  His wife had been the Playboy “Playmate of the Month.

A.  MIKE PIAZZA  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Piazza hit 3 GS in April 1998:  09-Apr-1998 (off Jeff Suppan former NLCS MVP); 10‑Apr‑1998; & 24-Apr-1998 (off Kerry Wood who would strike out 20 in a game less than 2 weeks later).

-  #1  Piazza’s father, Vince Piazza, was a man of considerable means and was able to arrange many opportunities for his son that he’d never had.  Mike was 16 when Williams schooled him.  Listen here, starting at about the 4:50 minute mark.

-  #2  Alicia Rickter Piazza is an American model and actress.  She appeared as “Laura” in the comedy Buying the Cow and on the TV series Baywatch and The Young and the Restless.  She posed nude for Playboy magazine as Miss October 1   995.

FCR -  Andy McCue, Riverside, California

Incorrect guesses:  Willie McCovey, Frank Thomas, Deron Johnson, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Reggie Jackson, Jim Northrup, Tommy Davis, Jose Canseco, Dave Kingman

 

FRIDAY  —23-Sep

Q.  Which former Pittsburgh Pirates player signed five times for five separate stints with the major league team that originally drafted him?

Hint: #1  He won a World Series ring and a full postseason share with a third team even though his contribution there was a single plate appearance.

Hint: #2  He was named MVP in his first ever postseason series.

A.  KIRK GIBSON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Taken 12th overall by DET in the 1978 June Amateur Draft, Gibson was signed by DET 4 X as a free agent in his 17-year MLB career. 

-  #1  His single plate appearance for LAD in the 1988 World Series resulted in one of the most (deservedly) famous home runs in the history of baseball.

-  #2  MVP of the 1984 ALCS.

FCR -  Warren Kent, Whitehall, Michigan

Incorrect guesses:  Billy Martin

 

SATURDAY  —24-Sep

Q.  Which Gold Glover played in more World Series games in the 1960s than any other player?

Hint: #1  He went three for five in his debut MLB game then hit an extra-inning grand slam to help his  team to victory in the very next game.

Hint: #2  Two Hall of Famers grew up in the same small town in Saint Louis County where he was born.

Hint: #3  His team never retired his number 3 uniform.

A.  ROGER MARIS  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Won a GG in 1960.  Played in 41 WS G 1960-1968 = 28 w/NYY + 13 w/STL.  Won rings in 61, 62 & 67.

-  #1  Debuted 16-Apr-1957.  11th inning GS 18-Apr-1957.

-  #2  Born in Hibbing, MN, also the birthplace of Kevin McHale.  Robert Zimmerman (a/k/a Bob Dylan) not born in Hibbing, but gr up there.  They have been inducted, respectively, into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass & the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

-  #3  Maris wore #3 while playing for the Kansas City A’s in 1959.

FCR -  Bill Deane, Cooperstown, New York

Incorrect guesses:  Mickey Mantle, Willie Davis, Clete Boyer, Yogi Berra, Bobby Richardson, Mike Shannon, Elston Howard

 

SATURDAY II  —24-Sep

Q.  Which eighteen-year-old Rock is said to have homered on the first pitch he saw with his new team in just his sixth professional baseball game?

Hint: #1  He is the only Glaswegian to play more than ten seasons in the majors.

Hint: #2  He once said, “Sometimes it’s like that ball never came down.”

A.  BOBBY THOMSON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Thomson homered for the Class D 1942 Rocky Mount Rocks, located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.  He had debuted professionally 5 G earlier with the Bristol Twins in Bristol, Virginia.

-  #1  Glaswegians are those from Glasgow, Scotland where Thomson was born.

-  #2  Thomson’s 03-Oct-1951, home run ranked number one on The Sporting News’s “Greatest Baseball Moments”.  The “Shot Heard ’Round The World” would forever, in his words, define his career and life.

FCR -  Chip Bird, Abingdon, Virginia

Incorrect guesses:  Rocky Colavito

 

SUNDAY  —25-Sep

Q.  Whose fastball helped one team overcome a supposedly long-time curse?

Hint: #1  He proudly displayed a notable on-field accomplishment on his Ohio vanity tags.

Hint: #2  He defected in the Netherlands to set up residency in Andorra.

A.  AROLDIS CHAPMAN  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Chapman appeared for CHC in 5 of the 7 G when they won the WS in 2016, overcoming a 71-year curse.  It was only the franchise’s 3rd such championship in the modern era, the other 2 being in 1907 & 1908.

-  #1  A Chapman pitch was once certified at 106 MPH.  He chose to honor that on the license plates of the cars he owned in multiple states:  Ohio, Kentucky & Florida.

-  #2  He and a teammate left the Cuban national team playing in Rotterdam and from Andorra petitioned MLB for free agent status.

FCR -  Mischa Gelman, Pittsburgh

Incorrect guesses:  Curt Schilling, Bert Blyleven,

 

WEEK’S FINALE  —25-Sep

Q.  Which middle infielder was chosen 1,158th in the MLB June Amateur Draft yet became a major league All-Star?

Hint: #1  His choice to attend college at that point turned out to be very fortunate.

Hint: #2  People have often mistaken his fiancée to be his daughter.

A.  DANSBY SWANSON  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  When COL selected him the 10th pick of the 38th Round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft, he decided to accept a scholarship and play ball for Vanderbilt University.  He was on the NL’s 2022 AS team.  Chosen #1 of Round #1 by ARI in 2015.  An additional two Commodore teammates (Carson Fulmer & Walker Buehler) were also taken in the 1st Round.

-  #1  In 2014, Vanderbilt won the D-1 NCAA College World Series where Swanson was voted the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

-  #2  Swanson proposed to professional soccer player Mallory Pugh following the ATL’s WS victory.

FCR -  Evan Thompson, Mesa

Incorrect guesses: 

 

 

 

WEEKLY THEME – Players featured on MLB TV's Promo filler played between innings of games aired on the "Extra Innings" broadcast package.  It's played in lieu of showing the local tv spots that appear organically with the feed from the station of the home team.  First 20 or so times?  Not bad. Next 200?  Criminy!!

 

I cannot find a way to show you the clip, but those of you who know whereof I speak, surely share my ennui.

 

They appear in this order:

 

Gehrig*....................... “Luckiest man” speech in 1939............................... 113.6

Robinson*................... Making headlines in 1947......................................... 63.8

Thomson..................... In 1951, hitting… well, you know.............................. 33.8

Maris........................... Going deep with #61 in 1961.................................... 38.2

Aaron*........................ Rounding 3rd with #715 in 1974.............................. 143.0

Gibson........................ Limping off Eckersley, 1988 WS............................... 38.4

Ripken*....................... Passing Gehrig in 1995............................................. 95.9

Piazza*........................ Being great................................................................ 59.5

Thome*....................... Hitting #600 in 2011.................................................. 73.1

Chapman..................... Throwing a pitch at 106 MPH................................... 19.1

Trout........................... Great catch................................................................ 81.3

Swanson...................... 2021 WS win celebration.......................................... 13.8

*Hall of Famer

 

 

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Mon     -  Former Negro League players with 1,500 or more hits

            -  Players named "Henry Louis"

            -  Hall of Famers who played a game at Municipal Stadium, home of the Savannah Bananas

 

Tues    -  Most Career grand slams

            -  MVPs who have held the active streak for consecutive games played

            -  Players who played 2000 games in a 13 year period

 

Sat       -  Players who hit famous home runs

 

Sun      -  Protagonists of the 10 greatest moments in baseball history

            -  Players highlighted in 10 most memorable moments in baseball history

 

 

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~ Bruce