MONDAY —21-Nov
Q. Who
trailed only Bob Gibson in number of major league shutouts thrown in “The Year
of the Pitcher”?
Hint: #1
He once surrendered five home runs to future teammates in a single game.
Hint: #2
His father played ten seasons in the Negro Leagues.
- Ans. In
1968, Tiant led the AL w/9 SHO & an ERA of 1.60. Gibson, meanwhile, amassed an otherworldly 13
SHO for STL while posting his modern ERA record of 1.12. Tiant’s mark is the best in the AL
since the end of the Dead Ball Era for those with at least 160 IP that year.
- #1 5
HR by a quartet of BOS sluggers, 3 future teammates & 1 former teammate on 18-Apr-1969.
- #2 Father,
also named Luis Tiant & also a pitcher,
played for 3 teams between 1930 &
1947. He retired in style at the age of
40 in 1947 with a regular season record of 9-0, & helped lead his New York Cubans
team to the NNL2 WS title. Differed from his boy, slight of build lefty
versus a righty with more meat on his bones.
FCR - Robert
Casey, Wadsworth, Ohio
Incorrect guesses: Mudcat Grant, Juan Marichal, Ferguson Jenkins,
Don Drysdale, Bob Veale, Jerry Koosman, Mike Cuellar, Earl Wilson
TUESDAY —22-Nov
Q. Who was the first
post-expansion player to hit a home run in the All-Star game and the World
Series in the same season?
Hint: #1 He was the
first National League player to win a Gold Glove Award for his play at third
base.
Hint: #2 His brother
came into the majors the same year he did.
- Ans. Boyer homered off John Wyatt on 07-Jul in the 1964 ASG and off
Al Downing on 11-Oct in the 4th
G of the 1964 WS.
- #1 GG for STL in 1958 & 4 more in the
subsequent years (1959, 60, 61 & 63).
Brother Clete also won a NL GG playing 3B for ATL in 1969.
- #2 Younger brother Clete Boyer played 47 G w/KCA
in 1955, the same season that Ken broke in w/STL. Cloyd, a 3rd brother
and actually the oldest of the
3, debuted w/STL in 1949 & was briefly joined by Clete
in 1955 on KCA.
FCR - Roy Glasser, Valrico,
Florida
Incorrect guesses: Wayne
Garrett, Clete Boyer Johnny Callison, Frank Malzone, Mike Schmidt
WEDNESDAY —23-Nov
Q. Which
former Cleveland and Oakland pitcher did not let serious injury end his major
league career?
Hint: #1
This high-born Hoosier hurler’s only losses in his first year in the
majors were to a pitcher who would win an historic Cy Young Award the following
season.
Hint: #2
The year after he had the best win/loss record in the National League,
he had the best one in the majors.
A. TOMMY JOHN [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. He pitched almost 12 years
before his famous
surgery in late 1974. He rehabbed
for all of 1975 then pitched another 14 seasons, averaging more than 180 innings
a year. He began in MLB w/CLE 1963-64 & played for OAK
in 1985.
-
#1 John was born in Terre Haute (“high
earth” literally), Indiana. He lost
against Dean Chance 14-Sep- & 21-Sep-1963. Chance’s CYA m 1964 was the last awarded to
an AL pitcher when the award went to only one pitcher in all of MLB. Chance’s CYA in 1964 was preceded & and
followed by wins by Sandy Koufax.
-
#2 His W-L % in 1973 was .696,
but in 1974 was .813.
FCR - Tom
Lee, Nashville
Incorrect guesses: Bob Feller, Dennis Eckersley, Dick Bosman
THURSDAY —24-Nov
Q. Which
Double-Unique Volunteer had a teammate on his high school baseball team who was
later enshrined in Cooperstown?
Hint: #1
He suffered more career strikeouts against Sandy Koufax than did any other
major leaguer.
Hint: #2
His son leads a campaign to have him elected to the Hall of Fame.
A. VADA PINSON [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Pinson not only played with Frank
Robinson at McClymonds High in Oakland,
California, they were teammates on CIN 1958-65.
There has been neither another Vada nor another Pinson in the history of
major league baseball 1871-2022, hence a Double-Unique. Pinson was born in Tennessee, the Volunteer
State.
- #1 Koufax K’ed Pinson 34 X, 1959-66.
-
#2 HOF chances for Pinson are
technically possible, given his career WAR of 54.2, but very few people say he
has a strong chance. Vada Pinson,
Jr. is friends with many SABR members on Facebook.
FCR - Rich
Klein, Plano, Texas
Incorrect guesses: Dick Groat, Todd Helton, Willie McCovey
GRATITUDE SPECIAL—24-Nov
Q. Who is
the only rookie pitcher to win three games in a single World Series?
Hint: #1
It’s not hard to see where he got his nickname.
Hint: #2
He once threw twenty-one innings in a game without issuing a walk.
A. BABE ADAMS [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. 3 W in 1909 WS for PIT. Ty Cobb went 1 for 11 against Adams in that
WS. Although Adams had played some G in
the majors in 1906 & 1907, he did not use the remainder of his Rookie
Eligibility until 1909.
-
#1 Adams’ clean-shaven appearance
along with his youthful look set him apart from many of his contemporaries. Adams – Adams – Adams – Contemporaries – Contemporary – Teammate.
-
#2 21-inning G on 17-Jun-1914, (3 R & 0 BB, but
took the L) versus HOFer Rube Marquard who also went the distance). Only Cy Young ever pitched 20 innings in a G without
issuing a BB. On 04‑July‑1905, Young also lost his marathon
and to a different route-going HOFer named Rube, in this case Waddell.
FCR - Bob
Trostler, Norwich, Connecticut
Incorrect guesses: Whitey Ford, Christy Mathewson, Mel
Stottlemyre, Mordecai Brown, Smoky Joe Wood, Lefty Gomez, Bret Saberhagen.
FRIDAY —25-Nov
Q. Who
was the last American League pitcher in the twentieth century to lose more than
twenty games in a season?
Hint: #1
He surrendered the 300th home run to the only living Notre
Dame alumnus in the Hall of Fame (in Cooperstown).
Hint: #2
After he beat Whitey Ford in a pitchers’ duel, Ford snapped, “I’m so
sick and tired of guys who say I was their hero coming up here and beating me.”
A. MICKEY LOLICH [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Lolich’s record in 1974 was
16-21 when he led the AL in losses and led the majors in ER (142)
& HR (38) allowed.
This century, he has been matched by DET’s Mike Maroth, who took 21
of the team’s 119 Losses in 2003.
-
#1 Carl Yastrzemski took Lolich
deep 25-Jul-1974 for the 300th
of his career 452 HR. Yaz attended the University
of Notre Dame before joining BOS. HOF
Cap Anson attended UND, but passed away in 1922.
-
#2 Beat Ford on 12-Apr-1966 on Opening Day in
Yankee Stadium.
FCR - Rich
Klein, Plano, Texas
Incorrect guesses: Brian Kingman, Don Larsen, Wilbur Wood, Denny
McLain, Early Wynn, Phil Niekro, Earl Wilson, Sam Gray
SATURDAY —26-Nov
Q. Who
is the only player to score more than 130 runs in a season for the Braves in
the Modern Era?
Hint: #1
He was only the second Braves outfielder to win a Gold Glove.
Hint: #2
As much as anyone else, it was Jack Dunn who helped him get started in
his pro career.
A. DALE MURPHY [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Murphy crossed the plate 131
X in 1983, his 2nd MVP year. Coming
close was Rafael Furcal who scored 130 R in 2003.
-
#1 The 1st of Murphy’s
5 straight GG was in 1982, the year of his 1st MVP. At that point the only other Braves OF with a
GG was Hank Aaron in 1958, 59 & 60. Since
Murphy, 7 more Braves OF have won at least 1
GG.
-
#2 Jack Dunn (No, not THAT Jack Dunn!) was Murphy’s coach
in American Legion ball and high school & also a family friend.
FCR - Sean
McCormick, New York City
Incorrect guesses: Eddie Mathews, Rico Carty, Bill Bruton, Ralph
Garr, Tommy Holmes, Sam Jethroe, Hank Aaron, Wally Berger, Otis Nixon
SATURDAY II —26-Nov
Q. Who was the first
catcher to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award?
Hint: #1 He was the
first post-expansion American League player to hit .300+ with 100+ RBI for
three consecutive seasons.
Hint: #2 Before last
week, he was the only Yankee to win both the Rookie of the Year Award and a
league Most Valuable Player Award.
A. THURMAN MUNSON [SABR Bio]
- Ans. AL ROY = 1970, 1 single vote from
unanimity.
- #1 From 1975 through 1977, Munson posted
.318/102; .302/105; & .308/100 respectively. NLers Willie Mays (1961-1963), Henry Aaron
(also 1961-1963) & Bill White (1962‑1964) had all turned this trick earlier.
- #2 Munson was ROY in 1970, a single vote from unanimity. In 1976 he was the AL MVP with
a strong majority. Aaron Judge has now
duplicated this duplicate feat.
FCR - Tom Nealis,
Baltimore
Incorrect guesses: Elston
Howard, Yogi Berra
SUNDAY —27-Nov
Q. Who is the only
one-time Phillie to win the Rookie of the Year Award for the Braves before they
moved?
Hint: #1 He played
for one team in a city then managed the same team but only after they’d move to
a new city. He played for another team
in their first city then ended his playing career with them in their second
city.
Hint: #2 He is the
only person ever to pitch in the major leagues then manage a team in each
league to the World Series.
A. ALVIN DARK [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Played for PHI in 1960. Dark was the MLB ROY in 1948. The Braves moved 2 X after that, to Milwaukee
in 1953 and to Atlanta in 1966.
- #1 Played for NYG 1950-1956 then managed
SFG 1961-1964. Played for BSN in 1946, 1948, 1949 & for MLN in 1960.
- #2 Pitched 1 inning 27-Sep-1953. Gave up 2 R for a career ERA of 18.00. Dark’s pitching performance was not of the
usual type: Instead of pitching while simply mopping up in a blow-out game as
is the usual occurrence for a having a position player on the mound, Dark was
actually the starting pitcher in this season-ending game between two
second-division clubs playing out the string. Led SFG to the WS in 1962 & won the WS w/OAK
in 1974.
FCR - Melannie Jay, Philadelphia
Incorrect guesses: Dick
Williams, Chuck Tanner, Sam Jethroe
%
of votes in
Player WAR in best year …Year
Tiant............................ 66.1...................... 30.9.......... 15th
Boyer............................ 62.8...................... 25.5............ 9th
John............................. 61.6...................... 31.7.......... 15th
Pinson.......................... 54.2...................... 15.7............ 7th
Adams.......................... 52.7...................... 13.7............ 7th
Lolich........................... 48.0...................... 25.5............ 4th
Murphy........................ 46.5...................... 23.2............ 2nd
Munson........................ 46.1...................... 15.5............ 1st
Dark............................. 43.8...................... 18.5.......... 14th
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tues - Finalists
for inclusion on the National Baseball Hall of Fame Golden Era ballot with the elections
being held on December 8, 2014 at the Winter Meetings in San Diego
- Multiple
time All Stars who are in their team's Hall of Fame, but not in the Baseball
Hall of Fame
- Inaugural
group of HOF candidates in 2011
- Candidates
for HOF induction by the last Hall of Fame Golden Era Committee
Fri - Players
not in HOF with WAR over 50
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